A Hard Day's Night is different from every other Beatles album in a single interesting way - it is the only album to solely feature Lennon/McCartney compositions. All thirteen tracks are originals from the dynamic duo, with no covers. Recorded mainly in early 1964, the record was released on 10 July 1964. Two singles are products of the album - "Can't Buy Me Love", backed by "You Can't Do That" and "A Hard Day's Night", backed by "Things We Said Today". The title of the album, and titular song, was what was dubbed by Lennon as a 'Ringo-ism', a funny line that Starr had said in passing.
The first track on the album, sharing its name, is immediately recognisable by its obscure jaunty opening chord. The chord, which was played on Harrison's 12-string Rickenbacker, opens both the album/song and the film. There has been much debate about which chord it actually is. It has been said to be a G7sus4, Dm7sus4 and an Fadd9 (as described by Harrison in 2001), among others.
A Hard Day's Night also marks the first (and only, apart from Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be) album to not feature a song sung by drummer Ringo. Only one song, "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", is sung lead by George Harrison. The rest of the tracks are either sung by Paul or John, or both, with an approximate even split.
Side one of the album (featuring tracks "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love", "I Should Have Known Better", "If I Fell", "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You", "And I Love Her" and "Tell Me Why") is actually the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The black-and-white film was released four days before the album. The remaining six tracks found on the LP were not featured in the film. "Can't Buy Me Love" is notable for appearing twice in the film. A synopsis of the film can be read here. Fun fact: George Harrison met his future wife, Pattie Boyd, on the set of A Hard Day's Night. She was a schoolgirl extra in the train scene.
Unique to this Beatles album: this album is the only one to feature solely Lennon/McCartney compositions.
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| George and Pattie on the set of A Hard Day's Night |
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