Once upon a time, I was a gigantic Beatles fan. The oddity is that I was born in 1980, five months before John Lennon was murdered in New York City and 16 years before the Beatles flew to the United States after "I Want To Hold Your Hand" went No. 1.It was only semi-unhealthy. Maybe I should've been fascinated and fanatical about a band that was releasing albums in the mid-1990s. However, I felt no real shame back then and not much has changed now that I'm a bit less concerned with being cool.
Back then, I wanted to be John Lennon. I wanted my hair like his, clothes like his, guitars like his, to talk like him, sing like him and write songs like him.
It wasn't just the music; I was like a 14-year-old in 1965. I was as obsessed with the personality and celebrity as I was the music. And I really loved the music.
That's why "A Hard Day's Night" the film was as important to me as "A Hard Day's Night" the album.
Funny thing, the songs I liked back then on this album aren't the songs I like now. In fact, it's the exact opposite. The songs I loved back then I skip now. Mostly because they're not overly sophisticated whereas the vocal harmonies on "If I Fell" are so completely impossible that I could never, ever imagine coming up with and then recording them without going crazy. "I Should Have Known Better" and "You Can't Do That" are two the Beatles' finest.
What's interesting listening to their early albums is that "Please, Please Me" and "With The Beatles" are faux R&B records, "A Hard Day's Night" is their first true rock record. "Can't Buy Me Love" is part Elvis Presley and part Little Richard. "Things We Said Today" is Roy Orbison. "I'll Cry Instead" is Carl Perkins.
For the first time, the Beatles were writing and making their own rock songs.
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