A Hard Day's Night

Can't Buy Me Love Beatle dolls

From the opening chords of 1964's A Hard Day's Night, kids around the world knew that the new album by The Beatles hyping their soon-to-be-released first movie was unlike anything they'd heard before. Yes, the lyrics were still "Moon-in-June" greeting card schlock...but the music, wow, these guy's rocked.

Ringo's pumpin' out some weird English cowboy beat, Lennon's never sounded better, all growl and threat. Then Paul chimes in to soothe things down for the middle 8, doubles with Lennon for the repeat first verse ending with a Here-comes-Atilla-The-Lennon scream...and then there's a harpsicord solo.

W-h-a-t?

As young Americans are prone to say these days when shocked: "Shut u-u-u-p!"

Rock'n'Roll had always been an:

Us -v- Them grudge match
guitars -v- violins
drums -v- rhythmic swing

...and lemmetellya, harpsichord was "Them"...seriously "Them". That it was holding together the best song since The Beatles own She Loves You the previous year, burning rusty old can-do/can't-do musical bridges and rebuilding brand spanking new ones, all in the space of a 20 second solo is something that only Boomers can really understand. Coming out of it, Paul doubles the middle 8 again and Lennon brings the song to an exhausted close after 2 minutes 30 of pure roller-coaster, blood-pumpin' adrelanin.

Shock upon shock, the cowboy beat seems to effortlessly restart, this time slower, with I Should Have Known Better and I'm sure you can just about picture a million plain, pig-tailed girls around the world with thick-rimmed black glasses and armour-plating braces swooning as Lennon teases:

"...And when I ask you to be m-i-(ah-ah-i-)-n-e
You're gonna say you love me too..."

       I Should Have Known Better

Bruce Spizer: The Beatles Are Coming

"...The Beatles Are Coming: The Birth Of Beatlemania In America is the fifth book by Beatles historian Spizer, and covers their first visit to the U.S. and the events leading up to their arrival in 1964. The narrowed focus offers for more depth and detail than most general coverages of Beatles history, offers over four hundred images - 50 previously unpublished - and is visually outstanding. Beatles fans should consider this a 'must' acquisition. Amazon reviewer Midwest Book Review

"...Nobody likes a know it all unless it is someone like Bruce Spizer who not only knows all about the Beatles but has the gift of presenting this information with great text and incredible graphics. These are things we would never see if it wasn't for his painstaking attention to detail and veracity in collecting rarities of the Fab Four..." Amazon reviewer Floyd Henry

John & Paul croon doubletracked through the earnest, acoustic If I Fell, turning the sub-standard I'm Happy Just To Dance With You over to George who makes it all his own with a deadpan Liverpool nasal rockin' whine:

"...Just to dance with you ooh-ooh
Is everythinggg-uh I n-e-e-d
Before this dance is through
I think I'll love you too
Cos I'm happy just to dance with you..."

  I'm Happy Just To Dance With You

...as romantic as cheap Valentine's Day chocolates, all with gooey soft centers but it works!

Beatle cartoon dolls

Then it's Paul's turn to woo the jailbait with the (still romantic) And I Love Her:

"...Bright are the stars that shine
Dark is the night
I know this love of mine
Will never die
...And I love her..."

     And I Love Her

Enough with the sweet stuff already, it's bad for your teeth! Bully-boy Lennon powers in with bovver-boy Ringo poundin' the beat for the glorious Tell Me Why, complete with call and response verses, punctuated by a magnificent Paul & George falsetto:

"...If there's anything I can d-o-oo-oo..."

...that comes out of nowhere and seems to beat you up as bad as that harpsichord solo and you wake, punch-drunk, a few minutes later in the middle of George's (rather lame, Sixties guitar) solo on Can't Buy Me Love. The Slugger McCartney vocal chords show no restraintand mercilessly pound you to the canvas with the magnificent second half of the song.

The Beatles On Ed Sullivan DVD

 "...There is no way that this DVD/video can be less than 5 stars, you get EXACTLY what is advertised: The four complete 1 hour shows in which The Beatles appeared...camp-y commercials, tech malfunctions, schlocky comedy routines and all. Every second of each show, titles to trailers. This is jaw-droppingly awesome, priceless, historical TV footage...For those of us 50-ish and older, this has major nostalgia value. For those younger, this is a peek at a TV world you might not have known existed..." Amazon reviewer C. J. Leach

"...In 1964 there was no cable or DVD's, television sets were black and white, consisted of three networks and was probably limited to one set per home...(This) is a great slice of Americana, a look back to a simpler time when television viewing was a family activity..." Amazon reviewer Jerry Regan

"...The best part, in my opinion, is watching them sing That Boy in harmony into one microphone...for those of us who've never seen them perform LIVE, this totally recaptures their magic and the absolute innocence of those early years. As an added bonus, you'll also get treated to a very early Davy Jones (Monkees) perfomance. He's adorable!..." Amazon reviewer Monette L. Bebow Reinhard

"...I bought this DVD thinking it would be "interesting" to see the Beatles on the Sullivan show, since the Beatles were raw and energetic then, and Sullivan was a goof. But as I watched these shows I couldn't believe the excitement and energy the Beatles generated!...The Beatles were having fun, the audience was having fun, and there's no name-calling, insults, or smut. What a concept. I can't recommend this DVD highly enough. Even my 19-year daughter with an attitude thought this was cool..." Amazon reviewer toserveman

With the official A Hard Day's Night movie soundtrack over, Lennon takes control:

"...This is my band, boys..." 

...crankin' out a suite of songs that's certainly the closest thing we'll ever get to The Beatles' wild, legendary Cavern performances. First up is the terrifying Any Time At All, an up-tempo rocker that predates Primal Scream by 6 years in the chorus.

Then there's a brief respite with I'll Cry Instead, a country bop that seems to be an early draft of the cataclysmic "Help" from 1965:

"...I can't hide when there's people there
I get shy when they start to stare
I'm gonna hide myself away-ay-ay
But I'll be back
Again some day..."

          I'll Cry Instead

Next up is McCartney offering the sensitive, reasonably well known and mature Things We Said Today.

With the temperature back to pleasantly warm, it's time to unleash molten Johnny Moondog Lennon again with the macho, posturing, what-should-be-a-recognized-R&B-classic of When I Get Home:

"...C'mon, if you please
I got no time for triv-ial-it-ies
I gotta girl who's waitin' home for me
T-o-n-i-g-h-t

Whoah-woah-a-y-e
Whoah-woah-a-y-e

I gotta whole lotta things to tell her
When I get home..."

         When I Get Home

...& then the cowbell-driven You Can't Do That (with great backing vocals from George):

"...I've got something to say that might cause you pain
If I catch you talking to that boy again
I'm gonna let you d-o-w-n                       Let you down
And leave you f-l-a-t                              Gonna let you down and leave you flat
Because I told you before
Oh, you can't do that!..."

           You Can't Do That 

And just to prove Johnny's a cuddly moptop after all, Lennon brings proceedings to a close with some subtle acoustic guitar and Rock'n'Roll's first great anthem rocker, I'll Be Back:

"...You...
...Could find better things to do
Than to break my heart again
This time...
...I will try to show that I'm...
...Not trying to pretend

I wanna go
But I hate to leave you
You know I hate to leave you
O-h n-o, o-h n-o

You know...
...If you break my heart I'll go
But I'll be back again..."

            I'll Be Back

Helter Skelter! Forget Art, A Hard Day's Night is an apocalyptic collection of kiddie-porn-rock, still as vital as the day it was released! Unfortunately, because most of the Lennon tracks were album tracks, many remain virtually unknown (in Beatles-terms) as they don't get much radio play. That's a terrible shame, because virtually every song's a winner and they play even better as a suite. My advice: Get this album! 

A Hard Day's Night soundtrack

"...An Album For All People of All Ages: This album is so great that it has held up throughout the years. I have a four year old daughter that always wants to hear this record, thank God that she seems to be aquiring excellent taste in music..." Amazon reviewer Master Of Taste

"...These tunes are so much fun!...What else can you say about the Beatles? Every song is good to excellent and each song points in a different musical direction. No fillers or junk...Fab four fabulous..." Amazon reviewer Winston O'Boogie "richieboy"

"...This album is seldom offered it right dues in Beatle folklore...I consider it the best "pop" album of all time..." Amazon reviewer Louis E. Negrette

"...A Hard Day's Night is not only a great rock album and great soundtrack, it is rightly regarded as the best of Beatlemania itself..." Amazon reviewer Jp's Picks

"...This CD brings back all of the great feelgood music that The Beatles provided...I love this CD...in my car with the top down, happily singing along!..." Amazon reviewer Terry UGA

Compare A Hard Day's Night to any other pop album of 1964 and you'll see what I mean. Nothing...and I mean nothing, nobody, nowhere even came close. If you want to touch the heart of white-boy English Rock'n'Roll, feel the thump-a-thum beat of A Hard Day's Night, still rockin'!

For more info, see:

• wikipedia A Hard Day's Night
• The Beatles with Cassius Clay (now Mohammed Ali) 
• some seldom seen Beatle photos from late 1964
• Lennon's first marijuana: Not with Bob Dylan, according to U.K. writer, actress & mini-celebrity, Cherri Gilham!
• The Beatles, quotes over the years about A Hard Day's Night