Ask Me Why
| "Ask Me Why" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US promotional single sleeve | ||||
| Singlebythe Beatles | ||||
| from the albumPlease Please Me | ||||
| A-side | "Please Please Me" | |||
| Released |
| |||
| Recorded | 26 November 1962[1] | |||
| Studio | EMI,London | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:24 | |||
| Label |
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| Songwriter(s) | Lennon–McCartney | |||
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
| The BeatlesUK singles chronology | ||||
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| The BeatlesUS singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 B-side label of UK single | ||||
"Ask Me Why"is a song by the Englishrockbandthe Beatlesoriginally released in the United Kingdom as theB-sideof their single "Please Please Me".It was also included on their 1963 debut albumPlease Please Me.It was written primarily byJohn Lennonand credited to theLennon–McCartneypartnership.
Composition[edit]
Written in early 1962, "Ask Me Why" is principally aJohn Lennoncomposition,[2]but was credited to Lennon andPaul McCartney,as were all otherLennon–McCartneyoriginals on the first pressings ofPlease Please Mealbum. McCartney said, "It was John's original idea and we both sat down and wrote it together, just did a job on it. It was mostly John's."[3][4]It was part of their live act prior to their recording contract, and was one of the songs performed at their firstParlophonerecording session in EMI'sAbbey Roadstudio two on 6 June 1962.[2][5][6]The song emulates the style ofSmokey Robinson and the Miracles,by whom Lennon was influenced, and draws its openingguitarphrase from the Miracles' "What's So Good About Goodbye" (1961).[7]
Structure[edit]
The song is in the key of E major, with some leaning to itsrelative minorof C#, and is in4/4 time.Structurally, the song is complex and, as Alan Pollack states, contains three different variants of the verse.[8]The song also contains "jazzy parallel sevenths" in most of the chords, and has a live ending.[citation needed]
Recording[edit]
"Ask Me Why" was originally recorded at Abbey Road studios on 6 June 1962 with drummerPete Best.As the session was a 'commercial test', none of the performances recorded that day were deemed suitable for release, and the two quarter-inch tape reels from that session were thought to be destroyed byEMI.However, two songs survived; "Besame Mucho"and"Love Me Do"were later discovered on acetate discs.[9][10]The group performed "Ask Me Why" for theBBC Light Programme'sTeenager's Turn – Here We Goon 15 June 1962 recorded at theBBC Playhousein Hulme, Manchester, nine days after the EMI session.
It was recorded again, along with "Please Please Me", on 26 November 1962 withRingo Starron drums. The Beatles also rehearsed "Tip of My Tongue",another Lennon and McCartney song which was also being considered for the B-side of the" Please Please Me "single.[7]However, producerGeorge Martinfelt that "Tip of My Tongue" still needed some work, and it was eventually given toTommy Quicklyto record.[11]
Other releases[edit]
- Capitol Records,EMI's American counterpart toParlophone,initially refused to distribute Beatle music in the US and so the "Please Please Me" / "Ask Me Why" single was released byVee-Jay Recordson 25 February 1963.
- Vee-Jay included "Ask Me Why" on version 2 ofIntroducing... The Beatles.
- Capitol eventually released "Ask Me Why" in 1965 onThe Early Beatleswhen Vee-Jay's rights expired.
- A live version from December 1962 was released on the German/UK version ofLive! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962album in 1977, but was left off the initial US version.
- A version was recorded for the BBC on 3 September 1963. It was released onOn Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2in 2013.
Cover versions[edit]
The song was covered bythe Smithereenson their 2008 albumB-Sides The Beatles.[12][importance of example(s)?]
Personnel[edit]
- John Lennon– vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
- Paul McCartney– bass, backing vocals
- George Harrison– lead guitar, backing vocals
- Ringo Starr– drums
Engineered byNorman Smith
- Personnel perIan MacDonald[7][4]
Notes[edit]
- ^abDowlding 2009,eBook.
- ^abMiles 1998,p. 92.
- ^Barry Miles.Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now
- ^abAsk Me Why | The Beatles Bible
- ^Harry 1992,p. 50.
- ^Lewisohn 2013,pp. 1222–1230.
- ^abcMacDonald 2005,p. 64–65.
- ^Pollack 2001.
- ^Lewisohn 1988,pp. 17.
- ^Lewisohn 2013,pp. 1222–1230, 1232.
- ^Lewisohn 1988,p. 23.
- ^Deming, Mark.B-Sides the BeatlesatAllMusic.Retrieved 27 December 2016.
References[edit]
- Dowlding, William J. (2009).Beatlesongs.Simon and Schuster.ISBN9781439147191.
- Harry, Bill(1992).The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia.London: Virgin Books.ISBN0-86369-681-3.
- Lewisohn, Mark(1988).The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions.London: Hamlyn.ISBN0-600-55798-7.
- Lewisohn, Mark(2013).The Beatles: All These Years.Vol. one - Tune In (Extended Special ed.). London: Little, Brown.ISBN978-1-4087-0478-3.
- MacDonald, Ian(2005).Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties(Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand).ISBN1-84413-828-3.
- Miles, Barry(1998).Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.London: Vintage.ISBN0-7493-8658-4.
- Pollack, Alan W.(27 March 2001)."Notes on" Ask Me Why "".Notes on Series.
