From Me to You

John Lennon and Paul McCartney collaborated to create the song From Me to You, which was a 1963 single release. It was their first number one hit in the UK (according to some charts; it was in second place on others).The song was not a hit in the US, partly because of confusion over what label would be allowed to release it. The early Beatles songs (including those on their first album) are credited "McCartney/Lennon", and that is the case with this one. Soon after the release of From Me to You the credits were put in alphabetical order: "Lennon/McCartney". The song was written in a tour bus on the way to Shrewsbury when the Beatles were traveling with Helen Shapiro. Neither Lennon nor McCartney considered the song particularly ingenious -- just another "I love you, girl, hey, hey, hey" sort of song -- but it was the right sort for a hit as a single release. The song has a fairly conventional structure of verse-verse-bridge (times two) followed by verse-outro. The verses are in C major and the bridges are in F, modulating back to C via a G augmented chord. Lennon accompanies the song with harmonica solos throughout (similar to his contribution to Love Me Do, produced around the same time). McCartney felt that From Me to You marked a point of growth in the abilities of the song-writing pair. The song was recorded on March 5, 1963 and released less than a month later. Both Paul and John sang lead vocals. By April 20 it was in the charts in the UK, and stayed at number 1 for seven weeks. Del Shannon's cover of this song rose to 77 in the US charts, making it the first Lennon-McCartney song to make the Billboard Hot 100.

From Me to You first came out in LP form in Canada on Twist and Shout (1964) and then in the UK on A Collection of Beatles Oldies (1966). It is also found on The Beatles 1962-1966 and on Past Masters, Volume One.