It was the first song I remember hearing on the radio where I thought “dang, that’s good music”.
I was a little boy.
This is how I feel. Amazing song compared to the crap on the radio at the time, but not that great for the Beatles.
I didn’t read that book but I recall Lennon being quoted as saying he lifted the harmonica part from Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby.”
[quote=“pulykamell, post:14, topic:544450”]
The album version on Please Please, Me featured Alan White on the drums.
[QUOTE]
I’m fairly certain Andy White was used on the single and Martin, in a bid to appease Ringo, used him on the album.
No, pulykamell had it the right way around. The Ringo version was released on the first British pressing of the 45; the album and subsequent pressings of the single used the Andy White version (which still has Ringo on it, but playing tambourine rather than drum kit).
Wow, talk about anti-fun… 
Nothing to add except the first thing I thought of when I read the thread title was:
Love Me Do, bitches… and shit.
When I was a kid, I loved “Love Me Do.” I was crazy about that song. So one year for Christmas I asked for a Beatles record, figuring their music all sounded like that. (This was a couple years after they broke up.)
My mom, a big Beatles fan, gave me her favorite album: Let It Be.
I was bored and disapopinted by it. Why was there all this talking and weird stuff between the songs? Why weren’t these songs fun and fast, like “Love Me Do”?
Now that I’m older I love Let It Be, along with all of their albums. But the later stuff just doesn’t grab me like a good three-minute pop song does, and “Love Me Do” is about as perfect as pop songs get.
One thing that has always rather puzzled me: Why, after the heavy and effective use of harmonica in Love Me Do and other relatively early songs, such as I Should Have Known Better, did the Beatles effectively give up using the instrument entirely? Did they ever use it again in their later work? (If so, not very noticeably.)
The Stones seemed to go through a similar evolution around the same time: fairly heavy use of harmonica in their earlier recordings (with both Brian and Mick playing, I believe), and then dropping it pretty much entirely (and I think the harmonica was dropped well before Brian went). Why was this?
Wow. I didn’t think Let it Be was anyone’s favorite Beatles album (though it is better than Beatles for Sale, IMHO).
I don’t think you could say the Stones ever dropped the harmonica altogether. It just grew less prominent as the band’s repertoire came to focus more on guitar-driven hard rock than blues. Nonetheless, both the blues and the harp are still there even on their latest album. And arguably the most famous use of harmonica on a Stones record, though not played by a Rolling Stone, is Sugar Blue’s solo on “Miss You” from 1978.
Probably. I read a couple of bios many years ago and can’t remember where it came from. “A Twist of Lennon” was written by Cynthia Twist, Lennon’s first wife.
The part isn’t “lifted” from this song, but Bruce Channel toured the UK and The Beatles appeared on the bill with him. Channel’s harmonica player (on record and tour) was Delbert McClinton, and he influenced John’s harmonica playing more generally, giving him tips, etc.
There may be something on The White Album with harmonica, but if so, I’ve forgotten which song.
The last Beatles song I know for sure with harmonica is “Fool on the Hill.” There’s a photo of John and George clustered around a mic both playing, though one of the harmonicas is a bass harmonica, and neither is played in the standard wailing style of the earlier Beatles tracks.
Oh, I missed the part in the OP where you’re not allowed to have a dissenting opinion. Oops!
To straighten this out once and for all…
Love Me Do (version 1) has Ringo on drums. It was released as the original single on the Parlaphone label in the UK, and was also used for the single release of “Love Me Do” on Capitol of Canada. This version is distinguishable from the better-known recording in several ways, among them the little glissando in Paul’s voice when he sings “love me do” after the first stop. Also, there are spots in which John’s harmonica playing is not quite as smooth as on the better-known version.
Love Me Do (version 2) features Andy White on drums and Ringo on tambourine, and is the version released as a single in the U.S. on the Tollie label, as well as on the U.S. Introducing the Beatles album and the UK Please Please Me album. This is the more commonly heard version of the song.
An earlier version of “Love Me Do” with Pete Best on drums was released on Beatles Anthology 1. While his drumming on the chorus is OK, and even has a certain appealing swing to it, he completely falls apart on the bridge, as if he has no idea what to play. Anyone who questions the decision to replace Pete with Ringo need only listen to this track!
A brief search turns up multiple sites that refer to Lennon’s stealing the harmonica for “Love Me Do” from a shop in Arnhem, Netherlands. Just wanted to follow up.
Exactly. Linked to above. You’re being quite gracious finding the “appealing swing” in the chorus. 
But once that bridge hits, wow. Trainwreck. Tempo takes a nosedive and the drumbeat gets, um, off-kilter with the weird syncopated drumbeat he tries to throw in there. Just no confidence in the playing.
The easiest way to tell the two released versions apart is whether the tambourine is in it or not. With tambourine = Andy White drumming, without = Ringo drumming.
I was always partial to “She’s Got a Ticket to Ride, and the Bitch Don’t Care, Man” with Clarence Walker on sax.
Does Ringo play drums on (same era) “She Loves You”?
I love the drums on “She Loves You”. Not a metronome within 100 kilometers of the studio, and the fills evoke the image of an armoire falling down a flight of stairs, but that’s some damn enjoyable fun drumming.