"P.S. I Love You" | ||||
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Original "Love Me Do" 45
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Single by The Beatles | ||||
A-side | "Love Me Do" | |||
Released | 5 October 1962 (UK) 27 April 1964 (US) |
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Recorded | 4 and 11 September 1962 EMI Studios, London |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 2:06 | |||
Label |
Parlophone R4949 Tollie 9008 (US) |
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Writer(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | Ron Richards | |||
The Beatles singles chronology | ||||
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"P.S. I Love You" is a song composed principally by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and recorded by the English rock band the Beatles, with McCartney on lead vocal. It was released on 5 October 1962 as the B-side of their debut single "Love Me Do" and is also included on their 1963 album Please Please Me. It was later included on the 1977 Beatles compilation Love Songs.
The version featured on the single and album was recorded in ten takes on 11 September 1962 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, London. Producer George Martin had booked session drummer Andy White as a replacement for Pete Best, whom he considered not technically good enough for recording purposes (Martin had been unaware that the other Beatles had already replaced Pete Best with Ringo Starr, who attended the session and plays maracas on the song). White was a freelance show band and session drummer, and gave the recording a lightweight cha cha treatment.
Martin was not present at the session, which was run by Ron Richards in his absence. Richards told the group that the song could not be the A-side of their single because of an earlier song of the same title: "I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew someone had done a record with that title. I said to Paul 'You can have it as B-side, but not an A-side'" (despite other titles having been used for multiple hit songs without legal difficulties).
With Starr playing drums, the Beatles recorded this song at the BBC on 25 October 1962, 27 November 1962 and 17 June 1963 for subsequent broadcast on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot and Pop Go the Beatles, respectively.