Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. Can you believe that the BROW is four years old this week? Incredible!

February 11, 1963, was easily the most productive day The Beatles would ever spend in the studio. After the relatively mediocre success of their first single, “Love Me Do”, their second single, “Please Please Me,” had just broken the top 10 on the U.K.’s Melody Maker charts, and producer George Martin knew it was time to strike while the iron was hot and quickly get an album out by his boys.

Martin’s earlier idea of making the first Beatles album out of a live performance at Liverpool’s Cavern Club had been dismissed after he visited there to catch one of their performances and realized that the acoustics and screaming fans kept it far from conducive for any recording. If they used the already recorded four songs from their two singles, Martin reasoned that 10 more would be enough for a typical British LP.

On February 11th, all 10 of these were recorded in just under 10 hours, and the Please Please Me LP was completed. The songs done were a representation of their stage show and were recorded live with very few edits or overdubs added afterwards. Added to their four Lennon-McCartney compositions from their singles (“Love Me Do,” “P.S. I Love You,” “Please Please Me” & “Ask Me Why”), were six covers by American groups: “Anna” (Arthur Alexander), “Chains” (The Cookies), “Boys” & “Baby, It’s You” (both by The Shirelles), “A Taste Of Honey” (Lenny Welch) and “Twist And Shout” (The Isley Brothers). In addition there were four more Lennon-McCartney originals: “Misery,” “There’s A Place,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and the tune I’m featuring for this week’s BROW.

“Do You Want To Know A Secret” was written mainly by John Lennon. It was inspired by a scene in the 1937 Walt Disney film Snow White And The Seven Dwarves, where Snow White sings to the doves: “Wanna know a secret, promise not to tell, we are standing by a wishing well.” The actual name of the song was “I’m Wishing” (written by Larry Morey and Frank Churchill). The song was given to George Harrison to sing on the album. George did not begin writing his own compositions until the following album, With The Beatles.

The take of “Do You Want To Know A Secret” used for the master was take 8. Featured here is the previous take, 7, which has a few differences. The “doo-dah-doo” backing vocals are present for all three verses instead of beginning with the second verse, there is an “aaah” backing vocal at the end of the first verse after the word “hear” (“say the words you long to hear”), and there is added percussion during the middle eight done with handclaps. Additionally, since this is a raw version, we hear the song’s complete ending instead of a fade out. After take 7 concludes, John is heard asking if they should start the backing vocals on the second verse instead, just as the announcement for take 8 is made.

The Beatles in 1963

Extra info: Not only did The Beatles get their ten songs for Please Please Me recorded on February 11th, but they also recorded an early version of “Hold Me Tight,” which was scrapped sometime before it was re-recorded for their next album, With The Beatles.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Please Please Me (Remastered) – 2009 remaster of original 1963 stereo LP, featuring Do You Want To Know A Secret.

2) Additional Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

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