This was originally recorded by The Shirelles, a popular female vocal quartet who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. John Lennon was a big fan of the group.
Pete Best sang lead on this during live appearances, until he was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. The song served Ringo well: he often performed it in his post-Beatles career, including on the CBS special The Beatles: The Night That Changed America, which aired on February 9, 2014 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the group's famous Ed Sullivan Show appearance.
Nine of the songs on Please Please Me, including this one, were recorded in one day so the Beatles could quickly issue the album to take advantage of their UK success. They filled the album with the singles they had released along with cover songs that were often part of their live show, which is how "Boys" made the cut. The budget for the album was £400 (about $800), with each Beatle receiving a union scale pay of 29 pounds.
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