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A Hard Day's Night (album)

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A Hard Day's Night is the third album by The Beatles, released in the UK on 10 July 1964 as the soundtrack to their first film of the same name. The album was released on 26 June 1964 in the U.S. by United Artists Records with a slightly different tracklisting (see the American release section of this article).

First all-original album

While showcasing the development of the band's songwriting talents, the album sticks to the basic rock and roll instrumentation and song format. It is notable as the first Beatles album to feature entirely original compositions (and the only one with a song catalogue credited entirely to Lennon-McCartney). Some of the more famous songs on the album include the title track (with its distinct, instantly recognizable opening chord), and the catchy "Tell Me Why" and "Can't Buy Me Love", the latter of which was also a transatlantic number one single for the band. It also features "And I Love Her", the first of Paul McCartney's distinctive and popular ballads. The album and film are said to portray the classic image of the Beatles, as it was released at the height of Beatlemania.

The title of the album (and of the film) is said to have been the accidental creation of drummer Ringo Starr, though the phrase is used in John Lennon's contemporary book In His Own Write and was reputedly used at least once by him during the Hamburg era.

Side one of the LP contains the songs from the movie soundtrack. Side two contains songs recorded for, but not included in, the film, although a 1980s rerelease of the movie includes a prologue before the opening credits with "I'll Cry Instead" on the soundtrack. This is also the first Beatles album to be recorded on four-track tape, allowing for good stereo mixes. Despite this, the CD of this album is currently available only in mono, though many of the tracks appeared in stereo on CD for the first time with the release of the boxset The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 in 2004.

In 2000, Q placed A Hard Day's Night at number 5 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[1] Template:RS500[2]

On 26 February 1987, A Hard Day's Night was officially released on CD in mono, as were three other of the Beatles' albums, 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 domestically in the US on LP and cassette on July 21, 1987. Stereo mixes of "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "And I Love Her" are available on the 1962-1966 (The Red Album) CD.

Track listing

File:Hard days night side1.JPG
A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles (side one) - Parlophone yellow and black label

All tracks credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Normally, Paul McCartney and John Lennon would contribute a roughly equal number of songs to each album, but A Hard Day's Night is the one Beatles album on which Lennon's dominance as songwriter is by far the greatest -- writing the majority of the 13 tracks on the album on his own. This is also one of two British Beatles albums, along with Let It Be, in which Ringo Starr does not sing lead vocal on any songs (although Starr sang the lead vocal on "Matchbox," a cover of a Carl Perkins song recorded contemporaneously with the songs on A Hard Day's Night and released in Britain on the Long Tall Sally EP).

Side one

  1. "A Hard Day's Night" – 2:34
  2. "I Should Have Known Better" – 2:46
  3. "If I Fell" – 2:24
  4. "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" – 1:59
  5. "And I Love Her" – 2:33
  6. "Tell Me Why" – 2:12
  7. "Can't Buy Me Love" – 2:14

Side two

  1. "Any Time at All" – 2:15
  2. "I'll Cry Instead" – 1:49
  3. "Things We Said Today" – 2:40
  4. "When I Get Home" – 2:20
  5. "You Can't Do That" – 2:39
  6. "I'll Be Back" – 2:20

The American release

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The American version of the album was released on 26 June 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," and "Can't Buy Me Love." It also features "I'll Cry Instead", which, although written for the film, was cut from it at the last minute. The American version also included four instrumental versions of Lennon and McCartney songs by George Martin: "I Should Have Known Better", "And I Love Her", "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)", and "A Hard Day's Night", each of which later appeared on George Martin's own instrumental albums released by Capitol, United Artists and Parlophone.

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

Whilst the stereo version of the album included the instrumental tracks in true stereo, the Beatles' own recordings appeared as fake stereo recordings made from the mono recordings in the stereo releases. True stereo versions of most of the songs appeared on the Capitol Records album Something New, also in 1964. "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Should Have Known Better" finally appeared in stereo versions on the Apple Records compilation Hey Jude in 1970. The song "A Hard Day's Night" did not appear in a stereo version in the U.S. until the LP Reel Music in March 1982. The American version has yet to be released officially on CD.

Track listing

All tracks credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Side one

  1. "A Hard Day's Night"
  2. "Tell Me Why"
  3. "I'll Cry Instead"
  4. "I Should Have Known Better" (instrumental, George Martin & His Orchestra)
  5. "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
  6. "And I Love Her" (instrumental, George Martin & His Orchestra)

Side two

  1. "I Should Have Known Better"
  2. "If I Fell"
  3. "And I Love Her"
  4. "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" (instrumental, George Martin & His Orchestra)
  5. "Can't Buy Me Love"
  6. "A Hard Day's Night" (instrumental, George Martin & His Orchestra)

Personnel

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever". Q. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
  2. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
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