The greatest pre-Rubber Soul Beatles album, A Hard Day’s Night is the perfect UK example of Beatlemania at it’s finest. However, there are 3 things about this album that make it stand out when compared to the rest of their discography:
- All Lennon/McCartney songs
2. There’s only 13 tracks instead of 14
3. No song for Ringo
The most common conspiracy theory is that they were going to record a 14th song on 3 June 1964. However, Ringo fell ill that morning and they were unable to.
However, if you look at the 3 songs they demoed, It’s For You and No Reply would’ve been terrible Ringo songs and i don’t think George would want Ringo singing on You Know What To Do, his 2nd composition. This means they would’ve had to write a song for Ringo on the spot which while possible, would’ve been incredibly difficult to pull off in a day.
Also, they could’ve recorded one of those songs with Jimmy or Paul on drums if they really wanted to.
Now closing the album with Matchbox would’ve fixed this problem. However, it would’ve been the sole cover on the album, ruining the all original achievement they were going for.
My guess would be that the UK originally intended for the album to be the film songs plus the score, then ALL The Beatles songs in the film, before finally deciding on just the new songs in the film plus 4 bonus tracks, with You Can’t Do That being added as the final touch. The New Musical Express backs this theory up and if true, means that the United Artists soundtrack album is what the UK originally intended and the album Capitol was originally going to make before creating Something New is what the UK would’ve looked like before they added You Can’t Do That.
Mind blown.
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