I Should Have Known Better: Beatles Song.

I Should Have Known Better: Introduction

“I Should Have Known Better” is a Beatles’ song from their 1964 soundtrack album, “A Hard Day’s Night,” and it also appears in the film of the same name.

  • Release Date: July 10, 1964
  • Recorded: February 25 & 26, 1964
  • Studio: EMI Studios, London
  • Genre: Pop rock
  • Track Duration: 2:44
  • Record Label: Parlophone
  • Songwriters: Lennon-McCartney
  • Producer: George Martin
  • Engineer: Norman Smith

You can still buy this track on the following album:

John Lennon wrote the song, but credit goes to the successful songwriting partnership of Lennon-McCartney, of course. “I Should Have Known Better” is a song on The Beatles’ 1964 soundtrack album, “A Hard Day’s Night.” The song is also memorable for the train carriage scene in the film of the same name.

The scene begins with Paul McCartney locking up his grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell) in the guard’s van to keep him out of trouble. The rest of The Beatles soon join them, and they begin to play cards. They then burst into the song after four schoolgirls happened to find them. One of these actors, Pattie Boyd, sits with them in the carriage. She later became George Harrison’s wife.

John Lennon’s harmonica solo is similar to that on Frank Ifield’s single, “The Wayward Wind,” from March 1963. The Beatles sang one of his songs, “I Remember You,” in Hamburg in 1962. So, they were clearly fans of his.

I Should Have Known Better was the last Beatles’ song to feature a mouth organ as an intro. George Harrison’s brand new Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string guitar is a feature during the song’s middle sixteen section. Meanwhile, John Lennon uses a Gibson Jumbo J-160E electroacoustic guitar.

The Beatles began recording “I Should Have Known Better” on February 25, 1964, in Studio Two of the EMI Studios, London, during the 2.30 p.m.–5.30 p.m. session. They recorded 3 takes that day, as well as “You Can’t Do That” together with “And I Love Her.”

Not satisfied with the original 3 takes, they returned to the same studio the next day and recorded a further 18 takes. Out of all those recordings, they chose take 9 as being suitable for the master tape for overdubbing John Lennon’s harmonica, etc.

With this song becoming the last Beatles track to feature a harmonica as an intro, it’s possibly fitting that there are two slightly different versions. This occurs on the mono and stereo versions, with the latter suffering a brief drop-out.

Although this was an album track only in the UK, it was the B-side to the single “A Hard Day’s Night” in America. However, after its release on July 13, 1964, it only reached number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Finally, take a listen to the song and leave your thoughts below.

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