DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET?
Fifty years after the Beatles took North America by storm, here’s the inside story behind some of their biggest hits of ’64.
AHARD DAY’S NIGHT
Lennon-McCartney/2:29 Recorded: Abbey Road, April16,1964 (Studio Two) Number of Takes: 9
Genesis Around March 19, Ringo stumbled onto the title of the movie and its theme song, “A Hard Day’s Night.” He said in an interview: “We’d worked all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking, it was day, I suppose, and I said, ‘It’s been a hard day. . .’ and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, ‘. . . night!’ ” When Richard Lester heard this expression, he knew he had the title of his movie. On April15 the filming was drawing to an end, but they still did not have a theme song. Lester asked the Beatles for one. Recalls John: “The next morning I brought in the song. ’Cause there was a little competition between Paul and me as to who got the A side, who got the hit singles.” It was recorded the next day, and on April 17 the announcement was made to the press: the movie would be called Hard Day’s Night. Production
On April 16 the Beatles entered the studio to record this song, which according to John, had been written the night before. On the first track, they concentrated on the rhythm section (acoustic and electric guitars, bass and drums) and despite four false starts, only nine takes were required to finalize it. Ringo impressed Geoff Emerick with his power. John and Paul simultaneously recorded their vocals on the second track. John explained later, in 1980, that Paul was singing the high notes ( When I’m home, everything seems to be all right), since John could not manage to do so. On the four initial takes of the piece, George used the echo of his twelve-string Rickenbacker for the first time, in order to reinforce the intensity of the intro chord, but this effect was not kept (it was not used until “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby” on the following album).
Lester strongly insisted that the intro of the piece be more “cinematic.”
Finally, this famous chord —a D major 7th sus 4 — came from the mixture of John and George’s guitars, Paul’s bass, and George Martin’s piano. In the guitar solo, George, who was not inspired or who was irritated by Lester’s constant barging in, was struggling. Martin suggested that he come back to it later. The third track was then set aside for various overdubs: John doubled his Gibson J-160 E as well as the vocal parts he shared with Paul; a cowbell and bongos were added at the same time. With the first three tracks completed, George could now concentrate on his guitar work. Martin decided to do the same thing as he did on “Misery.” He slowed down the tape recorder by half to facilitate George’s solo, which he doubled himself on piano, both of them playing together in unison and one octave lower. At the normal speed, both instruments sounded more clear, dynamic, and incisive. Lester wanted a dreamlike effect at the end of the song to connect with the first sequence of the film. George then picked up his twelve-string once again and on the slightly slower track, recorded a series of arpeggios that corresponded to the director’s wishes. The song was finally completed; it was recorded in three hours! Afterwards, there were several mixes, some produced for the movie and others for the record. The final mono mix came from the session on April 23, and the stereo was made on June 22. CAN’T BUY ME LOVE Lennon-McCartney/2:12 Recorded: Studios EMI Pathe Marconi, Jan. 29, 1964; Abbey Road (Studio Two), Feb. 25, 1964 and March 10, 1964 Number of Takes: 4 Genesis
Between February 1 and December 31, 1964, the Beatles achieved the amazing feat of positioning six number 1 records on the Billboard Hot100 including “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which culminated at the top of the charts for five weeks. This had never been done before! This song was composed and recorded in Paris. The Beatles were in the capital of France for nineteen shows at the Olympia. They were staying at the George V Hotel, near the Champs-Élysées, and at their requests, a piano was installed in their room so they could work. Paul composed “Can’t Buy Me Love” on this piano. “‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ is my attempt to write in a bluesy mode. The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well but they won’t buy me what I really want.” John, who in 1972 attributed the song to “John and Paul, but principally Paul,” acknowledged eight years later “that was entirely Paul’s.” He added, “Maybe I had something to do with the chorus, but I don’t know. I always considered it his song.” Production
On Wednesday, January 29, 1964, for the first and only time during their career, the Beatles recorded in France, at the studios of EMI Pathe Marconi in Boulogne-Billancourt, at 62 rue de Sevres. Norman Smith did not like this place, where “(There) was absolutely no atmosphere!” Nevertheless, they managed to record the unforgettable German versions of two of their songs (“Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand” — “I want to Hold Your Hand” and “Sie Liebt Dich” — “She Loves You”) before tackling the latest composition by Paul, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” George Martin had a brilliant idea: “We need an intro, something that catches the ear immediately. So let’s start with the chorus. The Beatles followed his advice and only needed four takes to be satisfied. The first two takes had a rhythm & blues feel: Paul was looking for a black intonation in his voice, which John and George answered him with very “girl group” choruses. The third take us close to the definitive version when the choruses were dropped. The fourth take was the best one. Paul then recorded his voice on a free track, while George performed a solo on his Gretsch Country Gentleman. On February 25, the Beatles returned to Abbey Road to finalize “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Meanwhile, the group left to conquer America: the Liverpool four were seen by 73 million television viewers and shook hands with Cassius Clay. Paul doubled his vocal and George rerecorded a new solo, this time on his new twelve-string Rickenbacker. But you could hear behind his solo traces of a previous take coming from a recording made in Paris! The very next day, Martin and Smith proceeded with the mono mix. On March 10, a first stereo mix was completed. But the definitive stereo mix cam from the marathon day on June 22. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
“We were always quite fast to write. We would write on the spot. It would come very quickly.” PAUL MCCARTNEY
became a colossal success. The single appeared in the United States on March 16, four days before it came out in Great Britain. As soon as it did, it was immediately a golden record. In less than a week, Capitol sold over 2 million copies of it. On British soil, preorders went beyond a million singles. It was also the first song in the history of records to go directly from twenty-seventh to first place within a week. America went crazy. In the April 11, 1964 edition of Billboard, no less than fourteen Beatles songs were rated among the Hot 100. This record has never been broken. EIGHT DAYS A WEEK Lennon-McCartney/2:42 Recorded: Abbey Road, Oct. 6 and 18, 1964 (Studio Two) Number of Takes: 15 Genesis
A song written in Kenwood at John’s house, “Eight Days a Week” is a joint creation, based on one of Paul’s ideas. On the way to John’s house, Paul asked his chauffeur: “How’ve you been?” “Oh, working hard,” he said. “Working eight days a week!” Paul rushed to John’s house and said he had a brilliant idea for a new song: “Eight Days a Week”! And John continued, “Oooh! I need your love babe . . . ” Paul: “And we wrote it. We were always quite fast to write. We would write on the spot. It would come very quickly.” John, on the other hand, is much less enthusiastic about the outcome: “We struggled to record it and struggled to make it into a song. It was his initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I’m not sure. But it was lousy anyway.” The song found its way to the charts, especially in the United States where it reached number 1 for two weeks on March13,1965. Despite John’s opinion, “Eight Days a Week” was well appreciated by the public. Production October 6 was the day dedicated to the recording session for “Eight Days a Week.” For the first time, the Beatles were in the studio with an unfinished song. They experimented with different formulas to complete it. On the CD Anthology 1, we find different takes revealing the development of the song. Indeed, the intro and the end were truly problems. Ideas followed one after another: intro a cappella, with acoustic guitar . . . the Beatles hesitated. Ditto for the end. The body of the piece was well structured, even if the final chorus varied significantly from the initial takes. It was only at the end of the thirteenth take that they were satisfied with the final rhythm track. However, the intro and the end were not yet set. After different overdubs of hand claps, guitars, and vocals, the title was put on hold. The recording notes to the CD booklet of the restructured version, released in 2009, mention a timpani. If there was a timpani, the instrument must be buried in the mix: we can hear Ringo’s low tom-tom, but timpani as in “Every Little Thing.” October 18, second session. This was a day of nine hours of recording, in the course of which the Beatles recorded five covers, three in only one take (“Kansas City”/ “Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey,” “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby,” and “Rock and Roll Music”); a new title as their next single (“I Feel Fine”); and an original piece to complete the album (“I’ll Follow the Sun”). All this while strolling through entirely different styles. Geoff Emerick, who first heard “Eight Days a Week” at the session, reacted by exclaiming, “This is a hit!” But it still lacked the intro and end. John, Paul and George gathered around the microphone and sang some vocals in unison. Considered ineffective, the test was aborted. The group worked on the ending with John and George on the guitar and Paul on bass. Then Norman Smith provided an introduction with a fade-in. The idea was quite innovative for the time and was immediately accepted: “Eight Days a Week” was complemented with takes 14 and 15. The final mono mix and stereo were from the session on October 27, with a mix of takes13 and 15. I FEEL FINE Lennon-McCartney/2:19 Recorded: Abbey Road, Oct. 18, 1964 (Studio Two) Number of Takes: 9 Genesis
Upon its release in November 1964, “I Feel Fine” breezed to the top of British and American charts. Before the end of the year, over a million singles had been sold. The Beatles then held a record: more than twenty songs on the Billboard charts — six of them number 1!
On October 6, while the Beatles were working on “Eight Days a Week,” John tried a new guitar riff between takes. It became “I Feel Fine,” a song “written during a recording session,” strongly inspired by “Watch Your Step” by Bobby Parker, whose riff had captivated John. He took credit for “I Feel Fine”: “That’s me completely.” Paul is not quite of the same opinion: “We sat down and cowrote it with John’s original idea.” In any case, we owe the Larsen effect of the opening to John. Paul said that during the same session on October 6, “We were just about to walk away to listen to a take when John leaned his guitar against the amp. I can still see him doing it. He really should have turned the electric off. It was only a tiny bit, and John just leaned it against the amp when it went, ‘Nnnnnnwahhhhh!’ And we went, ‘What’s that? Voodoo!’ ‘No, it’s feedback.’ ‘Wow, it’s a great sound!’ George Martin was there, so we said, ‘Can we have that on the record?’ ” Happy with the effect and his riff, he told his friends that he had used them to write a song. A few days later, he told Ringo when he arrived at the studio: “I wrote the song, but it’s nothing.” “I Feel Fine” was to be their next number 1 single. Production
“I Feel Fine” was recorded in nine takes, on October 18. From the first, the Larsen effect was present. It was obtained with John’s Gibson J-160 E vibrating up to the point of audio feedback with the support a bass tone by Paul. Ringo delivered a superb drum part (based on both “Watch Your Step” by Bobby Parker and “What’d I Say” by Ray Charles), supported by Paul’s huge bass, relentless and powerful. Neither of the first two takes included a solo. In the ninth take, which is the best rhythmic track, John provided an excellent vocal, accompanied by Paul and George in the harmonies and choruses. On the guitars, George played a solo that he doubled and John backed the piece with rigor and precision on his Rickenbacker 325. On October 21, four mono mixes were made in Room 65, the third used for the British version, the fourth used for the American. The final stereo mix dates from November 4.
When Geoff Emerick heard the Larsen for the first time on October 18 he wondered if the noise was due to a disconnected cable or a faulty device. Norman Smith reassured him, saying this was a new sound that the Beatles had discovered during the previous working session. John took credit for his discovery: “I defy anybody to find a record — unless it’s some old blues record in 1922 — that uses feedback that way. I mean, everybody played with feedback onstage, and the Jimi Hendrix stuff was going on long before. In fact, the punk stuff now is only what people were doing in the clubs. So I claim it for the Beatles. Before Hendrix, before the Who, before anybody — the first feedback on any record.” Excerpted with permission from All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release by Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers).