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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Beatles - P.S. I Love You

"P.S. I Love You" is a song composed principally by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney).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 Beatles compilation Love Songs.

The version featured on the single and album was recorded in ten takes on 11 September 1962 at EMIs 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 was unaware that Best had been fired and replaced by Ringo Starr who plays maracas on the song).

White was a freelance showband and session drummer, and gave the recording a lightweight cha cha treatment.

The Beatles (with Starr playing drums) also recorded this song at the BBC on 25 October 1962, 27 November 1962, and 17 June 1963 for subsequent broadcast on the BBC radio programs Here We Go, Talent Spot, and Pop Go The Beatles, respectively.

McCartney described "P.S. I Love You" as “ a theme song based on a letter... It was pretty much mine. I don't think John had much of a hand in it. There are certain themes that are easier than others to hang a song on, and a letter is one of them... It's not based in reality, nor did I write it to my girlfriend from Hamburg, which some people think. ”

John Lennon said about this song:
“ That's Paul's song. He was trying to write a "Soldier Boy" like The Shirelles. He wrote that in Germany, or when we were going to and from Hamburg. I might have contributed something. I can't remember anything in particular. It was mainly his song. ”

Lyrically constructed with their female audience in mind, the Beatles included it as part of their Cavern Club song set where it was a favourite of the fans.The Beatles admired Buddy Holly and the Crickets (best demonstrated by their cover of "Words of Love" on the Beatles for Sale album). Writer Jonathan Cott suggested that the "P.S." part of the song was a subtle reference to "Peggy Sue", from the lyric "I love you, Peggy Sue".

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