#19: I'll Get You

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: August 23rd, 1963
Appears on: Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John & Paul

"I'll Get You", the B-Side of "She Loves You", starts off innocent enough with John & Paul harmonizing the "Imagine I'm in love with you/It's easy 'cause it's true..." verse and the track picks up speed whenever it reaches the chorus, where the singer tells the girl that no matter what, "I'll get you/I'll get you in the end!/Yes, I will, I'll get you in the end..."
The best part of the song is the fantastic bridge:

"Well, there's gonna be a time,
Well I'm gonna change your mind.
So you might as well resign yourself to me, oh yeah!"

Besides the fact that John appears to sing "I'm gonna make your mind" while Paul sings "I'm gonna change your mind", there is that one fantastic word that just catapults the Lennon/McCartney team from standard to unique....resign. Who would use that word? Wouldn't it have been easier to say "So you might as well give up yourself to me!"? Maybe I'm making too much out of it, but the fact that these songwriters used this word proves (to me, at least) that they were always trying to reach a higher, more intellectual audience. I don't mean to say that children and teenagers of 1963 would not know what "resign" means, but to go with such a definitive word takes a huge leap. John & Paul are not just asking the girl to give herself up, but basically to sign her rights over to them! This is a fantastic song and definitely one of my favorite early tracks.
next up: with the beatles!

#18: She Loves You

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney 
Released: August 23rd, 1963 
Appears on: Past Masters, Vol. 1 
Lead vocal: John & Paul

This is where Beatlemania starts. It's such a perfect song, with a great hook and all the power that a great #1 single should have. All the pieces of Beatlemania come together on this one song that runs two minutes and fifteen seconds. The "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"s...the harmonies....the musicianship...everything is laid out for all to see.
What is so interesting about the song is the whole "third party" idea. John & Paul, the singers, are not the ones saying "I love you", but saying "Tell her YOU love her." "Go on, you can do it little boy, we're all here for you." To me, as a kid, this was such a bizarre concept. The idea of the song is so simple to me, but when I was like three or four, rockin' out to this song, the thing that grabbed me was the "Yeah"s! I remember thinking what are they saying that can't be bad? Obviusly my concept of love at age three was fairly rudimentary.
This is also one of those songs where you understand immediately why the Beatles are so loved all over the world. This song is relatable to any young boy of any race or color or whatever and it instantly tells a girl how a guy might feel about her.

In the end, the single (again, never released on an LP in the UK until ...Oldies But Goldies) turned out to be the group's first million selling disc and they would never look back.

#17: Thank You Girl

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: April 12th, 1963
Appears on: Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John & Paul
"From Me To You" is backed by "Thank You Girl", a fun, but rather routine harmony track. The best and most unique aspect of the song is Ringo's long, booming drum fills. It's probably the first track that shows how great a drummer was and how he was only getting better. I've also always thought the "owww....owww" thing was a little weird, but the whole thing comes together for a pretty cool song.

#16: From Me To You

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: April 12th, 1963
Appears on: Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John & Paul

Paul has talked about this numerous times, so what I am saying here sort of paraphrases what he has said about a lot of the early songs by the Beatles.
If you listen closely to most of these songs, you'll notice that there is always a pronoun directing the song immediately to the listener. This is the best and most unique thing about these songs. "From Me To You"...."P.S. I Love You"..."Thank You Girl"....I could go on. What this does is it allows the listener to become a part of the song, especially since you are directly addressed in the title.

"From Me To You" is the ultimate mission statement. The Beatles are automatically telling you that this song, and practically everything they will release from this point on, is for you, the listeners. In fact, as The Beatles Live At The BBC! shows us, it was actually "From Us To You". This is probably the reason why the song became their first unquestioned number one record. It becomes obvious that the Beatles are not doing this for themselves, but for their fans...and as soon as they see that making music is not just about filling your pockets for you, you've won them over. Fans could hear (and see) that these four men were making the music for them to enjoy.

The song is easily the best of the first three singles and was never released on an LP in Britain until 1966's A Collection of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies!). The reason why this single, like so many other early ones, was not put on an album was that George Martin and The Beatles didn't want to force record buyers to buy the same song twice. They broke this 'rule' right away with Please Please Me, but they were probably pushed by EMI to do that, since it was their first album. The rule was broken again for A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Revolver, Let It Be and Abbey Road. Still, it is fascinating to see that all of the Beatles' albums are so great, but most of them don't even have a single on it.

#15: Twist And Shout

Written by: Bert Russell & Phil Medley
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John

The Top Notes.
Ever heard of these guys? No? Well, I didn't think so. They recorded the first version of "Twist And Shout" and it bombed for them. The single was terribly produced by a young Phil Spector, whose "Wall Of Sound" was in its' infancy and hardly perfected.
The Isely Brothers, though, took the song and ran with it, turning it into a party track, like their previous hit, "Shout!". This is the version The Beatles were probably familiar with and they were able to not only top it, but destroy it.
The story of how "Twist And Shout" was recorded is recounted numerous times and every time I hear it, it gets even more unbelievable. After recording nine songs in a row, the group took a break and drank some milk. Either Neil Aspinall or Mal Evans (I think it was Mal, but just to be safe) saw blood in John's cup - as I mentioned in "There's A Place", John was sick during the sessions. John, though, would not be stopped and the group ran in to record two takes of "Twist And Shout". The version that landed on the album was the first take, since by the time the second take was finished, John couldn't even talk.
How perfect a way is this to close the album? Yes, it is a cover, but today, if you tell people that and they have no idea. The vast majority of people know only of this version, propelled by John Hughes' fantastic 1986 film Ferris Beuller's Day Off (oh come on, it's a fun movie), so it seems that the Beatles reign supreme.
The way the boys play the song is the same way they play the rest of the songs on the album. "Twist And Shout" was a regular in the Cavern shows, and it almost seems like destiny that this song had to close out the record. Seriously, nothing could come after it. The moment where Ringo bangs that last drum has to be the point where the needle lifts off the vinyl. This has to be the part where you have to lean back and realize that what you just listened to is a piece of history: the first Beatles album - the first album by the greatest band ever.

Next up: "From Me To You"!

#14: There's A Place

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John & Paul

There are very few similarities between The Beach Boys and The Beatles in the early going. The Beach Boys were born and raised in a Los Angeles suburb, getting their start as a group of teenagers in 1961. By 1963, they were obviously the biggest group in the United States and were forced to push out four albums by year's end by Capitol. On the other hand, The Beatles were born and raised in the tough neighborhoods of Liverpool, not getting signed by a major record label until a year after the Beach Boys. By 1963, though, they too became the biggest group in their country of origin - but their fates wouldn't collide until 1965.
Anyway, why am I bringing this up now? Well, "There's A Place" is strikingly similar to a Beach Boys track that I'm sure we're all familiar with: "In My Room". Capitol does not release "In My Room" until late 1963, and considering that "There's A Place" does not see release in the US until VeeJay's Introducing...The Beatles in February, 1964, there is no way that Brian Wilson could possibly have been influenced by The Beatles. The Beatles, obviously, as you can see by the release date above, could not have heard The Beach Boys' song at all, since it hadn't even been written yet. (Plus, The Beatles probably hadn't even heard of The Beach Boys, since they didn't break through in the UK until 1965...and any copy of "Surfin' USA" in the UK probably resided in Keith Moon's possession anyway.)
Aside from the theme of withdrawing yourself into your own special place, though, the songs are nothing alike. "There's A Place" is a quick, rocking track, featuring John & Paul harmonizing together. "In My Room", though, features a heartbreaking falsetto performance from Brian and the structure is slow, allowing us to appreciate every little iota of vocal perfection. In "There's A Place" the vocals are hardly perfect. I've always thought John's vocal was off, almost as if you can feel his vocal chords were already about to explode (considering how he was ill).
"There's A Place" is still a song about love though, because the "place" is the girl in this situation. Yet, the song still reveals insecurity and fear - all in a minute and fifty seconds.

#13: A Taste Of Honey

Written by: Bobby Scott & Ric Marlow
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: Paul

Whether the Beatles were really trying to span generational boundaries or not is up for debate. They certainly had no need to - if the entire British population of teenage girls bought their records, they were pretty much set - but for some reason they felt a bizarre need to, and it just added to their uniqueness.
"A Taste Of Honey" was written by Scott & Marlow in 1960, and was recorded by Scott as an instrumental. In my research for this entry, I couldn't find any information about the lyrics, except that they are possibly references to the British play A Taste Of Honey. Scott & Marlow must have written the lyrics but chose to debut the song as an instrumental, since they are the only two writers credited. Anyway, vocal versions were subsequently recorded by numerous pop singers and the song quickly became a standard by the time the Beatles recorded it three years later. (After the Beatles, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass had a #1 hit in 1965 with an instrumental version, heard here.)
Like practically all the songs on the album, this was actually a Cavern Club standard for the boys, so it obviously wasn't George Martin's idea for them to record a song clearly targeted towards the older record buyer. Paul has a perfect voice for these types of songs and it clearly shows here. It makes it hard to realize that this is the same guy heard screaming on the first track.
This is also Paul's last song on the album. Until writing this, I hadn't paid too much attention to the fact that Paul, co-writer of more than half the album, only has a solo lead vocal on four tracks, two of which were previously recorded.

#12: Do You Want To Know A Secret?

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: George

"Do you want to know a secret?
Promise not to tell?
We are standing by the Wishing Well!"

Three years before John Lennon was born, Walt Disney released the first full-length animated film made in the United States, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. When exactly Julia Lennon could have taken a young John to see it is a little bit of a mystery (the film was re-released in the US in 1944 to recoup losses made by World War II and was put out in several European countries during and immediately after the war, but IMDb does not have a UK date during this time), but anyway somehow Julia took John to see it and, as he had said, the above quoted lines from the film provided inspiration for George's second spotlight, "Do You Want To Know A Secret?".
As for the song itself, it's obviously based on a classic doo-wop structure, with the boys singing "doo-la-loop" after every line. Plus, George is perfect for this delicate song, which is probably the same reason why Ringo sings "Good Night". John really didn't want to be associated with these cuddly little songs, even if he wrote them...it was all about holding up that rough-and-tough, smart-ass, leader persona.
As a child listening to this album, this was always the one song that stuck out to me, just because it has that cute and cuddly idea to it (it was, after all, derived from an animated film).

#11: Baby It's You

Written by: Barney Williams [a.k.a.: Luther Dixon], Burt Bacharach & Mack David
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John

The final girl group song, and the second recorded by the Shirelles, on the album, "Baby It's You" is probably the best of them. The original version features a slow, sultry lead vocal and an interesting backing vocal arrangement. One of the most striking parts of the original (especially for someone like me, who grew up on the Beatles' version) is the keyboard solo, not unlike the one in Del Shannon's "Runaway" (but a tad less iconic). Rhythmically, the Beatles version is played practically note-for-note, but of course, the main difference is George adapts the keyboard solo on guitar. He tries his hardest, and I think he did a pretty good job. John does a perfect job with the vocals, sort of singing it the way a man would sing the lyrics to a girl. In the original, the lead singer is trying to flirt with a guy, saying that "I don't care what they say, about you" but I still want you. John sings it as if he already has the girl and is proud to be her boyfriend, even though people say bad things about her. I think this is the best cover on the album, tied with "Anna".

The picture above is of the cover to the Baby It's You EP, released in 1994 to coincide with the release of The Beatles Live At The BBC!.

#10: Love Me Do (Album Version)

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: Paul

For some bizarre reason, George Martin had no confidence in Ringo. So, he brought in veteran session drummer, Alan White to record with the group and threw Ringo a tambourine to bang on. Funnily enough, when you hear the version that Martin put on the album, Ringo's tambourine is much more clearer and upfront than White's pedestrian drumming. The truth is, though, "Love Me Do" in itself is a simple song, not requiring much in the instrumentation department.
The two versions, especially when you listen to them back-to-back, really aren't that different. Paul and John give the same vocal performance, almost note-for-note and George's guitar is just as straightforward as before.
Anyway, the end of the story was that Ringo got really insulted (considering only days before, he joined the band) and Martin apologized, allowing him to drum on the frst album. Ringo also got the last word by recording a rather funny version of "Love Me Do" on Vertical Man (a fantastic album, by the way).

Also, it is interesting as to where the singles are placed in relation to the rest of the LP. The four previously released single-sides are stuck in the middle, sticking out like sore thumbs. There is something missing from these tracks. I think it's a little bit of energy. The Beatles were obviously just getting their feet wet and were as professional as possible. When they went into EMI on that February day to record the album, Martin let the boys loose and just record any ten songs. So, when I listen to Please Please Me, I always find the transition from "Boys" to "Ask Me Why" jarring; almost as if the pieces don't fit.

#9: Boys

Written by: Luther Dixon & Wes Farrell
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: Ringo

You know how when you watch an old movie and you say to yourself (or the person you're watching the movie with) "They couldn't get away with that today"? For example, you watch the greatest movie ever made, Walt Disney's Pinocchio from 1940. Now, there is no way an animated, G-rated film today could possibly get away with showing children chewing and smoking tobacco and calling themselves jackasses.
In today's music world, there is no way possible that a rock group is going to cover a girl group song like "Boys". They could get away with songs like "Please Mr. Postman", "Chains" or "Baby It's You", but a song like "Boys" is not something a group today would touch. Granted, there's nothing in the song that could be taken as homosexual or anything if a man sings it, but who listens to lyrics anyway?
The song is just about what the singer has heard about what happens "when a boy kisses a girl". So, the singer could easily be male or female.
The original song was recorded by the Shirells, who also recorded "Baby It's You", and written by Luthor Dixon and Wes Farrell (who wrote "Come On, Get Happy" and "Hang On Sloopy"). The Beatles' version, which was recorded in one take during the marathon that gave us the whole album, was Ringo's debut song. During the Cavern days, it was Ringo's song, so they figured, why not give him a shot on the album. (Pete Best sang the song before Ringo joined and Ringo had made the song his own with Rory Storm & The Hurricanes.) It's a quick song, doing nothing really interesting to distinguish itself, but it is a fun, innocent little corner of Please Please Me.

#8: Chains

Written by: Gerry Goffin & Carole King
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: George

The strangest thing about the early days of the Beatles is their infatuations with girl groups. In fact, on the first two Beatles albums, there are at least two tracks that were originally recorded by girl groups. In the case of "Chains", George's debut vocal, the song was a hit for The Cookies, best-known as Little Eva's back-up singers and would later become the Realettes, who recorded with Ray Charles. It was written by the fantastic Goffin/King duo and I hope I don't have to give you a list of the numerous hits they produced.
The Beatles' performance kicks off with a classic John harmonica intro and the rest of the song is rather unimpressive, compared to the first three tracks on the album. George tries his hardest to pull off a good vocal, but after such powerful vocals from Paul and John, George's performance falls a little flat. Even the Beatles weren't immune to the fact that on every album, there's going to be at least one dud. "Chains" is the first on Please Please Me.

#7: Anna (Go To Him)

Written by: Arthur Alexander
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John

The Beatles loved country music. Arthur Alexander, according to the Wikipedia page, was a pioneer of "country soul" and was born in Alabama. He started in 1960 with Judd Records and released "Anna (Go To Him)" in September 1962. The Beatles recorded their version just six months later. The Beatles' version is very similar to Alexander's except that there aren't any strings, of course. There is also another major difference: Alexander didn't have John Lennon singing the lead vocal.
I think this is probably one John's best vocal performances that he ever gave. It is so heart-breaking and powerful, that it makes the original feel dry. (By the way, the original is here.) The Beatles make another message all too clear: Yeah, we're covering our favorite material and we're gonna knock your socks off with it.

#6: Misery

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John & Paul

"The world is treating me bad/MISERY!"
You say you want to slow things down a bit? Well, how about a song about being rejected, coming right after a song about 'love-at-first-sight'? That's exactly what "Misery" is.
I think this was another case of the Beatles really trying to show off what they could do and right off the bat, they show their versatility as performers. "I Saw Her Standing There" told us that these guys could bring a house down and "Misery" is clearly to show that they could do a standard, slow pop song. The song is also a full harmony track, with John & Paul sharing lead vocal throughout the entire song, even on the bridge.
I like the fade-out, with John doing the "wawawawa" just before it ends. You can tell John had a sense of humor right from the beginning.

#5: I Saw Her Standing There

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: Paul

Back in 1963, making an album was more of an obligation than an art. You had to make a platter of 14 (11-12 in the U.S.) songs because your record company told you to. So, you filled it up with the two sides of your hit-single and usually a bunch of covers.
This was the first wall the Beatles not only broke - they demolished.
Even though Please Please Me has six covers (three per side) the fact that eight songs are Lennon/McCartney originals is just amazing. It could have been that George Martin (who was coddling the boys like his own kids at this point) was confident in John & Paul's writing skills, especially since it had given them two hit singles or possibly that the two men fought for it. Whatever the case may have been the fact remains that Martin was so confident in these originals that the album starts with one.
"I Saw Her Standing There", with as cliche a topic as possible (we looked across the dance floor...and I saw her standing there...so we danced and fell in love on site), is the most intense, different and original opener in rock history. Martin said that his theory on albums was that you started and ended each side on a strong point. He couldn't have picked a stronger point to start the Beatles' debut record with. You have a fantastic, frantic guitar playing, an in-your-face bass line and those vocals. My god...listen to those screams leading into George's solo. If there really is one track that epitomizes everything that captured the attention of millions of teen-aged girls across the world, it is "I Saw Her Standing There".

#4: Ask Me Why

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: January 11th, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John

I don't want to say that it is a bad song (because it's not), but I just never really cared too much for "Ask Me Why". John has a great vocal and the lyrics are pretty good, but it just seems like the whole affair is a little pedestrian. On Please Please Me, the song really kills the momentum and probably should have stayed just a B-Side.
I especially love the bridge, though: "I can't believe it's happened to me/I can't conceive of any more misery" and George's guitar figure behind these lyrics, then Ringo rolls back to the chorus.
Overall, it's a tender love song and a classic track, but in the grand scheme of all Beatle-ly things, it gets lost in the shuffle.

I want to say, just as an aside, that writing about these early Beatles tunes is very difficult. Not a single song, until "Nowhere Man" in 1965, is not about love. So, it gets a little repetitive. However, the genius of the early Beatles recordings was how they varied that subject and injected it with such energy. Since I am not a musician, it is difficult for me to write about certain chords and the structure of a song, so these entries, at least up until Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's might be a little awkward to read, because the main aspect that makes these songs so great is their unique musical structures. I hope this does not turn anyone away, but rather makes them more intrigued to read my writings. Personally, I think it adds a unique perspective to the songs. I hope to see you all tomorrow, when I start with the tracks from Please Please Me!

#3: Please Please Me

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: January 11th, 1963
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: John

The English language has a lot to offer to songwriters. You have homophones, synonyms, metaphors, similes and everything else. Even on "Love Me Do", John & Paul played with language (what does the phrase "love me do" mean anyway?), but on "Please Please Me", John takes it to another level.
The song is specifically John's, who had said he was interested in how the word "please" can have two meanings and he perfectly executes this. One is, of course, a polite thing to say when asking someone to do something..."Can you please do this for me?" The other is making someone happy...and in this case, we all know what that means. (Let's make this a family friendly blog, shall we?)
Anyway, as a single, it's perfect. You have a fantastic hook, grabbing the listener from the start. That intro, with the harmonica bit, when it comes onto the stereo, is so enticing. It is also a very energetic track. Ringo and George are completely into it, which you can tell with Ringo's drum rolls and George's fantastic guitar riff. John comes off as this tough guy, who is totally into it and then there's the "woah...yeah" and the "youuuuuu" ending. Man, these guys knew how to foreshadow what was to come and we're just getting started.

#2: P.S. I Love You

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: October 5th, 1962
Appears on: Please Please Me
Lead vocal: Paul

The reason why John & Paul felt that backing vocal harmonies were so important was because of, what I call, "The Buddy Holly Effect". The two believed (as many other kids in 1957 and 1958) that the Crickets and Buddy were one in the same. The Crickets were not only Buddy's backing group, but they were his back-up singers...or so they thought. It turns out that Norman Petty (Holly's producer whose name is attached to virtually every song Buddy recorded) hired session back-up singers to supply the harmonies.
Anyway, how were they supposed to know? It probably would have crushed their dreams and visions of Buddy Holly as an innovator. (The truth is Holly is an innovator and is to this day, but it just proves that even he wasn't immune to the music business of 1957.)
The Beatles' harmonies have always been an important part of their legacy, yet somehow it is overlooked. Yeah, they were technological wizards with Sgt. Pepper and great songwriters, but nobody goes on about their harmonies.
For their first B-Side, they flexed their harmonic muscle with Paul's magnificent "P.S. I Love You". Sure, the idea of writing a song about love letters was kind of a cliche at the time ("Return To Sender" or "Please Mr. Postman", a song the boys covered), but add harmonies and a unique perspective and you've got one heck of a song that never gets old.
Plus, the truth is, the idea that Paul was the cute one lays its' foundation here. He has a magnificent vocal here. Just listen to the way he sings "P.S. I love you....you....you...YOU!" Another thing that you hear is unique instrumentation, with Ringo on maracas (and Alan White on drums...again, a coming attraction). There's no harmonica here and George's lead guitar part is much better, although it sounds like a standard 1950's riff....almost bordering on some Latin-type idea.
So, after looking at the Beatles' first 45, we see that they already started to blaze a trail, albeit one that itsn't noticed by much of the British public. Granted, it reached #17, but it would take one more for them to become household names.
Also, there's the fact that both of them were written by members of the band, which was such a rare thing then. Now we shrug off this fact as it has become the norm. (Although, I personally think it is starting to revert back...) Even though the two songs do not do much to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack, it is a good start. Besides, how many other 45s from 1962 do we still remember?

#1: Love Me Do (Single Version)

Written by: Paul McCartney & John Lennon
Released: October 5th, 1962
Appears on: Past Masters, Volume I
Lead vocal: Paul

According to scientific theory, the Big Bang created the universe we inhabit today. It wasn't a sudden gigantic blast and, in fact, it is still going on today. To this day, the universe continues to expand and it just keeps going.
If the Big Bang wasn't a massive explosion with sound (considering there's no sound in space), this means that the Big Bang might not have been so Big at all. With the Beatles, their true Big Bang wasn't so Big...it was just big. When the Beatles released "Love Me Do" b/w "P.S. I Love You", as is well documented, it stalled at #17. In fact this is the #1 song on the British charts when "Love Me Do" is released in October:

Yeah...great stuff, isn't it?

As for the song itself, it is rather pedestrian, you have to admit. It's a simple song with simple lyrics about a man needing someone to love and he found someone, so let's get together and "love me do" mama. That's making fun of it, of course, but that's all it is, really.
I'm not a trained musician, so you'll have to excuse me for being slightly rudimentary in describing its' musical aspects. Paul is thumping along on the bass and George's messy guitar licks are nothing to squeal about. The song does not give itself to great drumming, in fact, you have to wonder why George Martin made such a fuss about it. "Love Me Do" is a song that requires the simplest drumming, so why take Ringo off? That's a discussion for down the road though.
The best part of the song is John's harmonica playing, which is the reason why he's not singing lead. In fact, you can tell that the Beatles and Martin cared so little for experimenting (at this stage who could afford it?) that there is no overdubbing. We hear John actually take the harmonica away to sing "Somebody new!" and "Someone like you!"
In conclusion, "Love Me Do" is a great debut single for a group, but the better track sits on the flip-side.