Showing posts with label I Want to Hold Your Hand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I Want to Hold Your Hand. Show all posts

Thursday, March 12, 2009

I Want to Hold Your Hand

There are many Beatles facts associated with "I Want to Hold Your Hand," but the most pertinent is that before the issue of this song in the United States, Capitol Records had declined to release the Beatles' successful UK singles in America, songs such as "Please Please Me," "From Me to You," "Love Me Do," and "She Loves You." Producer George Martin believed that the latter song had been good enough to crack the American charts.

In preparation for the Beatles' first tour of America and their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, Brian Epstein reassured Capitol that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was a record that would sell well in America.

The song was released as a single in the UK on November 29, 1963. It was released in the U.S. on January 13, 1964 and was the song most responsible, in tandem with the Sullivan appearance, for the beginning of Beatlemania in America.

This early composition was an equal collaboration between Lennon and McCartney, and part of the song was written in Jane Asher's basement. It was then recorded on October 17, 1963 at Abbey Road Studios, this session representing the first time that the Beatles used four-track recording equipment.

The song was performed live by the band in 1963 and 1964, and was performed on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, as well as at the Washington Coliseum and Carnegie Hall on the first American tour in February of 1964. "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand," a German version of the song (i.e., the song was recorded in German) appeared as a single in 1964 and was later issued on the LPs Something New, Rarities, and Past Masters, Volume 1.

Lennon and McCartney share lead vocals. Lennon plays rhythm guitar, Harrison lead, McCartney bass, and Starr drums.

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Sunday, February 1, 2009

Beatles History: "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

By February 1, 1964, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" reached number one on the Billboard chart in America and sold 2,000,000 copies in only eleven days. It was released in America on January 20, 1964. "She Loves You" sold 1,000,000. The song remained a favorite of Lennon's for all of his life, and before he died, he was still contemplating re-recording this breakout hit, along with some of his other Beatles' songs.

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Saturday, January 3, 2009

January 3, 1964: "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

On January 3rd, Jack Paar showed a performance of "She Love You," originally performed at Bournemouth, England in November, 1963, on The Jack Paar Show. This was technically the first time American audiences could see the Beatles on American TV, although Paar's show aired late at night.

That same day, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" reached the number one spot on Australian music charts.

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