The Beatles record a Saturday Club Christmas Special

On 17 December 1963 the Beatles went to the Playhouse Theatre in London to record their contribution for the annual Saturday Club Christmas edition. Saturday Club was a very popular radio show on the BBC Light Programme. The Beatles rehearsed and recorded from 3pm till 6.30pm and recorded All My Loving, This Boy, I Want to Hold your Hand, Till There Was You, Roll over Beethoven and She Loves You On a lighter note they also recorded a special Christmas song which actually consisted of a medley of Love Me Do, Please Please Me, From Me To You, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". They also sang their version of "All I want for Christmas is a Beatle" but they replaced the word "Beatle" by "Bottle.

John Lennon overdubs Thank You Girl

During the later Beatles years (especially when working on The White Album, Let it Be and Abbey Road, it was not rare for John Lennon to work on his own in the studio.

But in 1963 it was something of an exception. On 13 March 1963 John went to the Abbey Road Studios to conduct some harmonica overdubs on Thank You Girl, which would be the B-side of From Me To You.

John was suffering from a cold, and had therefore not appeared on stage in Bedford the previous night, but he felt better on Wednesday and met up with George Martin and Norman Smith to play his harmonica part. It took him 15 takes and George and Norman finished editing and mixing the song that day.

The other Beatles used the day to travel from Bedford to York for an evening session at the Rialto.

The Beatles Record From Me To You

Only five days after they had written From Me To You in the back of a bus going to Shrewsbury, The Beatles were already back in the Abbey Road Studios to record the song that would become their third single and their first "official" number one. They did 13 takes, and then recorded the B-side, Thank you Girl. In the evening they found some time for five takes of "The One After 909", which would not be re-recorded until 1969 when it appeared on the Let it Be album.

Remixing Please Please Me

On 11 February the Beatles recorded 10 of the 14 songs that would appear on their first LP Please Please Me, but work was far from over.

On Monday 25 February 1963 George Martin and Norman Smith spent the whole day remixing the songs:

-  Editing take 9 & 12 of "I Saw Her Standing There"
- Mono mixes of Anna (Go To Him), Boys, Chains, Misery, Do You Want To Know A Secret, There's A Place, I Saw Her Standing There, Twist and Shout, A Taste of Honey.
- Stero mixes of the same songs
- Editing take 16, 17 and 18 of "Please Please Me"
- Mono mixes of Ask Me Why, Misery, Baby It's You
- Stereo mixes of Ask Me Why, Please Please Me, Love Me Do, PS I Love You and Misery

The Beatles in Doncaster, Yorkshire

The Beatles appeared on a live radio sesssion on Wednesday 20 February 1963, before driving on to Doncaster for an evening concert. The name of the BBC programme was Parade of the Pops and The Beatles performed Love Me Do and Please Please me.

At the same time George Martin was busy recording overdubs for two songs: piano parts for Misery and Baby it's You.

In the evening they performed at St James Swimming Baths (some kind of Victorian Turkish baths) in Doncaster

No break for the Beatles

There is a very funny anecdote about the Beatles recording session on February 11, 1963.

When George Martin and Norman Smith took a break to pop into the Heroes of Alma for a pie and a pint, the Beatles wanted to continue rehearsing. The Abbey Road producers had never seen a group so eager to rehearse :)

But in the end we all know that their commitment really paid off, making their debut album a record-breaking LP

Please Please Me Recording Session

September 11 1963 will probably be remembered as the most productive recording session in musical history.

Because on that day The Beatles recorded 12 songs that would be included in their debut album Please Please Me. They started at 10 am in Studio 2 at Abbey Road and finished about 12 hours later around 10.45 pm.

Session 1 from 10 am till 1 pm:

- There's a place - Seventeen (later called "I saw her standing there")

Session 2 from 2.30 pm till 6pm

- A taste of honey - Do you want to know a secret - Misery

Session 3 from 7.30 pm till 10.45 pm

- Hold me tight - Anna - Boys - Chains - Baby it's you - Twist and Shout