The Beatle Invasion

Beatles Album - “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964)

by gisrael on September 16th, 2007

"A Hard Day’s Night" was the third UK and fourth US album by The Beatles. Created specifically to be a soundtrack, it was released on 26 June 1964 in the US, a month and a half before the US release of the film. In the UK, the album was released on 10 July, just four days after the film opened there.

The album is unique in several ways. It was the first Beatles album to contain only original compositions, their only album written entirely by John and Paul, their only album to be written primarily by John, and one of only two albums that doesn’t feature Ringo as a lead singer.

The UK version of the album (listed below) has songs from the film on Side One, with Side Two comprised of songs which were intended for the film but not used. The US version featured the songs from the film, "I’ll Cry Instead" which was cut at the last minute, and orchestral versions of four of the soundtrack songs, arranged by George Martin.

Side one

1. "A Hard Day’s Night" – 2:34
2. "I Should Have Known Better" - 2:46
3. "If I Fell" - 2:24
4. "I’m Happy Just to Dance with You" - 2:00
5. "And I Love Her" - 2:33
6. "Tell Me Why" - 2:12
7. "Can’t Buy Me Love" - 2:14

Side two

1. "Any Time at All" - 2:15
2. "I’ll Cry Instead" - 1:49
3. "Things We Said Today" - 2:40
4. "When I Get Home" - 2:20
5. "You Can’t Do That" - 2:39
6. "I’ll Be Back" - 2:20

The UK album lasted 21 weeks at #1 on the charts. The US album sold 1 million copies in the first four days after its release.

Tags: Beatles, album, A Hard Day’s Night, soundtrack, film

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