The Beatles – I Want To Hold Your Hand

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – Single by Beatles. B-side: “This Boy” (UK) and “I Saw Her Standing There” (US)

Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 17 October 1963
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith

John Lennon: vocals, rhythm guitar, handclaps
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar, handclaps
George Harrison: lead guitar, handclaps
Ringo Starr: drums, handclaps

Released on 29 November 1963, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ sold more than a million copies on advanced orders alone. It became The Beatles’ first US number one, and kick-started the British Invasion of America.

The song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the basement of Jane Asher’s parents’ house in Wimpole Street, London.

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, 1980
All We Are Saying, David Sheff

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The Beatles - I Want To Hold your Hand

The Beatles - I Want To Hold your Hand (HD)02:24

‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ is, along with ‘She Loves You’, the epitome of 1963 Beatles pop. It was recorded four days after the band’s defining 13 October performance on Sunday Night At The London Palladium.

In the UK the song was a standalone single; it didn’t feature on the group’s second album, With The Beatles, which was released a week before the single.

A version of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was included on the 2006 album Love. A shorter edit from the original studio recording was combined with a performance and crowd noise from the Hollywood Bowl, and the famous introduction by Bob Eubanks: “Here they are… The Beatles!”

‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’/‘This Boy’ was released in the UK on 29 November 1963. Demand had been building since the success of ‘She Loves You’ and the first flushes of Beatlemania. One million advance orders had been placed for the new single.

On 14 December it knocked ‘She Loves You’ off the number one spot – the first time the same act had replaced itself at the top of the chart.

It remained at number one for five weeks, becoming The Beatles’ 1963 Christmas hit, and stayed in the charts for a further 15 weeks. On 16 May 1964, during the peak of Beatlemania, it returned for a one-week return to the top.

Excerpts from the Beatles Bible

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