Watch the Beatles’ ‘Please Please Me’ Mini-Documentary

This year sees the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ debut studio album, Please Please Me.

Released on March 22, 1963, via EMI’s Parlophone label, the George Martin-produced LP heralded the arrival of the decade’s premier band as they climbed up the charts to the number one position.

The album’s John Lennon/Paul McCartney-penned title track was released as a single earlier that year. It was the Beatles’ second U.K. 7-inch (after 1962’s “Love Me Do”) and their first in the U.S.

On this day in 1963, the band appeared on the British television show Thank Your Lucky Stars for a mimed performance of the “Please Please Me” single. Broadcast across much of the U.K., the exposure greatly bolstered the Fab Four’s success.

“We’d had a top 30 entry with ‘Love Me Do’ and we really thought we were on top of the world,” said Lennon. “Then came ‘Please Please Me’ – and wham!”

Having sharpened their skills as a live act, the Beatles were well-prepared to cut an album.  

Indeed, most of the Please Please Me LP was recorded during a single session on February 11, 1963 in Abbey Road’s Studio 2.

“It was a straightforward performance of their stage repertoire,” said Martin. “A broadcast, more or less.”

“To listen to the Beatles’ debut album, Please Please Me, is to hear the sound of a world-class recording facility – EMI’s Abbey Road Studios – at the dawn of this technological revolution,” wrote Guitar Player editor-in-chief, Chris Scapelliti.

Naturally, the Beatles used their stage gear for these landmark recording sessions. George Harrison plugged in his 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet, Lennon used his 1958 Rickenbacker 325 Capri, and both employed their Gibson J-160E acoustic-electrics.

Meanwhile, McCartney played his 1961 Höfner 500/1 violin bass.

Order the Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, here.