Thank You Girl: Introduction
“Thank You Girl” is the B-side of the 1963 Beatles’ single, “From Me To You.” Moreover, this single went to number one in a few countries, including the UK and New Zealand. Obviously, with it being a single, it wasn’t on any album until “Past Masters” came out in 1988.
In Detail
- Release Date: April 11, 1963 (UK), May 27, 1963 (US)
- Recorded: March 5 and 13, 1963
- Studio: EMI Studios, London
- Format: 7-inch single (B-side) (A-side being ‘From Me To You’), also albums now
- Genre: Merseybeat
- Track Duration: 2:01
- Record Label: Parlophone R 5015 (UK), Vee-Jay 522 (US)
- Songwriters: McCartney-Lennon
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Norman Smith
Performers And Instruments
- John Lennon: double-tracked vocal, rhythm guitar and harmonica
- Paul McCartney: harmony vocal, also the bass guitar
- George Harrison: lead guitar
- Ringo Starr: drums
Where To Find “Thank You Girl”
You can still buy this song because it is available on the following releases:
If your budget allows, buy all the Beatles albums. Well, we would say that, but if you only need the original recording, purchase the single or the Past Masters album.
Thank You Girl: Background
The original idea was to release “Thank You Girl” as The Beatles’ third single. However, “From Me To You” won the right to be the A-side, and the rest is history.
“We’d already written Thank You Girl as the follow-up to Please Please Me. This new number [From Me To You] was to be the A-side.
We were so pleased with it, we knew we just had to make it the A-side. Thank You Girl, the A.”
John Lennon
Anthology
By now, The Beatles had a massive fan base, mostly girls, of course. This song, with the original title “Thank You, Little Girl,” was the band’s way to appease those fans, and as Paul McCartney says:
“We knew that if we wrote a song called Thank You Girl that a lot of the girls who wrote us fan letters would take it as a genuine thank you. So a lot of our songs were directly addressed to the fans.”
The Beatles were crowd-pleasers and knew how to excite an audience, but they could also address the fans personally through their songs as well.
“These early songs were wonderful to learn by and were good album fillers. [Thank You Girl] was pretty much co-written, but there might have been a slight leaning towards me with the ‘thank you, girl’ thing, it sounds a bit like me, trying to appease the mob. A bit of a hack song, really, but all good practice.”
Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
Recording Studio
The Beatles began recording “Thank You Girl” on March 5, 1963, in Studio 2 of the EMI Studios in London. During this 2.30 p.m.–5 p.m. session, they recorded 6 takes.
On the 13th of March, further tweaks took place, including John Lennon’s harmonica overdubs and drum fills from Ringo Starr.
Just to point out that on March 5, they also recorded “One After 909.” However, they re-recorded that song much later, after disappointing results.
Take A Listen
Finally, let’s have a listen to the song. Of course, this is one of their early releases, and Betlemania was about to take over. So, what do you think about this song? You can comment here and also in the massive Beatles Forum.
