A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

I have said before that seeing this movie when it came out whilst on holiday in Wales had a profound affect upon me and was one of those life changing moments. As serious as that. The humour the romance and the notion that our brothers from that part of the world could achieve anything if we set our minds to it. We grew up together. I will never cease to post for either film, both this and 'Help' later on and also for each of the Beatles separately 

On this day in music history: June 26, 1964 - “A Hard Day’s Night”, the third studio album by The Beatles is released (UK release date is on July 10, 1964). Produced by George Martin, it is recorded at EMI Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris, France and Abbey Road Studios in London from January 29, 1964, February 25 - 27, 1964, and March 1 - June 4, 1964. During their initial rush of Beatlemania in the UK, The Beatles receive an offer from United Artists Pictures to make a film. The film company’s motivation is to make a quick, low budget film so that it has the rights to release an accompanying soundtrack album. In spite of this, the project is an inspired collaboration between The Beatles and director Richard Lester. When the band begins work on the music prior to the start of filming, they once again demonstrate another leap forward in their musical development. It is the first Beatles album to feature all original songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The title track is one of the last songs written and recorded for the film, inspired by a statement made by drummer Ringo Starr, exclaiming “that was a hard day’s night, that was!”, after an exhaustive day of filming. Lennon and McCartney write the song overnight, and play it for film producer Walter Shenson the next day. The song is also selected to be the film’s title (the working title had been “Beatlemania”). The soundtrack album is released in the US ten days before the film’s world premiere in London on July 6, 1964. The US version of the album differs significantly from its UK counterpart. The UK version features the seven songs included in the film, and an additional six that make up side two. Aside from featuring different cover artwork, the US LP features the seven songs used in the film along with “I’ll Cry Instead”. The other four songs (“When I Get Home”, “Things We Said Today”, “I’ll Be Back”, “Any Time At All”), are replaced by instrumental versions of “I Should Have Known Better”, “Ringo’s Theme (This Boy)”, “And I Love Her”, and “A Hard Day’s Night” scored and conducted by George Martin. Like the film itself, the soundtrack will be a runaway success, spinning off a total of four singles (including the previously released “Can’t Buy Me Love” (#1 Pop), and the title track (#1 Pop). The rights to the US version of the soundtrack revert to Capitol Records after the demise of United Artists Records in 1980. That version is deleted in 1987, when the original UK version is finally issued in the US. In January of 2014, the original US soundtrack is reissued on CD (in a CD sized replica of the original LP package) individually and as part of the box set “The Beatles - The US Albums”. “A Hard Day’s Night” spends fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 4x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Help support the Behind The Grooves music blog with a donation by clicking on the link at: PayPal.Me/jharris1228