It was beginning to become evident at this stage of The Beatles career that the market would inmediately absorbe anything The Beatles could produce. Following the example of other great Rock & Roll stars, specially Elvis, The Beatles signed a contract to appear in 3 full length films with United Artists. A new soundtrack album should be issued for each one of these films, and the first one of them was A Hard Day's Night. The film wasn't given too much importance by UA and its budget was far away from any of the largest projects of the time. In fact The film's benefits were almost 30 times the production costs (not taking into account the video edition of the movie). The Beatles played in the film by George, John, Paul and Ringo are not entirely the real Beatles of the time. Although the film was thought to be quite spontaneous at the time bringing the spectator the freshness of those Liverpoodlians, the truth is that Alun Owen, the script writer did a good job in making us believe so. The film has been critically acclaimed since its world premier at London's Pavillion in Picadilly Circus on July 6th 1964. The title came as a result of one of Ringo's often "peculiar" expressions. After a hard working day, he said "It's been a hard day..." and realizing it was already night time he added "..'s night". The soundtrack album was the FIRST and ONLY in The Beatles career to be entirely made of Lennon-McCartney songs. And maybe is a coincidence, but it's one of my favourites. It preserves the freshness of the early Beatles' -less-than-2:30-minutes- songs, but at the same time shows what there is to come, pure genius. A Hard Day's Night Recording Dates: February 25th - June 2nd, 1964 Release Date: July 10th, 1964 A Hard Day's Night Lennon John:Rythm Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Backing vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums George Martin:Piano The song opening the film and also closing it in its credits, was written by John Lennon almost by request. The catchy phrase created by Ringo was decided to be the film's title by its director Richard Lester, discarding others like Beatlemania and On the run. Only a few days after, The Beatles were recording a song with the same title. The opening chord, is probably the easiest part to play on guitar of any Beatles songs. Just strum all the strings on your guitar at once and see if you recognize the sound (this should really be transposed and played by pressing all the strings on the 3rd fret). I Should Have Known Better Lennon John:Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums Once again John's voice is double-tracked to achieve a magic effect in which was to be his personal trade mark. The song is one of the last to feature John playing the harmonica, one of the most characteristic sounds of their early songs. The song is played in the movie while playing cards on the mail van of a train. If I Fell Lennon John:Acoustic Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Lead vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums One of the most beautiful songs ever written by John, with two voices that reach perfection in their composition. The harmonic achievement by The Beatles reaches here a wonderful peak. The song was recorded with Paul and John singing on the same microphone at their own request. It was said to be "semi-autobiographical" by John, in a time when he later confessed he sometimes wished to leave Cynthia, his wife. The song was performed in the film while rehearsing for a TV program. I'm Happy Just to Dance With You Lennon John:Rythm Guitar and Backing Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Backing vocal George:Lead Guitar and Lead Vocal Ringo:Drums and Loose-Skinned Arabian Bongo John wrote this song for George, so he could have a piece of the action. Once again Ringo uses bongos (and not just off-the-shelf ones) to give the song an special rythm. And I Love Her McCartney-(Lennon) John:Acoustic Guitar Paul:Acoustic Guitar and Lead vocal George:Acoustic Guitar Ringo:Bongos and Claves Paul McCartney was starting to produce McCartney masterpieces. And I Love Her is certainly a great song, but it took The Beatles a while to get the sound right. As featured in the Anthology I, the song was less acoustic in the beginnig, with Ringo on drums and a guitar solo in the middle eight. Paul requested John's help for the middle eight (a usual practice for both Beatles throughout their career in the group) The final version of the song features 3 acoustic guitars (one of them by George picking the familiar solo theme) and Ringo on bongos and Claves. The acoustic sound of the song was achieved after 3 days and a respectable number of takes. Paul in one of them simply said "ha!, take 50" (which of course wasn't) Tell Me Why Lennon John:Acoustic Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Backing vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums Tell Me Why was completed in just 8 takes and a single day in the studio. The song features three voices, 2 of which are sung by John and the other by Paul. The probable reason why George was unusually left out of a 3 part harmony, is that the song is sung in a very high pitch (using falsetto) that George maybe couldn't reach. Can't Buy Me Love McCartney John:Rythm Guitar Paul:Bass Guitar and Lead vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums The song was first released as a single on March 20th 1964. It was recorded in Paris, while The Beatles were performing at the Olympia theatre for almost three weeks. Paul pulled out during that period an incredible song that was first recorded at the hotel room with George gone to the toilet and flushing it at the end. Although the boys wanted this recording to be released as a single, George Martin wisely made them go to the studio and in just one hour they changed the song from the take 1 featured in the Anthology I, to the final version. The song was played in the film as the group ran down the fire escape of a theatre. Any Time at All Lennon John:Acoustic Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Piano George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums After finishing with the first side of the LP, John and Paul were in a hurry to fill up the second. None of these songs were to appear in the film, but they couldn't leave an LP with just one side. Any Time at All was to be the opening song in this side. John some time later admitted he got the song after developing it from It Won't be Long, which may be understood if we follow the chord sequence. I'll Cry Instead Lennon John:Acoustic Guitar Tambourine and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Lead vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums A country style tune (for those who don't believe that The Beatles were influenced by country) which was originally intended for the fire escape scene. The song was recorded in two separate parts, although the same day, and they were later mixed together. Things We Said Today McCartney John:Acoustic Guitar, Piano and Backing Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Lead vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums and Tambourine Paul wrote only 3 songs for A Hard Day's Night, but his contribution was anything but small. Things We Said Today was written while on a yacht, in the Virgin Islands, with Jane Asher (his girlfriend at the time) Ringo and Maureen. It is quite obvious that he wrote it with his acoustic guitar by the initial riff. The song was completed in only 3 takes (including overdubs and a false start) The piano was intended to be kept off the final record, but it leaked through some of the microphones and so it can be heard in the record. When I get Home Lennon John:Rythm Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Backing vocal George:Lead Guitar Ringo:Drums The song was described by John as "four-in-the-bar cowbell song", and it was recorded in 11 takes. You Can't Do That Lennon John:Lead Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar and Backing vocal George:12-String Guitar and Backing Vocal Ringo:Drums, Cowbell and Bongos Although John admitted he was inspired by Wilson Pickett, the song which was B-Side for Can't Buy Me Love has a certain personality of its own. The song saw for the first time George playing his new 12-string guitar, while John played lead with his Rickenbacker, because John, as he told Melody Maker, "I find it a drag, to play rythm guitar all the time". I'll Be Back Lennon John:Acoustic Guitar and Lead Vocal Paul:Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar and Backing Vocal George:Acoustic Guitar Ringo:Drums The final track of the album in which The Beatles promise to be back even if we break their heart, was composed by John. He supposedly got the chords while playing a Del Shannon song. Shannon had recorded a version of From Me To You which only reached the 77 spot in the American charts. The song is then again a delicious acoustic track, typical of '64 Beatles