I
think we can all agree that September 11 is one of those days that
has major significance in recent history. And, yes, I will be
bringing up the reason why that is the case a little bit later on in
this particular blog. One reason being that I talked about this
event last year in my blog in full detail. Somewhere in the blog
will be a link to that entry. You'll know it when you see it.
At
the same time though, I wanted to also use this Tuesday Timeline
entry for this week to try and talk about another event in the world
of pop culture. Not because I want to downplay the horrible tragedy
of the eleventh of September, but because I wanted to point out that
there were so many other interesting events that have taken place on
September 11, and I really wanted to focus on those events as well.
It doesn't mean that we'll ever forget what happened in history
eleven years ago, but rather, it will help us remember a time in
which September 11 was also a date of great discovery and milestone
events in addition to it being a time of mourning.
So,
if you're living in America, I hope that you take this Patriot Day to
reflect on what happened and to continue living your lives...and to
the rest of you, a very happy Tuesday to all of you!
To
begin this look back on September 11, we have some celebrity
birthdays to list here. Celebrating a birthday today are Oliver
Jones, Ian Abercrombie, Brian De Palma, Lola Falana, Mickey Hart,
Felton Perry, Dennis Tufano, Amy Madigan, Jani Allan, Tony Gilroy,
Brad Bird, Jon Moss, Brad Lesley, Scott Patterson, Roxann Dawson,
Virginia Madsen, Elizabeth “E.G.” Daily, Kristy McNichol, Colin
Wells, Victor Wooten, Moby, Maria Bartiromo, Harry Connick Jr, Kay
Hanley, Laura Wright, Mark Klepaski, Elephant Man, Ludacris, Ben Lee,
Frank Francisco, Steve Hofstetter, Mike Comrie, Charles Kelley, and
Shaun Livingston.
And,
here are a few of the historical events that have taken place on
September 11 in history, including the event that I alluded to in the
opening paragraph.
1541
– The city of Santiago, Chile
is destroyed by indigenous warriors, lead by Michimalonko
1609
– Manhattan Island is discovered by explorer Henry Hudson
1649
– The Siege of Drogheda ends
1709
– The Battle of Malplaquet heats up as Great Britain, the
Netherlands, and Austria wage war against France
1775
– Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec leaves Cambridge,
Massachusetts
1776
– A peace conference held on Staten Island between Britain and the
United States fails to stop nascent American Revolutionary War
1786
– The beginning of the Annapolis Convention
1789
– Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first United States Secretary
of Treasury
1792
– Six men break into the place where French crown jewels are stored
and steal the Hope Diamond
1847
– “Oh! Suzanna”, a song written by Stephen Foster, is first
performed in a Pennsylvania saloon
1857
– 120 pioneers are killed in Utah on what would be known as the
Mountain Meadows Massacre
1903
– The first race at the Milwaukee Mile is held, making it the
oldest speedway in the world
1916
– The central span of the Quebec Bridge collapses, killing eleven
1922
– The Sun-News Pictoral, an Australian newspaper is founded,
running until 1990
1939
– Canada declares war on Germany in the early stages of World War
II, the first time that Canada made an independent declaration of war
1941
– On the same day that the ground is broken for the construction of
The Pentagon, Charles Lindbergh makes his Des Moines speech which
accused Britain, the Jews, and the Roosevelt administration for
pressing for war against Germany
1954
– Hurricane Edna batters New England, killing 29 people
1961
– Seven years after Edna, Hurricane Carla strikes Texas, the
second-strongest storm to strike the state
1970
– The Dawson's Field hijackers release 88 hostages
1972
– The opening day of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit
system
1985
– Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's record for most career hits when he
makes his 4,192nd
hit
1988
– St. Jean Bosco massacre occurs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1992
– Hurricane Iniki slams into Hawaiian Islands, devastating the
islands of Oahu and Kauai
1997
– NASA's Mars Global Surveyor reaches Mars
(To
read my account of the attacks that I wrote last year on the 10th
anniversary of the attacks, click on the paragraph above.)
2003
– Actor John Ritter falls ill on the set of “8 Simple Rules”
and dies hours later from an aortic dissection just days before his
fifty-fifth birthday. Also on this date, Swedish Minister of Foreign
Affairs Anna Lindh dies at 47, just a day after a horrific knife
attack launched on her.
You
want to know what I found eerie about the list of events? Just how
many of them were based in New York City and Washington D.C.
But
for today's trip back through time, we're going to jolly old England.
For the date we are going back to is exactly five decades ago.
September
11, 1962.
So,
what happened on this date fifty years ago today? Quite a bit,
actually. On this date in 1962, a famous rock band was in the
recording studio recording the song that would eventually become
their debut single. But as you'll soon discover, the process in the
song recording was actually a long-drawn out process. It was right
around the time that the band was experiencing a personnel change
within its members, and it was a period in which the band was still
trying to find their groove, and what worked. In fact, September 11,
1962 was the THIRD attempt at recording this song, as the previous
two didn't work out so well.
So,
what song are we featuring in this particular entry? It's this one.
ARTIST:
The Beatles
SONG:
Love Me Do
ALBUM:
Please Please Me
DATE
RELEASED: October 5, 1962
PEAK
POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS:
#1 for 1 week
That's
right. We're taking a look back at the song “Love Me Do”.
Although it didn't chart in North America until the spring of 1964,
it was the debut single for The Beatles in the UK. And, the song was
recorded exactly fifty years ago today on September 11, 1962.
Or
was it September 4, 1962? Or, possibly June 6, 1962?
Well,
actually, it was all three. And, yes, I will explain why this was
the case.
The
song “Love Me Do” was actually written by Paul McCartney and John
Lennon. Most of the song was written by McCartney back in 1958 on a
day in which he played hookey from school (as I'm sure most sixteen
year olds did at least once in their lives). Lennon ended up writing
the “middle eight”.
The
song was originally recorded in the studios on June 6, 1962 under the
band's original line-up, which as most Beatles fans will tell you
comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete
Best. The song was actually a part of their audition at EMI Studios,
located at 3 Abbey Road in London.
But
then something happened later that summer that would force the song
to be re-recorded. In August 1962, Pete Best was let go from The
Beatles by the other three members, having been informed of the
decision by The Beatles' then-manager Brian Epstein. Though much
speculation was made as to why this was the case, that would take a
whole blog entry to get into the reasons why. With Best gone, The
Beatles welcomed Ringo Starr into the line-up on August 16, 1962.
Just
a couple of weeks later, on September 4, The Beatles (now with Ringo
Starr) went back to the recording studios to rehearse and re-record
“Love Me Do”, “Please Please Me”, and several other songs.
Brian Epstein footed the bill for the band to fly down to London, and
the band set up in studio three. Producer George Martin was also at
the recording session, but wasn't exactly wowed by the songwriting
talents of Lennon and McCartney. When the band arrived at the
recording studios, Martin was insistent on having the band record a
song written by Mitch Murray called “How Do You Do It?”. The
song was written originally for Adam Faith, and Murray believed that
the song would be a perfect debut single for the band.
One
problem. The Beatles were insistent on recording their OWN material.
Luckily for them, Martin was willing to let them try. He still was
apprehensive about it, but he gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Initially,
Martin was still dead-set on releasing “How Do You Do It?” as The
Beatles' first single, and almost went through with it. But upon
hearing the finished copy of “Love Me Do”, he changed his mind.
But
Martin wasn't completely satisfied with the final cut. In
particular, he wasn't too keen on the drumming part, which Ringo
Starr performed on the September 4 recordings, believing that Starr
was having trouble keeping with the beat of the song (something that
McCartney reportedly agreed with). As a result, he made the decision
to schedule a third recording session on September 11 to try
recording the song a third time...without Ringo on drums.
At
that time, a number of record producers were using professional show
band drummers during recording sessions to try and keep up with the
sound that dominated the charts. And in this case, professional
drummer Andy White was brought into the third session for “Love Me
Do”. The reason he was chosen was largely due to Ron Richards. At
the time of the September 11 sessions, George Martin was unavailable
to sit in on the recording, so Richards was brought in. And since
Richards had worked with White before, it made perfect sense to use
him for the session.
But
with Andy White being brought into the recording session to re-record
“Love Me Do”, it left a rather nasty taste in the mouth of Ringo
Starr, who was under the false assumption that his time with The
Beatles was ending after not even less than a month. It was bad
enough that many of Pete Best's fans were already making him out to
be a sort of pariah for taking his place, but this was a lot for
Ringo to deal with. Ron Richards even revealed that when the
recording was happening, Ringo sat down next to him in the control
booth and sat there in complete silence before he asked him to play
the maracas on another single, “P.S. I Love You”. It was a bit
tension-filled during that September 11 recording session, but
eventually Ringo accepted the apologies that both Richards and Martin
offered him since the session. Of course, this didn't stop Ringo
from never letting Richards forget what happened.
Eventually,
the problem of the “Love Me Do” controversy was solved by having
both Starr and White play on the record. White played the drums,
while Starr played the tambourine, and the third version of “Love
Me Do” was completed later that day.
So,
that's the story of “Love Me Do”. It was one of the few songs
that was recorded three different times by three different drummers!
And, believe it or not, despite the fact that the original master
tapes from the September 4 session were erased (due to the common
practice of erasing the tapes once the singles were mixed down to
create the “new” master tapes which would be used to print the
records), all three versions can be found in various Beatles
compilations. You just have to know where to look.
If
you want to hear the June 6, 1962 version of the song “Love Me Do”,
with Pete Best on drums, you just need to locate a copy of “Anthology
1”, released in 1995.
If
you're interested in listening to the September 4, 1962 version of
the song, with Ringo Starr on drums, you can find it on the Beatles
compilation album “Rarities”, released in 1980.
And,
of course, the September 11, 1962 version with Andy White on drums is
the one that is most commonly heard, and is the version located on
the “Please Please Me” album...which is partly the reason why I
opted to choose today as the date to spotlight what would be the
first of dozens of hit singles for The Beatles.
And,
that is our look back on September 11, 1962. And with that, I end
this note off with a bit of trivia.
TRIVIA:
There is one distinct difference between the September 4 version and
the September 11 version. The September 4 version doesn't contain a
tambourine.
Now
you know.
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