Love Me Do

Play Along: Guitar, Piano, Vocals

1. Speed 50%

2. Speed 75%

3. Speed 100%

Lyrics

1. Intro (instrumental)
[G7] [C/D] [C] (3x) [G]

2. Chorus
[G7] Love, love me [C] do.
You [G7] know I love [C] you.
I’ll [G7] always be [C] true.
So please, love me [G7] do [C/D].
[C] Woh love [G7] me [C/D] do.

3. Chorus

4. Bridge
[D] Someone to love,
[Csus] somebody [G] new.
[D] Someone to love,
[Csus] someone like [G] you.

5. Chorus

6. Bridge (instrumental)

7. Chorus

8. Outro (repeat and fade)
[C] Woh love [G7] me [C/D] do.

Chords

1. G Dominant [G7]
2. C Over D [C/D]
3. C Major [C]
4. G Major [G]
5. D Major [D]
6. C Suspended [Csus]

Song

“Love Me Do” is a song giving the listener permission to love the singer. It’s okay to love me “You know I love you” and “I’ll always be true” – “So please, love me do.” The lyrics are simple, but they drive home a very deeply needed sentiment in all of us – the need to be loved.

Significance

In 1962 “The Beatles” were playing regular gigs at The Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany. “The Beatles” played cover songs by famous American artists such as Little Richard and Ray Charles. Introducing “Love Me Do” into their set was a big deal for “The Beatles”. However, “Love Me Do” was well received and gave “The Beatles” the confidence to start writing and performing their own original music.

George Martin, The producer at Parlophone Records, wanted “The Beatles” first release to be a song called “How Do You Do It?” written by a “professional” songwriter named Mitch Murray. “The Beatles” did not want their first release to be a song written by someone else so they purposefully did not play their best during the recording session. After hearing “The Beatles” play their original composition called “Love Me Do”, George Martin decided to let “The Beatles” release “Love Me Do” as their first single.

“The Beatles” stubborn persistence to release “Love Me Do” proved to be crucial to “The Beatles” future success. After releasing “Love Me Do”, George Martin, The producer at Parlophone Records, offered no objections when “The Beatles” returned to Abbey Road Studios to record their second original composition titled “Please, Please Me”. George Martin said after the recording session, “Gentlemen, you have just made your first number one” – and Martin was correct.

Inspiration

Paul McCartney developed the original concept for the song about his girlfriend Iris Caldwell. John Lennon was going to sing the lead vocals until he started experimenting with using the harmonica on the song. The record producer George Martin heard Lennon play the harmonica and decided to make Paul McCartney sing the lead vocals so John Lennon could play the harmonica. Paul McCartney has said, “you can hear the fear in his voice at the audition” because he had never sang lead before.

Writing

“The Beatles Love Me Do” was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1958 when Lennon was 17-years-old and McCartney was 16-years-old. Lennon and McCartney had already started to write songs together by skipping school, but “Love Me Do” was the first song they liked enough to record.

When John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi heard the recording of “Love Me Do”, she said to John, “Well, if you think you are going to make a fortune with that, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Recording

“Love Me Do” was recorded by “The Beatles” using three different drummers. The first recording was done with “The Beatles” original drummer named Pete Best. The second recording was done with Ringo Starr. The third version was done with a session drummer named Andy White after producer George Martin decided “The Beatles” new drummer Ringo Starr wasn’t up to the task. Ringo Starr plays the tambourine on the third version and recalls feeling very insecure about being bumped because “The Beatles” had just recently hired him to replace Pete Best.

Release

“Love Me Do” was the first single ever released by “The Beatles”. “Love Me Do” was released by Parlophone Records in the UK, but it took sometime before “The Beatles” could find a record company in the United States to release the song. “The Beatles” wanted Capitol Records to release the song in the United States, but they refused because they said it would be a flop. “Love Me Do” was eventually released by Tollie Records in the United States about a year after it was released in the UK.

“Love Me Do” was not a big hit when it was released in the UK on October 5, 1962. Brian Epstein, “The Beatles” Manager, was so confident in “The Beatles”, he purchased a huge quantity (reportedly 10,0000 copies – more than he could ever sell) of the single for his record store. Epstein’s knew what he was doing, his purchase helped push “Love Me Do” into the charts and helped“The Beatles” gain exposure.

Covers

“The Beatles Love Me Do” has been covered by various recording artist including The Persuasions, Sandie Shaw, Bobby Lee, Ringo Starr, The Brady Bunch, etc, etc…