The Beatles travel to London to meet with George Martin—and are stunned when the producer tells them, “I’m thinking we should make an album.”

And not just any album. An album featuring their songs.

The concept of singer-songwriters is still almost unheard of among their contemporaries, but John and Paul grab the chance with both hands.

The question is, How will they determine credit? Anyone who gets credit will receive an additional—and with any luck, lucrative—future stream of income.

Paul asks, “Without wanting to be too mean to George, should three of us write or would it be better to keep it simple?”

John and Paul decide to keep it to the two of them and agree that they’ll be a songwriting duo called “Lennon and McCartney.” In a meeting with Brian, they lay out a plan. “Okay, what we’ll do is we’ll alternate it: Lennon and McCartney, McCartney and Lennon,” based on contribution. But it’s never put in writing, and the original credit order sticks. “I didn’t mind,” Paul claims. “It’s a good logo, like Rodgers and Hammerstein. Hammerstein and Rodgers doesn’t work.”

Soon thereafter, George notices a shift in the band. “An attitude came over John and Paul of ‘We’re the grooves and you two just watch it,’” he’ll say later.

On Monday, November 26, the Beatles head back into Studio Two to record “Please Please Me” and the B side, “Ask Me Why.”

This time, there’s no drama. Buoyed by the success of “Love Me Do,” John and the boys feel relaxed. They have fun, and the chemistry they have onstage is with them in the studio.

“The thing I like about the Beatles is their great sense of humor—and their talent, naturally,” George Martin tells journalist Alan Smith. “It’s a real pleasure to work with them because they don’t take themselves too seriously. They’ve got ability, but if they make mistakes they can joke about it. I think they’ll go a long way in show business.”

The Beatles record both singles in the allotted three-hour time frame, and the producer watches from the control room. As they wrap up, he presses the Talkback key, and his posh voice comes into the studio: “Gentlemen, you’ve just made your first number one record.”

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I should have known better…

—“I Should Have Known Better”

The Beatles tour constantly throughout 1963. In January—as George Martin had rightly predicted—“Please Please Me” scores them the first of what will be twelve consecutive number-one songs.

On a single day in February, they record ten more songs to fill out their first studio LP, Please Please Me. The tunes are a mix of Lennon-McCartney originals and covers of their favorite American R&B songs, including “Twist and Shout,” a hit the previous year by the Isley Brothers (later inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame by Beatles admirer Little Richard).