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A Hard Day's Night (album)

A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin's film score. In contrast to the Beatles' first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership.

A Hard Day's Night
Studio album by
Released10 July 1964 (1964-07-10)
Recorded29 January – 2 June 1964
Studio
  • EMI, London
  • Pathé Marconi, Paris
Genre
Length30:09
LabelParlophone
ProducerGeorge Martin
The Beatles chronology
With the Beatles
(1963)
A Hard Day's Night
(1964)
Beatles for Sale
(1964)
Singles from A Hard Day's Night
  1. "Can't Buy Me Love"
    Released: 20 March 1964
  2. "A Hard Day's Night"
    Released: 10 July 1964

The album includes the song "A Hard Day's Night", with its distinctive opening chord,[4] and "Can't Buy Me Love", both transatlantic number-one singles for the band. Several of the songs feature George Harrison playing a Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar, a sound that was influential on the Byrds and other groups in the folk rock/jangle pop movement.

Recording

Shortly after the release of With the Beatles (1963), the Beatles were at EMI Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris on 29 January 1964 for their first recording session outside of London. Here, they recorded German-language versions of their two most recent singles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You", titled "Komm, gib mir deine Hand" and "Sie liebt dich", respectively. According to their producer, George Martin, this was done as "they couldn't sell large quantities of records [in Germany] unless they were sung in German".[5] Also recorded—in English—was Paul McCartney's "Can't Buy Me Love", which was completed in only four takes.[5] Shortly afterward, the band gave their first live performance in the United States on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February. They gave more US performances before returning to the United Kingdom on 22 February.[6]

The Beatles were set to begin filming their first major feature film on 2 March 1964. According to historian Mark Lewisohn, the band were set to record songs for both the film and a tie-in LP, of which the songs from the film were completed first.[7] On 25 February—lead guitarist George Harrison's 21st birthday—the band were back at London's EMI Studios, recording John Lennon's "You Can't Do That" for release as the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love". The band also attempted "And I Love Her" and "I Should Have Known Better" on this day and again the following day, with the former finalised on 27 February.[7] Two more songs from the film, "Tell Me Why" and "If I Fell", were recorded on this day.[7]

On 1 March 1964, the Beatles recorded three songs in three hours: "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" for the film, featuring Harrison on lead vocal; a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally"; and Lennon's "I Call Your Name", which was originally given to Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas the previous year.[8] Mono and stereo mixing was carried out over the following two weeks. The "Can't Buy Me Love" / "You Can't Do That" single was released on 16 March and topped charts worldwide.[8] Taking a break for filming,[9] drummer Ringo Starr coined the phrase "a hard day's night", providing the film with its title. Lennon and McCartney wrote a song based on the title, which was recorded at EMI on 16 April and mixed four days later.[10]

On 1 June, with the film completed and the band returning from holidays, the Beatles returned to EMI, recording the remaining songs for the tie-in LP, with outtakes appearing on the Long Tall Sally EP.[11] Covers of Carl Perkins' "Matchbox", with Starr on lead vocals, and Larry Williams' "Slow Down", appeared on the EP, while Lennon's "I'll Cry Instead" and "I'll Be Back" appeared on the LP. The following day on 2 June, the band completed Lennon's "Any Time at All" and "When I Get Home", and McCartney's "Things We Said Today".[11] The band spent the remainder of June and July touring internationally.[12]

Content

Musically, A Hard Day's Night eschews the rock and roll cover songs of the band's previous albums for a predominantly pop sound.[13] Sputnikmusic's Dave Donnelly observes "short, peppy" pop songs characterised by layered vocals, immediate choruses, and understated instrumentation.[14] According to Pitchfork's Tom Ewing, the lack of rock and roll covers allows listeners to "take the group's new sound purely on its own modernist terms", with audacious "chord choices", powerful harmonies, "gleaming" guitar, and "Northern" harmonica.[13] Music journalist Robert Christgau writes that Lennon–McCartney's songs were "more sophisticated musically" than before.[15] It also features Harrison playing a Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar, a sound that was influential on the Byrds and other bands in the folk rock explosion of 1965.[16][17]

Side one of the LP contains the songs from the film soundtrack. Side two contains songs written for, but not included in, the film, although a 1980s re-release of the film includes a prologue before the opening credits with "I'll Cry Instead" on the soundtrack.[18] The title of the album and film was the accidental creation of Starr.[19] According to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: "I was going home in the car and [film director] Dick Lester suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny ... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title.'"[20]

A Hard Day's Night is the first Beatles album to feature entirely original compositions, and the only one where all the songs were written by Lennon–McCartney.[21] Lennon is the primary author of nine of the thirteen tracks on the album, as well as being the lead singer on these same nine tracks (although Paul McCartney sings lead on the title track's middle-eight). Lennon and McCartney co-wrote "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", sung by Harrison,[22] while McCartney wrote "And I Love Her", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Things We Said Today". It is one of three Beatles albums, along with Let It Be and Magical Mystery Tour, in which Starr does not sing lead vocal on any songs. (Starr sang the lead vocal on "Matchbox" during the sessions; it appeared instead on the Long Tall Sally EP.) It is also one of three Beatles albums, along with Please Please Me and Beatles for Sale, in which Harrison does not contribute to the songwriting.

Critical reception and legacy

According to music critic Richie Unterberger, writing for AllMusic:

George Harrison's resonant 12-string electric guitar leads [on A Hard's Day's Night] were hugely influential; the movie helped persuade the Byrds, then folksingers, to plunge all out into rock & roll, and the Beatles would be hugely influential on the folk-rock explosion of 1965. The Beatles' success, too, had begun to open the US market for fellow English bands like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks, and inspired young American groups like the Beau Brummels, Lovin' Spoonful, and others to mount a challenge of their own with self-penned material that owed a great debt to Lennon–McCartney.[31]

In his book Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé, Bob Stanley identifies A Hard Day's Night as the album that best captures the band's early-career appeal. He writes:

If you had to explain the Beatles' impact to a stranger, you'd play them the soundtrack to A Hard Day's Night. The songs, conceived in a hotel room in a spare couple of weeks between up-ending the British class system and conquering America, were full of bite and speed. There was adventure, knowingness, love, and abundant charm.[32]

A Hard Day's Night was included in the list of "100 Essential Rock Albums" compiled by musicologists Charlie Gillett and Simon Frith for ZigZag magazine in 1975, and is one of the "Treasure Island albums" featured in Greil Marcus's 1979 book Stranded.[33] In 2000, Q magazine placed A Hard Day's Night at number 5 on its list "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever".[34] That same year, it appeared at number 22 in Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums.[35] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it 307th on the magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[36] In the 2020 revision, it rose to number 263.[37]

A Hard Day's Night has also appeared in critics' lists of the best albums of all time published by the NME, in 1974 (at number 33), 1985 (number 73) and 2013 (number 195); Mojo, in 1995 (number 81); and Uncut, in 2016 (number 149).[33] It was a featured album in The Mojo Collection: The Greatest Albums of All Time, Tom Moon's book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die and Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and was selected as one of the "Most Significant Rock Albums" in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History.[33] Based on the album's appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists A Hard Day's Night as the most acclaimed album of 1964, the 45th most acclaimed album of the 1960s and the 222nd most acclaimed album in history.[38]

Reissues

On 26 February 1987, A Hard Day's Night was officially released on compact disc in mono, along with Please Please Me, With the Beatles, and Beatles for Sale. Having been available only as an import in the US in the past, the 13 track UK version of the album was also issued in the US on LP and cassette on 21 July 1987. Stereo mixes of "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "And I Love Her" had been made available on the first compact disc issue of 1962–1966 in 1993. Most of the rest of the tracks appeared in stereo on compact disc for the first time with the release of the box set The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 in 2004.

On 9 September 2009, a remastered version of this album was released and was the first time the album appeared in stereo on compact disc in its entirety. This album is also included in The Beatles Stereo Box Set. A remastered mono version of the original UK album was part of The Beatles in Mono box set.[39]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lennon–McCartney.

Side one of the UK & Australian LP release (& soundtrack to the 1964 United Artists film A Hard Day's Night)
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."A Hard Day's Night"Lennon with McCartney2:34
2."I Should Have Known Better"Lennon2:43
3."If I Fell"Lennon with McCartney2:19
4."I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"Harrison1:56
5."And I Love Her"McCartney2:30
6."Tell Me Why"Lennon2:09
7."Can't Buy Me Love"McCartney2:12
Total length:16:23
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Any Time at All"Lennon2:11
2."I'll Cry Instead"Lennon1:44
3."Things We Said Today"McCartney2:35
4."When I Get Home"Lennon2:17
5."You Can't Do That"Lennon2:35
6."I'll Be Back"Lennon2:24
Total length:13:46

North American release

A Hard Day's Night
 
1964 stereo United Artists release
Soundtrack album by
Released26 June 1964
Recorded29 January, 25–27 February, 1 March & 1–4 June 1964
StudioEMI, London and Pathé Marconi, Paris
Genre
Length29:47
LabelUnited Artists UAL-3366 (mono) UAS-6366 (stereo)
ProducerGeorge Martin
The Beatles North American chronology
The Beatles' Long Tall Sally
(1964)
A Hard Day's Night
(1964)
Something New
(1964)
The Beatles United States chronology
The Beatles' Second Album
(1964)
A Hard Day's Night
(1964)
Something New
(1964)
Singles from A Hard Day's Night
  1. "Can't Buy Me Love"
    Released: 16 March 1964
  2. "A Hard Day's Night"
    Released: 13 July 1964
  3. "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)"
    Released: July 1964
  4. "And I Love Her"
    Released: 20 July 1964
  5. "A Hard Day's Night (instrumental)"
    Released: 1964

The American version of the album was released on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records in both mono and stereo, the fourth Beatles album in the United States. The album went to number one on the Billboard album chart, spending 14 weeks there, the longest run of any album that year.[40] United Artists rushed the album into stores over a month before the film's US premiere; as a result, the Beatles had both the number-one album and number-one single in the country when A Hard Day's Night opened on 11 August 1964.

All seven songs from the film, the first side of the UK album, were featured along with "I'll Cry Instead", which, although written for the film, was cut at the last minute. The American version also included four easy listening-styled instrumental versions of Lennon and McCartney songs arranged by George Martin conducting an orchestra of studio musicians: "I Should Have Known Better", "And I Love Her", "Ringo's Theme", and "A Hard Day's Night". After EMI acquired United Artists Records, this album was reissued in August 1980 on the Capitol label, catalogue SW-11921.

While the stereo version of the album included the instrumental tracks in true stereo, the Beatles' own recordings appeared as electronically rechannelled stereo recordings made from the mono releases. The 1980 Capitol Records reissue used the same master tape as the original United Artists LP release in fake stereo, despite the availability of several tracks with official true stereo remixes. True stereo versions of most of the songs had been issued on the Capitol album Something New, released in July 1964. "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Should Have Known Better" finally appeared in stereo on the 1970 Apple Records compilation Hey Jude. The song "A Hard Day's Night" did not appear in true stereo in the US until the 1982 Capitol compilation album Reel Music. In 2014, the American version of the "A Hard Day's Night" album was released on CD individually and in a boxed set of all the other US Beatles albums to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles first US visit. This CD reissue features all of the songs in both true stereo and mono mixes.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."A Hard Day's Night"Lennon and McCartney2:33
2."Tell Me Why"Lennon2:10
3."I'll Cry Instead"Lennon2:06
4."I Should Have Known Better"instrumental2:10
5."I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"Harrison1:59
6."And I Love Her"instrumental3:46
Total length:14:44
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."I Should Have Known Better"Lennon2:44
2."If I Fell"Lennon and McCartney2:22
3."And I Love Her"McCartney2:29
4."Ringo's Theme (This Boy)"instrumental3:10
5."Can't Buy Me Love"McCartney2:12
6."A Hard Day's Night"instrumental2:06
Total length:15:03

Charts and certifications

Personnel

Sources:[62][63][64]
The Beatles

Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ World – Volume 2 – Page 61, 1973. "[on Help! and A Hard Day's Night], the soundtrack – gone – rock album is a marketing ideal that is passed off on the buying public with objectionable regularity and has already begun to backfire."
  2. ^ Spignesi & Lewis 2004, p. 140.
  3. ^ Hejeski, Nancy J. (2014). The Beatles: Here, There and Everywhere. Simon & Schuster.
  4. ^ Hook 2005.
  5. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, pp. 38–39.
  6. ^ Lewisohn 1992, pp. 137, 146–147.
  7. ^ a b c Lewisohn 1988, pp. 39–40.
  8. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, pp. 40–41.
  9. ^ Gould 2007, pp. 230–232.
  10. ^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 40–43.
  11. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, pp. 44–45.
  12. ^ Lewisohn 1992, pp. 161–165.
  13. ^ a b c Ewing, Tom (8 September 2009). . Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 10 December 2013.
  14. ^ a b de Sylvia, Dave (24 September 2005). "The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night Sputnik Music review". Sputnik Music. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012.
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  16. ^ Jackson, Andrew Grant (2015). 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-250-05962-8.
  17. ^ Kruth, John (2015). This Bird Has Flown: The Enduring Beauty of Rubber Soul, Fifty Years On. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-61713-573-6.
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  21. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 47.
  22. ^ Miles 1997, p. 163.
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  33. ^ a b c "The Beatles A Hard Day's Night". Acclaimed Music. from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  34. ^ Kelso, Paul (2 May 2000). "Beatles still rule the rockers' roost". The Guardian. from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  35. ^ Kelso, Paul (4 September 2000). "Radiohead challenge Fab Four as Bends leaves Sgt Pepper in the cold". The Guardian. from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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  39. ^ Reuters 2009.
  40. ^ Whitburn 2001, p. 1178.
  41. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
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  43. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
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  47. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  48. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  49. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
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  51. ^ "Italiancharts.com – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  52. ^ "Charts.nz – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  53. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  54. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
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  56. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  57. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  58. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  59. ^ "British album certifications – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  60. ^ "Canadian album certifications – The Beatles – A Hard Day's Night". Music Canada. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  61. ^ "American album certifications – The Beatles – Hard Day_s Night". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  62. ^ Guesdon & Margotin 2014, p. 149.
  63. ^ Everett 2001.
  64. ^ MacDonald 1994, p. 90.

Sources

  • Badman, Keith (2001). The Beatles Off the Record. Omnibus Press.
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  • Gould, Jonathan (2007). Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-307-35338-2.
  • Guesdon, Jean-Michel; Margotin, Philippe (2014). All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release. Running Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-1-60376-371-4. from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  • Hook, Chris (2 May 2005). "The "A Hard Day's Night" Chord – Rock's Holy Grail". from the original on 31 October 2012.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 978-0-517-57066-1.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1992). The Complete Beatles Chronicle:The Definitive Day-By-Day Guide To the Beatles' Entire Career (2010 ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-56976-534-0.
  • MacDonald, Ian (1994). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (1st. ed.). New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 90. ISBN 0805027807.
  • Spignesi, Stephen J.; Lewis, Michael (2004). Here, There, and Everywhere: The 100 Best Beatles Songs. New York: Black Dog. ISBN 978-1-57912-369-7. ...after the unabashed more-or-less traditional pop rock of A Hard Day's Night and Help!...
  • Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now (1st Hardcover ed.). Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-5248-0.
  • Collett-White, Mike (7 April 2009). "Original Beatles digitally remastered". Reuters. from the original on 30 November 2009.
  • . Rolling Stone. 1 November 2003. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  • Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-25464-3.
  • Stanley, Bob (2014). Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-24269-0. from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
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External links

  • A Hard Day's Night at Discogs (list of releases)
  • Beatles comments on each song

hard, night, album, hard, night, third, studio, album, english, rock, band, beatles, released, july, 1964, parlophone, with, side, containing, songs, from, soundtrack, their, film, same, name, american, version, album, released, weeks, earlier, june, 1964, uni. A Hard Day s Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin s film score In contrast to the Beatles first two albums all 13 tracks on A Hard Day s Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership A Hard Day s NightStudio album by the BeatlesReleased10 July 1964 1964 07 10 Recorded29 January 2 June 1964StudioEMI LondonPathe Marconi ParisGenreRock 1 pop rock 2 pop 3 Length30 09LabelParlophoneProducerGeorge MartinThe Beatles chronologyWith the Beatles 1963 A Hard Day s Night 1964 Beatles for Sale 1964 Singles from A Hard Day s Night Can t Buy Me Love Released 20 March 1964 A Hard Day s Night Released 10 July 1964The album includes the song A Hard Day s Night with its distinctive opening chord 4 and Can t Buy Me Love both transatlantic number one singles for the band Several of the songs feature George Harrison playing a Rickenbacker 12 string electric guitar a sound that was influential on the Byrds and other groups in the folk rock jangle pop movement Contents 1 Recording 2 Content 3 Critical reception and legacy 4 Reissues 5 Track listing 6 North American release 6 1 Track listing 7 Charts and certifications 7 1 Chart performance 7 2 Certifications 8 Personnel 9 References 10 Sources 11 External linksRecording EditSee also A Hard Day s Night film Shortly after the release of With the Beatles 1963 the Beatles were at EMI Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris on 29 January 1964 for their first recording session outside of London Here they recorded German language versions of their two most recent singles I Want to Hold Your Hand and She Loves You titled Komm gib mir deine Hand and Sie liebt dich respectively According to their producer George Martin this was done as they couldn t sell large quantities of records in Germany unless they were sung in German 5 Also recorded in English was Paul McCartney s Can t Buy Me Love which was completed in only four takes 5 Shortly afterward the band gave their first live performance in the United States on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February They gave more US performances before returning to the United Kingdom on 22 February 6 The Beatles were set to begin filming their first major feature film on 2 March 1964 According to historian Mark Lewisohn the band were set to record songs for both the film and a tie in LP of which the songs from the film were completed first 7 On 25 February lead guitarist George Harrison s 21st birthday the band were back at London s EMI Studios recording John Lennon s You Can t Do That for release as the B side of Can t Buy Me Love The band also attempted And I Love Her and I Should Have Known Better on this day and again the following day with the former finalised on 27 February 7 Two more songs from the film Tell Me Why and If I Fell were recorded on this day 7 On 1 March 1964 the Beatles recorded three songs in three hours I m Happy Just to Dance with You for the film featuring Harrison on lead vocal a cover of Little Richard s Long Tall Sally and Lennon s I Call Your Name which was originally given to Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas the previous year 8 Mono and stereo mixing was carried out over the following two weeks The Can t Buy Me Love You Can t Do That single was released on 16 March and topped charts worldwide 8 Taking a break for filming 9 drummer Ringo Starr coined the phrase a hard day s night providing the film with its title Lennon and McCartney wrote a song based on the title which was recorded at EMI on 16 April and mixed four days later 10 On 1 June with the film completed and the band returning from holidays the Beatles returned to EMI recording the remaining songs for the tie in LP with outtakes appearing on the Long Tall Sally EP 11 Covers of Carl Perkins Matchbox with Starr on lead vocals and Larry Williams Slow Down appeared on the EP while Lennon s I ll Cry Instead and I ll Be Back appeared on the LP The following day on 2 June the band completed Lennon s Any Time at All and When I Get Home and McCartney s Things We Said Today 11 The band spent the remainder of June and July touring internationally 12 Content EditMusically A Hard Day s Night eschews the rock and roll cover songs of the band s previous albums for a predominantly pop sound 13 Sputnikmusic s Dave Donnelly observes short peppy pop songs characterised by layered vocals immediate choruses and understated instrumentation 14 According to Pitchfork s Tom Ewing the lack of rock and roll covers allows listeners to take the group s new sound purely on its own modernist terms with audacious chord choices powerful harmonies gleaming guitar and Northern harmonica 13 Music journalist Robert Christgau writes that Lennon McCartney s songs were more sophisticated musically than before 15 It also features Harrison playing a Rickenbacker 12 string electric guitar a sound that was influential on the Byrds and other bands in the folk rock explosion of 1965 16 17 Side one of the LP contains the songs from the film soundtrack Side two contains songs written for but not included in the film although a 1980s re release of the film includes a prologue before the opening credits with I ll Cry Instead on the soundtrack 18 The title of the album and film was the accidental creation of Starr 19 According to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine I was going home in the car and film director Dick Lester suggested the title Hard Day s Night from something Ringo had said I had used it in In His Own Write but it was an off the cuff remark by Ringo You know one of those malapropisms A Ringo ism where he said it not to be funny just said it So Dick Lester said We are going to use that title 20 A Hard Day s Night is the first Beatles album to feature entirely original compositions and the only one where all the songs were written by Lennon McCartney 21 Lennon is the primary author of nine of the thirteen tracks on the album as well as being the lead singer on these same nine tracks although Paul McCartney sings lead on the title track s middle eight Lennon and McCartney co wrote I m Happy Just to Dance with You sung by Harrison 22 while McCartney wrote And I Love Her Can t Buy Me Love and Things We Said Today It is one of three Beatles albums along with Let It Be and Magical Mystery Tour in which Starr does not sing lead vocal on any songs Starr sang the lead vocal on Matchbox during the sessions it appeared instead on the Long Tall Sally EP It is also one of three Beatles albums along with Please Please Me and Beatles for Sale in which Harrison does not contribute to the songwriting Critical reception and legacy EditProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic 23 The A V ClubA 24 Blender 25 Consequence of SoundA 26 The Daily Telegraph 27 Encyclopedia of Popular Music 28 Paste100 100 29 Pitchfork9 7 10 13 The Rolling Stone Album Guide 30 Sputnikmusic4 5 5 14 According to music critic Richie Unterberger writing for AllMusic George Harrison s resonant 12 string electric guitar leads on A Hard s Day s Night were hugely influential the movie helped persuade the Byrds then folksingers to plunge all out into rock amp roll and the Beatles would be hugely influential on the folk rock explosion of 1965 The Beatles success too had begun to open the US market for fellow English bands like the Rolling Stones the Animals and the Kinks and inspired young American groups like the Beau Brummels Lovin Spoonful and others to mount a challenge of their own with self penned material that owed a great debt to Lennon McCartney 31 In his book Yeah Yeah Yeah The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyonce Bob Stanley identifies A Hard Day s Night as the album that best captures the band s early career appeal He writes If you had to explain the Beatles impact to a stranger you d play them the soundtrack to A Hard Day s Night The songs conceived in a hotel room in a spare couple of weeks between up ending the British class system and conquering America were full of bite and speed There was adventure knowingness love and abundant charm 32 A Hard Day s Night was included in the list of 100 Essential Rock Albums compiled by musicologists Charlie Gillett and Simon Frith for ZigZag magazine in 1975 and is one of the Treasure Island albums featured in Greil Marcus s 1979 book Stranded 33 In 2000 Q magazine placed A Hard Day s Night at number 5 on its list The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever 34 That same year it appeared at number 22 in Colin Larkin s book All Time Top 1000 Albums 35 In 2012 Rolling Stone ranked it 307th on the magazine s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 36 In the 2020 revision it rose to number 263 37 A Hard Day s Night has also appeared in critics lists of the best albums of all time published by the NME in 1974 at number 33 1985 number 73 and 2013 number 195 Mojo in 1995 number 81 and Uncut in 2016 number 149 33 It was a featured album in The Mojo Collection The Greatest Albums of All Time Tom Moon s book 1 000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die and Robert Dimery s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and was selected as one of the Most Significant Rock Albums in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History 33 Based on the album s appearances in professional rankings and listings the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists A Hard Day s Night as the most acclaimed album of 1964 the 45th most acclaimed album of the 1960s and the 222nd most acclaimed album in history 38 Reissues EditOn 26 February 1987 A Hard Day s Night was officially released on compact disc in mono along with Please Please Me With the Beatles and Beatles for Sale Having been available only as an import in the US in the past the 13 track UK version of the album was also issued in the US on LP and cassette on 21 July 1987 Stereo mixes of A Hard Day s Night Can t Buy Me Love and And I Love Her had been made available on the first compact disc issue of 1962 1966 in 1993 Most of the rest of the tracks appeared in stereo on compact disc for the first time with the release of the box set The Capitol Albums Volume 1 in 2004 On 9 September 2009 a remastered version of this album was released and was the first time the album appeared in stereo on compact disc in its entirety This album is also included in The Beatles Stereo Box Set A remastered mono version of the original UK album was part of The Beatles in Mono box set 39 Track listing EditAll tracks are written by Lennon McCartney Side one of the UK amp Australian LP release amp soundtrack to the 1964 United Artists film A Hard Day s Night No TitleLead vocalsLength1 A Hard Day s Night Lennon with McCartney2 342 I Should Have Known Better Lennon2 433 If I Fell Lennon with McCartney2 194 I m Happy Just to Dance with You Harrison1 565 And I Love Her McCartney2 306 Tell Me Why Lennon2 097 Can t Buy Me Love McCartney2 12Total length 16 23 Side twoNo TitleLead vocalsLength1 Any Time at All Lennon2 112 I ll Cry Instead Lennon1 443 Things We Said Today McCartney2 354 When I Get Home Lennon2 175 You Can t Do That Lennon2 356 I ll Be Back Lennon2 24Total length 13 46North American release EditA Hard Day s Night 1964 stereo United Artists releaseSoundtrack album by the Beatles and George MartinReleased26 June 1964Recorded29 January 25 27 February 1 March amp 1 4 June 1964StudioEMI London and Pathe Marconi ParisGenreRock instrumentalLength29 47LabelUnited Artists UAL 3366 mono UAS 6366 stereo ProducerGeorge MartinThe Beatles North American chronologyThe Beatles Long Tall Sally 1964 A Hard Day s Night 1964 Something New 1964 The Beatles United States chronologyThe Beatles Second Album 1964 A Hard Day s Night 1964 Something New 1964 Singles from A Hard Day s Night Can t Buy Me Love Released 16 March 1964 A Hard Day s Night Released 13 July 1964 Ringo s Theme This Boy Released July 1964 And I Love Her Released 20 July 1964 A Hard Day s Night instrumental Released 1964The American version of the album was released on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records in both mono and stereo the fourth Beatles album in the United States The album went to number one on the Billboard album chart spending 14 weeks there the longest run of any album that year 40 United Artists rushed the album into stores over a month before the film s US premiere as a result the Beatles had both the number one album and number one single in the country when A Hard Day s Night opened on 11 August 1964 All seven songs from the film the first side of the UK album were featured along with I ll Cry Instead which although written for the film was cut at the last minute The American version also included four easy listening styled instrumental versions of Lennon and McCartney songs arranged by George Martin conducting an orchestra of studio musicians I Should Have Known Better And I Love Her Ringo s Theme and A Hard Day s Night After EMI acquired United Artists Records this album was reissued in August 1980 on the Capitol label catalogue SW 11921 While the stereo version of the album included the instrumental tracks in true stereo the Beatles own recordings appeared as electronically rechannelled stereo recordings made from the mono releases The 1980 Capitol Records reissue used the same master tape as the original United Artists LP release in fake stereo despite the availability of several tracks with official true stereo remixes True stereo versions of most of the songs had been issued on the Capitol album Something New released in July 1964 Can t Buy Me Love and I Should Have Known Better finally appeared in stereo on the 1970 Apple Records compilation Hey Jude The song A Hard Day s Night did not appear in true stereo in the US until the 1982 Capitol compilation album Reel Music In 2014 the American version of the A Hard Day s Night album was released on CD individually and in a boxed set of all the other US Beatles albums to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles first US visit This CD reissue features all of the songs in both true stereo and mono mixes Track listing Edit Side oneNo TitleLead vocalsLength1 A Hard Day s Night Lennon and McCartney2 332 Tell Me Why Lennon2 103 I ll Cry Instead Lennon2 064 I Should Have Known Better instrumental2 105 I m Happy Just to Dance with You Harrison1 596 And I Love Her instrumental3 46Total length 14 44 Side twoNo TitleLead vocalsLength1 I Should Have Known Better Lennon2 442 If I Fell Lennon and McCartney2 223 And I Love Her McCartney2 294 Ringo s Theme This Boy instrumental3 105 Can t Buy Me Love McCartney2 126 A Hard Day s Night instrumental2 06Total length 15 03Charts and certifications EditChart performance Edit Weekly chart performance for A Hard Day s Night Chart 1964 65 PeakpositionAustralia Kent Music Report 41 1German Albums Offizielle Top 100 42 1Finland Suomen virallinen lista 43 1UK Record Retailer LPs Chart 44 1US Billboard Top LPs 45 1Chart 1987 PeakpositionDutch Albums Album Top 100 46 20Chart 2009 PeakpositionAustrian Albums O3 Austria 47 66Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 48 68Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 49 80Dutch Albums Album Top 100 46 86Finnish Albums Suomen virallinen lista 50 27Italian Albums FIMI 51 73New Zealand Albums RMNZ 52 28Portuguese Albums AFP 53 28Spanish Albums PROMUSICAE 54 61Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 55 29Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 56 60 Certifications Edit Original releaseSales certifications for A Hard Day s Night Region Certification Certified units salesAustralia ARIA 57 Gold 35 000 New Zealand RMNZ 58 Reissue Platinum 15 000 United Kingdom BPI 59 2009 Reissue Platinum 300 000 Sales figures based on certification alone Shipments figures based on certification alone North American releaseRegion Certification Certified units salesCanada Music Canada 60 Platinum 100 000 United States RIAA 61 4 Platinum 4 000 000 Shipments figures based on certification alone Personnel EditSources 62 63 64 The Beatles John Lennon vocals acoustic rhythm and lead guitars piano harmonica Paul McCartney vocals bass guitar piano cowbell George Harrison vocals lead six and twelve string and acoustic guitars Ringo Starr drums percussionAdditional personnel George Martin piano production orchestrations of instrumentals for film and American LPReferences Edit World Volume 2 Page 61 1973 on Help and A Hard Day s Night the soundtrack gone rock album is a marketing ideal that is passed off on the buying public with objectionable regularity and has already begun to backfire Spignesi amp Lewis 2004 p 140 Hejeski Nancy J 2014 The Beatles Here There and Everywhere Simon amp Schuster Hook 2005 a b Lewisohn 1988 pp 38 39 Lewisohn 1992 pp 137 146 147 a b c Lewisohn 1988 pp 39 40 a b Lewisohn 1988 pp 40 41 Gould 2007 pp 230 232 Lewisohn 1988 pp 40 43 a b Lewisohn 1988 pp 44 45 Lewisohn 1992 pp 161 165 a b c Ewing Tom 8 September 2009 The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Album Review Pitchfork Archived from the original on 10 December 2013 a b de Sylvia Dave 24 September 2005 The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Sputnik Music review Sputnik Music Archived from the original on 15 July 2012 Christgau Robert et al 1 October 2000 McKeen William ed Rock amp Roll Is Here to Stay An Anthology W W Norton amp Company p 565 ISBN 978 0 393 04700 4 Jackson Andrew Grant 2015 1965 The Most Revolutionary Year in Music New York NY Thomas Dunne Books p 168 ISBN 978 1 250 05962 8 Kruth John 2015 This Bird Has Flown The Enduring Beauty of Rubber Soul Fifty Years On Milwaukee WI Backbeat Books p 78 ISBN 978 1 61713 573 6 Eder Bruce Extracts from the Album A Hard Day s Night The Beatles AllMusic Archived from the original on 21 August 2020 Retrieved 18 May 2020 Badman 2001 p 93 Sheff 2000 pp 174 175 Lewisohn 1988 p 47 Miles 1997 p 163 Erlewine Stephen Thomas A Hard Day s Night The Beatles AllMusic Archived from the original on 30 May 2012 Retrieved 18 May 2020 Klosterman Chuck 8 September 2009 Chuck Klosterman Repeats The Beatles The A V Club Chicago Archived from the original on 22 May 2013 Retrieved 26 May 2013 Maxim blender com Archived from the original on 9 September 2009 Young Alex 16 September 2009 Album Review The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Remastered Consequence of Sound Archived from the original on 4 April 2014 Retrieved 2 May 2021 McCormick Neil 4 September 2009 The Beatles A Hard Day s Night review The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 6 October 2012 Larkin Colin 2006 Encyclopedia of Popular Music Vol 1 Muze pp 487 489 ISBN 978 0 19 531373 4 The Beatles The Long and Winding Repertiore Paste 5 August 2009 Archived from the original on 23 October 2013 Retrieved 5 January 2013 The Beatles Album Guide Rolling Stone Music Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 4 April 2014 Unterberger Richie 2009 The Beatles Biography AllMusic Archived from the original on 3 November 2019 Retrieved 25 September 2009 Stanley 2014 p 79 a b c The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Acclaimed Music Archived from the original on 21 August 2020 Retrieved 21 March 2020 Kelso Paul 2 May 2000 Beatles still rule the rockers roost The Guardian Archived from the original on 19 March 2020 Retrieved 21 March 2020 Kelso Paul 4 September 2000 Radiohead challenge Fab Four as Bends leaves Sgt Pepper in the cold The Guardian Archived from the original on 30 October 2019 Retrieved 11 November 2019 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 14 July 2012 Retrieved 12 June 2012 The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone 22 September 2020 Retrieved 19 August 2021 A Hard Day s Night Acclaimed Music Archived from the original on 20 March 2022 Retrieved 10 April 2022 Reuters 2009 Whitburn 2001 p 1178 Kent David 2005 Australian Chart Book 1940 1969 Turramurra Australian Chart Book ISBN 0 646 44439 5 Offiziellecharts de Beatles A Hard Day s Night in German GfK Entertainment Charts Retrieved 12 June 2016 Nyman Jake 2005 Suomi soi 4 Suuri suomalainen listakirja in Finnish 1st ed Helsinki Tammi ISBN 951 31 2503 3 Beatles gt Albums Official Charts Company Retrieved 27 March 2022 The Beatles Chart History Billboard 200 Billboard 16 March 2021 Archived from the original on 16 March 2021 Retrieved 16 March 2021 a b Dutchcharts nl The Beatles A Hard Day s Night in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Austriancharts at The Beatles A Hard Day s Night in German Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Ultratop be The Beatles A Hard Day s Night in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Ultratop be The Beatles A Hard Day s Night in French Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 The Beatles A Hard Day s Night in Finnish Musiikkituottajat IFPI Finland Retrieved 12 June 2016 Italiancharts com The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Charts nz The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Portuguesecharts com The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Spanishcharts com The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Swedishcharts com The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 Swisscharts com The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Hung Medien Retrieved 12 June 2016 ARIA Charts Accreditations 2009 Albums PDF Australian Recording Industry Association Retrieved 15 September 2013 New Zealand album certifications The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Recorded Music NZ Retrieved 14 April 2020 British album certifications The Beatles A Hard Day s Night British Phonographic Industry Retrieved 25 July 2019 Canadian album certifications The Beatles A Hard Day s Night Music Canada Retrieved 15 September 2013 American album certifications The Beatles Hard Day s Night Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved 15 September 2013 Guesdon amp Margotin 2014 p 149 Everett 2001 MacDonald 1994 p 90 Sources EditBadman Keith 2001 The Beatles Off the Record Omnibus Press Everett Walter 2001 The Beatles as Musicians The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul New York NY Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 514105 9 Gould Jonathan 2007 Can t Buy Me Love The Beatles Britain and America New York Three Rivers Press ISBN 978 0 307 35338 2 Guesdon Jean Michel Margotin Philippe 2014 All The Songs The Story Behind Every Beatles Release Running Press p 149 ISBN 978 1 60376 371 4 Archived from the original on 2 May 2021 Retrieved 16 May 2020 Hook Chris 2 May 2005 The A Hard Day s Night Chord Rock s Holy Grail Archived from the original on 31 October 2012 Lewisohn Mark 1988 The Beatles Recording Sessions New York Harmony Books ISBN 978 0 517 57066 1 Lewisohn Mark 1992 The Complete Beatles Chronicle The Definitive Day By Day Guide To the Beatles Entire Career 2010 ed Chicago Chicago Review Press ISBN 978 1 56976 534 0 MacDonald Ian 1994 Revolution in the Head The Beatles Records and the Sixties 1st ed New York Henry Holt and Company p 90 ISBN 0805027807 Spignesi Stephen J Lewis Michael 2004 Here There and Everywhere The 100 Best Beatles Songs New York Black Dog ISBN 978 1 57912 369 7 after the unabashed more or less traditional pop rock of A Hard Day s Night and Help Miles Barry 1997 Paul McCartney Many Years From Now 1st Hardcover ed Henry Holt amp Company ISBN 978 0 8050 5248 0 Collett White Mike 7 April 2009 Original Beatles digitally remastered Reuters Archived from the original on 30 November 2009 The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone 1 November 2003 Archived from the original on 24 October 2010 Retrieved 22 November 2010 Sheff David 2000 All We Are Saying The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono New York NY St Martin s Press ISBN 978 0 312 25464 3 Stanley Bob 2014 Yeah Yeah Yeah The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyonce New York NY W W Norton ISBN 978 0 393 24269 0 Archived from the original on 2 May 2021 Retrieved 13 September 2020 Whitburn Joel 2001 Top Pop Albums 1955 2001 Menomonee Falls WI Record Research ISBN 9780898201475 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to A Hard Day s Night album A Hard Day s Night at Discogs list of releases Beatles comments on each song Recording data and notes on mono stereo mixes and remixes Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Hard Day 27s Night album amp oldid 1129194569, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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