"Love Me Do" - The Beatles

Yes, UK first pressings featured Ringo on drums. Second pressings on have the session drummer as did the US hit.

The discussion in the Gavin Report thread about the
Capitol of Canada "All My Loving" single got me thinking
about the song "Love Me Do".

For the first three weeks that "Love Me Do" charted on
the Hot 100, starting on April 11, 1964, the label was
shown as Capitol Of Canada 72076, which had first been
issued on February 18, 1963 and then reissued in January
1964 with the same catalogue number. (Two other Capitol
of Canada 45s, "All My Loving" and "Roll Over Beethoven"
were also on the Hot 100 that week.) After getting as
high as #67 on April 25, the Hot 100 showed the label the
following week (when the song shot up to #32) as "Tollie
9008/Capitol Of Canada 72076". Starting the following
week, the label would be shown only as "Tollie 9008".

The reason I'm bring all this up is that Capitol of
Canada 72076 and Tollie 9008 are different versions of
the song. Capitol of Canada 72076 is the Ringo on drums
version of the song (mastered directly from a UK
Parlophone 45, as would be the next three Canadian
Beatles singles). Tollie 9008 is the Andy White on drums
version. I believe that the Ringo on drums version was
not issued in the US until the March 1980 Rarities
album, some sixteen years after this version had spent
three weeks on the Hot 100!

The database states that early UK 45s were the Ringo on
drums version. It is my understanding that all UK 45s
were the Ringo version until reissues many years later,
when the Andy White version started to appear on UK 45s
because no tape of the Ringo version has survived. I'm
not aware of any evidence that a tape of the Ringo
version ever left the UK.

Edited by Paul C

I always thought the White 45 was the hit.

Ron would love your analysis for this massive Beatles hit if you could do it.

Anthology 1 Track 22 is the original recording from June 1962.

Anthology 1 Track 24 is the EMI session with drummer Andy White in place of Ringo and is on the Please Please Me UK album and on the 1964 Tollie single and the Beatles US albums Introducing The Beatles and The Early Beatles.

The Second version with Ringo was on the original Paralophone single.

Edited by PopArchivist

That's a lot of detail!

I think it's consistent with the way I've always thought about "Love Me Do":

1st of 3 recorded versions: Pete Best on drums, unreleased until 1995, found on Anthology 1

2nd of 3 recorded versions: Ringo Starr on drums, UK 45 version, found on Mono Masters Vol. 1

3rd of 3 recorded versions: Andy White on drums: LP version mono mix, US 45 version, found on Please Please Me 2009 mono

LunarLaugh wrote: Given the choice between the two, I usually go for the Andy White on drums with Ringo on tambourine version. One could argue that the White version is what went number one in America in the midst of the British Invasion (note: Love Me Do was only a modest top 20 hit upon initial release in the UK).

Besides the Andy White version being the "hit version" in
the United States, I honestly think it is the best version.
The addition of the tambourine on the record makes it for
me.