Time: 5pm – 6:45pm 1
Studio Name and Room: EMI Recording Studios, London – Studio 2
Songs Recorded 2: P.S. I Love You (takes 1-10) 3, Please Please Me (takes unknown), Love Me Do (takes 1-18) 4
Songs Mixed: P.S. I Love You (RM from Take 10), Love Me Do (RM from Take 18) 5
Studio Personnel: Producer – Ron Richards, Balance Engineer – Norman Smith, Tape Operator – Unknown
Musicians (instruments played): John Lennon (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass, vocals), George Harrison (guitar, vocals), Ringo Starr (tambourine, maracas)
Primary Tracking Machine: Mono – 1/4″ EMI BTR2
Mixdown Machine: Mono – 1/4″ EMI BTR2
- P.S. I Love You
- Takes 1-10 (Take 10 was the best)
- Please Please Me
- Unknown number of takes (Unknown take was the best)
- Love Me Do
- Takes 1-18 (Take 18 was the best)
What Still Exists?
Tape Reel |
Exists? |
Is on |
Official |
Bootlegged? |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P.S. I Love You |
[E47852] |
❌ |
|||
P.S. I Love You |
[E47852] |
🟡 Survives via |
|||
P.S. I Love You |
Master Tapes |
|
|
||
P.S. I Love You |
[E48979] |
🟡 Survives via |
|||
P.S. I Love You |
TL11440B |
✅ Yes |
❌ |
✅ Yes |
|
Please Please Me |
[E47852] |
❌ |
|||
Please Please Me |
[E47852] |
🟡 Survives via |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
|
Love Me Do (Andy White Version) |
[E47852] |
❌ |
|||
Love Me Do (Andy White Version) |
[E47852] |
🟡 Survives via |
✅ Yes |
✅ Yes |
|
Love Me Do (Andy White Version) |
Master Tapes |
|
|
||
Love Me Do (Andy White Version) |
[E48979] |
🟡 Survives via |
|||
Love Me Do (Andy White Version) |
TL11440B |
✅ Yes |
❌ |
✅ Yes |
References:
- “Recently uncovered EMI documents give the actual time of this studio session as 5.00 to 6.45 pm, although it had been booked for 4.45-6.30.” Lewisohn, Mark, 1992, The Complete Beatles Chronicle (p. 78) ↩︎
- I believe this is the correct order of recording as per Lewisohn, Mark, 2013, Tune In (pp.729-732) ↩︎
- The user slane on the Steve Hoffman Forums makes a very good point about there being an example of take numbers for the same song carrying over between sessions with Hold Me Tight. Since 5 takes of P.S. I Love You were recorded on 6 June, does that mean only takes 6-10 were recorded this day? Alternatively, it’s very possible that 6 June was scrapped entirely and the numbering was restarted from Take 1 ↩︎
- The user slane on the Steve Hoffman Forums makes a very good point about there being an example of take numbers for the same song carrying over between sessions with Hold Me Tight. So it actually seems likely that there were only one or two takes of Love Me Do with Andy White on drums on 11 September. This aligns with the fact the session was almost at an end when Ron Richards suggested another go at Love Me Do this day ↩︎
- Winn, John C. (2000). The John Barrett Notes: 1962-1963. web.archive.org
“This is apparently the session tape (no mixing session for “Please Please Me” is noted in Lewisohn); if so, there is no record of the mono mix tape for the other two songs in Barrett’s notes. Or could it be that these were truly recorded in mono and no remixing was ever possible?” ↩︎ - Winn, John C., 2005, Lifting Latches (p. 2) ↩︎
- I’m unsure if P.S. I Love You (mono) on the Please Please Me mono LP reel TL12344B was copied from E47852 (making it the same tape generation as the single on the reel TL14063) or if it is a generation removed, being copied from the single reel TL14063 ↩︎
- I’m unsure if Love Me Do (Andy White) (mono) on the Please Please Me mono LP reel TL12344B was copied from E47852 (making it the same tape generation as the single on the reel TL14063) or if it is a generation removed, being copied from the single reel TL14063 ↩︎