The Beatles’ debut album was rush-released on this day . Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of their singles “Please Please Me” (No. 1 on most lists though only No. 2 on Record Retailer) and “Love Me Do” .

Of the album’s 14 songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney (originally credited “McCartney–Lennon”), early evidence of what Rolling Stone later called “[their invention of] the idea of the self-contained rock band, writing their own hits and playing their own instruments.”In 2012, Please Please Me was voted 39th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.”

The singles had both been recorded in 1962. They were contained on the Please Please Me LP, along with their b-sides. The rest of the album had been recorded during a mammoth session on 11 February 1963, which lasted just under 10 hours.
Producer George Martin originally wanted to call the album Off The Beatle Track, but later dropped the idea.
On this day only the mono version was issued. Its catalogue number was PMC 1201. A stereo version – PCS 3042 – followed on Friday 26 April. Both were released on EMI’s Parlophone subsidiary.

Please Please Me was a huge success. It spent 70 weeks in the UK album charts from 6 April, and was at the top position for 30 weeks from 11 May. The sleeve notes were supplied by The Beatles’ press officer Tony Barrow.

In 2013, the album’s 50th anniversary was celebrated by modern artists re-recording the album in just one day, the same time it took the Beatles to record it 50 years earlier. Stereophonics recorded a cover of the album’s opening track, “I Saw Her Standing There”. It and the other recordings were broadcast on BBC Radio 2, and a documentary about the re-recording of The Beatles’ debut album was broadcast on BBC Television.