P.S. I Love You (Beatles song)
"P.S. I Love You" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by the Beatles | ||||
from the album Please Please Me | ||||
A-side | "Love Me Do" | |||
Released |
| |||
Recorded | 11 September 1962 | |||
Studio | EMI, London | |||
Genre |
| |||
Length | 2:04 | |||
Label |
| |||
Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
The Beatles UK singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Beatles US singles chronology | ||||
|
"P.S. I Love You" is a song recorded by English rock band
Recording
The version featured on the single and album was recorded in ten
Martin was not present at the session; in his absence, it was run by Ron Richards. Richards told the group that the song could not be the A-side of their single because of an earlier song with the same title: "I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew someone had done a record with that title. I said to Paul, 'You can have it as B-side, but not an A-side.'"[3]
With Starr playing drums, the Beatles recorded the song at the BBC on 25 October 1962, 27 November 1962 and 17 June 1963 for subsequent broadcast on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot and Pop Go the Beatles, respectively. The 17 June 1963 recording was officially published on the On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 album (2013).
Composition
Written in spring 1962,[4] while Paul McCartney was in Hamburg, this song is sometimes considered to be a dedication to his then-girlfriend Dot Rhone.[5] However, McCartney denies this:
It's just an idea for a song really, a theme song based on a letter, like the Paperback Writer idea. 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... The letter is a popular theme and it's just my attempt at one of those. It's not based in reality, nor did I write it to my girlfriend from Hamburg, which some people think.[6]
John Lennon commented:[7]
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.
Melodically typical of McCartney's later writing style, the song demonstrates two notable exceptions to the contemporaneous model: during the opening chorus the chord D♭7 is placed incongruously between G and D (on write), and during the song's title phrase a sudden shift to B♭ occurs underneath "P.S. I love you" which
Re-release
On its 20th anniversary, Parlophone re-issued "P.S. I Love You" as a picture disc, and shortly afterwards as a 12-inch disc.[8]
Personnel
- Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass
- John Lennon – acoustic rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- George Harrison – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- maracas
- Andy White – drums
Engineered by Norman Smith
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald except where noted[2]
For the Beatles' BBC session recorded 17 June 1963 and released on the album On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 (2013), Starr plays drums.
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Notes
- ^ Harry 2000, p. 892.
- ^ a b c d MacDonald 2007, p. 61.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 20.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-8305-3.
- ^ MacDonald 2007, p. 61, footnote.
- ^ Miles 1997, p. 37.
- ^ Sheff 2000, p. 168.
- ^ Calkin, Graham. "Love Me Do b/w P.S. I Love You - The Beatles". jpgr.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Titolo" field, search "P.S. I love you".
- ^ "Music: Top 100 - Billboard Hot 100", Billboard, retrieved 15 January 2018
- ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
References
- ISBN 0-7535-0481-2.
- ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3.
- ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
- The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll. Rolling Stone Press/Random House. 1976. ISBN 0-394-73238-3.