Songs That Were Covers: Please Mr. Postman

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this episode of Songs That Were Covers, I’ll feature the song titled “Please Mr. Postman”, that became a hit by Motown Records’ first female vocal group, The Marvelettes. In some instances the cover versions became more popular than the original, although not always. In 1964 the British invasion saw the reintroduction of many songs that were initially US hits. “Please Mr. Postman” was one of those songs that were covered by a British band from Liverpool, England and a US duo.

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Transcript

In this episode of Songs That Were Covers, I’ll feature the song titled “Please Mr. Postman”, that became a hit by Motown Records’ first female vocal group, The Marvelettes. In some instances the cover versions became more popular than the original, although not always. In 1964 the British invasion saw the reintroduction of many songs that were initially US hits. “Please Mr. Postman” was one of those songs that were covered by a British band from Liverpool, England and a US duo.

In 1961 five girls from Inkster, Michigan, who were only seventeen years old, were in a vocal group called The Marvels.  They were given the unique opportunity to audition at Motown Records. However after the audition, they were told to come back with original material. “Please Mr. Postman” was an unfinished song by William Garrett that Georgia Dobbs a member of The Marvels, reworked and finished the composition. However, before the group recorded the song, Georgia left the group and was replaced by Wanda Young.

When the group returned to Motown, the group’s name was changed to The Marvelettes. In August, The Marvelettes’ recording of   “Please Mr. Postman” was released and by December, the single had climbed to number one on the Hot 100 chart, making it Motown’s first number one hit by an all female vocal group.  Surprisingly, it also managed to stay on the charts for half a year. Interestingly, a young Marvin Gaye who would later become a future Motown recording vocalist, played drums on the recording.

Here is the original #1 hit by The Marvelettes, “Please Mr. Postman”.

The Marvelettes would go on to have several hits throughout the 1960's. In spite of the British Invasion of 1964, the Motown Record label was still able to compete, with new groups that released several hit singles that entered the charts.  In 1962 an unknown band from Liverpool England began including.”Please Mr. Postman “ in their live performances.  Like other Liverpool bands, The Beatles began playing many of the songs that were hits in the US. The Beatles’ second album released in the UK contained “Please Mr. Postman” plus covers of two other Motown hits, “You Really Got A Hold on Me” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and “Money” by Barrett Strong.  In 1974 the vocal duo The Carpenters recorded and released their cover version of “Please Mr. Postman”. In January 1975, the single climbed to the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100, charting  the song at #1 for a second time.

Here is the Carpenter’s version of  “Please Mr. Postman”.

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, Liverpool was in a unique position since it was a seaport and cruise ships routinely sailed to the US. Sailors would purchase Rock and Roll records and bring them back to Liverpool, where local bands would learn to play the songs and perform them locally. Interestingly, no one else in the UK had access to those records. This explains why the British Invasion of 1964 had its roots in Liverpool. Early on The Beatles gained an interest in performing covers of songs by girl groups like The Shirelles and The Cookies. Since The Marvelettes version was essentially unknown in the UK, this allowed The Beatles’ version to stand out among the rest of the Liverpool groups. When The Beatles performed the song on BBC radio, they introduced the Motown songs to the listening public in the UK.

On July 30th 1963 The Beatles recorded their version of  “Please Mr. Postman” at EMI’s Studio 2, for their album titled “With the Beatles”. The album was released in the UK on November 22nd, with the US version titled “The Beatles Second Album”, released on April 10th 1964.  Interestingly, music critic Robert Christgau considers “Please Mr. Postman” as one of the Beatles best recordings. Although the song was not released as a single, it still stands out much like their famous cover of “Twist and Shout”.

Here is The Beatles’ cover version of  “Please Mr. Postman”.

This has been a review of the song titled “Please Mr. Postman” one of the Songs That Were Covers. And until next time, I’m your host Bill Price.