5 October 1962: UK single release: Love Me Do | The Beatles Bible Friday 5 October 1962 Release 2 Comments The Beatles' debut single was released on 5 October 1962. Love Me Do reached number 17 in the charts, which was a strong showing for a band's first release. Although they re-recorded the single with session drummer Andy White on 11 September , initial copies of the single carried the recording of Love Me Do from their early 4 September session. When EMI came to release the 1963 EP The Beatles' Hits, it was decided that the version featuring White was best, and the master recording featuring Ringo 's drumming was destroyed. Sales of Love Me Do/ PS I Love You were strongest in the Liverpool area. There were strong rumours that Brian Epstein bought 10,000 copies of the single to improve its chart ranking. While quite possibly true, these were never proven to be true. Steve Beauchampe Monday 27 May 2013 Hello, It seems that they also played a gig at the Co-op Ballroom in Nuneaton on this date.

It’s mentioned, along with an advert for the gig (no date on the advert though) in Pete Chamber’s well researched 2006 book The Beatles – Sent To Coventry and in a BBC Coventry and Warwickshire on-line story from October last year (put Beatles, Nuneaton 1962 into a search engine) The BBC story has at least one inaccuracy though, the cake throwing incident appears to relate to a Rolling Stones gig the following year. Nonetheless, there seems enough evidence that the gig did occur unless you have anything to the contrary. Steve Beauchampe Teresa Sheppard Wednesday 20 August 2014 My Version Has Love Me Do On Both Sides orange And Yellow Label is it Rare? The Beatles: Historic 5th October first single - Telegraph Culture News The Beatles: Historic 5th October first single The 5th October 1962 was a historic day for popular culture - with the first Beatles single Love Me Do and the premiere of the James Bond film Dr. No 6:45AM BST 05 Oct 2012 What happened on 5th October 1962 . . .

• The Beatles release their first single in the UK called Love Me Do (released on a 45rpm single format on Parlophone Label. October 5th 1962 was a Friday. The record gets to number seventeen. It was later released, in an alternative version, in the United States on 27th April, 1964 and went to Number One. The No1 single in the UK when Love Me Do was released was Telstar by the Tornados. • Dr. No, the first James Bond film, starring Sean Connery and Ursual Andress (above), premièred in UK cinemas. Dr. No is set in London, Jamaica and Crab Key, a fictional island off Jamaica. • French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou (below) resigns, but President de Gaulle asks him to stay in office. Related Articles The Story of the Beatles' First Single, 'Love Me Do' REDDIT Fox Photos, Getty Images Not all cultural revolutions take place overnight. Some begin with little fanfare and take a while to gather steam. That’s exactly what happened on Oct.

5, 1962, when the Beatles released their first single, “Love Me Do,” in the U.K. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney a few years earlier, “Love Me Do” was one of four songs the Beatles performed during their successful audition for George Martin several months earlier and slated for their debut single. However, Martin was dissatisfied with drummer Pete Best, who was subsequently fired. His replacement, Ringo Starr , had barely had time to rehearse with the band by the time of their first session on Sept. 4. Martin asked that they re-record the song a week later with studio musician Andy White on drums. Starr played the tambourine. Still, the version with Starr behind the kit was chosen by their label, EMI, as the single, with White’s version used for the U.S. release in the spring of 1964. Though it hardly ranks as one of their best songs, “Love Me Do” is noted for Lennon’s harmonica part, inspired by Delbert McClinton’s playing on Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby,” a big hit that summer. It also resulted in an added bonus.

With no overdubbing, Lennon’s harmonica playing meant that McCartney had to sing the a capella title line at the end of the verse by himself. Nerves caused McCartney’s voice to shake, which only made the girls scream even more. “Love Me Do” reached No. 17 on the U.K. charts, an unspectacular but respectable spot for an unknown group from Liverpool. But it was their second single, “Please Please Me,” released in January 1963, that rocketed up the charts and kicked off the phenomenon that became known as Beatlemania. Beatles Albums Ranked Worst to Best Image of 5th October 1962: First James Bond film & first Beatles single released – HistoryPod Subscribe using iTunes On the 5th October 1962, two cultural icons made their first appearance when Dr No – the first of the James Bond series of films – hit cinema screens on the same day as the Beatles released their debut single Love Me Do. Both James Bond and the Beatles went on to be huge worldwide successes from their humble low-budget beginnings in Britain, and their legacy as dominant forces in film and music continues to this day.

It may seem ironic now, but most Hollywood studios at the time were not interested in making the James Bond films because they were seen as being ‘too British’. Eventually United Artists agreed to provide $1 million dollars to fund the film, which was jointly produced by two expatriate Americans in Britain – Harry Saltzman and Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli – but this only covered the most basic production. Only one sound editor was employed, for example, and sets were built on a shoestring budget. The Beatles’ debut single, meanwhile, was recorded on three separate occasions due to problems with the drums. More precisely, the problem was the drummer – producer George Martin was unhappy with the loose R&B drum of the band’s first drummer, Pete Best, when they had first done an artist test in June. By the time the band arrived for their first official recording session Ringo Starr had replaced Best in the band, but a further session with professional session drummer Andy White was arranged because Martin didn’t like Ringo’s drum sound. Very early pressings of the single featured Ringo’s drumming, but later ones used the White recordings instead.

Love Me Do | The Beatles Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia ( view authors) . As there are far too many pages of this type, this page must be edited to be original at the earliest possible moment. This tag must not be removed until the rewrite is done — doing so is a (possibly criminal) violation of Wikipedia's copyright. Original Sleeve U.S. single cover "Love Me Do" is the Beatles ' first single, backed by " P.S. I Love You " and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-promoted (not re-issued, retaining the same catalogue number) and reached number four. In the United States the single was a number one hit in 1964. Contents Edit The song is an early Lennon–McCartney composition, principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958–1959 while playing truant from school at age 16. [1] John Lennon wrote the middle eight.

[1] [2] [3] Lennon: "Paul wrote the main structure of this when he was 16, or even earlier. I think I had something to do with the middle... Love Me Do is Paul's song. He wrote it when he was a teenager. Let me think. I might have helped on the middle eight, but I couldn't swear to it. I do know he had the song around, in Hamburg, even, way, way before we were songwriters". (David Sheff. John Lennon: All We Are Saying). [4] McCartney: "Love Me Do was completely co-written. It might have been my original idea but some of them really were 50-50s, and I think that one was. It was just Lennon and McCartney sitting down without either of us having a particularly original idea. We loved doing it, it was a very interesting thing to try and learn to do, to become songwriters. I think why we eventually got so strong was we wrote so much through our formative period.

Love Me Do was our first hit, which ironically is one of the two songs that we control, because when we first signed to EMI they had a publishing company called Ardmore and Beechwood which took the two songs, Love Me Do and P.S. I Love You , and in doing a deal somewhere along the way we were able to get them back". (Barry Miles. Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now). [4] Their practice at the time was to scribble songs in a school notebook, dreaming of stardom, always writing "Another Lennon-McCartney Original" at the top of the page. [5] "Love Me Do" is intrinsically a song based around two simple chords: G7 and C, before moving to D for its middle eight. It first profiles Lennon playing a bluesy dry "dockside harmonica" riff, [6] then features Lennon and McCartney on joint lead vocals, including Everly Brothers -style harmonising during the beseeching "please" before McCartney sings the unaccompanied vocal line on the song's title phrase.

Lennon had previously sung the title sections, but this change in arrangement was made in the studio under the direction of producer George Martin when he realised that the harmonica part encroached on the vocal (Lennon needed to begin playing the harmonica again on the same beat as the "do" of "love me do". [7] Although when a similar situation later occurred on the " Please Please Me " single session, the harmonica was superimposed afterwards using tape-to-tape overdubbing). [8] Described by Ian MacDonald as "standing out like a bare brick wall in a suburban sitting-room, 'Love Me Do', [with its] blunt working class northernness, rang the first faint chime of a revolutionary bell" compared to the standard Tin Pan Alley productions occupying the charts at the time. [9] "Love Me Do" was recorded by the Beatles on three different occasions with three different drummers at EMI Studios at 3 Abbey Road in London: EMI Artist Test on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums. [10] This version (previously thought to be lost) is available on Anthology 1 . First proper recording session 4 September 1962.

In August, Best had been replaced with Ringo Starr . Producer George Martin did not approve of Best's drumming for studio work. It was the norm at that time to have a specialist studio drummer who knew the ways of studio work. The decision to fire Best was not Martin's. The Beatles with Starr recorded a version at EMI Studios. [11] Second recording session 11 September 1962. One week later, the Beatles returned to the same studio and they made a recording of "Love Me Do" with session drummer Andy White on drums. Starr was relegated to playing tambourine. As tambourine is not present on the 4 September recording, this is the easiest way to distinguish between the Starr and White recordings. First issues of the single, however, did feature the Ringo Starr version, prompting Mark Lewisohn to later write: "Clearly, the 11 September version was not regarded as having been a significant improvement after all". [12] It was also later included on the compilation albums Rarities (American version) and Past Masters, Volume One .

The Andy White version of the track was included on the Beatles' debut UK album, Please Please Me , The Beatles' Hits EP , and all subsequent album releases on which "Love Me Do" was included. For the 1976 single re-issue and the 1982 "20th Anniversary" re-issue, the Andy White version was used. The CD single issued on 2 October 1992 contains both versions. [13] The Pete Best version remained unreleased until 1995, when it was included on the Anthology 1 album. "Love Me Do", featuring Starr drumming, was also recorded eight times at the BBC and played on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot, Saturday Club, Side By Side, Pop Go The Beatles and Easy Beat between October 1962 and October 1963. The version of "Love Me Do" recorded on 10 July 1963 at the BBC and broadcast on the 23 July 1963 Pop Go the Beatles programme can be heard on the Beatles album Live at the BBC .

The Beatles also performed the song live on the 20 February 1963 Parade of the Pops BBC radio broadcast. In 1969, during the Get Back sessions , the Beatles played the song in a slower, more bluesy form than they had in earlier recordings. This version of "Love Me Do" is one of many recordings made during these sessions and subsequently appeared on some bootlegs. The song featured no harmonica by Lennon, and McCartney sang the majority of the song in the same vocal style he used for " Lady Madonna ". Background Edit On 4 September 1962, Brian Epstein paid for the Beatles, along with their new drummer, Ringo Starr, to fly down from Liverpool to London. [14] After first checking into their Chelsea hotel, they arrived at EMI Studios early in the afternoon where they set up their equipment in Studio 3 and began rehearsing six songs including: " Please Please Me ", "Love Me Do" and a song originally composed for Adam Faith by Mitch Murray called " How Do You Do It? " which George Martin "was insisting, in the apparent absence of any stronger original material, would be the group's first single".

[15] [16] Lennon and McCartney had yet to impress Martin with their songwriting ability, and the Beatles had been signed as recording artistes on the basis of their charismatic appeal: "It wasn't a question of what they could do [as] they hadn't written anything great at that time." [17] "But what impressed me most was their personalities. Sparks flew off them when you talked to them" [18] During the course of an evening session that then followed (7:00 pm to 10:00 pm in Studio 2) they recorded "How Do You Do It" and "Love Me Do". An attempt at "Please Please Me" was made, but at this stage it was quite different to its eventual treatment and it was dropped by Martin. This was a disappointment for the group as they had hoped it would be the B-side to "Love Me Do". [19] The Beatles were keen to record their own material, something which was almost unheard of at that time, and it is generally accepted that it is to George Martin's credit that they were allowed to float their own ideas in the first instance.

But Martin insisted that unless they could write something as commercial as "How Do You Do It?" then the Tin Pan Alley practice of having the group record songs by professional songwriters (which was standard procedure then, and is still common today) would be followed. [15] MacDonald points out, however: "It's almost certainly true that there was no other producer on either side of the Atlantic then capable of handling the Beatles without damaging them — let alone of cultivating and catering to them with the gracious, open-minded adeptness for which George Martin is universally respected in the British pop industry." Martin rejects however the view that he was the "genius" behind the group: "I was purely an interpreter. The genius was theirs: no doubt about that." [20] It was on the 4 September session that, according to McCartney, Martin suggested using a harmonica. [2] However, Lennon's harmonica part was present on the Anthology 1 version of the song recorded during the 6 June audition with Pete Best on drums.

[21] Also, Martin's own recollection of this is different, saying: "I picked up on 'Love Me Do' because of the harmonica sound", adding: "I loved wailing harmonica — it reminded me of the records I used to issue of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. I felt it had a definite appeal." [22] Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee would be an influence on Bob Dylan, who, in turn, would later influence the Beatles. [23] Lennon had learned to play a chromatic harmonica that his Uncle George (late husband of his Aunt Mimi ) had given to him as a child. But the instrument being used at this time was one stolen by Lennon from a music shop in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in 1960, as the Beatles first journeyed to Hamburg by road.

[24] [22] [25] Lennon would have had this with him at the EMI audition on 6 June as Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby", with its harmonica intro, and a hit in the UK in March 1962, was one of the thirty three songs the Beatles had prepared (although only four were recorded: " Bésame Mucho "; "Love Me Do"; "P.S. I Love You" and " Ask Me Why ", of which only "Bésame Mucho" and "Love Me Do" survive and appear on Anthology 1 ). Brian Epstein had also booked American Bruce Channel to top a NEMS Enterprises promotion at New Brighton's Tower Ballroom, in Wallasey on 21 June 1962, just a few weeks after "Hey Baby" had charted, and placed the Beatles a prestigious second on the bill. Lennon was so impressed that night with Channel's harmonica player, Delbert McClinton, [26] that he later approached him for advice on how to play the instrument.

[27] Lennon makes reference also to Frank Ifield's "I Remember You" and its harmonica intro, a huge number one hit in the U.K in July 1962, saying: "The gimmick was the harmonica. There was a terrible thing called "I Remember You", and we did those numbers; and we started using it on "Love Me Do" just for arrangements". [28] The harmonica was to become a feature of the Beatles' early hits such as "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and " From Me to You " as well as various album tracks. Paul McCartney recalled, "John expected to be in jail one day and he'd be the guy who played the harmonica." [5] Martin came very close to issuing "How Do You Do It?" as the Beatles' first single (it would also re-appear as a contender for their second single) [29] before settling instead on "Love Me Do", as a mastered version of it was made ready for release and which still exists in EMI's archives.

[15] Martin commented later: "I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It?', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record." [15] McCartney would remark: "We knew that the peer pressure back in Liverpool would not allow us to do 'How Do You Do It'." [30] Remake and Andy White Edit Martin then decided that as "Love Me Do" was going to be the group's debut release it needed to be re-recorded with a different drummer as he was unhappy with the 4 September drum sound [31] (Abbey Road's Ken Townsend also recalls McCartney being dissatisfied with Starr's timing — due probably to him being under-rehearsed). [32] Record producers at that time were used to hearing the bass drum "lock in" with the bass guitar as opposed to the much looser R&B feel that was just beginning to emerge, and so professional show band drummers were often used for recordings. Ron Richards, placed in charge of the 11 September re-recording session in George Martin's absence, booked Andy White whom he had used in the past.

Starr was expecting to play, and would have been very disappointed to be dropped for only his second Beatles recording session: Richards remembers "He just sat there quietly in the control box next to me. Then I asked him to play maracas on 'P.S. I Love You'. Ringo is lovely — always easy going". [31] Starr recalled: "On my first visit in September we just ran through some tracks for George Martin. We even did Please Please Me. I remember that, because while we were recording it I was playing the bass drum with a maraca in one hand and a tambourine in the other. I think it's because of that that George Martin used Andy White, the 'professional', when we went down a week later to record Love Me Do. The guy was previously booked, anyway, because of Pete Best. George didn't want to take any more chances and I was caught in the middle. I was devastated that George Martin had his doubts about me.

I came down ready to roll and heard, 'We've got a professional drummer.'He has apologised several times since, has old George, but it was devastating — I hated the bugger for years; I still don't let him off the hook!" [33] Paul McCartney: "George got his way and Ringo didn't drum on the first single. He only played tambourine. I don't think Ringo ever got over that. He had to go back up to Liverpool and everyone asked, 'How did it go in the Smoke?' We'd say, 'B-side's good,' but Ringo couldn't admit to liking the a-side, not being on it." (From Anthology). [4] "Love Me Do" was recorded with White playing drums and Starr on tambourine, but whether using a session drummer solved the problem is unclear, as session engineer Norman Smith was to comment: "It was a real headache trying to get a [good] drum sound, and when you listen to the record now you can hardly hear the drums at all." [34] Ringo Starr's version was mixed "bottom-light" to hide Starr's bass drum.

[35] Early pressings of the single (issued with a red Parlophone label) are the 4 September version — minus tambourine — with Starr playing drums. But later pressings of the single (on a black Parlophone label), and the version used for the Please Please Me album, are the 11 September re-record with Andy White on drums and Starr on tambourine. This difference has become fundamental in telling the two recordings of "Love Me Do" apart. Regarding the editing sessions that then followed all these various takes, Ron Richards remembers the whole thing being a bit fraught, saying: "Quite honestly, by the time it came out I was pretty sick of it. I didn't think it would do anything." [36] Ron Richards Edit There are major discrepancies regarding the White session, and who produced it.

In his book Summer of Love, Martin concedes that his version of events differs from some accounts, saying: "On the 6 June Beatles' session (audition) I decided that Pete Best had to go [and said to Epstein] I don't care what you do with Pete Best; but he's not playing on any more recording sessions: I'm getting a session drummer in." [37] When Starr turned up with the group for their first proper recording session on 4 September, Martin says that he was totally unaware that the Beatles had fired Best; and, not knowing "how good bad or indifferent" Starr was, was not prepared to "waste precious studio time finding out." [37] Martin, therefore, appears to have this as the Andy White session in which Martin was present, and not 11 September. This definitely contradicts Mark Lewisohn 's account, as in his book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, he has Starr on drums on 4 September [15] and White for the 11 September re-make.

[31] Lewisohn also says that Richards was in charge on 11 September, which means, if accurate, that Richards was sole producer of the White version of "Love Me Do". Martin says, "My diary shows that I did not oversee any Beatles recording sessions on 11 September - only the one on 4 September." [37] But, if Lewisohn's account is correct and "the 4 September session really hadn't proved good enough to satisfy George Martin" [31] it might seem odd that Martin was not then present to oversee the 11 September re-make. In his memoirs, assistant engineer Geoff Emerick supports the Lewisohn version, recounting that Starr played drums at the 4 September session (Emerick's second day at EMI), and that Martin, Smith and McCartney were all dissatisfied with (the under rehearsed) Starr's timekeeping. [38] Emerick places White firmly at the second session, and describes the reactions of Mal Evans and Starr to the substitution. [39] Emerick also noted that Martin only came in very late in the 11 September session, after work on "Love Me Do" was complete.

[39] Andy White confirms that he was booked by Ron Richards for the 11 September session, not by George Martin, who he says "could not make the session, could not get there till the end, so he had Ron Richards handle it". White also says that he recognises his own drumming on the released version of "Please Please Me", recorded that same session with him on drums. [40] Charts Edit #1 on US charts (30 May 1964), Top 100 for 14 weeks. When it entered the charts, it was due to sales of imported copies from Canada with Starr on drums. [41] On 27 April 1964 it was released in the US by Vee-Jay Records on the Tollie label [42] with White on drums. Missing master tape Edit The original master tapes of the 4 September version of "Love Me Do" are not known to exist. Standard procedure at Abbey Road Studios at the time was to erase the original two-track session tape for singles once they had been "mixed down" to the (usually mono) master tape used to press records.

This was the fate of two Beatles singles (four songs): "Love Me Do", "P.S. I Love You", " She Loves You ", and " I'll Get You ". However, at some point the mixdown master tape for this song was also lost, and apparently no backup copies had been made. Thus, for many years the only extant recorded copies were the red label Parlophone 45 rpm vinyl records pressed in 1962. This version was also issued in Canada as Capitol 72076. [43] By the time the tapes had disappeared, the song's 11 September 1962 remake featuring Andy White had been released. EMI would not have been too concerned about the loss of the 4 September take, therefore, as it was now considered obsolete, and they may not have anticipated ever having any use for it again anyway. Around 1980, a reasonably clean, original 45 single from EMI's archives was used as the "best available source" for the track's inclusion on the Capitol compilation LP Rarities .

A few years later, a new master tape was struck, this time using another, better-sounding 45 supplied by a record collector, and this has served as the official EMI master tape for the original "Love Me Do" ever since. 50th Anniversary Mix-Up Edit EMI's planned release of a 50th anniversary limited-edition replica of the original single was cancelled when it was discovered that the pressings contained the Andy White version instead of the Ringo version as intended. Revised release plans have been announced for a limited-edition replica vinyl version of the Beatles‘ first single, “Love Me Do” backed with “P.S. I Love You,” in honour of the 50th anniversary of its release in the U.K. The 7-inch disc originally was scheduled to hit stores on October 5, the single’s actual golden anniversary, but it was reissued (in its corrected version) on 22 October. Personnel Engineered by Norman Smith. [4] Recording and mixing details Edit 6 June 1962: an unknown number of takes recorded for what was most likely an artist test. [10] 4 September 1962: an unknown number of takes recorded.

Mono mixing of the song from an unknown take number. [11] 11 September 1962: 18 takes recorded with Andy White on drums. Take 18 used as master. [44] Remix 10 April 2013: the first legal remix of "Love Me Do" is released as single. Produced by the progressive DJ/producer Spankox who also officially remixed Elvis Presley, the remix is included in the EP titled "The Beatles Are Back".

Cover versions "Love Me Do" has been covered by (among others): Alvin and the Chipmunks on their 1964 album The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles Hits [45] Bobby Vee on his 1964 album, 30 Big Hits from the 60s [46] Dick Hyman on his 1964 album, Keyboard Kaleidoscope [47] Sandie Shaw on her 1969 album, Reviewing the Situation [48] The Brady Bunch on their 1972 album The Kids from the Brady Bunch [49] Ringo Starr on his 1998 album, Vertical Man [50] Flaco Jiménez on his 2000 album, Sleepytown [51] Madooo on his 2002 album, This Day Is Forever [52] The Persuasions on their 2002 album, The Persuasions Sing the Beatles [53] Emmerson Nogueira on his 2004 album, Beatles [54] Charts CD Album - The Beatles - The 1962 Rare Broadcasts Raw Live And Real - It

 Was Fifty Years Ago Today - UK The 1962 Rare Broadcasts Raw Live And Real Label: First Ever Radio Interview 27th October 1962 Original Red Label Parlophone Single Released 5th October 1962 Here We Go Radio Show Aired 26th October 1962 Teenagers Turn - Here We Go Radio Show Aired 8th March 1962 Know The North TV Audio Sessions 5th September 1962 Teenagers Turn - Here We Go Radio Show Aired 15th June 1962 Know The North TV Sessions Recorded August 1962 Teenagers Turn - Here We Go Radio Show Aired 26th October 1962 Notes Digipak CD.

Track 1 recorded at Hulme Hall in Birkenhead on 27th October 1962 by Monty Lister for the "Sunday Spin", a programme for Clatterbridge and Clever hospital radio with guest interviewers Malcolm Treadgill and Peter Smethurst. Track 2 recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London and released on 5th October 1962. This version is the red label Parlophone pressing featuring Ringo Starr on drums. Track 3 recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London and released as the B side of Love Me Do. Tracks 4 and 14 recorded at The Manchester Playhouse Theatre on the 26th October 1962 for the BBC radio show "Teenagers Turn - Here We Go". Tracks 5 - 7 recorded live at the Playhouse Theatre, Manchester on the 7th March 1962 for the BBC radio show "Teenagers Turn - Here We Go". Tracks 8 and 9 recorded live at the Cavern Club, Liverpool on 5th September 1962 originally for the Granada TV show "Know The North".

Tracks 10 - 12 recorded live at the Playhouse Theatre, Manchester on the 11th June 1962 for the BBC radio show "Teenagers Turn - Here We Go". Track 13 recorded live at the Cavern Club, Liverpool on 22nd August 1962 originally for the Granada TV show "Know The North". For more information about these recordings see Richie Unterberger's excellent book The Unreleased Beatles , Backbeat Books, 2006. Images The Guitar That Launched The Beatles The Guitar That Launched The Beatles Andrew Vaughan | 08.02.2016 “Love Me Do,” The Beatles’ first-ever single, announced a revolution in rock and roll. The fresh-faced Liverpudlians — Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr — sounded like nothing else on British radio in October 1962. As Harrison remembered in The Beatles Anthology: “First hearing 'Love Me Do' on the radio sent me shivery all over. It was the best buzz of all time. We knew it was going to be on Radio Luxembourg at something like 7:30 on a Thursday night.

I was in my house in Speke and we all listened in.” With its Everly-inspired harmonies, strident bass and thumping drums and that distinctive, bluesy harmonica riff, “Love Me Do” stood out amidst a sea of early ’60s British pop mediocrity. And high in the mix is Lennon’s chiming acoustic guitar, played on his new and highly prized Gibson J-160E. 1962 was a crucial year in Beatles history. Liverpool businessman Brian Epstein signed on as manager in January, Lennon’s art-school pal and the band’s original bass player, Stu Sutcliffe, died in April and, after being turned down by pretty much every label in town, they finally signed a record deal in June with Parlophone. They made their first test recordings with George Martin in June. In August, Lennon got married and The Beatles finally became The Fab Four when, Ringo Starr joined the holy trinity of John, Paul and George. With Pete Best still on drums, the group had gone to Abbey Road for some test recordings in June and had been told a few home truths by the studio engineers and Mr. Martin.

Engineer Norman Smith told Mark Lewisohn in The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions that the band were given “a long lecture about their equipment and what would have to be done about it if they were to become recording artists.” Taking the recording studio advice to heart, George Harrison and John Lennon, remembering Tony Sheridan’s impressive Gibson ES-175, decided they needed some Gibson power and finesse of their own and both fancied a J-160E acoustic. The only problem with that was the price. England, in 1962, was still recovering from two World Wars. The economy was still precarious and the average yearly wage was only £800. The Gibson J-160Es cost a cool £161 apiece, a steep price for even a successful live band of the time. Fortunately, The Beatles had a relatively wealthy manager in Brian Epstein and he co-signed for their payment plan at Rushworh's music store in Liverpool. But even Epstein took a year to pay off the guitars! The famous old music store was one of a select few Liverpool stores for U.S. guitars, which were still tough to acquire in England in 1962.

It was the store where Paul McCartney’s father bought the 14-year-old Macca his first guitar. The Beatles purchased a lot of their early band instruments from Hessy’s music store in Liverpool, but their tab had passed £200 when Epstein came into the picture and he had to pay off the debt with a personal check. So Rushworth's it was for the Gibsons. A photo-op ceremony was set up from Bill Harry’s Merseybeat paper, and John and George were both presented with their prized sunburst Gibson J-160Es by James Rushworth. Peter Kaye took pictures for Merseybeat and the shot was printed in the paper with the caption, “John Lennon and George Harrison of The Beatles, seen at Rushworth’s when they received their Gibson guitars--the only ones of their type in the country--which were specially flown to England by jet from America.” The J-160Es arrived just in time for the historic London recording sessions the next day, September 11, when at EMI Abbey Road Studio Two London, Lennon played his brand spanking new Gibson J-160E on the sessions for The Beatles' first single.

Their record was released just three weeks later, on October 5th, 1962, on the Parlophone label. “Love Me Do” made it to #17 on the U.K singles chart. The Beatles had arrived. Lennon used his Gibson J-160E extensively over the next year for recordings, radio and TV appearances and live shows. But in December 1963, just after Epstein had made his final payment for the guitar, the 160E was stolen and never found again. It was, in fact, George Harrisons’ J-160E that Lennon played in scenes in A Hard Day’s Night. Later in 1964, Lennon picked up a replacement Gibson J-160E, almost the same but with double white rings around the sound hole. This is the guitar he took with him on their historic visit to America in 1964, the beginning of the British Invasion. Love Me Do - The Beatles - YouTube Love Me Do - The Beatles Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented.

This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jul 31, 2012 Category

Question: What was the title of the first single released by The Beatles in October 1962?
Answer: Love Me Do