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Tracklist
Side A
- Love Me Do
Side B
- P.S. I Love You
Labels & dead wax
Visual reference for this specific pressing. Click any image to enlarge.
Why this pressing matters
In January 1963, Parlophone stopped producing records with red labels. As a result, the original releases of Love Me Do and Please Please Me were the only Beatles singles released in the UK in the 1960s with these red labels.
Additionally, interestingly, the red labels included the prefix 45 in the catalog number to distinguish them from 78 RPM records, even though Parlophone had already discontinued them in the late 1950s.
How to authenticate this pressing
Specific verification cues for this exact variant.
There are two kinds of the red label: one does not have the name of the country at the right part of the label (under the trade mark) and another is with the words "MADE IN GT. BRITAIN".
There is a variant with the missing bracket on side 2 under the song title: (Lennon -McCartney
A ZT tax code stamped in the runout indicates a pressing made before November 1962 when the code changed to PT, from 1st January 1963 to 30 June 1963 changed in MT, and after KT.
Historical context & other notes
According to Yoko Ono, matrix number suffixed with "1N" indicates "Ringo on drums and no tambourine" version.
On September 11, 1962, the Beatles recorded “Love Me Do”, “P.S. I Love You” and “Please Please Me”, which features Paul on lead vocal and bass, supported by John and George on backing vocals and guitars. By George Martin wish, Andy White, the drummer of the studio, played the drums on that session and Ringo played just tambourine and maracas. That version made it Please Please Me album but on the first pressings of the single Parlophone used the version of “Love Me Do” with Ringo’s drumming recorded a month earlier, on September 4.
Other releases
This album's releases in other countries, or special editions within the same market. Full per-country chronology lives in each country's hub page.
