beatles tell me why if i fell i should have known better

In the UK, ‘I Should Have Known Better’ was the second song on the A Hard Day’s Night album, which was released on 10 July 1964. The final version, including these additions, was take 22. Lennon double-tracked his lead vocals and overdubbed his harmonica part to complete the song. Again there were many aborted attempts, and the final version was take nine. The Beatles returned to the song the next day, recording 18 takes. Only one of the three takes was complete the second attempt was a false start which ended when Lennon collapsed into hysterics over his harmonica playing. At this stage the song was quite different to the final version, containing a Dylanesque harmonica solo and ending on a lead guitar line. That day the group recorded three takes of ‘I Should Have Known Better’.

The Beatles began recording ‘I Should Have Known Better’ on 25 February 1964, a day which also saw them record John Lennon’s ‘You Can’t Do That’ and Paul McCartney’s ballad ‘And I Love Her’. The van was rocked by members of the film crew to mimic the movements of a train. The scene was actually filmed in a stationary van at Twickenham Film Studios, London, on 11 March 1964. The Beatles mimed to the song and played cards in a train, while actors, including George Harrison’s future wife Pattie Boyd, looked on. ‘I Should Have Known Better’ was featured in a memorable scene in the A Hard Day’s Night film. Harrison, meanwhile, used his new Rickenbacker 360/12 Deluxe 12-string, which quickly became a trademark sound on the A Hard Day’s Night album.

John Lennon played a Gibson Jumbo J-160E electro acoustic guitar. The song was one of The Beatles’ last to feature the instrument, which had been prominent on their earlier hits ‘Love Me Do’, ‘Please Please Me’, and ‘From Me To You’. The song opens with an approximation of Dylan’s harmonica style. George Harrison had acquired a copy of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in Paris that month, which the group greatly admired. ‘I Should Have Known Better’ was written in January 1964, and shows the emerging influence of Bob Dylan upon Lennon’s writing. John Lennon All We Are Saying, David Sheff

Beatles tell me why if i fell i should have known better