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[Hello Goodbye]

Thank You Girl was written by John and Paul sometime between February 11th and 28th of 1963 while The Beatles were on their British nationwide tour with Helen Shapiro.  Although the song was described by Lennon in 1971 as "just a silly song that we knocked off," they were obviously proud of it at the time and convinced that this would be the follow up to their recent British number one hit Please Please Me.  By the time they entered the studio on March 5th to record the song, they were swayed into thinking that their recently written song, From Me To You would be a better choice for their next single.  From Me To You was recorded first on that day and Thank You Girl was relegated to the B-side.

Two recording sessions in Studio Two at EMI were scheduled on 5 March 1963  The first, from 2:30 to 5:30 PM, being utilized for recording both sides of their next single. After From Me To You was started and fully completed, Thank You Girl began at approximately 4:00 PM.  Six full band takes of the song were recorded with the group playing their usual instruments as well as performing all of the vocals.  No harmonica parts were performed on this day.  Take six was considered the best.

The harmonica parts were recorded on March 13th.  John Lennon was the only Beatle to be in Studio Two on this day since he was the only one needed to perform this overdub.  This session started at 10:00 AM with John's overdubs completed around 11:00.  Afterwards, George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick stuck around until 1:00 pm to edit in the harmonica overdubs onto the previously edited song, as well as constructing both mono and stereo mixes of the song.  Since usually only mono mixes were required for songs being issued as singles, they may not have been sure at this stage if the song would be released on an album, which did require a stereo mix.  Britain didn’t get an album release for the song in the 1960's so the stereo mix was not released there at the time.  America did get treated to this stereo mix on The Beatles' Second Album.  Capitol would typically add Reverb to some of The Beatles' early recordings.

This is the version millions of American record buyers were familiar with on The Beatles' Second Album in MONO...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ku2HwZJc0Y" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ku2HwZJc0Y</a>

Here's the STEREO version...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlf2QgfDVZU" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlf2QgfDVZU</a>

And here is how things sounded in the EMI Studio on 5 March 1963...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbOBaQGpfKo" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbOBaQGpfKo</a>

•John Lennon - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar (1958 Rickenbacker 325), Harmonica (Hohner Chromatic)
•Paul McCartney - Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1)
•George Harrison - Lead Guitar (1957 Gretsch Duo Jet)
•Ringo Starr - Drums (1960 Premier 58/54 Mahogany)

[Hello Goodbye]

Live at the BBC for Easy Beat...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPBaHJkhybs" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPBaHJkhybs</a>

23 June 1963

[nimrod]

Not a bad song but not one of my favourites way too much reverb and echo it sounds very very dated.
Very much in the vein of the Everly Brothers I think.

[Normandie]

Not a bad song but not one of my favourites way too much reverb and echo it sounds very very dated.
Very much in the vein of the Everly Brothers I think.

I love this song. It's the perfect one with which to recruit new Beatles fans—females, anyway—because it has the early Beatles sound of the simplicity and great harmonies while being something newbies haven't heard before (as opposed to Please Please Me or I Want to Hold Your Hand, which are so much better known). It's a good hook with which to lure them in. Then, once they're hooked, they can progress to the more sophisticated, technically polished Beatles songs.

Thanks for the post, Barry.

[Moogmodule]

I particularly like Ringo’s drumming at the end. Not quite a drum solo but as close as he got at that time.

[Normandie]

And here is how things sounded in the EMI Studio on 5 March 1963...

To my untrained musical ear, the beginning of From Me to You in that clip (around the 12:44 mark and thereafter) sounds a lot like the beginning of One After 909 (Anthology 1 version).

[zipp]

This is a good, catchy B-side but there are a few things that are a bit distracting.

The 'ow - ows' sound forced, the 'thank - you - girl- for- love - ing - me - the - way that you do' are laboured (albeit intentionally I suppose) and Ringo's drumming gets over-busy towards the end.

Lennon obviously liked the phrase 'all I've got to do' and he was to write a far superior song with that very title for the With The Beatles album.

[Hello Goodbye]

Thanks for the post, Barry.

Thank You Girl for suggesting it.   

I particularly like Ringo’s drumming at the end. Not quite a drum solo but as close as he got at that time.

I was impressed as well, Moog.  Ringo had a chance to demonstrate his talent at this recording session early on after joining The Beatles.  It's especially evident when hearing the edit pieces I posted.  The heavy reverb Capitol added muddled his drumming somewhat.  The unadulterated stereo mix was released for the first time on the 2009 remastered CD Past Masters...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGka0tXQYAI" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGka0tXQYAI</a>

[Hello Goodbye]

To my untrained musical ear, the beginning of From Me to You in that clip (around the 12:44 mark and thereafter) sounds a lot like the Beginning of One After 909 (Anthology 1 version).

You've got a good ear, Kathy.  Prior to The Beatles recording From Me To You and Thank You Girl on 5 March 1963, they recorded One After 909...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTBdf4BwEqU&amp;t=413s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTBdf4BwEqU&amp;t=413s</a>

EMI Reels E49015-E49016   5 March 1963


1. One After 909 (Take 1) - BD
2. One After 909 (Take 2)
3. One After 909 (Take 3) - BD
4. One After 909 (Take 4) - BD Best
5. One After 909 (Take 5) - Edit Piece Best
6. From Me To You (Takes 1-2) - BD Complete
7. From Me To You (Take 3)
8. From Me To You (Take 4)
9. From Me To You (Take 5)
10. From Me To You (Takes 6-7) FS Complete Best
11. Thank You Girl (Take 1)
12. Thank You Girl (Takes 2-4) FS FS Complete
13. Thank You Girl (Take 5)
14. Thank You Girl (Take 6) Best
15. Thank You Girl (Takes 7-13) Edit Pieces
16. From Me To You (Takes 8-13) Edit Pieces
     Edit Takes 12-8-9-10 M

[Hello Goodbye]

5 March 1963, fifty-eight years ago, was a big day for The Beatles...









I'm very fond of Thank You Girl.  I like the song's structure, John and Paul's vocal harmonies and the message the song conveyed .  It's both a love song and a message of thanks to their growing female fan base at that point in their career.

[Moogmodule]

... and Ringo's drumming gets over-busy towards the end.

As it was pretty early in his tenure I wonder if they wanted to give him a mini showcase. Give the girls a reason to scream at him.