Please Mister Postman

The Beatles were big fans of American girl groups, particularly those that appeared on the Motown label.  Whenever they were searching for new material for their stage act, they had no problem in adapting songs from these groups, simply flipping the pronouns as necessary.  This song by the Marvelettes was Motown's first number one record, a feat achieved in December of 1961.  The Beatles were the first Liverpool group to discover it, quickly learn it and make it their own.

When they appeared on BBC Radio for the very first time in March of 1962 on the program Teenager's Turn - Here We Go, Please Mister Postman was one of three songs they chose for the broadcast.  John, Paul, George and Pete played in front of a live studio audience in Manchester, wearing their new suits for the occasion - another first.  They continued performing the song throughout that year in Liverpool and in Hamburg, but once their recording career began, it was dropped from their act along with most other cover versions of other people's songs, as they tended to feature more and more Lennon/McCartney compositions.

Many of those "oldies" resurfaced, however, as they became regulars on BBC Radio programs.  When they were offered their own series Pop Go the Beatles, they made a concerted effort to treat their fans to the songs they loved from the acts that had influenced them and their sound.  Thus it was that on July 10th, 1963, they revisited this Motown favorite from the previous year.  This performance, available on the release On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2, is relatively tame compared to the recording they would make only a few weeks later.  It has a four-note descending guitar phrase at the top and a tidy ending, neither of which appear on the official recording.  John is also a bit unfamiliar with some of the lyrics, not having sung the song for several months.

With the song fresh in mind, they reported to the second session for their second album on July 30th.  Initially, they played it as they had on Pop Go the Beatles.  By take seven, the intro was merely a tap on the hi-hat from Ringo, the tempo was brisk, and John was singing with desperation in his voice over strong backing vocals from Paul and George.  Another new touch were two breaks by the band toward the end of the number, adding to the breathless excitement of the track.  The only overdub deemed necessary was for John to double-track his brilliant lead vocal.

Producer George Martin placed Please Mister Postman as the last track on side one of the album With the Beatles.  Capitol Records in the US decided to withhold it along with the group's other Motown covers from Meet the Beatles!, preferring to highlight their self-penned numbers on that album.  Instead, the covers were all included on The Beatles' Second Album released in April of 1964.  Yet, some American fans were already familiar with the recording, because Capitol of Canada had released it as the B-side of the single Roll Over Beethoven back in December of '63, and copies of that single had been available in the US as an import.

Capitol Records in the US belatedly recognized the popularity of the four songs available on Canadian singles (the other single was All My Loving b/w This Boy), and combined them on an EP titled Four by the Beatles, released on May 11th, 1964.  Since all four songs had already appeared on American albums, the EP only hit number ninety-two on the Billboard chart.

Despite the terrific recorded version, the group played the song just a handful of times afterwards, including a mimed performance on the TV show Big Night Out on February 23rd, 1964, only a day after their return from America, and later that same week for their BBC Radio program From Us to You, recorded on February 28th.