Remember When: The Beatles Recorded Most of Their Debut Album in a Single Night

Listening to it now, Please Please Me, The Beatles‘ initial album release in the United Kingdom, sounds like one of the first times a rock and roll act properly took advantage of the long-playing format. That the group achieved that feat almost unconsciously testifies to their unmatched brilliance.

The Beatles recorded the bulk of Please Please Me in a single session at EMI’s Abbey Road studios in London. In the process, they inadvertently boosted the album as a format within the rock genre.

We now think of rock and roll as being an album-driven medium, as countless artists have attempted to make complete statements over the course of two sides (sometime more) of vinyl. In the early days of the genre, however, the rock album was an afterthought. Please Please Me helped to change that, even if the four lads that created it didn’t necessarily intend that to happen.

Circa 1963, which is when The Beatles recorded and released Please Please Me, rock albums were only granted to artists who’d already banked successful singles. Adding a few more songs of filler allowed them to milk more sales out of a popular song. Since the Fab Four had already delivered one modest hit (“Love Me Do”) and one massive hit (“Please Please Me”), EMI gave them this opportunity.

But they weren’t going to go overboard about it. The Beatles would get a single session to record this album. If it were any other artist, the album would have been filled with the two killer singles and a bunch of forgettable fluff. But these guys were too good for that.

Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com

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