The number one hit The Beatles rejected
Even in their early years, The Beatles had the full courage of their convictions and backed themselves in a way that young men often do. In many ways, this was the key to their early success, with the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney having total confidence in their ability to pen originals. Not wanting to be swayed by musical powers, they trod their own path. It was a decision that saw them create a legacy universally hailed as the most significant in popular music.
Whilst this self-belief was incredibly fruitful, the band could have had another number one hit to their name if they weren’t so stubborn. Yet this was The Beatles. It’s certain that looking back, the surviving members of the ‘Fab Four’ don’t mind that they missed the opportunity to add another famous hit to their name, as their list of classics is more extensive than anyone’s.
In September 1962, The Beatles had recently been signed to EMI Records. George Martin, their producer, who would go on to be affectionately dubbed the ‘Fifth Beatle’, had heard several early pieces by Lennon-McCartney but decided that they weren’t “up to snuff”. During a recording session that month, Martin implored the band to record Mitch Murray’s song ‘How Do You Do It?’ instead.
Both John and Paul were against the idea, telling Martin that they only wanted to record original pieces. During this early stage though, the newcomers didn’t have the artistic license that they would in the future, with Martin commanding them to put the song on tape. Duly, the band reluctantly recorded a version of the track.
It was eventually released as part of 1995’s Anthology 1, with a hint of sarcasm detected in Lennon’s vocal performance. Later, Paul McCartney looked back on the session, saying: “We knew that the peer pressure back in Liverpool would not allow us to do ‘How Do You Do It?'”
Luckily for the band, their record wasn’t released until 33 years later. Instead of releasing the single, the song was given to fellow Liverpudlian group Gerry and the Pacemakers, another client of Martin’s.
Gerry Marsden and his band then recorded a version of ‘How Do You Do It?’, and in March 1963, it went to number one on the charts. It became the first and only song The Beatles ever rejected that went to number one without them. That’s alright, though, Martin chose ‘Love Me Do’ as their debut single, and the rest was history. The producer later recalled: “I looked very hard at ‘How Do You Do It?’, but in the end, I went with ‘Love Me Do’, it was quite a good record.”
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