As soon as The Beatles got back from their first historic visit to America in February of 1964, they commenced recording songs for their upcoming motion picture. February 25th was their first of four days of recording sessions booked in Studio Two of EMI for recording the songs to be used in the movie. Two sessions were booked on this day, the first used to finish off "Can't Buy Me Love" and then fully record the Lennon song "You Can't Do That," which finalized their next international hit single.
The second session for this day, which ran from 2:30 to 5:30 pm, premiered two more songs for the movie, namely "And I Love Her" and "I Should Have Known Better." Unfortunately, this afternoon/evening session did not see either of these songs to completion, nor were any takes of these songs used in the final recordings. Both were started again from scratch the next day.
Only three takes of "I Should Have Known Better" were recorded on this day, and only one of these was complete. The second take itself only lasted seconds as John broke down laughing because of his harmonica playing. One thing that should be mentioned is that the song sounded somewhat different at this stage, beginning with an even more Dylan-ish harmonica introduction as well as some guitar work from George Harrison at the end of the song. As 5:30 rolled around, they decided they would start it again fresh the next day.
They returned to Studio Two the next day, February 26th, at the same time, 2:30 to 5:30 pm, and devoted the entire three-hour session to re-doing the song. The problem area of the song was the bridge, where most of the 19 takes of the song performed on this day broke down. For the first five takes (take 4 through 8 to indicate the three takes they made the previous day) they played all their usual instruments except for John, who sang and played harmonica only. On take nine John decided to play acoustic guitar instead of harmonica for the first time. This ended up being the final take of the song, although they continued to improve upon it until it became take 22, which included double-tracking John's vocals and overdubbing the harmonica playing. This allowed segments of the song to include both John's vocals and harmonica playing at the same time.
March 3rd, 1964 was the day that the mono mix of the song was made in the control room of Studio One. What was now considered 'take 22' was used for this mix, which was performed by producer George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and A.B. Lincoln. This mix, as well as five others, was sent along to United Artists for them to use in the production of the movie. An edit was also made to the song on this day concerning the harmonica heard in its introduction. The fourth measure of the four-measure introduction showed John taking a needed breath, which created a gap in his harmonica playing. In order to fix the gap, they grafted in a repeat of the third measure to replace the fourth measure. This made it appear that he played the harmonica uninterrupted for four straight measures.
On June 9th, in the control room of EMI Studio Three, George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Ken Scott convened to make copies of the previous mono mix to be sent to United Artists Records and Capitol Records in the US. This mix was used by United Artists for both the mono and stereo soundtrack album and by Capitol for the B-side of the upcoming "A Hard Day's Night" single.
June 22nd, 1964, was when EMI studio personnel finally created the first stereo mix of "I Should Have Known Better." This marathon session, which ran from 10 am to 9 pm in the Studio One control room, saw the entire contents of the British "A Hard Day's Night" album mixed for stereo, as well as other mono mixing and editing work. Right around noon, George Martin, Norman Smith and 2nd engineer Geoff Emerick made the stereo mix of the song.
Because of the rushed atmosphere of this day, and because they held stereo mixing in such low regard, they didn't take the time to graft in the third measure of the introduction into the fourth measure. So, the stereo mix most generally heard throughout the years included the gap in John's harmonica playing towards the end of the introduction. Not a major blemish by any means, but a noticeable difference nonetheless.
Another noticeable difference in this stereo mix is an edit in the rhythm track during the final bridge. This occurs just before the words “and when I ask you to be mine” and can be heard distinctly in the left channel. Incidentally, John's harmonica work and George's 12-string guitar strums in the bridges as well as the guitar solo is mostly heard in the right channel while the rhythm track (drums, acoustic guitars and bass) is heard mostly in the left channel. All of the vocals are centered in the mix.
One other stereo mix of the song was made, but not until early 1982. A mixing session was booked at this time to finally create a stereo mix of the song without the harmonica gap in the introduction. This mix was created primarily for the 1982 album release "Reel Music." The noticeable difference, though, is that this stereo mix grafted in a repeat of the second measure instead of the third measure as done in the mono mix. The harmonica performance was slightly different in these measures, so the true Beatlemaniac will notice the difference.
It's also interesting to note that the video version of the "A Hard Day's Night" movie contains this newly-created stereo mix of the song when it first appears in the movie (in the train scene). The first stereo mix of the song with the harmonica gap is then used for the second appearance of the song in the movie (in the TV show scene).
Song Structure and Style
Once again, Lennon takes a standard songwriting structure and adds a few unique elements to make the song stand alone. The primary component is the verse, which propels the song throughout. The bridge, which is repeated twice, acts as the emotive climax with its Beatles trademark jump to falsetto. The actual structure appears as 'verse/ alternate verse/ bridge/ verse/ instrumental verse/ alternate verse/ bridge' (which become abcaabc).
We start out with a four-measure introduction to this last Beatles song that features harmonica at the beginning. John's voice heralds in the first verse which, as all the verses do, hold out the first 1 1/2 measures on one note, which is always on the word "I." In fact, this is the only time the song's title is heard throughout the song. This verse is ten measures long, extending the expected eight measures by an insertion of two measures in the middle, which repeat the previously heard melody line ("that I would love everything that you do"). The single-note fast-paced melody line that is held throughout drives upward to climactically end the verse.
A second verse then begins which sounds structurally the same as the first, but is in fact only eight measures long and is used as a transition to the bridge that immediately follows. Since this transitory bridge is also repeated when the bridge is repeated, we'll give this the designation of 'alternate verse.'
The bridge is sixteen measures long and is made up primarily of quarter notes, which emphasizes the importance of the lyrics, making teenage girls blush as John confesses his love for them. (Even actress Pattie Boyd hides her eyes embarrassingly at this point of the song in the movie.) Even the double-tracking of John's voice disappears for most of this verse, adding an intimate touch. After the falsetto jump of the twelfth measure we land back in the home key for the perfect resolve.
After another structurally identical verse, the ten-measure verse pattern is repeated once more as an instrumental section, which presents a solo played on George Harrison's newly acquired Rickenbacker 12-string. We then repeat the alternate verse and bridge to round out the song, complete with a faded-out conclusion echoing the opening moments of the song with the addition of the repeated last phrase "you love me too."
Lyrically the song doesn't say much, but accomplishes its purpose exceptionally well, be it ever so naïve. The singer "should have known" that he would fall in love with the girl in question because of all the things she does, which apparently includes kissing. Lennon touches once again on the 'law of attraction' philosophy, stating with complete confidence that when he expresses his love for the girl, "you're gonna say you love me too." He isn't hoping; he knows!
John's Dylan-like harmonica work, which ended up a little "bluesy" after all, is truly the highlight of the song. That, and of course, his convincing vocal delivery which pumped an effervescent quality into the Beatles of 1964. While his rhythm guitar work may have been rudimentary, it suited the Dylan-esque "singer-songwriter" persona he was trying to achieve.
George Harrison is next to be mentioned for his simple but effective guitar solo, keeping strictly to the melody line with only limited embellishments. A nice touch also heard from George is the guitar strums at the beginning of each measure of the bridge to signal the chord change. This well-thought-out addition dispensed with any "clunkiness" that may have crept in to muddy up the arrangement. Well done.
Paul takes a back seat on the track vocally, letting John sing this intimate song himself, but provides some well-rehearsed bass runs which are subdued enough not to be too intrusive on the simple arrangement. Its presence in the back of the mix suits the song well.
Ringo plays the role of 'metronome' throughout the song, doing no more than keeping a steady beat, which is all that the song calls for. We'll hear him show his chops elsewhere on the album, such as on "Tell Me Why."
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