Short answers, pulled from the story.
John Lennon wrote "Please Please Me" alone, in June 1962, in a bedroom at his aunt's house on Menlove Avenue in Liverpool. Though credited to McCartney-Lennon on their first album and later to Lennon-McCartney, Lennon consistently described it as his composition entirely.
"Please Please Me" reached No. 1 on the New Musical Express and Melody Maker charts in 1963, but only reached No. 2 on the Record Retailer chart, which later became the official UK singles chart. Because of that No. 2 placing, the song was not included on the Beatles' number ones compilation, 1.
Research published in 2004 established that Vee-Jay Records released "Please Please Me" in the US on the 7th of February 1963. The original US release sold approximately 7,310 copies outside Chicago and failed to chart nationally until a reissue in January 1964 reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The question remains disputed. Andy White, the session drummer present on the 11th of September 1962, claimed in a 2012 BBC interview that he could identify his own drum sound on the hit single. Recording technician Geoff Emerick, however, wrote that he witnessed Ringo Starr's kit being set up and Starr playing drums at the final recording session on the 26th of November 1962.
Lennon conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow-tempo number in the style of Roy Orbison, whose "Only the Lonely" had influenced him. Producer George Martin described the original version as "very dreary" and insisted the Beatles return to the studio to speed it up, which they did at Abbey Road in September 1962.
Brian Epstein, dissatisfied with EMI's promotion of "Love Me Do," asked producer George Martin to suggest a more effective publisher. Martin named Dick James among three candidates. Epstein met James, who immediately phoned the producer of Thank Your Lucky Stars, played the song over the telephone, and secured the Beatles a TV slot before shaking hands on a long-term publishing deal.