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A Hard Day’s Night

John Lennon: Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Paul McCartney: Vocals, bass guitar
George Harrison: Electric 12-string guitar
Ringo Starr: Drums, bongos, cowbell
George Martin: Piano

Recorded April 16 1964.

Available on:
A Hard Days Night
Anthology 1
Live At The BBC
At The Hollywood Bowl (Live)

John Lennon wrote the song A Hard Day’s Night after it had been decided that this would be the title of the Beatles’ first movie. The Beatles recorded the song shortly after.

It was Ringo Starr who came up with the title. He said in 1964:

”It just came out. We went to do a job and we worked all day and then we happened to work all night. I came out, still thinking it was day and said ’it’s been a hard day… looked around, saw it was dark and added…’s night.’”

It is however debatable whether the title was just Ringo’s idea. Lennon had already used the phrase A Hard Day’s Night in his book In His Own Write, which he wrote in 1963.

Geoff Emerick, who worked as an assistant engineer on the session, said the Beatles were bustling with energy during the recording.

"In almost no time, they blasted through several complete performances of the song, with each take picking up more energy and refinement. Lennon and McCartney were brimming with confidence, as usual, and I remember thinking that Ringo that Ringo seemed especially "on" that morning, attacking his drums with ferocity I hadn't seen or heard before," Emerick said in his book Here, There and Everywhere - My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles.

The only Beatles who was not having a good day, Emerick said, was George Harrison who initially had difficulties nailing the guitar solo. In the end, producer George Martin asked Emerick to roll the tape on half speed while Martin and Harrison both played the solo simultaneously - Harrison on guitar and Martin on piano.

"...it was fascinating watching the two Georges - Harrison and Martin - working side by side in the studio, foreheads furrowed in concentration as they played the rhythmically complex solo in tight unison on their respective instruments," Emerick said.

And when the film's director Richard Lester, who turned up in the studio one morning, asked for a "dreamy" fade out, Harrison rose to the occasion and played a catchy phrase on his twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar to the slowed-down tape.

A Hard Day’s Night was released as a single and topped the charts both in the US (July 18 1964 – 2 weeks) and in the UK (July 16 1964 – 3 weeks).

Note for guitarists: The infamous opening chord on A Hard Day’s Night is actually a G7-add4.

A Hard Day’s Night