Comments on: A Hard Day’s Night

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 21:56:58 +0000

Just for the record, Todd Compton’s well-researched book states that Paul helped with the writing of the song.

Compton, Todd, “Who Wrote the Beatle Songs? A History of Lennon-McCartney.”

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 21:50:27 +0000

Well said James. I actually think that the silliest, least-informed remark I’ve ever read or heard about the Beatles, anywhere, in any book, article, website, or blog, even in drunken conversations at 3 a.m. as “A Day in the Life” ends (based on Paul’s orchestration), is, “Paul McCartney took the Beatles from us.”

By: Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 09:46:45 +0000

The thing about the Beatles is…they had at least a half-dozen albums which (in the light of time) are the equal or better of anything anyone else ever did. That’s a lot. No one else really has more than one or two.

By: Trebor

Trebor — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 08:50:10 +0000

A little late to the Paul bashing party, wouldn’t you say?

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 02:34:34 +0000

If you’re self-aware enough to label yourself biased, why even comment with notions of objectivity? John said that he couldn’t hit high notes in A Hard Day’s Night and No Reply which would explain Any Time At All and If I Fell. I don’t think it was really ever the case of John “letting” Paul sing harmony on his songs… Paul would come up with ideas for harmonies much more often than John, so it might make sense that Paul threw out harmony ideas for John songs more often than the inverse. I don’t think either of them were shy about dismissing other’s ideas for their own songs. Last point… I’ll Be Back needs the harmony line to keep it from being a dull song, whereas Can’t Buy Me Love and And I Love Her are not only complete melodies, but try figuring out a harmony line… I can’t find one that sounds natural. If your complaint is that John and George are not oohing and ahhing in the background then I’d say your priorities are in need of repair.

By: MikeP

MikeP — Sat, 25 Aug 2018 02:07:43 +0000

Paul’s this. John’s that. All from people who weren’t there and haven’t a clue.
Sad.

By: johan cavalli

johan cavalli — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 21:41:48 +0000

Biased John Lennon fan.
You are a b s o l u t e l y right!!

By: EchoNov

EchoNov — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:39:19 +0000

I have one of the A Hard Day’s Night LPs released in the Soviet Union in 1986. One song, When I Get Home, was omitted because the Soviet Union government deemed the sexual connotations too strong for public release at that time. Except from that, the Soviet Union release is the same as the UK version. The album title and the song titles are written in both English and Russian translation.

By: Slipper of the Yard

Slipper of the Yard — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 20:16:18 +0000

Why do you say Martin wasn’t so influential on this album ?

By: Slipper of the Yard

Slipper of the Yard — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 20:12:26 +0000

There are some interesting alternative takes of Can’t buy me love which feature some backing vocals/ Thee give the song a gospel flavour and work well. That said, the released version is probably the best one.

By: Carspiv

Carspiv — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 23:46:19 +0000

Actually, my ears hear fade outs on A Hard Day’s Night, I Should Have Known Better, Things We Said Today, and I’ll Be Back

By: Dr. Winston O'Boogie

Dr. Winston O'Boogie — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 14:04:04 +0000

I’m late to the party but have enjoyed lurking here for a while. I have come to love this album and agree it’s mostly John’s influence that makes it great. While listening to “I should have known better” I came to appreciate how wonderful the rhythm section sounds with Paul’s bass and Ringo’s drumming driving the beat relentlessly. This is truly the Beatle sound that sent them to stardom. John’s vocals were never better. As an aside, I’m curious about who made the harmonizing vocals decisions on all their songs. Was it the composer, or perhaps GM? Did these decisions create problems? It’s unfortunate John and Paul didn’t harmonize more as that is the ultimate in rock vocals, in my humble opinion. Great blog! Cheers.

By: James King

James King — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:59:23 +0000

‘Paul McCartney took the Beatles from us’???? Give us a break mate. McCartney’s harmonic 5ths, bass playing and songwriting gave the Beatles to us, equally as much as Lennon. Neither would have suceeded without the other. Open your ears.

By: Tony_M_1956

Tony_M_1956 — Mon, 01 May 2017 12:21:47 +0000

My vinyl LP of AHDN melted in my car decades ago, but the CD I have is still going strong, as is the digital files of the album. I was right years old when I saw the movie of the same name. It was the first time I got a good look at the Beatles and heard their humour. They reminded me of what my suburb in Melbourne was like. My paper round was able to fund my Saturdays at the pictures and a record at Christmas time. My mother thought I was nuts not saving my pennies for some greater good. I loved every song in the movie, and when I got the album, side two did not disappoint either. My eldest brother ensured between us that we had everything the Beatles released in Australia. It was my brother’s extra buying power that bought us the singles and EPs and the albums I could not afford. I have stated before I was already a Lennon fan and AHDN continued my love of his voice and his songs. If I fell was a song, like You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away on the Help LP where Lennon intones a special quality in his voice which to me elevated him above every Singer of his generation. Lennon sand ballads, love songs, screaming rock, any style you can think of, and play acoustic guitar, and his customary rhythm guitar which drove Beatles songs and created their “sound.” AHDN was without doubt Lennon’s album. He came up with the goods and did the heavy lifting. Only those in the know, know how Lennon carried the Beatles. John Lennon gave us the Beatles, Paul McCartney took the Beatles from us. Yeah, I’m a Lennon fan, for the songs he gave us, not for his morality, behavior or utterances. His songs are his legacy, and he dominated AHDN to the advantage of all four Beatles, and George Martin, their producer.

By: truth42

truth42 — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 13:55:28 +0000

Don’t forget that this is the only album (I can think of) that has definitive endings for every song. Not one fade-out (which is often used as a cop out in my opinion). It’s actually my favourite Beatles album. I can’t help but get caught up in the excitement when I listen to it. Its freshness and originality is infectious.

By: amtlpaul

amtlpaul — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 01:15:37 +0000

“The notion that John had all the ego and Paul was the cute little angel couldn’t be more inaccurate.”, true, although I’m not sure who actually believes that.

John Lennon said that the reason he “gave” Paul the lead on the middle eight was because Paul could hit the high notes he wanted. In other words, John and Paul were collaborating for the good of the song, Same goes for the others. Sure, the writer of a song had priority but they also had an interest in making the best possible arrangement and recording of their song. On the next album John even sang lead on “Every Little thing’, a song mostly written by Paul. But hey, it worked, and that’s what matters.

I can’t say I miss harmonies in “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “And I Love Her”, but there are plenty of other Paul songs where John sings harmonies, ‘cos they worked out that way.

In later years there was indeed more ego getting in the way of collaboration, which is unfortunate. They still made great music though…although John later said he should have sung Paul’s song ‘Oh! Darling” on Abbey Road. Maybe he had a point there. John could scream like few others could.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:45:58 +0000

I can see why you — or anyone, for that matter — would choose Revolver as number one. And I love that its status has only grown over the years. It’s a close second to AHDN in my book. But then no one’s publishing my book, are they?

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 21:39:45 +0000

Although I would plumb for Revolver, there is a very strong argument to be made for AHDN as the greatest Beatles album. Very strong.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 17 May 2015 04:24:39 +0000

As for me, you can have your Pepper, your White Album, your Abbey Road. This is the greatest Beatles album ever. Fire away, lads and lasses!

By: Andrew K

Andrew K — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 19:28:24 +0000

That sounds like the Capitol (US) version of the album.