Please Please Me

In an era when musical artists often take months to complete an album, it’s hard to believe that the Beatles recorded their first album in a single day. But just over 50 years ago, on 11 February 1963, the Beatles entered EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London and emerged 14 hours later having recorded 10 songs that would be included on their first album along with four songs from two previous single releases. Please Please Me gave us “Twist and Shout,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and other Beatle classics, and spent 30 weeks on top of the UK charts. Please Please Me is a short e-book that brings the legendary recording session to life through a compelling blend of fact and fiction. The session came at an interesting juncture in the Beatles’ career when they were stepping up from being a bar band but before Beatlemania had been unleashed, and proved to be a watershed moment for them, for their producer, George Martin, and for their manager, Brian Epstein. It’s a story many of us can relate to – venturing into the world at a young age when everything seems possible and all you yearn to do is to make your mark on the world – then finally that one day arrives that can make or break you. 11 February 1963 was that day for the Beatles.