DR Essential Songs #4: A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles
 

The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night (1964)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csMJH1z6qNY

The first time the same single and album had ever held the number one spot in both Britain and America, 'A Hard Day's Night' is also the moment where The Beatles really began to emerge as a force to be taken seriously not just for their popularity but for their creativity.

It's opening chord still raises debate, with no absolute conclusion as to how it was achieved. The instrumental break also showed early signs of the band's interest in studio trickery, with George Martin's piano solo sped up to sound more like a harpsichord.

Either way, it's my Essential Song #4.

Words can't express how insufferably irritating I find their voices on this record. I think I'm the only person who hears the Beatles as Scallies. I've a feeling the lower octave on the 'piano solo' may be off on account of that speeding up, something I'd not noticed before.

Horrible.

Sorry, I know they're most blah band ever and all that, I just find it all makes me feel a bit queasy.

I don't really like this song, but then again, I don't really like early Beatles that much. Except for its opening chord, which is brilliant. And I always thought that the piano solo was a guitar solo.

Early beatles destroys later beatles in my opinion. Though the stuff in the middle (revolver, magical mystery tour, pepper) are the best to my liking.

Don't really like hard days night.

There is no better early beatles song than Please Please Me though. Maybe anna.

I think the piano solo does also include George Harrison's guitar on it, but it is dominated by piano.

I think the vocals make it appear on the surface to a bit lot more lightweight than it actually is. The instrumental track always blows me away. It's just utterly relentless in the way that it drives along until that amazing open ending that, despite only lasting a few seconds, seems to predict that whole West Coast Byrds sound perfectly. A definite 'wow' record for me.