The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night - 1964
"I was going home in the car and Dick Lester suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in 'In His Own Write', but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny ... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title'" - John Lennon
In 1964, pop was still in its relative infancy, a few years at the top and then go back to a normal life as the new fad took over. Fame and success could be prolonged, as Elvis had found out by dabbling in the movies, and the Beatles duly did just that with the film that the songs on this album came from - a lovable, madcap jaunt that was very much of its time but still has considerable appeal as a period piece.
The movie coincided with the group relocating to London and it was the first of their albums to feature all songs written by Lennon and McCartney. However, of the eleven songs only three, And I Love Her, Things We Said Today and Can't Buy Me Love were solely McCartney compositions, the rest were all Lennon songs, with the exception of the collaboration I'm Happy Just To Dance With You. Lennon was very much the more prolific and dominant songwriter at the time. He also handled most of the lead vocals. So many of their songs were not co-written at all, were they?
Anyway, hit that cowbell, Ringo....
My favourite from the album, I Should Have Known Better is a rollicking, typically sixties rocker sung memorably by a throaty Lennon, who later, unsurprisingly, dismissed the song out of hand. Come on John, give it a rest, eh, lad? It features some great Beatles harmonica and a nice, throbbing bassline.
Another fine Lennon song was the winsome, rhythmic If I Fell, sung in a nasal, monotone Liverpudlian voice and possessing a most typical mid-sixties sound, with considerable Buddy Holly influence. I love the robust drums on this and the general warmth of its sound. McCartney said of it, lyrically -
"People tend to forget that John wrote some pretty nice ballads. People tend to think of him as an acerbic wit and aggressive and abrasive, but he did have a very warm side to him really which he didn’t like to show too much in case he got rejected. We wrote If I Fell together but with the emphasis on John because he sang it. It was a nice harmony number, very much a ballad".
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You would seem from its title to be a bit of a throwaway sixties pop song but that is to overlook its great intro, its gloriously deep, rumbling bass line and thumping, deep beat. It is one of The Beatles' best-sounding early cuts. Its lyrics, however, are very much of their time as they tell their girl that they don't want to kiss or hold hands, just dance. Sure you do.
An archetypal McCartney song, And I Love Her was inspired by the girl he genuinely loved at the time, Jane Asher. Even by now, it was becoming clear which of the pair was mostly responsible for which song. Lennon would never have written a syrupy ballad like this, despite the niceness that McCartney said If I Fell had.
Tell Me Why sounds like something from the late fifties/early sixties. It was a Lennon rock'n'roller, written directly for the film and was duly dismissed by him - now there's surprise! I quite like it, though, enjoying its simple energy. Somewhat predictably by now its lyrics dealt with bitter romantic angst despite its breezy tune.
In a different class, however, was the Beatles classic Can't Buy Me Love, a pop song of true perfection, with its killer bass line, steady drums and wryly observational, even cynical lyrics. Why, were The Beatles already eschewing their new-found wealth? Whatever, it is a timeless highlight summing up 1964 Beatles beautifully. People quoted this song endlessly and still do. It was also the first Beatles song to only feature one vocalist and was actually the final one that Lennon and McCartney properly wrote together. Subsequently they wrote separately, letting the other help finish off the songs. The songwriting "partnership" - Brill Building or Hitsville USA style - was a bit of a myth, wasn't it?Any Time At All is classic mid-sixties Lennon - solidly rocking, upbeat, poppy and once more summarily criticised by the man himself, who claimed it as just him "shouting" over a simple beat. It is actually more than that, standing as it does as definite pointer to the Beatles For Sale material. It is immaculately played, as indeed is the incredibly catchy next track.
I'll Cry Instead was another Lennon piece of enjoyable rockabilly, a song that hinted at the young man's already embittered and burgeoning misogyny that would be given more voice on the subsequent Beatles For Sale album. It is also a lyrical first cousin to Rubber Soul's sour Run For Your Life. "I got a chip on my shoulder that's bigger than my feet" sings Lennon. You said it. Great track, though, all the same.
Also an underrated gem of a song is the country-ish mid-tempo rock of Things We Said Today. It was primarily a McCartney song, written while holidaying in the Virgin Islands with Jane Asher and the Starrs. Everything about the song is pretty much perfect in my book, from the acoustic strummed backing, via the drums to the easy vocal and just the whole vibe.
Now it's Lennon time. If I didn't know When I Get Home was a Lennon song, a quick listen to the lyrics would confirm it. Despite its loving subject matter, there is still something vaguely threatening about the "when I get home" line. Lennon claims it was influenced by Motown and also Atlantic's Wilson Pickett and you can sort of hear it in the beat.Lennon's love of romantic confrontation was further exemplified on the otherwise irrepressibly catchy rock of You Can't Do That. Ringo's cowbell makes another rhythmic and welcome appearance. Again inspired by Wilson Pickett, according to Lennon, the song has a real appeal to it despite its didactic, overbearing lyric that sees a jealous (again) Lennon aggressively telling his girl not to talk to other blokes. He's told you before, girl - got it?
On I'll Be Back, Lennon finishes an album that was very much his with this very early sixties-sounding song. It sounds like something left over from the early days, but it was actually written at the time. Apparently, Lennon based it on Del Shannon's Runaway, musically, but I can't hear it myself.
Overall, this was a most enjoyable short romp of an album that reflected the accompanying film to a tee. It was pretty much the apex of pop music's achievements at the time, if only for the fact that it was entirely written by two of the group. Not a cover version within earshot. This displayed an increasing songwriting maturity that showed that The Beatles weren't just any old pop group and musically it was up there as well. It stands as a transitional album in their career, although within a year or so they would have begun to change beyond all previous comprehension.
