It’s impossible to overestimate The Beatles’ influence on every subsequent generation of rock musicians. Even though not musical theory experts, Lennon and McCartney’s method produced one classic after another, evident in their work. It resulted in auditory works of art on each of their albums. Through innovative studio techniques, they meticulously crafted the sounds they envisioned, cementing their place in music history. Even though the band would work with whatever they could get their hands on, McCartney claimed there was one song. Their initial embarrassment held them back from recording it.
When it came time for the band to take the stage for their first shows in Hamburg, nothing was off the table. With eight-hour blocks of time onstage, the Fab Four were known to tear through numerous B-sides of their favorite singles. They would also stretch their songs to previously unheard-of lengths to keep the audience entertained.
Instead of their favorite performers like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, McCartney preferred to incorporate show tunes into the band’s repertoire. Being ardent fans of the great American songbook, several tracks from Broadway musicals would find their way into their routine. ‘A Taste of Honey‘ appeared on their first album, and McCartney delivered a dashing take on ‘Til There Was You.’
After the band had sent their demos to every record company they could locate, producer George Martin expressed interest in their potential. Even though Lennon and McCartney had already begun penning their first classics, Martin was still skeptical of their creative abilities.
Martin chose to record the Mitch Murray single ‘How Do You Do It’ during the band’s initial sessions. He told Anthology, “I spent a lot of time looking for songs, and what I wanted for The Beatles was a hit.” I was confident that ‘How Do You Do It’ would be a success. Not a brilliant piece of songwriting, not the most wonderful song I’d ever heard in my life. However, I believed it had that special something that would appeal to a wide range of people.
Despite Martin’s fierce opposition to the song, McCartney recalls other members having a visceral reaction to it, saying, “George said, ‘Well, it’s a number-one song.'” You want a number-one?’. ‘Yeah, but we can’t go back to Liverpool singing that,’ we added. The band boldly declared, “We’re not going to be seen with that song”! But the sluggish tempo of the song eventually forced them to relent.
Though The Beatles’ version of ‘How Do You Do It’ was finally released on the Anthology project, the band persuaded Martin to work on ‘Please Please Me’ again. This involved raising the tempo and generating the crucial enchantment that only The Beatles could offer. Martin declared they had written their first number-one record upon finishing the song’s recording.
While ‘How Do You Do It‘ remained on the shelf for a few more years, Martin’s effort at a single saw some success. It became one of the first singles for fellow Liverpool act Gerry and the Pacemakers. For all the brilliant music from Tin Pan Alley, Martin was part of a studio change of guard. The Beatles became the next driving force for shaping pop music.
