- All instruments played and recorded by me!

"Love Me Do" was recorded on September 4 and 11 1962, making it the Beatles' first ever record! This song was one of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's earliest efforts in song writing. "Love Me Do" was quite literally the start of what would become one of the most famous song writing duos in music history. This song in particular is special, because it is one of only four songs ever created by the Beatles that wasn't recorded in stereo, only in mono. It's also one of the most simple Beatle compositions, having only three chords throughout the whole song.

John Lennon:
Fun fact, John actually stole the harmonica he used on this record from a music shop in Arnhem. Lennon used a chromatic harmonica in C harp on this record. Unfortunately, I only had a diatonic harmonica. Luckily, I was able to use the "bend" technique in order to achieve those low notes during the solo. At 2:10, notice how Lennon misses the first of the three blows for the last harmonica riff. You also may have noticed me tapping on a guitar throughout the entire song for John's part, without ever actually playing it. I did this as a direct reference to a very early and rare film recording of the Beatles performing "Love Me Do" live. You can see that John has his Rickenbacker 325c64 guitar still strapped on while playing his harmonica, despite it not being needed for the song. Here's a link to the video: [ Ссылка ]

Paul McCartney:
Paul creates a very straightforward bass line for this song, in order to fit in with the overall simplistic theme of "Love Me Do". This is one of the few exceptions where Paul plucks his bass with just his fingers, instead of using a pick.

George Harrison:
This is a rare example of George Harrison playing the rhythm guitar on a Beatle record. Notice how George would pluck individual strings during the bridge/solo on the D major chord. He does this as a way of doubling Paul's bassline.

Andy White:
Fun fact, "Love Me Do" was such an early record for the Beatles that Pete Best was still a member of the band when it first got recorded. The story behind the drummers of this song is a sad one, particularly for Ringo. The Beatles recorded versions of this song with three different drummers. At their first Parlophone audition in June 1962, "Love Me Do" was drummed by Pete Best, but wound up not being used due to George Martin's dissatisfaction with his drumming. They then started recording again on September 4, this time with Ringo as their drummer. But when George Martin decided it would be the single, he had them record it again a week later. At this session, he used a session drummer named Andy White and stuck Ringo with the tambourine. The version with Ringo drumming was released as the single, but the version released on the album had Andy White's drumming. Ringo didn't make a scene when he got bumped at the session, but was very upset and felt real insecure, especially since The Beatles had just fired a drummer (Pete Best).

This cover is the version released on the Please Please Me album with Andy White on the drums.

Instruments Used:
- Hohner Harmonica C Harp
- Gibson J-160E John Lennon 70th Anniversary
- Hofner Violin Bass Ignition Series
- Snare, Bass Drum
- Tambourine

Record/Turntable Used in the Beginning:
Album: The Beatles - Please Please Me (Reissue, Remastered, 180 Gram, UK 2012)
Turntable: 1976 original Pioneer PL-15R (Japanese, Semi-Automatic)

Feel free to ask me anything down in the comments about the instruments, chords, strumming patters, etc. Feedback is also warmly welcomed.

You can go into my "Official Beatle Songs" playlist and listen to the original recordings of each song I have covered, including Love Me Do.

***Wear headphones for the full experience of the song*** (I challenge you to try and individually focus on each instrument and see how they sound like/contribute towards the overall song.)

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