"Please Please Me" album session #1

From Wikipedia:

[…] The norm for British 12″ vinyl pop albums in 1963 was to have seven songs on each side (American albums usually had five or six songs per side) leaving producer George Martin needing only ten more tracks if he were to include the four sides of the group’s first two singles: “I asked them what they had which we could record quickly, and the answer was their stage act” Martin said. He had at first contemplated recording the album live at the Cavern Club in front of the group’s home audience and visited the Liverpool club on 9 December 1962 to consider the technicalities (or, as more recent scholarship indicates, on 12 December 1962.) But when time constraints intervened, he decided to book them at EMI Studios in Abbey Road and record them live there instead. Martin said, “It was a straightforward performance of their stage repertoire—a broadcast, more or less.”

Initially only a morning and afternoon session were booked; the evening session was added later. Therefore, at 10:00 am on Monday, 11 February 1963, the Beatles began working their way through their live set song by song, the number of takes varying on each, and finished at 10:45 pm—less than 13 hours later— capturing in essence an authentic representation of the band’s Cavern Club-era sound. The day ended with a cover of “Twist and Shout,” which had to be recorded last because John Lennon had a particularly bad cold and Martin feared the throat-shredding vocal would ruin Lennon’s voice for the day. This performance, caught on the first take, prompted Martin to say: “I don’t know how they do it. We’ve been recording all day but the longer we go on the better they get.” Mark Lewisohn would later write: “There can scarcely have been 585 more productive minutes in the history of recorded music“. Paul McCartney double tracked his vocal on “A Taste of Honey” and Lennon added harmonica onto “There’s A Place” during these sessions. Martin overdubbed piano on “Misery” and celesta on “Baby It’s You” on 20 February during which the Beatles were not present.

The song “Hold Me Tight” was recorded during these sessions, but was “surplus to requirements” and not included on the album. “Hold Me Tight” was recorded again on 12 September 1963 for With the Beatles.

The whole day’s session cost around £400 (£10,000 as of 2016). Martin said: “There wasn’t a lot of money at Parlophone. I was working to an annual budget of £55,000.” This budget had to cover all of the artists on Martin’s roster. Individually, under a contract with the Musicians’ Union, each Beatle collected a £7 10s (£7.50) session fee for each three-hour session. […]

Session activities

1. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 1

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

2. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 2

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

3. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 3

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

4. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 4

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

5. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 5

   AlbumOfficially released on Bootleg Recordings 1963

6. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 6

   AlbumOfficially released on Bootleg Recordings 1963

7. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 7

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

8. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 8

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

9. There's A Place

   Written by Lennon - McCartney

   Recording • Take 9

   AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

10. There's A Place

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 10

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

11. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 1

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

12. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 2

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

13. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 3

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

14. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 4

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

15. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 5

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

16. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 6

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

17. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 7

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

18. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 8

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

19. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 9

    AlbumOfficially released on Free As A Bird

20. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 1

    Unreleased track

21. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 2

    Unreleased track

22. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 3

    Unreleased track

23. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 4

    Unreleased track

24. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 5

    Unreleased track

25. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 1

    Unreleased track

26. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 2

    Unreleased track

27. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 3

    Unreleased track

28. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 4

    Unreleased track

29. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 5

    Unreleased track

30. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 6

    Unreleased track

31. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 7

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

32. Do You Want To Know A Secret

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 8

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

33. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 6

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

34. A Taste of Honey

    Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

    Recording • Take 7

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

35. There's A Place

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 11

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

36. There's A Place

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 12

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

37. There's A Place

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 13

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

38. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 10

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

39. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 11

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

40. I Saw Her Standing There

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 12

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

41. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 1

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

42. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 2

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

43. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 3

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

44. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 4

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

45. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 5

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

46. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 6

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

47. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 7

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

48. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 8

    AlbumReleased on bootleg Please Please Me - Studio Sessions - Back To Basics

49. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 9

50. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 10

51. Misery

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 11

52. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 1

53. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 2

54. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 3

55. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 4

56. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 5

57. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 6

58. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 7

59. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 8

60. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 9

61. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 10

62. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 11

63. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 12

64. Hold Me Tight

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    Recording • Take 13

65. Anna (Go to Him)

    Written by Arthur Alexander

    Recording • Take 1

66. Anna (Go to Him)

    Written by Arthur Alexander

    Recording • Take 2

67. Anna (Go to Him)

    Written by Arthur Alexander

    Recording • Take 3

68. Boys

    Written by Luther Dixon, Wes Farrell

    Recording • Take 1

69. Chains

    Written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King

    Recording • Take 1

70. Chains

    Written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King

    Recording • Take 2

71. Chains

    Written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King

    Recording • Take 3

72. Chains

    Written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King

    Recording • Take 4

73. Baby It's You

    Written by Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Barney Williams

    Recording • Take 1

74. Baby It's You

    Written by Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Barney Williams

    Recording • Take 2

75. Baby It's You

    Written by Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Barney Williams

    Recording • Take 3

76. Twist and Shout

    Written by Phil Medley, Bert Russell

    Recording • Take 1

77. Twist and Shout

    Written by Phil Medley, Bert Russell

    Recording • Take 2

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