I Want to Hold Your Hand changed the course of history, catapulting a young band from Liverpool called The Beatles to international stardom. In this episode of You Can’t Unhear This, we dig into the song’s recording history and uncover some of the oddities, curiosities and sheer magic of one of the most important and beloved songs of The Beatles career.
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Video by Raymond Schillinger
Special thanks and credit to:
@MichaelSokil
@sampopkin
Eli Rosen
patreon.com/RockBandStems
…and my parents!
Recommended Sources for Further Reading:
– The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Mark Lewisohn
– Dave Rybaczewski
– www.beatlesbible.com
– Recording the Beatles by Kevin Ryan & Brian Kehew
–
#beatles #music #YouCantUnhearThis
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🎸When did you first hear I Want to Hold Your Hand? Let me know below!
ICYMI: Watch a follow-up to the Dear Prudence Drummer Debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGSz14nGbHk
HE NEVER SANG I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, because HE wasnt the Paul that played that! and his high vibrado CANT sing it.. its his BROTHER singing it and he hated his brother. And NO its not "mike".
the "organ" is Paul's twin brother. and youre hearing Paul's brother hidden. there was no "death of paul" there was a cover up of a KEYBOARD PLAYING LEAD GUITAR PLAYING paul.
76, 76, 74 and 69!!!
We play our Version still in 2026 😊
I'm sorry. What' can't I unhear? You're full of shit.
your pops has an even BETTER radio voice than you. How is that possible?!
I remember hearing the song for the first time on a transistor radio my oldest brother had, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I was a couple of months short of my 4th birthday. The Beatles seemed to be played on the radio every other song. By the time they played on Ed Sullivan, I knew the lyrics to every song. (I was too young to understand why the girls were screaming and crying, and it annoyed me because I couldn't hear John and Paul.) I used to sing along with my brother every time it was played. Memories!
I was born in January '65 but most probably I heard this one from the Beatles Oldies but Goldies album, late 60's or early 70's.
Yeah, they are my favorite band.
man, you almost made me cry with that question about when I've heard the song for the first time. My Beatles experience began and progressed from the first songs to the last and then bootlegs, so I won't lie, I was a bit of a Beatlemaniac when I was 12-14, but since then, almost 20 years later by now, my love for this song has certainly cooled. And this video helped me remember what hooked me on this song in the first place, and why I fell in love with the Beatles for those simple melodies and "yeah, yeah, yeah." Yes, I really did skip this song from my playlist for a long time, as it was deemed "boring" and "typical". Until now.
Great to read all these comments from people my age who experienced the same joyful thing, at the same time, all around the USA and the World, all because of The Beatles.
First heard the song on the school bus on the way to 1st grade. It quickly became an ear-worm!
I was in grade school and was forced to play air guitar (using a cardboard fake guitar) on stage with 3 other kids to I Want to Hold Your Hand. I hated the song, I hated the experience, and I hated the Beatles at that time. I thought their music was crude and awful sounding. I appreciate it more now that I am in my 70's but I still cringe at having to play that air guitar on stage. I enjoy Beatles music when I come across it on an Oldies station, but to this day, I have never spent a dime to buy any Beatles recordings, and I don't care. Never understood why they were so popular. Now the Doors, THAT was MUSIC.
Ah! I was 9 years old. Our sitter was around 14, and one night she was so excited to tell our parents and us kids about this great group. She brought over her 45 of IWTHYH and played it for us. I thought it was great. I don’t remember my parents’ reaction, but my dad did buy a copy for us, so he must have sensed our excitement. As the LPs came out, he bought them. Then, in ‘65, my younger brother and I started guitar lessons. The sitter, by the way, fell out of love with them by ‘66, when the “I love you” themes had stopped showing up on their records. She loved the lovable Mop Tops but not The Beatles, I guess.
I was 13 years old sitting in my favorite chair in my parents living room watching The Ed Sullivan Show and it made quite an impression as it still does.
They should mention the timing of the release in the states- in the midst of mourning the assassination of JFK. It was a release.
I was too young to know the words – and unfortunately my parents were taking my older brother, my older sister and me on a car drive from Midwestern Texas all the way to Calgary Canada. My mum told me all I knew was the chorus “I want to hold your hand“! I am quite sure my vocal cords were faulty but my repetition of the lyrics was spot-on ha ha. How I survived to the Canadian border is anyone’s guess.
Thank you Beatles for giving me something to do whilst on that VERY LONG car ride with three stops overnight only to arrive in Calgary to find that the indoor pool was not heated at the hotel.😶🌫️😶🌫️😶🌫️ it was in the summer but the pool could not have been over 80°F🤪😜🤣🤣🤣(I am a scuba diver, and I can tell you that that is very cold seeing is how it is 18° below the average ambient temperature of the human body.)🥶😱
Actually, Paul and John both sang lead.
John AND Paul sang in unison on the verses. Also, there's a little bit of a time delay before they start singing at the very beginning.
What mic is that on the drum overhead? Looks a little like a Coles 4038, but were they around back then?
in 6th grade i think i saw them first in Look or Life magazine and shortly after Ed Sullivan
Sorry, George Martin was one of the worst possible choices to produce the Beatles. He didn't like their music, he didn't understand their audience, had no clue how to record loud electric guitars. Now, Joe Meek would have been an interesting choice. or Phil Spector. They were huge in spite of Martin, not because of him. Handclaps? Really?
In 1964 I was a 10 year old Catholic School student. My mom was a piano teacher and I really liked The Beatles music. I saw The Ed Sullivan Show when they preformed and from there within a year some of my friends and I bought guitars and learned how to play.
Great story. I remember seeing my older sister freaking out about them. She got a record player for Christmas and Beetles bobble heads.
First heard IWTHYH on my little transistor hanging from my bike's handlebar. Then the Sullivan show. Bought a used ukulele before getting a guitar. Good times. Wish I could go back.
Yes, I was in the 6th grade and it still resonates my guitar playing as I am now 74 years old… WONDERFUL… At 11 I heard I Want to hold you hand, at 14 I fell in love with my wonderful girlfriend, Now my wife of 41 years… I play guitar and she sang. She left me at age 55 to be an amazing Man. He is and will always be God Al 'mighty,.,, Jesus Christ the Superstar., The God of this EARTH… AMEN
For me it was Ed Sullivan, I was 5. All the family was watching. I was leaning on a hassock right in front of the big old TV. It was as if my position was right in front signalled that I was claiming the Beatles for me. I was young and they belonged to us. I remember my grandmother saying… "look at the hair" That memory is still burned into my very being today.
63' mono version + the echo on Meet The Beatles LP.👍
I don’t know exactly when or where I first heard the song, but hearing it was inevitable, given how often it played on Brazilian radio stations shortly after its UK release. The impact was enormous. As an Elvis Presley fan at the time, I couldn't help but notice that something more powerful and energetic was emerging. To give you an idea of the impact, I caught my father—a World War II veteran who couldn't care less about rock 'n' roll—shouting the muffled line "I can’t hide, I can’t hide" as if it were "Eisenhower! Eisenhower!" Well, my father has since passed away, but at 79, I remain a devoted fan of the band—not necessarily for that initial burst of energy and impact, but for the creativity and musical sophistication they developed later on.
Hardly their most important song.
Mono is the best for me
This was fun. I love learning the details of The Beatles rise to fame. The stars aligned and gave us The Beatles. They gave us so much joy. I watched their debut performance on the Ed Sullivan Show and I was hooked. I wanted to play guitar and sing like the Beatles, and I learned to play, and I formed a band. Thanks for sharing.
I always heard that extra "something" but no one ever acknowledged it before.
5:35 – Why automation never works. The captions for "a faint voice whispering 'something' at 1:22" get it wrong and show "a faint voice whispering something at 1:22". It takes a human to know what's what there. It reminded me of a night at Iridium with Les Paul and someone shouted "cut the comedic patter and play something" and Les Paul played the opening riff of "Something" written by George Harrison for the Beatles. (and about the third note the rest of the band was with him). And when the roadies were actually unscrewing Mahogany Rush's drum-kit while the audience was still shouting "More! More!", Frank Marino started playing "More" which had been a hit when Frank Sinatra recorded it.
First heard it in November 1963 on the radio broadcast from Chicago’s WFMT (“the midnight special”). Usually a quirky folk music show. All WFMT’s other formats, and still is today is Classical Music, except late Saturday nights. The live broadcast took a vote from listeners to play the flip side (“She Love You”). The vote was unanimous.
Richard
I was 10 years old when I first heard a Beatles tune. It was at a friend's birthday party. Seemed that everyone at the party had already heard of the Beatles except for me. The song was I Wanna Hold Your Hand and I was totally fascinated by it.
Oh yeah, 9 yrs old, dancing with all the neighborhood kids in the basement! My Dad wouldn’t let me go when invited to see them in Chicago. Still remember the tears! Can’t believe I was only the size of my smallest grandchild! 😊
Insert your own hidden organ joke here…
As for no documentation or evidence for an organ being used – it says ORGAN on the tape notes Trk – 8?
Legend
I wanna hold your hand no 1 in the united states of america ❤😂😂🎉🎉😢😮😮😅
I Remember sneaking into math class ahead of time, GR 8, and writing "Yeah, yeah, yeah" in large lettering with the chalk sideways on the blackboard. Class loved the nod to "She Loves You." But I was forced to confess and got a detention for my efforts. Shades of the activist/free thinker to come. Anyway interesting post that took me back to simpler times.
The initial stereo mixes were a disaster
I WANNA FOLD MY HANDS!
My understanding is that the Beatles themselves were involved with the final mixes for only the mono mixes of most of their albums and had little to nothing to do with the stereo mixes. I’ve read this numerous times over the years but don’t think I’ve ever seen anything definitive…
your dad's voice is so similar to yours
"I get hives" was epic!!! 😁😁😁