Notes and Quotes: "How Do You Do It?"

A YouTube live performance from either a Dutch or German television program.

George Martin originally recommended this Mitch Murray song to the Beatles, who recorded and rejected it. Martin predicted that the song would reach #1 and that if they had a better song then he wanted to hear it. (They played him a revised "Please Please Me.")

Murray had written the song for singer Adam Faith, but the Pacemakers were the ones who achieved the prime position on the British sales charts. Murray's demo had another songwriter, Barry Mason as the vocalist with a local band, the Dave Clark Five as the accompaniment.

Martin: . . . [T]he first priority is to find a hit song for the boys to sing. I set about the task. I knew I had it when Dick James brought me a number written by Mitch Murray called "How Do You Do It?" After he'd played it to me I jumped up and said, "That's it. We've got the song that's going to make the Beatles a household name, like Harpic." (1979:128)

Martin: The next group he [Epstein] brought me was Gerry and the Pacemakers. For them, I dipped into my song-bag and once more produced "How Do You Do It?," the song that the Beatles hadn't wanted to issue. Gerry recorded it, and it went to number one. (1979:133)

Murray: Dick [James]... hadn't published "How Do You Do It...." I wouldn't sign the contract until I heard the record, because it was a new group and I didn't want my song wasted. Now that was a very cheeky thing to do at that time. [but] I did it. … I heard the Beatles version and I said, "I'm not signing any contract...." It was absolute tosh and I thought they had deliberately screwed it up. (interview 7 April 2001)

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13 February, 2012