Love Me Do

"Love Me Do"
Love Me Do.jpg
US picture sleeve
Single by the Beatles
from the album Please Please Me
B-side"P.S. I Love You"
Released
  • 5 October 1962 (1962-10-05) (UK)
  • 27 April 1964 (US)
Recorded
  • 4 September 1962 (1962-09-04) (UK single version)
  • 11 September 1962 (1962-09-11) (album/US single version)
StudioEMI, London
Genre
Length2:22
Label
Songwriter(s)Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)George Martin
The Beatles UK singles chronology
"My Bonnie"
(1962) 		"Love Me Do"
(1962) 		"Please Please Me"
(1963)
The Beatles US singles chronology
"Do You Want to Know a Secret"
(1964) 		"Love Me Do"
(1964) 		"Sie liebt dich"
(1964)

"Love Me Do" is the debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by "P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United States in 1964 and topped the nation's song chart. Re-released in 1982 as part of EMI's Beatles 20th anniversary, it re-entered the UK charts and peaked at number 4.[5] "Love Me Do" also topped the charts in Australia and New Zealand.

The song was written several years before being recorded, and prior to the existence of the Beatles. It features John Lennon's prominent harmonica playing and duet vocals by him and Paul McCartney. Three recorded versions of the song by the Beatles have been released, each with a different drummer. The first attempted recording from June 1962 featured Pete Best on drums, but was not officially released until the Anthology 1 compilation in 1995. A second version was recorded three months later with Best's replacement Ringo Starr, and this was used for the original Parlophone single first pressing. A third version, featuring session drummer Andy White in place of Starr, was used for the second pressing and also included on the band's Please Please Me album and on the 1964 Tollie single in the US. It was also included on the American LPs Introducing... The Beatles and The Early Beatles.

  1. ^ "Merseybeat – Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  2. ^ Pollack 2000.
  3. ^ Gregory 2008.
  4. ^ Deville, Chris (27 November 2013). "Beatles Albums From Worst to Best". Stereogum. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  5. ^ Gambaccini 1989, p. 27.