John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote this in 1958, when John was 17 and Paul was 16. They made time for songwriting by skipping school. They had written songs before, but "Love Me Do" was the first one they liked enough to record.
McCartney wrote this about his girlfriend at the time, Iris Caldwell.
This was The Beatles' first single. It was released in the UK on October 5, 1963 by Parlophone Records and climbed to #17 on January 2, 1963. The band got a lot bigger with their next UK singles, "Please Please Me," which went to #2 on February 27, and "From Me to You," which went to #1 on May 8. Despite their UK success, the group had a lot of trouble getting attention in America. Parlophone's US counterpart, Capitol Records, wouldn't release "Love Me Do," figuring it would flop. It ended up getting American distribution on the smaller Tollie label, but not until April 27, 1964 during the height of Beatlemania. It rose to #1 on May 30, giving the group their fourth US #1 hit.
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