It’s impossible to overstate the impact that The Beatles‘ material had on every generation of rock artists that came after them. Even though John Lennon and Paul McCartney never claimed to have a vast knowledge of musical theory, their way of working together on one classic after the next led to them turning in sonic works of art across every one of their albums. They became immortalised in music history by incorporating different studio techniques to achieve the sounds they were looking for. Even though the band would work with anything that they could get their hands on, McCartney admitted that there was one song they were far too embarrassed to record in the early days.
When playing their first gigs in Hamburg, though, nothing was off the table when it came time for the band to hit the stage. Having to fill up eight-hour blocks onstage, the Fab Four were known to tear through various B-sides of their favourite singles and stretch their songs to unheard-of lengths to ensure the audience was entertained.
However, instead of their favourite artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, McCartney had a penchant for bringing show tunes into the band’s repertoire. Being an avid of the great American songbook, many tracks from Broadway productions would find their way into their routine, from ‘A Taste of Honey’ appearing on their first album to McCartney’s dashing take on ‘Til There Was You’.
By the time the band had shopped their demos around to every record label they could find, producer George Martin showed some interest in their potential. Although Lennon and McCartney had already started writing their first classics, Martin still wasn’t convinced they had any potential as writers then.
When talking about the band’s first sessions, Martin elected to record the Mitch Murray track ‘How Do You Do It’, telling Anthology, “I spent a lot of time looking for songs, and what I wanted for The Beatles was a hit. I was convinced that ‘How Do You Do It’ was a hit song. Not a great piece of songwriting, not the most marvellous song I had ever heard in my life, but I thought it had that essential ingredient which would appeal to a lot of people.”
Even though Martin was adamant about the tune, McCartney remembered other members having a visceral reaction to it, saying, “George said, ‘Well, it’s a number-one song. You want a number-one?’. We said, ‘Yeah, but we can’t go back to Liverpool singing that. We can’t be seen with that song.’” While the band had an ace in the hole with ‘Please Please Me’, they eventually acquiesced since the track was far too slow to be considered a proper hit.
Though The Beatles’ version of ‘How Do You Do It’ would eventually get released on the Anthology project, the band convinced Martin to take on ‘Please Please Me’ again, increasing the tempo and creating that essential magic that only The Beatles could deliver. By the time they had finished recording the song, Martin would eventually announce to the group that they had written their first number-one record.
While ‘How Do You Do It’ would remain on the shelf for a few more years, Martin’s attempt at a single would see a release of sorts, becoming one of the first hits for fellow Liverpool act Gerry and the Pacemakers. For all of the great music that came out of the Tin Pan Alley tradition, Martin was becoming a part of a change of the guard in the studio, with The Beatles becoming the next driving force for what pop music would become.
