I Saw Her Standing There
They didn't mess about in those days. When the Beatles turned up at Abbey Road Studios in 1963 they were given exactly one day to record their 14 song debut LP. Now, on CD, the mop tops' haste is more apparent than ever, from every pant and gasp in John Lennon's explosive "Twist And Shout", the last track cut at that exhausting session, to the sweaty and stilted fretwork of George Harrison's first nervous solos.
Please Please Me was more raw than any Beatles set until their last one, the messy Let It Be. Understandably it's also their least confident - although it does open on the glorious rush of "I Saw Her Standing There". For the rest, there are two hit singles (the title track and "Love Me Do", the latter with a mouth organ, wailing down the decades, that John Lennon had shoplifted in Holland), there are some unduly polite ballads and a few more raucous stage favourites from their existing live act, developed to cover the din of Teddy Boy bottle fights in dancehalls from Birkenhead to Bootle.
Misery
Anna (Go To Him)
Chains
Boys
Ask Me Why
Please Please Me
Love Me Do
P.S. I Love You
Baby It's You
Do You Want To Know A Secret
A Taste Of Honey
There's A Place
Twist And Shout