A Hard Day's Night (album)

Untitled

The British release

A Hard Day's Night was The Beatles' third album, released in 1964 as the soundtrack to their first film of the same name.

The album, whilst showcasing the development of the band's songwriting talents, sticks to the basic rock and roll instrumentation and song format. Some of the more notable songs on the album include the title track (with its distinct, instantly recognizable opening chord), and the catchy "Can't Buy Me Love". It also features "And I Love Her", the first of what would become many popular McCartney ballads.

The title of the album (and film) was the accidental creation of drummer Ringo Starr. The band had begun filming the motion picture while it was still without a title. After one particularly rough day of shooting, Starr emerged from the studio (thinking it was still daytime) and said "It's been a hard day's..." (noticing that it was now dark outside) "... night."

Side one of the LP contains the songs from the movie soundtrack. Side two contains songs recorded for the movie, but not included in the movie, although a 1980s rerelease of the movie includes a prologue before the opening credits with "I'll Cry Instead" on the soundtrack. This was the first Beatles album to consist entirely of all original compositions, which would not return until the release of Rubber Soul in 1965.

Track listing

All tracks written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Side One

1. "A Hard Day's Night" SAMPLE (104k)
2. "I Should Have Known Better"
3. "If I Fell"
4. "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You"
5. "And I Love Her" SAMPLE (163k)
6. "Tell Me Why"
7. "Can't Buy Me Love" SAMPLE (121k)

Side Two

1. "Any Time At All"
2. "I'll Cry Instead"
3. "Things We Said Today"
4. "When I Get Home"
5. "You Can't Do That"
6. "I'll Be Back"

Untitled

The American release

The United States version of the album was released on June 26, 1964 by United Artists Records and contained the seven songs from the film: "A Hard Day's Night," "Tell Me Why," "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You," "I Should Have Known Better," "If I Fell," "And I Love Her," "Can't Buy Me Love," plus "I'll Cry Instead." The American version also included four instrumental versions of Lennon and McCartney songs by George Martin: "I Should Have Known Better" (instrumental), "And I Love Her" (instrumental), "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" (instrumental), and "A Hard Day's Night" (instrumental).

After EMI acquired United Artists Records, this album was reissued on August 17, 1981 on the Capitol label with catalogue number SW 11921.

While the stereo version of the album included the instrumental tracks in stereo, the Beatles' own recordings appeared in mono in both the mono and stereo releases. Stereo versions of all but the title song appeared on the Capitol Records album Something New, also in 1964. "A Hard Day's Night" did not appear in a stereo version in the US until 20 Greatest Hits in October 1982.

See also

• A Hard Day's Night (movie)
• A Hard Day's Night (song)

External links

• Album Lyrics