"Please Mr. Postman" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett,

Freddie Gorman Freddie Gorman (born Frederick Cortez Gorman, April 11, 1939 – June 13, 2006) was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown Records, Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s. He was a n ...

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous hi ...

and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by

the Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, Inkster, Michigan in 1960, consisting of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was ...

for the Tamla (

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

as well. The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

several times, including a version by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

in 1963. It became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when

The Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

' cover of the song reached the top position of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The 2017 song " Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man has significant similarities to "Please Mr. Postman" and includes a credit for Brian Holland.

Original version

Background

In April 1961,

(then known as the Marvels) arranged an audition for

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

's Tamla label. Marvels' original lead singer Georgia Dobbins needed an original song for their audition and got a blues song from her friend William Garrett, which she then reworked for the group. Dobbins left the group after the audition and was replaced. Gordy renamed the group and hired "Brianbert" –

and Robert Bateman's songwriting partnership – to rework the song yet again. Freddie Gorman, himself a Detroit postman and another songwriting partner of Holland (before Holland became part of the

Holland–Dozier–Holland Holland–Dozier–Holland, often abbreviated as H-D-H, was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the ...

team) was also involved in the final reworking.

Composition and recording

Songwriting credits for "Please Mr. Postman" have been inconsistent. Journalist Ben Fong-Torres credits the song to Holland, Bateman, Gorman, Dobbins and Garrett. The original Tamla 45 single for the Marvelettes' version credits "Dobbins/Garrett/Brianbert" as the songwriters, and credits "Brianbert" as producer. The original ''

With the Beatles ''With the Beatles'' is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the release of the band's debut album, '' Please Please Me''. P ...

'' album cover credited it to just Brian Holland (the 1987 CD release credits it to "Dobbin-Garrett-Garman-Brianbert"). The 1976 Beatles discography book ''All Together Now'' credits the songwriting to Holland, Bateman, and Berry Gordy. The 1992 Motown

boxed set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

''Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection'' credits Dobbins, Garrett, Holland, Bateman, and Gorman as the composers. The

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

credits "Please Mr. Postman" to just Holland, Bateman, and Gorman. EMI Music Publishing, the current music publisher of the song, list all five writers in their catalog. Played in 4/4 time, the song features the common I–vi–IV–V chord progression. The

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

is hexatonic, avoiding "blue" notes. The Marvelettes recording features lead singer

Gladys Horton Gladys Catherine Horton (May 30, 1945 – January 26, 2011) was an American R&B and pop singer, notable for being the founder and lead singer of the all-female vocal group the Marvelettes, the first successful Motown girl group. Biography Early ...

hoping that the

postman A mail carrier, also referred to as a mailman, mailwoman, mailperson, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, postperson, person of post, letter carrier (in American English), or colloquially postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Unite ...

has brought her a letter from her boyfriend. Holland and Bateman – dubbing themselves "Brianbert" – produced the session. The song's rhythm section is made up of piano, electric bass and drums. The commercial failure of

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's 1961 debut album, '' The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye'', led him to spend time as a studio musician for the remainder of the year. Among these efforts was "Please Mr. Postman", on which he plays the drums. Gaye's

backbeat In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the ''mensural level'' (or ''beat level''). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a pi ...

is busy throughout the song, playing his snare on the two and four beats while tapping the ride cymbal each half beat. He uses fills to transition the song through sections. The bass mostly alternates between

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

and fifth chords. An electric rhythm guitar is buried in the mix, only occasionally audible, while handclaps are prominent.

Musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

Walter Everett suggests that the appearance of

reverb In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...

on the lead vocal at 2:10 is possibly the result of a vocal

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

being "punched into a mismatched circuit".

Release

Motown's

Tamla Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' ...

label released the song as a single in the US in August 1961, then on the album of the same name in November 1961. The single was a commercial success, becoming Motown's second million-selling record and its first number-one hit. The song was on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for 23 weeks, and peaked at number 1 the week of December 11, 1961. Producer

credited Barney Ales' PR effort with the commercial success of the song. The song's hit status left many at Motown expecting the Marvelettes to be the label's biggest act, though they failed to ever match their first effort. Journalist Ben Fong-Torres described the Marvelettes' next song, " Twistin' Postman", as a "calculated follow-up". The song's success led to an expansion in Motown's efforts, with songs like

the Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...

" I'll Try Something New" and " You've Really Got a Hold on Me" following in 1962.

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

released the song as a single in the UK in November 1961. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' listed the song as #22 on their 2017 list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it at No. 331 on their list of "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2011,

The Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, Inkster, Michigan in 1960, consisting of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was ...

' version of the song was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Personnel

According to ''The Complete Motown Singles – Vol. 1: 1959–1961''

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

, except where noted: The Marvelettes *

lead vocals * Katherine Anderson backing vocals, handclaps *Wyanetta ("Juanita") Cowart backing vocals, handclaps *

Georgeanna Tillman Georgeanna Marie Tillman Gordon (February 6, 1944 – January 6, 1980) was an American singer and an original member of the Motown girl group the Marvelettes. Life and career Tillman was born and raised in the Detroit suburb of Inkster, Mich ...

backing vocals, handclaps * Wanda Young backing vocals, handclaps Additional musicians *

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

: ** Eddie Willis guitar ** Richard "Popcorn" Wylie piano **

James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases un ...

bass **

drums

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

The Beatles version

Background and recording

The

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

displayed an early interest in the music of

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

s, covering songs by groups like

the Shirelles The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McF ...

, the Cookies and the Donays. They added "Please Mr. Postman" to their live repertoire in December 1961, their third Tamla song after

' " Who's Lovin' You" and

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong Jr. (February 5, 1941 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money (That's What I Want)", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songw ...

's "

Money (That's What I Want) "Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, ...

". Since the original version hadn't made it into the British charts, few in the UK knew the song "Please Mr. Postman", allowing the Beatles to make it their own among all

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

groups.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

sang lead vocal,

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

and

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

providing backing vocals, while all three added handclaps at their head level. In 2004, Billy Hatton of the Four Jays recalled seeing one of the Beatles' first live performances of the song, saying it was "a ''Wow moment''. I was struck by how tight they were. As a semi-pro group, the Four Jays would take a month to start playing a new song really well." Without their knowing it at the time, the Beatles' 7 March 1962 performance of the song on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

's ''Here We Go'' was the first time any Tamla song was played over BBC radio. Beatles author

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

reflects: "Without even realising it (and they'd have been thrilled to know), the Beatles broke the Detroit 'Motown sound' to the British listening public." In 1963, Beatles

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein ( ; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put hi ...

approached Gordy for the rights to record several Motown songs, including "Please Mr. Postman", "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Money (That's What I Want)". Rather than the industry standard of two cents, Epstein only offered one and a half cents per record sold. Gordy initially refused, only relenting two minutes before the offer was set to expire. On 30 July 1963, the band recorded the song for their second UK album, ''

''. Recorded in Studio Two of EMI Recording Studios,

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

produced the session, supported by balance engineer Norman Smith. The band recorded three takes in a similar style to their BBC performance, but found the results unsatisfactory. They altered the arrangement to sound closer to the Marvelettes' version, recording four more takes with a

stop-time In tap dance, tap dancing, jazz, and blues, stop-time is an accompaniment pattern interrupting, or stopping, the meter (music), normal time and featuring regular accent (music), accented attacks on the first beat (music), beat of each or ever ...

intro, drum

breaks Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

and a coda, the final take seven deemed "best". Due to their different vocal range from the Marvelettes, the Beatles modulate their version into

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

. Between recording two takes of overdubs, the band added handclaps while Lennon double tracked his original vocal, take nine marked "best". Martin and Smith mixed the song for mono and

stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

on 21 August and 29 October, respectively.

Release and reception

EMI's

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

label released ''With the Beatles'' in the UK on 22 November 1963, with "Please Mr. Postman" sequenced as the final track on the first side, coming after "

Till There Was You "Till There Was You" is a show tune written by Meredith Willson, popularised by his 1957 stage production ''The Music Man'' and its 1962 movie musical adaptation, and further popularised by the Beatles cover. The song became the first To ...

". In the US, Capitol released '' The Beatles' Second Album'' on 10 April 1964, with "Please Mr. Postman" sequenced as the ninth track, between " I Call Your Name" and " I'll Get You". Both releases credit the song only to Holland. Capitol also included the cover as the final track on the US-only four-song EP, '' Four by the Beatles'', released 11 May 1964. Writing about ''The Beatles' Second Album'', music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

considers the covers of "Please Mr. Postman" and "Money (That's What I Want)" as two of the Beatles' best ever recordings, "both surpassing the superb Motown originals". Music critic Tim Riley calls the song's beat "tremendous", and that "like all great rock 'n' roll, it sounds perilously close to falling apart at any minute". He writes it is the "most reckless and completely irresistible playing" on the first side of ''With the Beatles'', and "the most flammable rock 'n' roll they've given us since "

She Loves You "She Loves You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released as a single in the United Kingdom on 23 August 1963. The single set and surpassed several sales records in the United Kingdom c ...

". Musicologist Alan W. Pollack sees the opening shout of "Wait!" as anticipating as the opening shout of "Help!" in the Beatles' 1965 song of the same name. Writer Chris Ingham calls the song "a dense curtain of guitars and harmonies" supported by "a delicious, elastic groove". Writer Jonathan Gould writes that Lennon's strong vocal overpowers the weak lyric, while the band's backing " xplodesoff the record", ultimately " pitomizingall that is best about the Beatles' second album." He further writes that, among the covers on ''With the Beatles'', it is the only one that approaches the quality of " Twist and Shout" from '' Please Please Me''. Writer

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was an English music critic, journalist and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed te ...

dismisses the cover as " cking the loose-limbed playfulness of the original", with a "

wall of sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

that quickly weights on the ear".

Personnel

According to MacDonald, except where noted: *

double-tracked vocal, rhythm guitar *

backing vocal, bass *

backing vocal, lead guitar *

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

drums *uncredited (played by the Beatles) handclaps

The Carpenters version

"Please Mr. Postman" was recorded by

, and their version went to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in early 1975. The Carpenters' version resembles an old 1950s rock & roll song. The single was released in late 1974, reached number one on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

charts in January 1975, and was the duo's 10th and final million-selling single. The corresponding ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

'' album was belatedly released in June 1975 and went Platinum. It also became Carpenters' third and final number one and eleventh top-ten single in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The Carpenters' cover version was also sampled by

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James Sr. (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of now-defunct hip-hop group, the Diplomats (also known as Dipset). He is best known for his appearances on group coho ...

for his single " Oh Yes". It is used by the '' Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show'' to introduce their Listener Mail segment, and was the song by the presenters of the British Saturday morning show '' SMTV Live'' to introduce the mailbag section. Reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1975, in a UK television special on ITV in 2016 it was voted number one in '' The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song''. A

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

of the song, filmed in

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

, can be found on the DVD '' Gold: Greatest Hits'' (released in 2002), originally packaged as ''Yesterday Once More'' (released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1985).

Personnel

Karen Carpenter Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and early drummer of the highly successful duo the Carpenters, formed with her older brother Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard. Wi ...

– lead and backing vocals, drums * Richard Carpenter – backing vocals, piano,

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

* Tony Peluso – guitar *

Joe Osborn Joe Osborn (August 28, 1937 – December 14, 2018castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

List of cover versions of ”Please Mr. Postman”
at SecondHandSongs.com {{Authority control 1961 songs 1961 debut singles 1974 singles The Marvelettes songs The Beatles songs The Carpenters songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs written by Freddie Gorman Tamla Records singles A&M Records singles Helen Shapiro songs Songs written by Robert Bateman (songwriter) Capitol Records singles Polydor Records singles Songs about occupations Songs about letters (message)

Original version

Background

Composition and recording

Release

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

The Beatles version

Background and recording

Release and reception

Personnel

The Carpenters version

Personnel

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

Citations

Sources

External links