Please Please Me /
Ask Me Why

45.72090.1.1 is the very first pressing of Please Please Me to be released in Canada. Like Love Me Do, this first pressing did not sell well, the Beatles not yet well known outside of the UK. This very first pressing is easy to identify with its song credits to "Concertone" on the A-side and "Dick James" on the B-Side, which the next year, was changed to "Concertone Songs Inc" on both sides.

Availability

This first variation was available for a very short time starting on April 1st, 1963 but didn't sell well until its second incarnation in 1964 when the publishing credits were updated (see 45.72090.1.2).

General Information

This single was the second effort by Paul White to push the Beatles on the Canadian market. But again, not being well known yet outside of the UK, this short run of records sold marginally more than its predecessor, making these first pressings extremely rare today.

Just like with Love Me Do, after 200 copies pressed, the pressing plates were still usable, so when Beatlemania truly took off in 1964, the old stampers were reused. But unlike Love Me Do, this second pressing had updated credits on the labels, making it easy to differentiate true 1963 pressings from the 1964 reissues. Notice the CBC radio sticker glue residue in the picture above - this copy came from a lot that was purchased from CKMI TV in Québec City, where all Beatles early singles were very first pressings, from the Decca 45 to She Loves You.

Pressing Information

Just like its predecessor, Please Please Me was not prepared from UK master tapes, but rather directly from a UK 45 sent to the Canadian head office for promotional purposes. This was confirmed by Graham Newton, cutting engineer at Capitol of Canada at the time (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 1). The Canadian single therefore features the UK "Concertone" and "Dick James" credits that were quickly corrected on later copies (see 45.72090.1.2). Matrix numbers are as follows:

Side A: 7XCE 17117
Side B: 7XCE 17118

Matrix Numbers for this very first pressing also have no dash and number at the end, and are written in a bigger size than later dash 2+ pressings. But keep in mind that the original pressing plates were still good after the first initial run, and like with Love Me Do, these plates were later reused in 1964 when Beatlemania really took on. From a matrix perspective, the 1963 and 1964 pressings are indistinguishable, but the labels are different enough to make it easy to authenticate a true 1963 pressing.

Packaging

Commercial stock copies sold in stores sold in a generic GLOSSY black Capitol sleeve:

Sales

As was the case with Love Me Do (45.72076.1.1), a short run of copies were pressed (200-500), many of which were sent to radio stations. It sold marginally more than Love Me Do, but these 180-240 copies still remain a bleep on the radar. This 45 was not exported to the USA, so there were no "extra" big batches of copies produced like it was the case for Love Me Do. Sales did pick up the following year with a reported 80 000 copies sold in 1964 (see 45.72090.1.2 and 45.72090.1.3)