Rock and Roll
The song “A Hard Day’s Night” by The Beatles opens — as does the 1964 film with same name — with that magnificent “mighty opening chord” from George Harrison on his Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string guitar. The song was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon-McCartney, and it is a classic of the Sixties British invasion. Evidently, the idea came from a Ringo-ism. Ringo said, “We went to do a job, and we’d work all day and we happened to work all night. I came up still thinking it was day…and I said: ‘It’s been a hardy day…’ and I looked around sand saw it was dark so I said,’…night!” The song was featured in the film and on the 1964 album The Beatles, which is also called A Hard Day’s Night. In 1964, the song went to #1 in the U.S. (Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box), Canada, the U.K., Australia, The Netherlands, and Norway. It rose to #2 in Germany and #4 in Belgium.
The covers are legion and have been done in a variety of genres. They include versions by The Chipmunks, The Supremes, Quincy Jones, Ramsey Lewis, Santo & Johnny, The Typhoons, The Kingsmen, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Atkins, Earl Grant, Johnny Rivers, the Bar-Kays, Dionne Warwick, John Mayall, Otis Redding, and Billy Joel, just to get started on a list.
On the song were John Lennon (vocal, electric and acoustic rhythm guitars), Paul McCartney (vocal, bass), George Harrison (12-string lead guitar), Ringo Starr (drums, bongos, cowbell), and producer George Martin (piano).
Here are the lyrics to “A Hard Day’s Night” by The Beatles:
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