Please Mister Postman

This song is the fifth and last girl-group number recorded by the Beatles. It ends side one of their second UK album, but did not make it into the US release Meet the Beatles. Capitol Records evidently felt that four white Brit blokes could not possibly cover this song, which had been Motown's breakthrough chart topper with the R&B female group, the Marvelettes (December, 1961). When the Beatles' first US album hit 3 million copies in just four months, the record producer had a change of heart, and put Please Mr. Postman on . The Beatles were successful with this song in their performance set, and urged Martin to include it in the second UK album. They met on July 30, 1963 at Abbey Road and recorded six more songs for the album. Please Mister Postman was first up. This song illustrates interaction between lead and harmony vocals, something of a Beatles trademark. Unlike virtually all Lennon-McCartney songs, this Motown hit employs the three-chord structure found under virtually every R&B-based rock song of the 1950's and twelve bar blues (E-A-E-A-B7-A-E-B7).