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"Please Please Me"
Memories of the Early Beatles
Pete Best, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney
in Hamburg, Germany 1960
The following is an excerpt from a chapter in the memoir, "Free As The Breeze" - Confessions of a Struggling Songwriter, by Roger Lee Hall:
The music from the UK was exciting to listen to for someone like me who had been raised on American rock n' roll of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and others.
Of all the songs I wrote during the early 1960s, the one that pleases me the most is “The Soho Serenade.” I wrote it in October of 1961 after hearing a Polydor 45 RPM record with two old standards: “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” on the A side and "The Saints (When The Saints Go Marching In)" on the B side. I was then stationed at the Rhein Main airbase in Frankfurt, Germany. The record was by a British group known as -- Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers. Ever hear of the backup group? But you’ve surely heard the other name they went by later – The Beatles. Why then were they first called “The Beat Brothers?”
From The Complete Beatles Chronicle
by Mark Lewisohn (1992/2004)
Well, the story goes that in German, “ Beatles” is close to “peedles” which is North German slang for a small penis. So the record producer and popular German bandleader Bert Kaempfert, wisely decided to change their name for the German market. The four penises, or worse still “the four little pricks,” just wouldn’t do!! So their name was changed to The Beat Brothers and later they changed their name to The Silver Beatles then finally just, The Beatles, still retaining the “beat” in their name from the mostly up-tempo rock music they played.
“My Bonnie” was a big hit in Frankfurt am Main mainly because it was very good for the Twist dance then in vogue in Germany as well as in the States. But it was also a good solid up-tempo record. I was impressed by the backup group for “My Bonnie,” and only knew them as The Beat Brothers. The lead singer, Tony Sheridan, sounded very much like Elvis Presely or Jerry Lee Lewis, and his use of the "woo" shout on records like "When The Saints Go Marching In" (recorded in Hamburg in 1961) was a forerunner of the same shout used later by The Beatles in songs like "She Loves You."
Front entrance of The Star-Club in Hamburg
In August of 1962, I was on vacation on my way to Copenhagen and stopped off for a few days in Hamburg, Germany. One night with an Army buddy, we went to the Reeperbahn, the notorious district filled with strip clubs, prostitutes, drunks and rock n' roll venues. One of the best known was The Star -Club where the Beatles played in 1961 and 1962. As George Harrison said in a 1969 interview:
"And probably, in my opinion anyway, we reached our stage peak in Hamburg. That was well before we were famous, and so the people who came to see us were drawn by our music, or whatever atmosphere we created...we got very tight as a band in Hamburg."
Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear them in Hamburg but did hear their name mentioned at the Star-Club by a young German rock n' roll fan we talked to there. He said: "this group playing now isn't as good as the Beatles." That was the first time I had heard their name, before they were famous.
Later on, in late 1962 and early 1963, I heard the first two Beatles hit records, "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me." These songs were played a lot over loud-speakers at a favorite club I went to in Frankfurt. It was fascinating to hear their unusual vocal harmonies and the prominent use of the harmonica. As quoted in Chris Ingham's informative The Rough Guide To The Beatles (3rd edition), their brilliant record producer, George Martin, said this about "Love Me Do," recorded in September of 1962:
"It was John's harmonica that gave it its appeal."
The same was true for for "Please Please Me" which I especially liked with the harmonica intro and those pleading lyrics of "come on, come on, come on, come on " followed by the suggestive line: "Please please me oh yeah like I please you." I thought this was more sophisticated songwriting than most rock n' roll groups were singing at that time.
I heard one of the UK groups at The Rocket Club at Rhein Main. They were called Sonny Stewart and The Dynamos and were a great sounding rock group. I asked Sonny about them maybe performing a song of mine and he said to send him a copy.
I decided to try writing a song and that's how my first complete song, “The Soho Serenade,” was written.
The song had been directly inspired by the early Beatles songs and also an English girl I was dating then by the name of Sadie.I dedicated the song to her. She was thrilled to receive this song and said she would try to find a singing group to perform my song when she returned to England. She never found that group. At least she never mentioned it in her many letters she wrote me after she returned to England. I wonder whatever happened to Sadie. Maybe she got married and had a bunch of kids. In any case, as far as I know “The Soho Serenade” was never sung in London, the city I wrote it for. Maybe some day?
--excerpt from Chapter 10 ("Memories of The Beatles and Sadie") in the memoir by Roger Lee Hall,
"Free As The Breeze"
Confessions of a Struggling Songwriter
(PineTree Press, 2011)
Hear the early 1960s recordings on these CDs...
The Beatles featuring Tony Sheridan
In The Beginning
The Beatles With Tony Sheridan: First Recordings
(50th Anniversary Edition)
Also this interesting CD/ DVD combo disc -
The Beatles with Tony Sheridan -
The Beginnings in Hamburg
Other multimedia discs
by the same author
"Dream World"
Songs, Poems and Stories by Roger Hall"Following the Stars"
Music & Memories of Hopalong Cassidy"Peace-Lovin' Blues" -
Songs For Survival"Shake, Rattle and Roll"
Electric Elvis and Bill Randle"You Are My Sunshine"
Memories of Bloomfield
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