THE BEATLES | Love Me Do, 1962, first pressing, signed by all four Beatles

THE BEATLES

LOVE ME DO. PARLOPHONE, 1962, SIGNED ON THE LABEL

7-inch vinyl record (catalogue number 45-R 4949), FIRST PRESSING, red label third variant (with "Made in Gt. Britain" under Parlophone logo), matrix numbers 7XCE 17144-1N and 7XCE 17145-1N, tax codes "ZT | 1" and "P" on a-side and "ZT" and "JR" on b-side, original Parlophone sleeve (type C), SIGNED ON THE B-SIDE LABEL ("P.S. I Love You") BY ALL FOUR BEATLES, two leaves of provenance, single word ("Flash") written on a-side label, sleeve rather worn and soiled

[with:] Letter of provenance signed by Anthony John Walker noting that he had obtained this signed copy in 1962; and a letter of authenticity by Tracks, Ltd., 2009

THE BEATLES FIRST SINGLE, SIGNED THE DAY AFTER ITS RELEASE. 'Love Me Do' was released on Friday 5 October 1962. The following day the band held their first ever official signing session. This event took place at Dawson's Music Shop in Widnes, a town on the north bank of the Mersey a few miles from Liverpool, at 4 pm on 6 October 1962.

Two versions of 'Love Me Do' had been recorded at Abbey Road. On 4 September it had been recorded with Ringo on drums but on 11 September another version was laid down with session drummer Andy White, whilst Ringo was relegated to tambourine. This first pressing single bears the Ringo version of the song. EMI switched to the Andy White version for the song's 1963 rerelease, and the master of the Ringo version was deleted.

The single peaked at number 17 in the UK charts: "Crude as it was compared to the Beatles's later achievements, it blew a stimulating autumn breeze through an enervated pop scene, heralding a change in the tone of post-war British life ... The first faint chime of a revolutionary bell, 'Love Me Do' represented far more than the sum of its simple parts. A new spirit was abroad: artless yet unabashed - and awed by nothing." (MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, p.43) 

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