Post by henryj on Sept 5, 2015 12:48:34 GMT
A Hard Day’s Night was the Beatles’ first movie. Naturally, a soundtrack album was released. There were seven songs in the movie, so these songs were on side one of the British Parlophone version of the vinyl LP. Six songs not heard on the movie appear on side two for a total of 13 songs.
In America, the songs were released on two albums. The official soundtrack album was released on United Artists Records, the company owned by the film company that made the movie, not Capitol, the Beatles’ American label. The UA album had the seven songs plus “I’ll Cry Instead,” plus four George Martin instrumentals, which were incidental music from the album. These four instrumentals were arrangements of Lennon-McCartney songs.
While Capitol released the title song, “I Should Have Known Better,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” as single sides, these three songs did not appear on Something New, an album that had the four other movie songs and three of the non-movie songs, plus “Slow Down,” “Matchbox,” and “Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand,” the German-language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” “I’ll Be Back” appeared on the American Capitol Beatles ’65 and “You Can’t Do That” had appeared on “The Beatles Second Album.”
Forget Sir Walter Raleigh—curse Dave Dexter Jr. It’s rather confusing. So this time I’m just going to review the original British Parlophone version.
A Hard Day’s Night
I Should Have Known Better
If I fell
I’m Happy Just to Dance with You
And I Love Her
Tell Me Why
Can’t Buy Me Love
Any Time at All
I’ll Cry Instead
Things We Said Today
When I Get Home
You Can’t Do That
I’ll Be Back
“A Hard Day’s Night.” The most audio-iconic opening chord in pop music history. It’s a G suspended 9th chord. I won’t go into the voicing as played by the Beatles, but the entrances were played with great suspension. The attack and decay of the guitars is such that I don’t think they just spliced off the first few imprecise milliseconds of the tape; just a precise attack. To get that sound you have to have 6- and 12- string guitars fretted at certain positions, a bass playing a D somewhere away up the neck, and a piano is in there somewhere also, from what I understand.
The vocal arrangement—sounds like either John and Paul in unison or John double-tracked at first, but on the bridge it’s Paul double tracked, but the end of the bridge overlaps with the beginning of the next verse, so it’s John double-tracked. Instrumental break is harpsichord, piano, and maybe Rickenbacker 360-12 Old Style.
For gearheads like myself, this is where George debuted his Rickenbacker 360-12 Old Style. Roger McGuinn, who further popularized the 360-12 (except his was the new-style) with the Byrds, said he saw AHDN and noticed that when George turned sideways, he could see two sets of tuning keys on George’s guitar. So McGuinn had to get one too. Except George’s was the old-style squared-off model, and McGuinn’s was the rounded new style. McGuinn eventually began playing the 370-12, which had three pickups instead of two.
“I Should Have Known Better.” Harmonica starts this one off. Song is in G, but the harmonica is an off-the-rack Hohner Marine Band in C. Remember, Leonard Bernstein said that the Beatles music is often in the mixolydian mode. So you use a C harmonica to play in the key of G. More Rickenbacker 360-12 Old Style.
“If I Fell” Ballad with 2-part harmony, except for the very beginning, feature John’s voice. A bit more sophisticated than earlier material, and this was probably one of the songs that got the grownups’ attention, taking the Beatles out of the teen realm and more into the mainstream.
“I’m Happy Just to Dance With You.” Lennon-McCartney song that they let George sing. Various sources say it was mainly John song. Very active rhythm guitar part by John.
“And I Love Her.” A sort of companion piece to “If I Fell,” except a Paul song. Double-tracked vocals, Paul is the only singer on this song. Acoustic guitars.
“Tell Me Why.” A John song, and a rocker. I’ve always thought someone from Motown could have covered this, maybe Mary Wells, because it sounded like a Motown composition to me.
“Can’t Buy Me Love.” The first single from the movie to be released. Another rocker, and it has two lead guitar parts on it. Seems like it was recorded in Paris, along with the B-side of the single, “You Can’t Do That.” A John song.
Now for the songs that were not in the movie…
“Any Time at All.” A rocker by John. In our mono copy of the Something New album, the piano in the instrumental break seems to come out of nowhere. When I was in college, my roommate had a stereo copy of Something New, and the piano is in the instrumental break all along.
For some reason, country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “Passionate Kisses” reminded me of “Any Time At All.” Maybe it’s the tempo and presence of a Ric 12.
“I’ll Cry Instead.” Speaking of country singers, this song made me think of Dave Dudley’s truck-drivin’ song “Six Days on the Road.” I think it is the tempo and phrasing. I bet John had been listening to the Dudley song when he wrote this. No instrumental break.
“Things We Said Today.” Minor key folkish tune by Paul. I particularly like this one. A nice Picardy third ending one of the verses leads into a major-key bridge.
“When I Get Home.” A John song. An okay song, but the most memorable thing is the lyric “I’m gonna love her ‘til the cows come home.”
“You Can’t Do That.” Copied and pasted from a review of the American Dexterization of With the Beatles: “. In my mind, this is the first of a triumvirate of John Lennon songs that includes ‘Run For Your Life’ from 1965’s Rubber Soul and ‘Jealous Guy’ from his 1971 solo album Imagine. Because John was really a jealous guy and needed to express himself in song. Two lead guitar solos, one a 12-string.” As noted above, the B-side to “Can’t Buy Me Love” single, which means that both sides of a Beatle single were John songs.
“I’ll Be Back.” Like “Things We Said Today,” a folksy song that I particularly like. We Americans didn’t get this until “Beatles ’65,” released in the fall of 1964.
The A Hard Day’s Night album in United Artists Records released in America:
The album cover had only 4 photos of the top halves of the Beatles’ faces.
"A Hard Day’s Night"
"Tell me Why"
"I’ll Cry Instead"—actually, this song was not featured in the movie. Word has it the song was originally in the movie but wound up on the cutting room floor.
"I Should Have Known Better.” instrumental. This is the first of four instrumentals by George Martin appearing on the album. These instrumentals were incidental music in the movie. It sounds like a twist arrangement. Actually though, the type of music grownups did the twist to. Of course, by 1964 the twist was OUT and the Beatles were IN.
A magazine reviewer didn’t think the Beatles sang well but said they played instruments well. He was referring to the four instrumentals on the UA album. I don’t know if he was being ignorant or just making a slap in the face of the Beatles and their fans. It was a generational thing and I think the reviewer was as qualified to review the Beatles as I am to review Rap or Death Metal.
“I’m Happy Just to Dance with You”
“And I Love Her” instrumental. Strictly elevator music, but it actually works. Has an acoustic guitar solo somewhat like George’s original, but more musically embellished.
“I Should Have Known Better”
“If I Fell”
“And I Love Her”
“Ringo’s Theme (This Boy)” instrumental version of “This Boy.” Played by a twanging electric guitar.
This is from the part of the movie where Ringo wanders off after having had his feelings hurt by Paul’s grandfather. Actually, the actor who played Paul’s grandfather, Wilfred Brambell, was several years younger than the real Paul’s father.
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“A Hard Day’s Night.” Instrumental. Unlike the instrumental title cut, this one is more up-to-date, being a jazz waltz. Jazz waltzes were popular in 1964. At least among people who listened to jazz and such.
Something New was the Capitol version of the Parlophone AHDN, but the three single sides are replaced with two cover versions and a German remake. The album cover has a photo of their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show earlier in the year.
Side one:
“I’ll Cry Instead,” which was on the UA soundtrack album but not actually in the movie, as mentioned above.
“Things We Said Today”
“Any Time at All.”
“When I Get Home”
“Slow Down.” This was not on the AHDN Parlophone. Larry Williams rocker sung by John. I consider this proto-primal scream.
“Matchbox.” Also not on the AHDN Parlophone LP. Carl Perkins song sung by Ringo. Double-tracked vocal, not particularly precise between the two tracks. Possibly because it was before the Beatles had the clout to commandeer unlimited studio time. But the rawness actually works.
The first four songs from side two were from the movie. Noticeably absent were the single sides “A Hard Day’s Night,” it’s B-Side “I Should Have Known Better,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
Side two
“Tell Me Why”
“And I Love Her”
“I’m Happy Just to Dance with You.”
“If I Fell.”
“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand,” not from the movie, but is the German-language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Most sources state that this has the same instrumental track, but with a different vocal. But to me the chromatic section (D-Db-D-Eb-E) sounds like it was played on a guitar, not a bass.
Our household had both the UA A Hard Day’s Night album and the Something New album. I haven’t heard them in over 45 years, but some of the songs on both albums may have had double-tracked unison vocals on one and not the other. Or perhaps it was a mono-vs-stereo issue and not Capitol vs. UA.
A few years later, Capitol’s parent company EMI purchased the United Artists label from the motion picture company. In recent years, the UA version of AHDN was released on CD, instrumentals and all.
Sorry I'm just now getting around to this.
In America, the songs were released on two albums. The official soundtrack album was released on United Artists Records, the company owned by the film company that made the movie, not Capitol, the Beatles’ American label. The UA album had the seven songs plus “I’ll Cry Instead,” plus four George Martin instrumentals, which were incidental music from the album. These four instrumentals were arrangements of Lennon-McCartney songs.
While Capitol released the title song, “I Should Have Known Better,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” as single sides, these three songs did not appear on Something New, an album that had the four other movie songs and three of the non-movie songs, plus “Slow Down,” “Matchbox,” and “Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand,” the German-language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” “I’ll Be Back” appeared on the American Capitol Beatles ’65 and “You Can’t Do That” had appeared on “The Beatles Second Album.”
Forget Sir Walter Raleigh—curse Dave Dexter Jr. It’s rather confusing. So this time I’m just going to review the original British Parlophone version.
A Hard Day’s Night
I Should Have Known Better
If I fell
I’m Happy Just to Dance with You
And I Love Her
Tell Me Why
Can’t Buy Me Love
Any Time at All
I’ll Cry Instead
Things We Said Today
When I Get Home
You Can’t Do That
I’ll Be Back
“A Hard Day’s Night.” The most audio-iconic opening chord in pop music history. It’s a G suspended 9th chord. I won’t go into the voicing as played by the Beatles, but the entrances were played with great suspension. The attack and decay of the guitars is such that I don’t think they just spliced off the first few imprecise milliseconds of the tape; just a precise attack. To get that sound you have to have 6- and 12- string guitars fretted at certain positions, a bass playing a D somewhere away up the neck, and a piano is in there somewhere also, from what I understand.
The vocal arrangement—sounds like either John and Paul in unison or John double-tracked at first, but on the bridge it’s Paul double tracked, but the end of the bridge overlaps with the beginning of the next verse, so it’s John double-tracked. Instrumental break is harpsichord, piano, and maybe Rickenbacker 360-12 Old Style.
For gearheads like myself, this is where George debuted his Rickenbacker 360-12 Old Style. Roger McGuinn, who further popularized the 360-12 (except his was the new-style) with the Byrds, said he saw AHDN and noticed that when George turned sideways, he could see two sets of tuning keys on George’s guitar. So McGuinn had to get one too. Except George’s was the old-style squared-off model, and McGuinn’s was the rounded new style. McGuinn eventually began playing the 370-12, which had three pickups instead of two.
“I Should Have Known Better.” Harmonica starts this one off. Song is in G, but the harmonica is an off-the-rack Hohner Marine Band in C. Remember, Leonard Bernstein said that the Beatles music is often in the mixolydian mode. So you use a C harmonica to play in the key of G. More Rickenbacker 360-12 Old Style.
“If I Fell” Ballad with 2-part harmony, except for the very beginning, feature John’s voice. A bit more sophisticated than earlier material, and this was probably one of the songs that got the grownups’ attention, taking the Beatles out of the teen realm and more into the mainstream.
“I’m Happy Just to Dance With You.” Lennon-McCartney song that they let George sing. Various sources say it was mainly John song. Very active rhythm guitar part by John.
“And I Love Her.” A sort of companion piece to “If I Fell,” except a Paul song. Double-tracked vocals, Paul is the only singer on this song. Acoustic guitars.
“Tell Me Why.” A John song, and a rocker. I’ve always thought someone from Motown could have covered this, maybe Mary Wells, because it sounded like a Motown composition to me.
“Can’t Buy Me Love.” The first single from the movie to be released. Another rocker, and it has two lead guitar parts on it. Seems like it was recorded in Paris, along with the B-side of the single, “You Can’t Do That.” A John song.
Now for the songs that were not in the movie…
“Any Time at All.” A rocker by John. In our mono copy of the Something New album, the piano in the instrumental break seems to come out of nowhere. When I was in college, my roommate had a stereo copy of Something New, and the piano is in the instrumental break all along.
For some reason, country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter’s song “Passionate Kisses” reminded me of “Any Time At All.” Maybe it’s the tempo and presence of a Ric 12.
“I’ll Cry Instead.” Speaking of country singers, this song made me think of Dave Dudley’s truck-drivin’ song “Six Days on the Road.” I think it is the tempo and phrasing. I bet John had been listening to the Dudley song when he wrote this. No instrumental break.
“Things We Said Today.” Minor key folkish tune by Paul. I particularly like this one. A nice Picardy third ending one of the verses leads into a major-key bridge.
“When I Get Home.” A John song. An okay song, but the most memorable thing is the lyric “I’m gonna love her ‘til the cows come home.”
“You Can’t Do That.” Copied and pasted from a review of the American Dexterization of With the Beatles: “. In my mind, this is the first of a triumvirate of John Lennon songs that includes ‘Run For Your Life’ from 1965’s Rubber Soul and ‘Jealous Guy’ from his 1971 solo album Imagine. Because John was really a jealous guy and needed to express himself in song. Two lead guitar solos, one a 12-string.” As noted above, the B-side to “Can’t Buy Me Love” single, which means that both sides of a Beatle single were John songs.
“I’ll Be Back.” Like “Things We Said Today,” a folksy song that I particularly like. We Americans didn’t get this until “Beatles ’65,” released in the fall of 1964.
The A Hard Day’s Night album in United Artists Records released in America:
The album cover had only 4 photos of the top halves of the Beatles’ faces.
"A Hard Day’s Night"
"Tell me Why"
"I’ll Cry Instead"—actually, this song was not featured in the movie. Word has it the song was originally in the movie but wound up on the cutting room floor.
"I Should Have Known Better.” instrumental. This is the first of four instrumentals by George Martin appearing on the album. These instrumentals were incidental music in the movie. It sounds like a twist arrangement. Actually though, the type of music grownups did the twist to. Of course, by 1964 the twist was OUT and the Beatles were IN.
A magazine reviewer didn’t think the Beatles sang well but said they played instruments well. He was referring to the four instrumentals on the UA album. I don’t know if he was being ignorant or just making a slap in the face of the Beatles and their fans. It was a generational thing and I think the reviewer was as qualified to review the Beatles as I am to review Rap or Death Metal.
“I’m Happy Just to Dance with You”
“And I Love Her” instrumental. Strictly elevator music, but it actually works. Has an acoustic guitar solo somewhat like George’s original, but more musically embellished.
“I Should Have Known Better”
“If I Fell”
“And I Love Her”
“Ringo’s Theme (This Boy)” instrumental version of “This Boy.” Played by a twanging electric guitar.
This is from the part of the movie where Ringo wanders off after having had his feelings hurt by Paul’s grandfather. Actually, the actor who played Paul’s grandfather, Wilfred Brambell, was several years younger than the real Paul’s father.
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“A Hard Day’s Night.” Instrumental. Unlike the instrumental title cut, this one is more up-to-date, being a jazz waltz. Jazz waltzes were popular in 1964. At least among people who listened to jazz and such.
Something New was the Capitol version of the Parlophone AHDN, but the three single sides are replaced with two cover versions and a German remake. The album cover has a photo of their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show earlier in the year.
Side one:
“I’ll Cry Instead,” which was on the UA soundtrack album but not actually in the movie, as mentioned above.
“Things We Said Today”
“Any Time at All.”
“When I Get Home”
“Slow Down.” This was not on the AHDN Parlophone. Larry Williams rocker sung by John. I consider this proto-primal scream.
“Matchbox.” Also not on the AHDN Parlophone LP. Carl Perkins song sung by Ringo. Double-tracked vocal, not particularly precise between the two tracks. Possibly because it was before the Beatles had the clout to commandeer unlimited studio time. But the rawness actually works.
The first four songs from side two were from the movie. Noticeably absent were the single sides “A Hard Day’s Night,” it’s B-Side “I Should Have Known Better,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
Side two
“Tell Me Why”
“And I Love Her”
“I’m Happy Just to Dance with You.”
“If I Fell.”
“Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand,” not from the movie, but is the German-language version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Most sources state that this has the same instrumental track, but with a different vocal. But to me the chromatic section (D-Db-D-Eb-E) sounds like it was played on a guitar, not a bass.
Our household had both the UA A Hard Day’s Night album and the Something New album. I haven’t heard them in over 45 years, but some of the songs on both albums may have had double-tracked unison vocals on one and not the other. Or perhaps it was a mono-vs-stereo issue and not Capitol vs. UA.
A few years later, Capitol’s parent company EMI purchased the United Artists label from the motion picture company. In recent years, the UA version of AHDN was released on CD, instrumentals and all.
Sorry I'm just now getting around to this.