The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night | REACTION 

One of the "secrets" behind The Beatles' success was that they were not an overnight sensation. They'd been together for years, and they were a tight band before they hit the studio.

I was one of those girls screaming at their concert in Pittsburgh 1964.

They started recording in 1962, so they recorded all their amazing music in just 8 years.

I was one of those women (girls) who went crazy for them, at 17 years old in 1964, I just turned 75 and I am STILL a diehard fan and will ALWAYS BE. ON APRIL 4, 1964 they had the TOP 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and 12 MORE songs on that Hot 100 chart the same day. NO ONE ELSE has EVER done that. Have you ever watched their first MOVIE, "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" ? You should, it's great! They were together LONGER than 10 years, John, Paul, and George were together since Feb. 6, 1958 when George joined Paul and John in their group "The Quarrymen" (named after John Lennon's school Quarry Bank). John met Paul for the first time at St. Peter's Church Fete (festival) on July 6, 1957 when Ivan Vaughn (a mutual friend of John and Paul's) brought Paul to meet John who was playing with his group The Quarrymen, at the church fete, that afternoon. In the evening the Quarrymen played in the church hall, and after Paul played "TWENTY FLIGHT ROCK" for them. Lennon was impressed because Paul knew all the words to the song. Later he asked if Paul would like to join the group. About a week or so later, Paul joined. Paul was friends with George, so he brought George to meet John in 1958 (George was only 15 years old at the time. John was impressed by George playing the instrumental rock song "RAUNCHY" so even though John felt George was so young (3 years younger than John), he invited him into the group. They only had a drummer now and then during those days because most teens couldn't afford a full drum kit. That was until they met Pete Best who DID have a kit, so Pete joined the band in August 1960. At that time there were FIVE members, John, Stu Sutcliffe (John's friend from Art college), Paul, George and Pete. Before they became 'THE BEATLES" their name went from The Quarrymen, to Johnny and the Moondogs, to Long John and the Silver Beetles, to The Silver Beetles, to The BeatALS (yes, spelled THAT way ending in ALS) to finally THE BEATLES. Stu Sutcliffe , after a second trip to Hamburg, Germany where the Beatles played for several months, 8 hours a day (which is where they really improved, honed their skills and got very tight), LEFT the group because Stu fell in love with a German photographer Astrid Kirchherr (she took those iconic black and white photos of the leather clad Beatles, while they were in Hamburg) who he was to marry and also finish his art studies in Hamburg. Stu never returned to Liverpool. Unfortunately he died shortly after of a brain hemorrhage at 21 years old. They knew Ringo who was the drummer for another Liverpool band "RORY STORM AND THE HURRICANES" who ALSO played in Hamburg the same time the Beatles did. Sometimes Ringo would sit in with them if Pete wasn't able to play. They got along with Ringo very well, liked his drumming and he had the same sense of humor that John, Paul and George had. Pete, on the other hand was very quiet and never really hung out with them after a gig like Ringo would. Pete was "fired" a few months before they were to record their first song (Love Me Do) in Oct. 1962, and Ringo became a Beatle in August 1962. SO, if you start with John and Paul who were the foundation of what would become the Beatles, it really began in 1957, with George in 1958 so 12/13 years they were together. They were legitimate recording artists from Oct 1962 to 1970 when they broke up as a band.

The GOAT. Nothing comes close. The title is a “Ringoism”, as were a number of other titles and lyrical snippets of Beatles songs. Did I mention.. The GOAT.

They were so ahead of their time. Brilliant genius band

Best band ever !

A Hard Day's Night is also a very enjoyable movie. Helping spread the "Beatlemania" that raged worldwide in the mid-1960s was A Hard Day's Night (1964), a semidocumentary comedy about 36 hectic hours in the life of the Beatles -- George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.Guest appearances by mega-producer and great mentor to the Fab Four, George Martin. GOATS4EVER.

Seven songs had been written by Lennon and McCartney for the movie soundtrack. But they were asked toward the end of filming to write a song called "A Hard Day's Night" because the movie title had just been chosen. They wrote it overnight; played it next morning in its entirety; it was accepted and recorded. An overnight hit upon request!

Arguably the greatest rock song ever recorded

It's a classic for a reason.

The Beatles have another 150 songs every bit as good, exciting, inventive, and influential as this one. The opening chord is the most famous chord in rock music history. John and Paul wrote more memorable melodies than anybody else. Endless invention.

You should watch the film! Great movie; the lads are really funny and the film is really well made. It's a great Rock music film. Their movie called "Help!" is also great! The Beatles are the best!!

"And I love her" . It's also an extremely classically beautiful instrumental.

I was 10 in '64 and there had never been a sound coming from a group like this. The songs were short for radio airplay. John and Paul writing their own songs was very influential since song writers were mostly separate from performers at the time. I went to see the movie A Hard Day's Night and was in a theater filled with girls standing and screaming so loud that I remember not being able to hear the dialogue for the first part of the film!

It’s almost 60 years later, and I still get goosebumps! Beatlemania was real 🥰. And I was only 4 years old when they came to America. ❤️

Your dance move with the fingers across the eyes was the 60’s!

This song was done specifically for the movie. When they were all finished with shooting and had all the songs for the movie, they didn't have a title,. John suggested one of Ringo's sayings. His Ringoisms A Hard Day's Night. It was perfect. So they asked them to come up with a song to open the movie. They wrote the song in one night, then recorded it.

I first saw the Beatles in the Cavern club Liverpool in 1962, great atmosphere and it was obvious then that they were something special. These were great days for iconic music and still great memories for me!

My favorite Beatles album, for what it's worth......

So, so many great songs. From their early songs I love Ticket to Ride and Drive My Car.

Thank you so much for doing your homework. I see so many reactions to Beatles songs where the person/people have no clue who they are, or what they meant to culture, etc. It's refreshing to see one start a reaction with information on the band. I often tell people, start at the first album and go through the last and it is amazing how these four young men (who couldn't read music, by the way, and often had to learn a chord by tracking down someone who knew that chord) evolved and grew in so short a time. They were geniuses.

Little Richard was asked what he thought about The Beatles. He said, "I love The Beatles, they were like four Everly Brothers."

I honestly think it's impossible for anyone who was not alive then to fully comprehend the level of fame that the Beatles had, because it's simply not possible for anyone to be as famous now as the Beatles were. By the mid 1960s you could go through any shopping area in the UK or the US and other places and pretty much every outlet would be selling some kind of Beatles related Merch. Framed Beatles photos, books about the Beatles history, records of course, Beatles shirts, Beatles lyrics books, Beatles Quiz games, Beatles colouring books, Beatles dolls, mantlepiece ornaments, Beatles rings, Beatles haircuts - every kind of business wanted to be in on it - and their pictures were everywhere for several years. My grandma, my mother, my sisters, my friends all owned multiple Beatle records like I did. Indicative of that is that their 4th single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - in the UK alone - had over one million advance orders, ahead of its release in November 1963. Nobody is that famous now - but they managed it because at the time there were so few TV channels and generally there were far fewer media oulets than there were later on. Fewer than there were in the 1970s and certainly FAR fewer than we have now - but The Beatles were taken up by ALL of them in the 1960s and the whole thing snowballed in a way that will probably always remain unique. In the UK we had just two national TV channels in the UK and in the mid 1960s the Beatles were on them both - on the news maybe, or guesting on a show or being intervewed at least once every night. People get famous now, but fame ain't what it was then - and probably only Elvis was ever as famous as The Beatles. Immense talent + Right product + right approach + right time + luck.

I was only 5 years old when this album came out (58 years ago!) but my sister was 14 so I have a little recollection of how they changed music and pop culture. You can't imagine just how huge they were by simply reading about it. You had to experience it first hand. Even as a 5 year old. I'm sorry but the 60's and 70's were simply the best. I've been so lucky.

You’re right, they never took themselves too seriously. They set the goofball standard for ALL boy bands 👌🏻

They made music on demand...needed it for the movie title.They showed up with that magical song the next day. That's how genius this group was! Four guys from the same town (3 of them meeting by the time they were 15) being that talented and changing the world of music within 8 or 9 yrs. What are the odds???

I was 14 when this song came out and already a massive fan of the Beatles. It wasn’t just the girls who loved them but us guys as well. We got annoyed with the girls screaming because we could not hear them properly. No wonder they got fed up with touring ! How lucky to grow up in this era and still appreciate this wonderful music nearly 60years later!!

What's even more mind boggling, they were only a recording act for a little under EIGHT years!

I was only 97 when this song came out in 1964 and I am still alive, mainly thanks to this song.

♥ The Beatles!

"A Hard Day's Night" was also their first movie. Ringo came up with the title...he had a very long day, very busy, etc. He said "gee, it's been a hard day's night". The opening chord was a revelation back then. The Beatles were SO far ahead of their time, and the music stands the test of time, obviously. I'm glad you got to the Beatles - it's a pretty long rabbit hole.

A Hard Day's Night was their first movie in 1964. In 1965, they appeared in the movie, "Help!" They did a TV special in 1967 called "Magical Mystery Tour", their music was used in the animated film, "Yellow Submarine", and their final film was the 1970 documentary, "Let It Be". Of course they broke up the year before.

Love love love The Beatles

They were together 10 years, but only recorded for 7 years during which they recorded and released about 220 studio tracks.

Thx! Don’t forget that George contributed much to many vocal harmonies! Not to mention his innovations and influence on guitar!

The Beatles ushered in the era of free style dancing - the boy and girl danced together only in the sense that they faced each other. But their moves were strictly individualized - they were doing their own thing, together. Prior to that, most dancing on a dance floor was very choreographed with the boy and girl moving in synchronized steps with the exception of certain gender specific moves. By the time Woodstock happened, individuals were dancing with themselves, eyes closed, in ever more creative free styles. Wow. Such freedom for self-expression. The 1950s were a very restrictive, contracted, narrow-minded, segregated time. The 1960s and 70s saw cultural norms shattered.

Check out "Helter Skelter" 1968 They went quite a ways in 4 years!

Here comes the sun is another great Beatles song, really enjoyed your reaction, thank you !

That dance with the hand motion by the eyes is from the 60's. It was popularized by the '66 Batman TV show, on a scene where Batman was dancing at a club. It's called the "Batusi". The reason why songs were so short in those days was that radio stations would not play anything more than 3 minutes. Radio airplay back then was the main way to get a song heard, resulting in more sales.

One word: dynamic!

Beatles Forever.

The shortness of the songs then were due to the fact that radio was king, and airtime on the radio was the primary way to get your songs heard so that people would buy your records. Before FM radio was developed, AM radio stations would only play shorter songs, so artists had to pack a lot of punch in a short amount of time.

You can tell why they were so great

Great reaction…the Batman dance, fingers forming a V over your eyes along with other movements, debuted in January 1966, certainly not 10 years later during the height of disco. Beatles and Batman facts are important to me.😉

I was 14 when Beatlemania hit the U.S. and I wasn't convinced that they had real chops until this movie, A Hard Day's Night, was released (I actually snuck into the back door of the theater to see it). I was then convinced that they were a great talent.

I was a scrawny 8 year old with a massive crush on Paul..🥰 my mother used to go to the bingo with Ringos mum..😳 I grew up at the top of Penny Lane which leads onto Smithdown road👍it's a small place Liverpool 🤗

What more can I say...The Beatles were and are the greatest of all time. I do want to add that, that dance you did was around in the 60's. It was called the Bat Dance because Batman did it first in an episode of Batman the TV series, back in 1966.

The Beatles a awesome group alot of great songs,1964,two years before I was born May John Lennon and George Harrison RIP 💐

"cause when I get you alone ... feeling you hold me tight, tight, yeah!" Their biggest hit of 1964. They slipped that cheeky innuendo into all pop AM stations.

That dance move was popularized by the 'Batman' tv series that debuted in 1966. It wasn't associated with The Beatles but that kind of 'off the cuff' improv that The Beatles inspired in almost all cultural events definitely had a lot to do with it being created!

George did a lot of harmonies also!

It's nearly 60 years old !! Not bad is it.

The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan February 9 1964 my 10th Birthday my hair got long and i've been playing and singing ever since I now do a solo act filled with Beatles songs and they never get old or boring

If you want to hear an early-Beatles song that Paul McCartney sings, check out "Long Tall Sally"!! He rips it up! Great rocker!

The Beatles got their first recording contract in 1962, recorded as a band till the very beginning of 1970, disbanded in April of 1970. They stopped touring in 1966 because they couldn't hear themselves play over all the nonstop screaming, and they got bored with it. The rest of their years together they concentrated on making the best music they could in the studio. They were, and are the greatest of all time, never to be equalled in the history of music. It was a once in a lifetime occurrence.

The fingers across the eyes thing was called the Batuzi. It was done by Batman, in the first '60s Batman show in Jan 1966.

The movie, “A Hard Day’s Night!” is the greatest rock n roll film ever made. Very funny and great music….

@ 8:48 No, that's not a lead into the next song, just a cool way to end the song like that strum at the beginning. They, nor anyone else were doing lead-ins as yet. It would be the 1967 Sgt. Peppers album where they pioneered that technique used a lot in progressive rock like Yes and Pink Floyd. Check out the first two songs on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band for probably the first lead-in song duo in rock history, which are both iconic. And you'll get to hear Ringo sing too! ✌😎

Thanks for reacting to these four lads from my home city. The Beatles wrote the musical score to my teenage years in the 1960s.

Love that entire album but my favorite track is I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (because George Harrison, always my favorite, sang lead on that one).

That dance move WAS late'60's, Nick.

I watch a lot of music reactions. You guys are the first to react to this song.

The album goes with an entire movie...

One thing to note about that opening chord, something I haven't seen or heard mentioned anywhere. People, even the experts, seem to be under the impression that it's just one guitar that is involved. It's actually 3. John's axe, Paul's Bass, and George's gtr.

born the year they broke up but i still grew up on the beatles , we even learned their music in primary school as they used a beatles song book for music lessons

The film was released in the spring of 1964. At that time, John was 23, Paul was 21, George had just turned 21, and Ringo was 23.

Watch Twist and Shout by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. This is what America saw when they came to the U.S.

I like the way you all analyzed this song. Especially how you read their history first. Great job. You 3 are a very likable bunch of guys. The Beatles were a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon and left us with so many classic songs for every generation to enjoy.

The most recognized chord in pop HISTORY! According to Walter Shenson, the producer of the film, he said to John that they needed a song with that title. The next day, John came in with " A Hard Day's Night, " and they recorded it in one day.

I will stand by the truth that I know the lyrics to every Beatles song ever....Got to see them for the first time on The Ed Sullivan Show...my Pop almost turned it off because I was SCREAMING!!! I think it scared him because I was 9 years old...Damn!

The ‘sound’ that encapsulates Beatlemania!

That jangly sound at the end was George's 12 string guitar. First time many artists heard that. That started many bands to use it, especially The Byrds, who made a career out of it.

The fingers in front of the eyes was the "Bat Dance" from the 1960s Batman TV show.

George's work on the 12 string Rickenbacker is awesome! From the opening chord, to the cute solo, to the interesting outro riff. There's a live TV performance of this, and it sounds so much like the album (practice, practice, practice) that the host asks George to turn his volume back up and replay the outro by himself...that guitar sounds SOOOO good! Look it up.

I liked your reaction (s). I liked that you gave a bit of history about them. I would like to hear more Beatles. I was 8 in '64, so I was right there witnessing it all. You couldn't turn on the radio without hearing them. I know it's hard not to get blocked, but I see a lot of other "reactions" getting through so don't give up.

The middle 8 was written and sung by Paul McCartney, by the way, so this song was written by both Lennon and McCartney. Also: John and Paul met and were in a band called the Quarrymen since mid 1957, when Paul was 15 and John was almost 17. George Harrison joined the Quarrymen in early 1958, just after he turned 15. They played together in bands with different names for a few years, before they settled on 'Silver Beatles', which was shortened to 'Beatles', which happened in 1960. Ringo didn't join until mid 1962. So, in fact, John, Paul and George had played together for more than 10 years.

If you listen to the very last chords of the song, they’re playing the notes to “Here Comes The Sun.”

I was more classically inclined at thirteen I did not particularly like them when they first came out. I changed my mind when I saw, A Hard Days Night. From there on out, I was hooked.

John was 17 in 1957 and Paul 15 when they met and hooked up. Four months later they brought in Paul's 14 year old school pal as their lead guitarist. The three bounced around together around Liverpool until 1959 or 60 and they brought in Pete Best as their first permanent drummer and they also enlisted John's art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe as a bass player. They went to Hamburg in 1960 and this is were they cut their teeth playing on stage twice a day doing 4 hour sets. Sutcliffe wasn't very good and soon dropped out. This is the year they came up with the bands name too. For me they really became The Beatles in 1962 when they enlisted Ringo. In late October they laid down the first 4 tracks that would become part of their debut album "Please Please Me" released in March of 1963. For me their recording career was from 1963 to 1969. The "Let It Be" Lp was released in 1970 but was recorded between January and February of 1969.Their Lp "Abbey Road" recorded in the summer of 69 and released in September of that year is actually their last album. What they accomplished in the studio between 1963 and 69 will never be equalled, ain't gonna happen. This is the one band that surpassed all hype after they hit it big. Even with the insanity of Beatlemania they just kept progressing from record to record. I'll soon be 64 and I've never seen anything close too the creativity of this band and they did it all in just seven short years between 1963 and 69.By the way, Paul's 14 year old school pal was one George Harrison which I forgot too mention earlier. Hard too believe that a 17,15 and 13 year old would get together and be the nucleus of what would become a band that would not only change popular music but also pop culture that can't be fully measured to this day. Without these 4 young men popular music and culture would look quite different today. ☮️✌️💕👌

It was 600 million units in the 90' It more than 1 billion now

You have to realize there was nothing like this sound ever before.

It was 600 millions album sales in the 1980s It over 1 billion today. Records sales charts weren't that reliable back then.

Thanks for the detailed intro to The Beatles. Not everyone know itl It interesting. keep it up boys.

Big time roller skating music! (I want to hold your hand)

I was born one week before this hit. 1/15/1964. My Mom loved music but could not stand the Beatles. She loved The Stones.

It was great to be 9 years old when the Beatles hit the Ed Sullivan Show and then grow up with them.

You guys are so young! The Batman dance move was from the '60s, the "Saturday Night Fever finger point" was from the '70s and made famous by John Travolta. Cheers.

And now... For something completely different... Nudge, nudge... Wink, wink...

That go-go dance with the V fingers across the eyes was THE BATUSI and became popular in 1966. It first appeared in the Batman movie (Adam West) and caught on everywhere.

and that great opening chord.

It just sounds good ! Real good

Great reaction.yup..800,000,000, records sold (and counting..lol)

There's a great video out there on the making of the movie, A Hard Day's Night. In the video, it tells how the title was settled on very late in the process. The producer and director asked the Beatles to write a song with that same title. The very next morning, they had this.... primarily written by John. Then they asked for an ear-catching opening along with a dreamy outro. I think they hit the mark with both.

Keep up the good work lads!

Don't forget Sir George Martin who produced ALL of The Beatles songs. A major influence on the music world.

Early 70’s is a world away from late 70’s. 😁❤️

The Beatles earlier songs are just as great as the later songs

Beatles A-Z, you can't go wrong.

This was a landmark album for the Beatles, as it was their first album where all the songs were written by Lennon and McCartney. Their first two albums had plenty of cover songs and were almost easy for them to record, as they had played the numbers so many times in their live performances. The factual story is that their first album was all recorded in one 10 hour session. I believe they were motivated to write all the songs on a Hard Days Night, to make it even more special with the movie coming out. A big event even for them.