Second US Release
In the wake of the rush-release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the United States, Vee-Jay reissued "Please Please Me" on or about 3 January 1964, after footage of The Beatles had appeared on a television program hosted by Jack Paar. Playing it safe, the label chose to put "From Me to You" on the B-side, as Del Shannon's version had been a minor hit in 1963. The new single was issued with the catalog number 581.
This time, "Please Please Me" was a massive hit, eventually peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending 14 March 1964, trailing only "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". It was one of the songs that comprised the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 of 4 April, when The Beatles held the top five spots.
Because Vee-Jay wanted to get as many copies of the record pressed as quickly as possible, it did not insist on uniformity from one pressing plant to another. As a result, a dizzying number of label variations exist. Some of these added a comma to the song title, rendering it as "Please, Please Me". Additionally, some copies of the record were issued with a picture sleeve. Early promotional copies had a special sleeve proclaiming "Please Please Me" as "The Record That Started Beatlemania". The text on the sleeve noted that The Beatles had just appeared on Paar's program and were scheduled to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in February. This sleeve is considered to be extremely rare.
At least 1.1 million copies of "Please Please Me" were sold the second time. If Vee-Jay had been a member of the RIAA, the single would have been eligible to be certified gold.
Read more about this topic: Please Please Me (song)
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