A Hard Day's Night

CHART ACTION
UNITED KINGDOM: Released as a single July 10, 1964. In five days it went to No. 1, where it stayed for four weeks. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles

UNITED STATES: Released as a single July 13, 1964, more than two weeks after the album debuted in the United States. Entered the Top 40 July 18, stayed twelve weeks, and held the No. 1 spot for two. The Long and Winding Road: An Intimate Guide to the Beatles and Billboard

AUTHORSHIP Lennon (.9) and McCartney (.1)
WALTER SHENSON: "We were really desperate for a title. The film was three parts finished and we still didn't have a good title. So, at 10:30 one night, when we were driving away from the studio, I asked John to write the title song. John called me at 8:30 the next morning and said that he and Paul had jotted one down on some scraps of paper. We recorded it that same night." The Beatles Off the Record: Outrageous Opinions & Unrehearsed Interviews

LENNON: "I was going home in the car and Dick Lester suggested the title Hard Day's Night [for the movie] from something Ringo'd said. I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringoism, where he said it not to be funny, just said it. So Dick Lester said we are going to use that title, and the next morning I brought in the song. 'Cause there was a little competition between Paul and I as to who got the A side, who got the hit singles." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

McCARTNEY: "John said, 'I'll write it.' And he did, he came back the next day with it. I think he might not have had all the words. I might have been in on that middle eight. Something like that would only have taken twenty minutes. That would have been plently of time to run through it." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

WALTER SHENSON, film producer: "I told John that it would be great to have a song called 'A Hard Day's Night' to play over the title and credits . . .he just said he'd think about it. That night we were driving back into town together, and he asked the driver to let him off first becuase he had some work to do. The next morning at about eight-thirty, John asked me to step aside into this little room. Paul was in there, and they began playing their guitars, singing words John had written out on a matchbook. The song was 'A Hard Day's Night'." Classic Rock Stories : The Stories Behind the Greatest Songs of All Time

The film was probably named April 13, and the song played to Shenson on the 14th. The Beatles took time off from shooting to record it at Abbey Road on the 16th, a good example of the speed at which their lives were going. Shortly afterwards, while editing continued, they resumed touring. Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now

RECORDED
April 16, 1964, at Abbey Road
This song was written, arranged, rehearsed, and recorded in a little more than twenty-four hours. The Complete Beatles Chronicle

INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, harmony vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, lead vocal (double-tracked)
HARRISON: lead guitar (Rickenbacker 360/12 [12-string])
STARR: drums
GEORGE MARTIN: piano
guitar from Guitar (November 1987)

LENNON: "The only reason [Paul] sang on 'Hard Day's Night' was because I couldn't reach the notes." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

MISCELLANEOUS
This song was part of the Beatles' repertoire for concerts in 1964 adn 1965. The Complete Beatles Chronicle