“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – Single by the Beatles
B-side “This Boy” (UK), “I Saw Her Standing There” (US)
Released 29 November 1963 (UK), 26 December 1963 (US)
Recorded 17 October 1963
Label Parlophone (UK), Capitol (US)
Songwriters Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin
Charted No.1 in US, No.1 in UK, No.1 in West Germany, No.2 in Ireland, No.1 in Sweden
The Beatles performing “I Want To Hold Your Hand Live On The Ed Sullivan Show 2/9/64.”
‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ was the first Beatles’ record to top both the UK and the US charts. It was also their first to be recorded on a 4-track, as opposed to the usual 2-track, tape machine. The Beatles had the song well rehearsed when they made the first of 17 takes on October 17th 1963.
Following The Beatles’ historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan show on February 9th, the single – already at No.1 in the charts – gained further momentum. They taped a performance of the song earlier in the day of their live appearance and it was shown on the Sullivan show of February 23rd, which helped maintain the song’s popularity. This avalanche of publicity, engineered by Brian Epstein, helped the single to stay at the top for seven weeks, which made it the longest-running No.1 of their career to date (until ‘Hey Jude’).
The single with which The Beatles arrived in America, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was released on Boxing Day 1963 by Capitol Records.
Capitol Records had previously been unconvinced by The Beatles’ prospects in America, and it took all Brian Epstein’s persuasive powers to convince EMI’s Stateside counterpart that the group could be a hit. The Beatles’ previous singles had been issued by the relatively minor labels Vee-Jay and Swan.
With a promotional budget of $40,000, Capitol originally intended to release the single in January 1964. However, airplay by Carroll James, a DJ on Washington, DC station WWDC, led to the release date being brought forward to cope with public demand.
In the first three days after its release, 250,000 copies of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ had been sold; 10,000 were reportedly sold every hour in New York City.
