Skip to main content

160. The Beatles: A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Now we continue our journey through the back catalog of a little-known '60s band I've recently discovered.

You have to give credit to this little band. Perhaps recognizing the dead-end nature of the cover songs on their previous record, they stocked up their third album with originals only, and the result is that much better for it!

This lightning fast (just under 31 minutes!) platter starts off with the title track, and composers John Lennon and Paul McCartney trading the lead. In another world this song would have been a big hit, I assure you!

Despite the equity on that song, John dominates the rest of the album, from the harmonica-driven I Should've Known Better to the speedy rock of Tell Me Why to the country-leaning Any Time At All. In fact, 9 of the record's 13 songs feature John on lead vocals.

Even so, Paul makes his contributions count! And I Love Her continues his proclivity toward ballads, but doesn't overdo it. Can't Buy Me Love is a rave-up featuring an insanely melodic bass line. I wonder if the Patrick Dempsey movie got its name from this song, or if that's just a coincidence? Finally, Things We Said Today features Paul all on his own, thoughtful and melancholy.

That darkness is actually somewhat of a theme on A Hard Day's Night. If I Fell, while actually a very sweet song lyrically, has a minor key sadness. When I Get Home doesn't sound depressed, but features a narrator whose mind is not in the here and now. I'll Be Back and You Can't Do That are opposite sides of the coin (in the former John vows, "I'll come back again" and in the latter he threatens "I'm gonna let you down and leave you flat") but both show the grimmer side of romance.

Unlike The Beatles' first two efforts, drummer Ringo star doesn't get a song to sing here. Likewise, George Harrison - who showed songwriting promise himself on With The Beatles - is reduced to one lead vocal on the Lennon-McCartney-penned I'm Happy Just To Dance With You. One almost wonders if it was just to placate Harrison, as the song's carefree Latin vibe doesn't suit his voice. One of the darker songs above would have been much more suitable.

Overall, an excellent, excellent record. I even heard a rumor that they made a little film to go along with the album, but I haven't been able to find any hard evidence to corroborate that. Too bad. It would be interesting to see, I'm sure.

Grade: A+
Fave Song: If I Fell

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Billy Joel: 1980 - 1977

When I decided to write about every single Billy Joel studio album I knew had a bit of a leg up in that I'd written reviews of a handful of his records already. What I didn't realize until just now was that those reviews were of albums that had been released consecutively between 1977 and 1980. As I reread those reviews - the most recent of which is 14 years old! - I found that I still stand by them. My writing style has mellowed a bit, and I no longer give grades to albums, but otherwise my opinions then are my opinions now. So here you go... Billy Joel: Glass Houses (1980) Billy Joel: 52nd Street (1978) Billy Joel: The Stranger   (1977)
Post a Comment
Read more

Stuck, or Obsession Cessastion

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I had the summer off from teaching, and I spent it with my 7 month-old son. I gave myself permission to make this blog less of a priority. Well, "less of a priority" is putting it lightly. Initially, I considered an abrupt retirement. But then I reconsidered. Maybe the proximity to Brett Favre is causing this. If you're a long time reader, this is probably not all that surprising to you. Since 2007, it has become an annual ritual for me to soul-search about my waning interest in music. First I blamed an inability to express myself and a lack of quality music . Then in 2008 I cited new technology and the death of the album . Last year I wrote about how my changing life priorities hindered my ability to seek out new music. I've done a lot of thinking about it this summer and in truth I believe this was all just dancing around the issue, a slow realization of something I didn't want to admit to myse...
7 comments
Read more

The End of REO Speedwagon's Road

I devoted the summer of 2019 to listening to and writing about Champaign, Illinois' own REO Speedwagon. It was an eye-opening journey through a complex and inspiring history, and one that ended with me seeing them in concert for the first time. They've played nearby a couple of times since then, but I haven't ventured out for various reasons. Then I saw that they were playing right here in my hometown in early November. I looked into tickets right away, but I didn't end up buying one, partly because they were quite expensive, but mostly because Ticketmaster wouldn't let me buy a ticket for just one seat! I figured I'd wait until the day of and see what offers were out there. Then, in mid-September, came the news. The band released a statement revealing that they would cease touring - and though it wasn't stated, cease to be a band - effective January 1, 2025. In digging further into this announcement, I learned that founding member Neal Doughty retired in Ja...
Post a Comment
Read more