1963
SINGLE
RELEASED AS A SINGLE
Great Britain: April 11, 1963 / No. 1 for 7 weeks, beginning on May 2, 1963
United States: May 27, 1963; republished on January 30, 1964 / No. 41 on March 7, 1964
McCartney-Lennon / 1:56
1963
SONGWRITERS
John and Paul
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul: vocal, bass
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: March 5, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 13
MIXING
Abbey Road: March 14, 1963 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith on session held March 5, 1963; unknown on session held March 14, 1963
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham on session held March 5, 1963; unknown on session held March 14, 1963
The song “From Me to You” was written on February 28, 1963, by John and Paul, who were on Helen Shapiro’s tour, in the car between York and Shrewsbury. John said: “We weren’t taking ourselves seriously—just fooling about on the guitar—when we began to get a good melody line, and we really started to work at it. Before that journey was over, we’d completed the lyric, everything. I think the first line was mine and we took it from there.…” Paul: “I remember being very pleased with the middle eight because there was a strange chord in it, and it went into a minor: ‘I’ve got arms that long…’ We thought that was a very big step.”1 John also remembered being intrigued by the title and the subject they had chosen for the song. While browsing through the New Musical Express, he realized that he was inspired unconsciously by the title of the column “From You to Us!” In her memoirs, Helen Shapiro related that John and Paul asked her to help them choose the song for their next single. They could not decide between “From Me to You” and “Thank You Girl.” “We crowded around a piano and Paul played, while the two of them sang their latest composition, ‘From Me to You,’ which I liked best.”2
On March 5, 1963, the Beatles were once again at Abbey Road to record their third single. It was the first recording since the epic session of February 11. The session began with the recording of the rhythm section and the vocals live. The seventh take was considered the best one. Then John concentrated on a harmonica part that he recorded on the intro, the solo part, and the end of the song. Norman Smith was still using the same overdubbing technique as he had on the Please Please Me album. During the eighth take, John successfully overdubbed the harmonica intro, but it took two more takes to complete the harmonica overdubs for the solo and ending. George Martin then decided to have John and Paul sing in the intro, thus doubling the harmonica part. In the first try, their mouths were closed as they were singing. The following try was the one used on the record, with their mouths open (dada da dada dum dum da). A final attempt with a falsetto part was not used. Nine days later, during the absence of the Beatles, who were giving a concert in Wolverhampton, George Martin edited four different takes together (takes 12, 8, 9, and 10) to produce the master. Finally, a mono and a stereo mix were completed.
FOR BEATLES FANATICS
While returning from Teddington on April 14, 1963, after having recorded “From Me to You” for the Thank Your Lucky Stars show, the Beatles heard the Rolling Stones for the first time at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond. Hired as the press attaché for Brian Epstein, Andrew Loog Oldham introduced the Beatles to this promising group, of which he later became the manager.
McCartney-Lennon / 2:02
1963
SONGWRITERS
John and Paul
MUSICIANS
John: vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul: vocal, bass
George: lead guitar
Ringo: drums
RECORDED
Abbey Road: March 5–13, 1963 (Studio Two)
NUMBER OF TAKES: 28
MIXING
Abbey Road: March 13, 1963 (Studio Two)
TECHNICAL TEAM
Producer: George Martin
Sound Engineer: Norman Smith
Assistant Engineers: Richard Langham, Geoff Emerick
“We knew that if we wrote a song called ‘Thank You Girl,’ a lot of the girls who wrote us fan letters would take it as a genuine ‘thank-you.’ So a lot of our songs were directly addressed to the fans.”1 Before writing “From Me to You,” John and Paul were convinced that this song, composed by four hands, would be side A of their new single. But despite their efforts, it turned out to be rather weak compared to “From Me to You” and ended up on side B of the record.
“Thank You Little Girl,” which was the working title of “Thank You Girl,” was recorded on the same day as “From Me to You”—Tuesday, March 5. It took the Beatles six takes to record it. Then seven other attempts were necessary to redo the last part of the song (starting at 1:40), in order to let Ringo have the opportunity to insert his first real drumming fills. The thirteenth take was definitive. On March 13, John returned alone to Abbey Road to record a harmonica part (diatonic harmonica in G.) In his memoirs, Geoff Emerick, who was then assistant engineer, related that John, who was totally out of commission because of a bad cold, arrived at the studio without his harmonica. He borrowed one from Malcolm Davies, a technician in the etching department. At the end of the session, instead of thanking him, John reproached him for lending him a harmonica that “tasted like a sack of potatoes.”2 He recorded fourteen harmonica takes, because his cold frequently forced him to stop (on takes 14 to 28). Norman Smith then proceeded with the editing. The master resulted from the assembly of takes 6, 13, 17, 20, 21, and 23. A mono and a stereo mix were completed afterwards.
During the session on March 5, Norman Smith drastically changed his recording method. From that point on, he wanted to avoid leakage of drums or guitar into the vocal microphones. He separated John and Paul from Ringo, making them sing before Neumann U 48 mics in a ‘figure-eight’ position. This way, the microphones only recorded the sound in front of and behind them, while rejecting whatever was on their sides. The sound of the group remained live, while being more precise. Another session, on March 11, was required to complete the recording of both songs.