Please Please Me

[The Big Guy]

Released March 22, 1963.

[Kylenz]

Are there any stereo versions of this available on cd? I think George Martin made a poor decision to remaster these early albums in mono back in 1988, I remember he said something at the time that he did it because it represented the vibe of The Beatles more appropriately, like having all of them gathered around a microphone there in your face.

I miss not being able to hear those handclaps off in the right hand channel in I Saw Her Standing There, or when Misery begins and Ringo's drums are heard off in the far left with the lead vocals on the right. To me, that will always be 'the sound' of the album. I'd love to come across a stereo version of this album some day.

And yeah, it's one of the most impressive debut albums of all time by any artist ever. Made more impressive by the sheer speed at which they worked in the studio - something like 24 hours total. Unreal.

[mervap]

You've done it now, Mr. K....Your stereo comment made me go to my album collection and pull this one from cold storage! It is in surprisingly good shape and you were spot on....I really do miss the strange mixing on that album.

The Mark Lewisohn book "The Beatles Recording Sessions" clocks the boys studio time on this album at 585 minutes...that's nine hours and 45 minutes that set in motion a seismic shift in the recording world....the entire world, in fact.

What I hear on this album is the sound of four very talented guys laying everything they've got on the line...if this record doesn't make it, they become a footnote in music history...."Remember that band that recorded Love Me Do? Wonder whatever became of them?". Maybe it wasn't that desperate, but they clearly weren't going to waste this opportunity.

I remember reading that all four of the Beatles were suffering from heavy mid-winter colds at the time of this recording, Lennon in particular...I can't fathom how they soldiered through all these tunes that way and sounded so very good. I was in a band that covered "I Saw Her Standing There" and I can't imagine singing that song with a cold, much less the shredding JL took during "Twist & Shout".

[Kylenz]

9 hours and 45 mins? WOW!! Holy.. 

I have the Mark Lewisohn "Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" book here too, gonna have to go back and have a read-up on these sessions again.

9 hours, that's blown me away!

[mervap]

Yeah, the Lewisohn book is my most read reference about the Beatles...so much history!