It was fifty years ago today - February 25, 1963* - that Vee-Jay Records released the first single by The Beatles in America. (Technically, it was the group's second released single after "Love Me Do" in the UK.) "Please Please Me" was offered to the label which had first dibs on Beatles music stateside - Capitol Records - but they turned it down. The rights were then shopped to other labels, beginning with Atlantic Records, which also declined. Finally, the small-ish label Vee-Jay was offered the rights to issue the single and promptly did so, misspelling the Fab Four's group name on the label as THE BEATTLES on initial pressings (above), of which less than 8,000 were manufactured.
The single (above) was released back home in England on January 11th. It was first played on American radio on February 8, 1963 on Chicago's own WLS. It failed to dent the Billboard charts here despite topping a few charts in the group's homeland. On the UK equivalent of the Billboard charts - then known as the Record Retailer chart** - the single peaked at #2.
When Beatlemania finally hit the States almost a year later in January 1964, Vee-Jay re-released the single (above) and got the spelling right this time. The single peaked at #3 behind the two current Capitol singles "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You", selling over a million copies. The original 1963 b-side had been "Ask Me Why" but for the re-release, "From Me To You" was the b-side. That song had originally been the third Beatles single released and Vee-Jay had first rights this time by virtue of their agreement to release "Please, Please Me" (now with a comma!). While "From Me To You" sold better than the previous single, it barely made the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart of songs just outside the Hot 100.
You can read more about "Please, Please Me" HERE.
BONUS VIDEO
Witness seventeen year old Barry Gibb and his fourteen year old twin brothers, Robin and Maurice - professionally known as the Bee Gees - cover "Please Please Me" on Australian television, February 1963.
*Most Beatles scholars claim the single was released on February 8, 1963. HERC's trusted sources indicate February 25, 1963 as the release date. Plus it ties in better with today's date and HERC is in no position karma-wise to argue with sweet serendipity.
** The chart is now known as The Official Singles Chart or UK Singles Chart. Or Nigel, to his friends.
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