The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night

At a time when popstars either spoke BBC English or tried to emulate the American rockers they so idolised, there was no hiding where The Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr – came from: they sang, as they spoke, in a Liverpool accent. Although the demands of the music business meant they soon had to relocate to London, in many ways they never left their city – in song and in story, the group are inextricably, indelibly linked to Merseyside.

Recorded between January and June 1964 and released that July, if ever there was a pointer to what an album could achieve, it's the 13 songs and 31 minutes of A Hard Day's Night, the third long-player by the Beatles. It is the sound of a group with the wind in its hair, the confidence that their hard work was paying off. The (partial) soundtrack to their first film, at a time when an LP was a collection of recent singles and cover versions, A Hard Day’s Night was penned solely by Lennon & McCartney. Can’t Buy Me Love, the first track from the forthcoming album to be released, topped the US and UK charts in April 1964.

In the 476 days since the release of their debut LP, Please Please Me in March 1963, The Beatles had gone from local to national to international phenomenon. A Hard Day’s Night, both the beloved 1964 film directed by Richard Lester and the album, captured that rocket in a bottle. With songs about working men going home to their loved ones (the title track, When I Get Home); the exhilaration of early love (I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, And I Love Her, I’m Happy Just To Dance With You); the ups and downs of relationships (I’ll Cry Instead, Tell Me Why, You Can’t Do That) and, already, a strong sense of time (Things We Said Today), on A Hard Day’s Night, Lennon & McCartney put words in the mouths of teenagers around the world.

The 60th anniversary reissue of A Hard Day’s Night will be released on October 19th to celebrate National Album Day.