Love Me Do

(Lennon/McCartney)

Quick Facts

Composer	John & Paul
Lead Vocal	Paul & John
Recorded	Sep 1962
Length	2:22
Key	G
Noted Takes	18
Producer	George Martin / Ron Richards
Engineer	Norman Smith

Originally released on

Love Me Do (single)

Parlophone — 45-R 4949

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Story

"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. [Wikipedia]

McCartney wrote the song aged 16, on the family piano in Forthlin Road, Liverpool. Lennon contributed the harmonica hook (Lennon had bought a chromatic harmonica in Hamburg). It was their debut single. Paul sang lead on the recorded version after George Martin identified a harmonic conflict between John's vocal and harmonica parts. McCartney later recalled the uncomfortable spontaneity of this arrangement: "I was suddenly given this… suddenly pushed into it" (Lewisohn 1988, p.6). The song's blues roots were acknowledged by McCartney in interview: 'Love Me Do was us trying to do the blues. It came out whiter because it always does' (Lewisohn 1988, p.7).

Recorded three times in 1962: at the 6 June artist test with Pete Best on drums (that tape was destroyed once it was clear nothing from the test would be issued — Lewisohn p.17), on 4 September with Ringo Starr at his first Beatles session, and again on 11 September, when Ron Richards — producing in George Martin's absence — brought in session drummer Andy White and moved Ringo to tambourine. The mapping of versions to releases is the reverse of what many assume: the 4 September Ringo version was on the original UK single (Parlophone 45-R 4949), while the 11 September Andy White version — the one with the tambourine — went on the Please Please Me LP and, from 1963, on all single pressings (Lewisohn p.22). Eighteen takes of the re-make were recorded before one proved satisfactory (Lewisohn p.20). For the full mix-and-master lineage, see the dedicated section below.

Someone else has got to sing 'Love Me Do' because you can't go 'Love Me waahhh'.— George Martin, recalled by Paul McCartney (Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p.6)

George Martin didn't think that Ringo was a very good drummer… Andy White was the kind of professional drummer…— Paul McCartney, interviewed in Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p.6

What's distinctive

The Beatles’ debut single, and one of the canon’s dual lead vocals — Paul on the title hook, John answering on harmonica. Recorded approximately 1 of 67 into the Beatlemania (1962–1964) sessions. Carries the unique tag ‘debut-single’ — no other song shares it. Take count: 18 — the 11 September Andy White re-make was logged in eighteen takes; the 4 September Ringo version took 15 takes for its rhythm track.¹

Recording

No other Beatles song was recorded as many times, by as many drummers. Love Me Do was committed to tape three separate times in 1962 — once with Pete Best, once with Ringo Starr, once with the session man Andy White — and the record the public bought changed underneath them a year later. It was Love Me Do that won the contract: at the 6 June 1962 artist test “it was during ‘Love Me Do’ that Norman Smith pricked up his ears,” and the engineer sent for George Martin. That Pete Best tape did not survive — when it was clear nothing from the test would be issued, “the tapes – two quarter-inch reels – were destroyed.”¹
The version that became the single, then the version that replaced it. The single (Parlophone 45-R 4949, 5 October 1962) carried the 4 September Ringo recording — backing first (“15 takes to get right”), then superimposed vocals, taped “solely to mono.” A week later, unhappy with the drum sound, Ron Richards booked session drummer Andy White for an 18-take re-make and handed Ringo a tambourine. From 1963 the album and every single pressing carried the Andy White take; “to ensure this, the master tape of Ringo’s version was destroyed.” The most famous drummer in the world is, on the most familiar pressing, playing tambourine.^1,2
Why Paul sings the title hook. John could not sing “Love me do” and answer it on harmonica at the same instant. McCartney recalled Martin spotting the collision: “there’s a crossover there. Someone else has got to sing ‘Love Me Do’ because you can’t go ‘Love Me waahhh’… So, Paul, will you sing ‘Love Me Do’!” The harmonica answer and the lead vocal were split between two people to keep both alive — the song was, in McCartney’s words, “us trying to do the blues.”¹

Equipment

Studio	EMI Studios, Abbey Road — Studio Two (artist test, 6 Jun 1962; Ringo version, 4 Sep 1962; Andy White re-make, 11 Sep 1962; LP “stereo” mix, 25 Feb 1963)¹
Tape machine	Recorded straight to mono — the 1962 Love Me Do sessions were taped to mono only (the LP “stereo” is derived from the 11 September mono remix); NOT the Studer J37 four-track²
Console	REDD.37 valve desk (Studio Two control room)²
Microphones	Neumann U47, U48; AKG D19 (drums); STC 4038 (overheads)
Outboard / effects	EMI RS124 compressors (Main Channels I–II), RS114 limiters (III–IV), EMT 140 plate reverb
Guitars	Rickenbacker 325 (Lennon), Gretsch Country Gent / Tennessean (Harrison), Höfner 500/1 violin bass (McCartney); makeshift Leak/Tannoy bass rig (see Studio Notes)
Amplifiers	Vox AC30 (TB & non-Top-Boost variants)

Recording Timeline

6 June 1962 (Wed) — artist test, Pete Best on drums (tape destroyed), EMI Studio Two/Three — The Beatles cut four songs (“Besame Mucho” plus the originals Love Me Do, P.S. I Love You and Ask Me Why); it was Love Me Do that made Norman Smith fetch George Martin. Nothing was to be issued, so the two quarter-inch reels were destroyed — only “Besame Mucho” later survived on a private reel.¹
4 September 1962 (Tue) — Ringo Starr version, to mono, EMI Studio Two — P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. Ringo’s first Beatles session; backing track first (“15 takes to get right”), then superimposed vocals, with handclaps dropped into the middle-eight. This is the take on the original single — the one without the tambourine.^1,2
11 September 1962 (Tue) — Andy White re-make, takes 1–18, to mono, EMI Studio Two — 10.00am–1.00pm. P: Ron Richards. E: Norman Smith. Richards booked session drummer Andy White (“we weren’t happy with the drum sound on the original”); Ringo, displaced on only his second session, played tambourine. “It took 18 takes before it was perfect.” This is the take with the tambourine — the album and post-1963 single version.¹
5 October 1962 — UK single released (Parlophone 45-R 4949) — b/w P.S. I Love You, carrying the 4 September Ringo version; it “rose to 17 in the charts, a healthy debut.” The 250 advance promo copies carried a famous misprint: “McArtney” for McCartney.¹
25 February 1963 (Mon) — LP “stereo” from the 11 September mono remix, EMI Studio Two control room — For the stereo Please Please Me LP, Love Me Do’s “stereo” was mixed from the 11 September 1962 mono remix — the mono recording placed into the stereo master, because the 1962 sessions had been taped to mono only. There is no genuine 1962 stereo of the song.^1,2

Ringo didn't play drums at all that evening… on 'Love Me Do' he played the tambourine. Today this remains the easiest way of determining which recording of 'Love Me Do' is which. The one without the tambourine is from 4 September, the one with is 11 September.— Mark Lewisohn (with Ron Richards)¹

Studio Notes

Rhythm track first, vocals superimposed — the method named for this song. The 1962 routine: “first concentrating on the rhythm (backing) track. This took 15 takes… Then the vocals were superimposed.” Kehew & Ryan describe the same routine and cite Love Me Do directly as the example — “concentrating first on the recording of a suitable rhythm track before overdubbing vocals (as had been done with ‘Love Me Do’ in 1962).”^1,2
Recorded solely to mono. Both the 4 and 11 September sessions went straight to mono; “all songs during this period were recorded to either Twin-Track tape or straight to mono.” This is the technical reason there is no real stereo of the song — the LP “stereo” had to be lifted from the mono remix.²
Handclaps flown into the middle-eight. During the vocal-superimposition pass on 4 September, “the group also added handclaps to the middle-eights” of Love Me Do and “How Do You Do It.”²
The makeshift bass rig born at the audition. Paul’s amp was so noisy at the 6 June test that Ken Townsend soldered a ¼″ jack onto a spare Leak Point One preamp, fed it through a Leak TL12 amplifier and a Tannoy speaker, and “the troublesome distortion and rattling were eliminated”; the lash-up “performed quite admirably as a bass rig… that the Beatles would use it repeatedly in sessions through much of 1962 and ’63.” It is the bass sound on these Love Me Do takes.^1,2
The 1962 Studio Two signal chain. The valve REDD.37 console (eight inputs, four outputs, two echo sends and returns, expandable to ten inputs), a pair of EMI RS124 compressors on Main Channels I–II, a pair of RS114 limiters on III–IV, and Altec 605A monitors driven by repackaged Leak amplifiers. This is the desk that printed every surviving Love Me Do master.²
The 1963 version swap and the destroyed master. The single’s content was changed at the time of the EP The Beatles’ Hits; future pressings standardised on the Andy White take, and “to ensure this, the master tape of Ringo’s version was destroyed.” A deliberate act of catalogue housekeeping erased one of the three recordings — the third (Pete Best) having already gone in 1962.¹

Releases

6 June 1962 artist test — Pete Best on drums — recorded, destroyed, no longer exists — Cut at the EMI audition alongside “Besame Mucho,” P.S. I Love You and Ask Me Why; the take that made Norman Smith fetch George Martin. When it was clear nothing would be issued, “the tapes – two quarter-inch reels – were destroyed”; only “Besame Mucho” survived, on a private reel found in the early 1980s. The only EMI Love Me Do with Pete Best — lost.¹
4 September 1962 mono — Ringo Starr on drums — the original single (Parlophone 45-R 4949, 5 October 1962) — Backing first (“15 takes to get right”), then superimposed vocals; recorded solely to mono. This Ringo take is on the pre-1963 single pressings — the one without the tambourine. Its master tape was later destroyed when the single was standardised on the White version. The 250 advance copies carried the famous “McArtney” misprint, corrected before regular copies were pressed.^1,2
11 September 1962 mono re-make — Andy White on drums, Ringo on tambourine — takes 1–18 — the album and the post-1963 single — Ron Richards booked White because “we weren’t happy with the drum sound on the original”; again recorded to mono. The version with the tambourine, it appeared on the EP The Beatles’ Hits, on the Please Please Me LP, and on all single pressings from 1963.^1,2
25 February 1963 LP “stereo” — derived from the 11 September mono remix, not a true stereo — When the stereo Please Please Me LP was assembled, Love Me Do’s “stereo” was mixed from the 11 September 1962 mono remix — the mono recording placed into the stereo master, because the 1962 sessions had been taped to mono only. It sits on the mono PMC 1202 / stereo PCS 3042 LP. There is no genuine stereo Love Me Do from 1962.^1,2
The 1962 single (Ringo) version on Past Masters / Mono Masters — the album replaced the original single’s Ringo version with the Andy White take; the Ringo single version is collected on Past Masters, Volume One (1988) and, in mono, on Mono Masters (2009). Per §1 less-specific-when-uncertain, these reissues post-date the Lewisohn 1988 / Kehew & Ryan 2006 primary-source canon and are documented in official Apple/EMI release metadata.
1987 mono CD — Please Please Me (Parlophone CDP 7 46435 2, mono) — the album’s first compact-disc issue was mono-only; the first four Beatles albums were issued on CD in mono.¹
2009 stereo remaster — Please Please Me (9 September 2009, Apple/EMI) — a 24-bit Abbey Road remaster of the 1963 stereo master (Allan Rouse / Guy Massey / Steve Rooke / Sean Magee), with no remixing. Same §1 caveat.
2009 mono remaster — The Beatles in Mono (9 September 2009, Apple/EMI) — the 1963 mono master remastered for the mono box set. Same §1 caveat.
2014 mono vinyl — The Beatles in Mono vinyl box (2014, Apple/UMe) — an all-analogue vinyl cut from the 1963 mono master. Same §1 caveat.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 6–7, 17–18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 200.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 348, 350–351, 359.

Frequently asked

Who wrote Love Me Do?

“Love Me Do” was written by Lennon–McCartney (largely McCartney, aged 16, with Lennon’s harmonica hook).

Who sings lead on Love Me Do?

Paul McCartney sings the title hook and John Lennon answers on harmonica — George Martin split the line because John could not sing and play the harmonica at the same instant.¹

When was Love Me Do recorded?

In 1962 — an artist test on 6 June (Pete Best), the single version on 4 September (Ringo Starr) and the album re-make on 11 September (Andy White), all at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.¹

How many takes did Love Me Do require?

The 11 September 1962 Andy White re-make was logged in 18 takes; the 4 September Ringo version took 15 takes for its rhythm track.¹

On this page

Story

What's distinctive

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

Studio Notes

Releases

Sources

Frequently asked