I Want To Hold Your Hand: Introduction
The Beatles’ single release, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” was a number-one record worldwide in 1963. However, this song also appears on many of The Beatles’ albums as well.
In Detail
- Recorded: October 17, 1963
- Release Date: November 29, 1963 (UK), December 26, 1963 (US)
- Format: 7″ single (A-side) (B-side is “This Boy”) (UK), also album track
- Studio: EMI Studios, London
- Genre: Pop rock
- Track Duration: 2:24
- Record Label: Parlophone R 5084 (UK), Capitol 5112 (US)
- Songwriter: Lennon-McCartney
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Norman Smith
Performers And Instruments
- John Lennon: vocal, rhythm guitar, also handclaps
- Paul McCartney: vocal, bass guitar, also handclaps
- George Harrison: lead guitar, also handclaps
- Ringo Starr: drums, also handclaps
Where To Find “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
You can still buy this track on the following releases**:
**If you need the original song, you should buy the single, the Past Masters album, or the “1” album. Of course, if you are an enthusiastic record collector, grab them all!
I Want To Hold Your Hand: Background
The Beatles also released a German-language version by the name “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand.” In fact, the German version was an American release too. So, for information about the German version of this track, click here.
The English-language version gave the Fab Four their first number-one hit single in America, and the British invasion was about to begin in a big way!
In short, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song together:
“We wrote a lot of stuff together, one-on-one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in I Want To Hold Your Hand, I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher’s house, downstairs in the cellar, playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, ‘Oh you-u-u… got that something…‘ And Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, ‘That’s it!‘ I said, ‘Do that again!‘ In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that—both playing into each other’s nose.”
John Lennon
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Single Release Only
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” was the A-side on a single that had a B-side of “This Boy” in the UK. While in the US, its B-side was “I Saw Her Standing There.”
The song didn’t feature on any of Beatles original 12 studio albums in the UK. However, because it was a single, it appears on the 1988 “Past Masters” album.
Recording Studio
The Beatles began recording “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on October 17, 1963, and later, during the same sessions, recorded “This Boy” too. These songs were also the first Beatles records to be make use of four-track equipment and there were 17 takes that day.
They also recorded a version on December 2, 1963, for the ITV show “Two of a Kind” (Morecambe and Wise). This version appears on their 1995 album, “Anthology 1.”
Meanwhile, at the BBC, they recorded the song for an edition of the “From Us to You” show, airing on December 26, 1963.
Of course, since it was a number-one record, it appears on the 1 album from 2000 too. As well as all those versions, on the 2006 “Love” album, there is a mixture of the studio recording and the Hollywood Bowl live performance.
I Want To Hold Your Hand: Chart Success
The single topped the charts in the UK and the US, as well as New Zealand and Australia. Indeed, both of those countries loved the Fab Four and couldn’t get enough of them. In the UK, this single replaced “She Loves You” in December 1963. This was another first for The Beatles because it became the first time an act replaced itself at the top of the charts!
It also went top in Sweden, West Germany, and a few other countries; Beatlemania had arrived big style.
Take A Listen
Finally, please leave a comment or two below after you hear the song.
