Fifty years on, the Beatles rebooted

THE ORIGINAL was recorded on February 11, 1963, in 12 hours flat at Abbey Road Studios in London, cost 400 pounds and ushered in a new musical era.

The Beatles

THE ORIGINAL was recorded on February 11, 1963, in 12 hours flat at Abbey Road Studios in London, cost 400 pounds and ushered in a new musical era.

Please Please Me topped the charts for 30 weeks and heralded the age of the self-contained rock band, performing their own material instead of covers.

Yesterday, 50 years later to the minute, the Beatles' debut album was re-recorded in the same time frame at the same location for an undisclosed but probably much larger sum.

This time the performers were not four Liverpudlians on the brink of superstardom but an eclectic array of 11 British acts including Stereophonics, Joss Stone, Beverley Knight and Graham Coxon, who recorded one song each between 11.10am and 10.25pm.

Bob Shennan, the Controller of Radio 2, said that the purpose of the project, called Beatles Day, was to "celebrate, not commemorate" the record, and also promote the album format, which has fallen out of favour.

Listeners will be able to hear the performances on the Radio 2 website and there will be an accompanying television documentary broadcast on Friday on BBC Four at 9pm.

Kelly Jones, the lead singer of Stereophonics, said: "The value of doing it is introducing it to a new generation again. I've got two kids and I've witnessed them listening to I Want To Hold Your Hand for the first time, and within three minutes they're singing it. You forget how well crafted, simple but amazing the songs are."

Outside yesterday snow fell on the famous zebra crossing. Inside, much in the hallowed Studio 2 was as it was when the Fab Four recorded there: parquet flooring, white painted walls, the battered upright piano that featured on Lady Madonna and another that was used for A Day in the Life. Stairs led to the control room where George Martin, the band's producer, once presided.

Phil Critchlow, executive producer of the project, said: "The room's the same, the microphones are largely the same. As people walk through the door you can see it in their eyes: it's what these walls have heard. They produced this incredible body of work and it was all in that room."

Each song for the project was recorded and broadcast live on Radio 2.

The first to perform was Gabrielle Aplin, the Wiltshire singer-songwriter who was, at 20, one of the least experienced artists involved. "I'm ready," she gulped as a hush descended. But if she was nervous it didn't show during an exquisite acoustic rendition of There's A Place, in which she was accompanied by a string quartet.

The Stereophonics were next, performing a rollicking version of I Saw Her Standing There. The aim was to stay within ten minutes of the Beatles' original schedule throughout the day, which meant a relatively sedate morning but a fraught evening, Critchlow said, "because the Beatles sped up" as the clock ran down.

The finale was Twist and Shout, which the Beatles recorded last because of the damage it did to John Lennon's voice. Taking his place was the soul singer Knight, alongside a ten-piece gospel choir.

Neither of the surviving Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, was directly involved with the project but Shennan confirmed that they had given their blessing. He said: "We very much hoped to involve Paul McCartney himself but obviously last night he was busy winning Grammys [for his covers album, Kisses on the Bottom]. But I hope they'll be really proud of it."