Released 30 August 1963 Genre Merseybeat | Format 7" single Label Parlophone | |
B-side "Just in Case" (Boudleaux-Bryant) Recorded 3 July 1963, Abbey Road | ||
"Hello Little Girl" is the first song written by John Lennon, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. According to Lennon, he drew on an old "Thirties or Forties song" that his mother sang to him. Written in 1957, it was used as one of the songs at the Beatles unsuccessful Decca audition in 1962. They recorded a home demo of it, with Stuart Sutcliffe on bass, which is available only on bootleg currently.
In 1963, the English Merseybeat band the Fourmost made a recording of the song in the Abbey Road Studios (produced by George Martin) and released it as their debut single. Two weeks later Gerry & The Pacemakers also recorded a version of the song, but the version by the Fourmost was selected for the issue and reached number 9 in the United Kingdom.
Albeit different from the previous version with Sutcliffe, the Beatles' version of the song can be found on Anthology 1, with John Lennon as the lead singer.
The Fourmost' version of this song is also on The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.
The song appears in the 2010 biopic Nowhere Boy in a scene showing Lennon singing it for McCartney while recording it on a small reel-to-reel tape recorder.
It has also been covered by Seattle-based Beatles cover band Apple Jam on their album Off The Beatle Track.
On 22 March 2016, Omega Auctions auctioned off the "holy grail" of Beatles records. The acetate, once owned by Les Maguire of Gerry and the Pacemakers, features two songs: "Till There Was You" on one side, and "Hello Little Girl" on the other. The winning bid of £77,500 ($110,000) greatly exceeded the auction estimate of £10,000.