A$# 039 Beatles | A Hard Day's Night

The album that accompanied the Beatles' first, brilliant movie was just as brilliant. And it marked a first (and only, in fact) - all the songs were Lennon-McCartney songs. No covers here. (They'd be done with covers after two more albums - but by then George would have at least one track per disc.)

When the Fabs stepped before the cameras on March 2, 1964 to begin filming scenes for A Hard Day's Night, they'd already had a head start on the music. In fact, they recorded Can't Buy Me Love in France (on January 29) even before heading out to America. After they got home, it was straight back to Abbey Road, where they worked on You Can't Do That, And I Love Her and I Should Have Known Better on February 25.

Recording continued before and after the filming for the movie. In fact, the title song was recorded on April 16, when production was just about finished on the film. John wrote the song in one night, and they recorded in during one session on April 16, in nine takes.

With its Ringo-supplied cheeky title,and its mysterious, memorable open chord, AHDN is a superb opener for the album. As George Martin commented, "We knew it would open both the film and the soundtrack LP, so we wanted a particularly strong and effective beginning. The strident guitar chord was the perfect launch."

Further tracks were recorded through June. The British LP was released July 10, 1964. The seven songs from side 1 were featured in the movie, and side 2 included seven more great songs. It's interesting to note that 12 of the 14 tracks have a personal pronoun in the title, indicative of Lennon and McCartney's lyric style at the time.

What's particularly revealing about this album is it shows that Lennon & McCartney could write superb songs, and the Beatles could record them masterfully, under great time pressure and public scrutiny. From rocking chart-topper singles like AHDN and Can't Buy Me Love to moving ballads such as And I Love Her and If I Fell, the Fabs showed they were a force to be reckoned with. And with their movie, the magic was caught on celluloid as a permanent monument to the mania, the music and the four men from Liverpool.

The US version of the album was different, of course, but the British one - which is what you get on CD - featured all 14 songs.

Track listing:
1. A Hard Day's Night
2. I Should Have Known Better
3. If I Fell
4. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
5. And I Love Her
6. Tell Me Why
7. Can't Buy Me Love
8. Any Time At All
9. I'll Cry Instead
10. Things We Said Today
11. When I Get Home
12. You Can't Do That
13. I'll Be Back