Record #0808: Can’t Buy Me Love / You Can’t Do That – THE BEATLES

 

Capitol 5150 (original, 1^st pressing) USA, 16. March 1964
Words & Music by:  Side A – John Lennon, Paul McCartney; Side B - John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Musicians: John Lennon (lead vocals on side B, lead guitar on side B, rhythm guitar), Paul McCartney (double lead vocals on side A, backing vocals on side B , bass, cowbell on side B), George Harrison (lead guitar on side A, 12-string guitar, backing vocals on side B), Ringo Starr (drums, bongos on side B)
Recording sessions: Produced by George Martin at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, UK; Side A – 29. January (at Pathe Marconi Studios, Paris, France) and 25. Febryary 1964; Side B - 25. February 1964
Highest chart positions:  Side A - US #1, Canada #1, UK #1, Ireland #2, Australia #1, New Zealand #1, Netherlands #1, Denmark #1, Sweden #1, Norway #3, Finland #3; Side B – US #122, Canada #10

This Beatles single was released with same songs both in the US and the UK. The latter (Parlophone  R 5114) was out four days later, on 20. March. This record was a major commercial success as it sold 2,1 million copies in the States, over 1,5 million copies in the UK and 6 million worldwide.

Side A was written by McCartney, and the flip was penned by Lennon, though both are credited for “Lennon – McCartney”, as usual.

This was #3 in the Finnish charts in June 1964, when “All My Loving” was #1.

List price:  First pressing Very Good+ is $15, Near Mint is $30; 2^nd pressings have publisher “Northern Music Limited” on the label. Same prices.

Record #0807: I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There – THE BEATLES

 

Capitol 5112 (original) USA, 26. December 1963
Words & Music by:  Side A – John Lennon, Paul McCartney; Side B - John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Musicians: John Lennon (harmony vocals, rhythm guitar, hand claps), Paul McCartney (lead vocals on side B, harmony vocals on side A, bass, hand claps), George Harrison (lead guitar, hand claps), Ringo Starr (drums, hand claps)
Recording sessions: EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, UK; Side A – 17. October 1963; Side B - 11. February 1963
Highest chart positions:  Side A - US #1, Canada #1, UK #1, Ireland #2, Australia #1, New Zealand #1, Germany #1, Netherlands #1, Denmark #1, Sweden #1, Norway #1, Finland #6; Side B – US #14, Canada #1, Australia #1, New Zealand #1, Denmark #1, Sweden #14

Capitol Records resisted issuing the Beatles recordings until they agreed to release this (and many more later). Basically, this really kicked off the “British Invasion” in the States. 250 000 copies of the single were sold in the first three days.

The flip side was not released as a single in the UK. The B-side for “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Parlophone R 5084) was “This Boy”.

In Finland “I Saw Her Standing There” was the B-side of “All My Loving” (Parlophone 45-DPY 659), which topped the charts for three months starting in April 1964.

You can tell the pressing by the publisher information on side B. The photo shows the first pressing (“Walter Hofer”) on the left and the second pressing (“George Pincus & Sons”) on the right.

List price:  First pressing Very Good+ is $20, Near Mint is $40; 2^nd pressing VG+ $17,50, NM $35; 3^rd pressing (publisher “Gil Music”) VG+ $15, NM $30

Record #0806: Twist and Shout / There’s a Place– THE BEATLES

 

Tollie 9001 (original US release) USA, 2. March 1964
Words & Music by:  Side A – Phil Medley, Bert Russell; Side B - Paul McCartney, John Lennon
Musicians: John Lennon (lead vocals, harmonica on side B, rhythm guitar), Paul McCartney (lead vocals on side B, backing vocals on side A, lead vocals on side B, bass), George Harrison (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ringo Starr (drums)
Recording sessions: EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, UK, 11. February 1963
Highest chart positions:  Side A - US #2, Canada #5, Australia #5, New Zealand #1, Sweden #2, Norway #7, Finland #1; Side B – US #74

“Twist and Shout” is a huge rock’n’roll classic and recorded in one take! Lennon was not entirely happy with his vocals, so they attempted take two. The Beatles recorded most of their album “Please Please Me” on that day and this was the last song of the session. Lennon, being with a heavy cold, just could not pull it off anymore.
The song was originally recorded by the Top Notes in 1961, but the Isley Brothers’ cover version made it a hit in 1962 (US #17, UK #42).

The flip side, though credited for McCartney and Lennon, was mostly penned by the latter. It has great harmonies and a bit unusual lyric for the time, when light pop songs were topping the charts.

This single was never released in the UK. That may be due to the fact that both tracks were included on their EP “Twist and Shout”, released on 12. July 1963 (Parlophone GEP 8882).

“Twist and Shout” topped the Finnish chat in November 1963. It took the place from Elvis’ “Devil in Disguise”.

List price:  yellow label, green text - Very Good+ is $40, Near Mint is $80; many variants with different text colours and layouts exist. Pricing varies.