Seurat

On 11 February 1963, the Beatles recorded ten songs during a single studio session for their debut LP, "Please, Please Me." The album was supplemented by the four tracks already released on their first two singles. Martin originally considered recording the Beatles' debut LP live at The Cavern Club, but after deciding that the building's acoustics were inadequate, he elected to simulate a "live" album with minimal production in "a single marathon session at Abbey Road". After the moderate success of "Love Me Do", the single "Please Please Me" met with a more emphatic reception. Released in January 1963, two months ahead of the album of the same name, the song reached number one on every UK chart except Record Retailer, where it peaked at number two.

Recalling how the Beatles "rushed to deliver a debut album, bashing out Please Please Me in a day", Stephen Thomas Erlewine comments, "Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh, precisely because of its intense origins." Lennon said little thought went into composition at the time; he and McCartney were "just writing songs à la Everly Brothers, à la Buddy Holly, pop songs with no more thought of them than that – to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant."