Format 7" Length 1:59 | Genre Merseybeat | |
B-side "Away from You"
(Marsden-Chadwick) Released 14 March 1963 (UK)
5 July 1964 (US) Recorded 22 January 1963
EMI Studios, London | ||
"How Do You Do It?" was the debut single by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers. The song was number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three weeks.
Contents
History
The song was written by Mitch Murray, who offered it to Adam Faith and Brian Poole but was turned down. George Martin of EMI decided to pick it up for the new group he was producing, the Beatles, as the A-side of their first record. The Beatles recorded the song but opposed releasing it, feeling that it did not fit their sound, but worked out changes from Murray's demo-disc version. These included a new introduction, vocal harmony, an instrumental interlude, small lyric changes and removal of the half-step modulation for the last verse. They recorded the song in September, 1962; although Murray disliked their changes, the decision not to release the Beatles' version was primarily a business one. Love Me Do was their first single instead. The recording was officially released in November 1995 on the Beatles retrospective Anthology 1 album.
Gerry and the Pacemakers' version, also produced by Martin, became a number-one hit in the UK until it was replaced by "From Me to You" (the Beatles' third single). It was the title song of a seven-inch EP record also featuring "Away From You", "I Like It" and "It's Happened to Me" (Columbia SEG8257, released July 1963). The single entered the US charts on 5 July 1964, eventually reaching number nine.