On This Day in 1962, The Beatles Released the Single That “Changed the World” Forever.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.
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.
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.
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!”
OTHER RELATED TOPICS: Beatles Legend Paul McCartney Hated This Highly Praised Beatles Song
Sir Paul McCartney needs no introduction as a former Beatles’ member of the Beatles, one of the most revered bands in music history, and as a successful solo artist in his own right. After nearly seven decades in the music industry, McCartney is still admired in the industry and by fans worldwide for his vocals, songwriting, and proficiency with multiple musical instruments. Regarding his songwriting, McCartney has penned some of music’s most legendary songs, such as “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be”. Writing melodies and lyrics is no easy task, yet McCartney has made it sound effortless with his innate talent and diligent work. But there is one classic song by The Beatles that he loathes the most, and the reason might shock you.
The Unusal Reason Paul McCartney Dislikes “She Said, She Said”
Paul McCartney has long been revered for his songwriting, so much so, in fact, that Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him as the second-best songwriter of all time, just narrowly beating out Bob Dylan. And after nearly 70 years in the music industry, still going strong, with his last album, McCartney III, released to critical and commercial success, it would seem unlikely that the nineteen-time Grammy Award winner would have any regrets in his prolific career. However, according to the rock ‘n’ roll legend, there are several songs in particular that he wrote for the group that made him famous that he disliked, in particular one of their most beloved hits.
“She Said, She Said,” released in 1966, was written by McCartney, along with fellow Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison. The nearly three-minute-long track became one of the British quartet’s most career-defining songs as it helped to usher in a new genre of music known as acid rock. Chiefly inspired by Lennon’s acid-fueled conversation with actor Peter Fonda, the single has not only gone down as a fan favorite among ardent Beatle fans, but the album it was featured on, “Revolver”, has been hailed by Rolling Stone Magazine as a “masterpiece.” However, despite all of this, not only did McCartney refuse to perform on the track and walked out during the recording in protest, but, as Express UK states, he grew to dislike the song. The reason behind this, the publication cites, is that McCartney felt alienated by Lennon in part because he hadn’t yet taken LSD at the time, making the material more difficult for him to connect with. “John brought it in pretty much finished,” McCartney recalled in the 1997 biography “Many Years From Now”. “I’m not sure, but I think it was one of the only Beatles records I never played on. I think we’d had a barney or something, and I said, ‘Oh, f*** you!’ and they said, ‘Well, we’ll do it.’ I think George played bass.”
The One Song Paul McCartney Wished He Had Written
There is no denying that The Beatles and The Beach Boys were among some of the most impactful bands that defined the 1960s. Each group revolutionized popular music with their inventive sound and infectious lyrics. While The Beatles integrated fusions of rock, pop, and experimental styles from the United Kingdom, The Beach Boys alternately combined impeccable harmonies with California’s surf culture into the forefront of music.
Although their music and legacy are often compared, resulting in a rivalry between them, the two bands have always expressed admiration for each other. Discussing the rivalry between them, McCartney once said, “Brian Wilson sort of proved himself to be a really amazing composer. I was into chords and harmonies and stuff at that time, and we ended up with kind of like a rivalry. We put a song out and Brian would hear it, and then he’d do one. Which is nice – it’s like me and John. You know, you kind of try and top each other all the time.”
McCartney also once revealed that The Beach Boys’ song, “God Only Knows”, greatly impacted him and was one he wished he had written. He told BBC Radio 1 in 2007, “‘God Only Knows’ is one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It’s really just a love song, but it’s brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian. I’ve actually performed it with him, and I’m afraid to say that during the sound check I broke down.”
McCartney continued, referencing his 2002 performance of “God Only Knows” with Wilson, “I got to sing it with Brian once when we did a benefit [show] together. I was okay at the actual performance; I held it together. But at the rehearsal, at the soundcheck, I lost it, because it’s very emotional, this song, I find it… ‘Oh my god, I’m singing with Brian,’ it just got me, I couldn’t. So all it is, it’s little vibrations reaching your music, it’s only little vibrations, little words, and little things. There is this powerful effect, you know.”
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