More than 60 years ago, producer George Martin took a chance on a band from Liverpool and altered the course of the music industry forever. For 10 years, the Beatles kept a chokehold on the charts, and even five decades after their breakup, no musical act has outsold them to date. On this day in 1962, the quartet consisting of George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Star released their debut single in their home country.
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Released Oct. 5, 1962, “Love Me Do” spent 26 weeks on the United Kingdom charts, peaking at No. 17. Although it wouldn’t reach the U.S. for another two years, Martin called the song’s UK release “the day the world changed.”
Although John Lennon referred to “Love Me Do” as “Paul’s song,” McCartney insisted it was a collaborative effort. “It was just Lennon and McCartney sitting down without either of us having a particularly original idea,” he said in his 1997 biography Many Years From Now. “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.”
The Beatles actually recorded “Love Me Do” three separate times. The first came in June 1962, with original drummer Pete Best. Three months later, the band recorded it again with Ringo Starr, who replaced Best after Martin didn’t approve of his drumming for studio work. One week later, they tackled it again, this time with Andy White on drums and Starr relegated to tambourine.
[RELATED: Why George Martin’s Doubt in Ringo Starr Led to a Feud That Lasted for Years]
Paul McCartney “Can Still Hear the Nervousness” on the Beatles’ First Recording
Not only “Love Me Do” the Beatles’ first-ever recording, it was also bassist Paul McCartney’s first time on vocals. Lennon usually took the lead, but for this one, George Martin wanted him on harmonica.
“So I suddenly got thrown the big open line, ‘Love me do,’ where everything stopped,” McCartney said. “Until that session, John had always done it. I didn’t even know how to sing it… I can still hear the nervousness in my voice.”
Ringo Starr added, “The first record, Love Me Do, for me that was more important than anything else. That first piece of plastic. You can’t believe how great that was. It was so wonderful. We were on a record!”
Featured image by Sammlung Horst Fascher – K & K/Redferns
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