Although their musical legacy would inextricably link itself to Abbey Road Studios, formerly EMI Recording Studios, The Beatles didn’t make a good first impression when they first arrived to record in the summer of 1962. Their equipment was shoddy. They were only performing cover material that didn’t show off their songwriting abilities. And, perhaps most notably, they were still finalizing their official lineup.
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Three months later, the band returned to Abbey Road for another rehearsal and recording session, this time with their latest (and final) drummer in tow. Unsurprisingly, the second “first time” was much better.
The Full Beatles Lineup Record at Abbey Road Together
When The Beatles first arrived at EMI Recording Studios, they looked noticeably different from the Fab Four we know them as today. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison were all there, but they were still drumming with Pete Best. The band replaced Best in the time between that June 1962 session and their return visit in September. During this second session, they had Ringo Starr in tow. With their final lineup and a firmer idea of the entire recording process, it’s no wonder that The Beatles fared much better the second time around.
On the afternoon of September 4, 1962, The Beatles rehearsed six songs over three hours, including “Love Me Do”, “How Do You Do It”, “P.S. I Love You”, “Please Please Me”, “Tip Of My Tongue”, and “Ask Me Why”. After they ran through all their material, producer George Martin, road manager Neil Aspinall, and the four musicians took a break for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. The group discussed potential first singles over a spaghetti meal. Martin was pushing for “How Do You Do It”. The rest of the band wasn’t so sure.
Nevertheless, when they returned to the studio after dinner, “How Do You Do It” was the first song the band cut. After that, they moved on to an original composition, “Love Me Do”. The entire process took about four hours, with the session running over by around 75 minutes. Studio engineers pressed the tracks onto acetate. Martin and manager Brian Epstein then pored over them, trying to predict which would be the bigger hit for the rising rock ‘n’ roll band.
The Band Put Their Feet Down for the First of Many Times
The Beatles’ first time recording with their official lineup at Abbey Road Studios was notable for multiple reasons. Not only did the experience solidify the group’s ability to play, rehearse, and record well with one another. But it also marked one of the first of many times The Beatles put their foot (or feet) down about their creative convictions. They didn’t want their first single to be a cover. They wanted to release original music. Thus, “Love Me Do” was the chosen single, not “How Do You Do It”, a risky but rewarding decision that propelled the Fab Four to fame.
“Love Me Do” topped the charts in the U.S., U.K., New Zealand, and Australia. (Not bad for a band’s debut single.) Despite the perceived assuredness with which they burst onto the scene, The Beatles could hear how nervous they were in the recording—particularly Paul McCartney. Because John Lennon couldn’t sing the line “please love me do” and play harmonica at the same time, McCartney unexpectedly got called to sing the last half of the lyric so the mouth organ could come in.
“I got the screaming heebeegeebies,” McCartney later recalled in Mark Lewisohn’s The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. “We were doing it live. There was no real overdubbing. So, I was suddenly given this massive moment on our first record. No backing, where everything stopped, the spotlight was on me. I went [in shaky singing voice], “love me do.” I can still hear the shake in my voice when I listen to that record! I was terrified.”
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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