portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Again worth posting if only for the film footage . . . . . . we may have had this before but as I say . . . . . I don't care!


On this day in music history: March 13, 1965 - “Eight Days A Week” by The Beatles hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is the seventh US chart topper for “The Fab Four”. The initial inspiration for the song comes when Paul McCartney is being driven out to John Lennon’s home in Weybridge, Surrey, outside of London. Casually chatting with the limo driver, McCartney asks him “How’ve you been?”, to which he replies “oh, working hard.” “Working eight days a week.” Once he arrives at Lennon’s house, McCartney tells him what the driver has said, and both immediately agree that it will make a great song title. The pair write the song that afternoon, then recording it with the rest of the band on October 6, 1964 at Abbey Road Studios in London. The song is initially recorded with an intro that features three part harmony vocals from Lennon, McCartney, and George Harrison. As the session goes on, these vocals are dropped in favor of the signature strummed guitars heard at the intro, that are faded up during the song’s final mixing. Originally released as an album track on the band’s fourth UK album “Beatles For Sale” issued in December of 1964, it is left off of the US compilation “Beatles ‘65” released at the same time. Some radio stations get a hold of the UK album and begin spinning “Eight Days A Week”, creating a demand for its stateside release. Issued as a stand alone single (backed with “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”) on February 15, 1965, it is an immediate smash. Entering the Hot 100 at #53 on February 20, 1965, it rockets to the top of the chart three weeks later. Both songs make their US album debut on the compilation “Beatles VI” in June of 1965. An alternate take of “Eight Days” featuring the discarded harmony vocals is released on “The Beatles Anthology 1” in 1995. In 2016, “Eight Days A Week” is also used as the title of a Grammy Award winning documentary film directed by Ron Howard, focusing on The Beatles world tours during the 60’s. The country flavored “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party” is later covered by Rosanne Cash, whose version hits number one on the Billboard Country singles chart in June of 1989. “Eight Days A Week” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

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