Personnel:
Cliff Wilson: Guitars, Bass, Harpsichord, Vocals
Brad Wilson: Vocals
Cliff Hochberg: Drum Kit, Bongos, Cowbells
Why this song is on the album:
I wanted to play that famous, preposterous opening chord. And this is our father-son duet.
Performance notes:
The Beatles sometimes had a guitar double the bass line, or even just play the root of each chord – just a single note held for the duration of the chord, then the root of the next chord, and so on. (I think George Harrison had a secret wish to be a bass player, and he did play bass on a number of songs, including Oh! Darling.) I’ve used that technique on this song and several others. In fact, I’ve used it more than the Beatles did, just because it gives things a Beatles feel.
I used some samples of a Rickenbacker 12-string to try to get some of that bright Harrison sound on the opening chord.
Ringo’s cowbell is very clear on the bridge. There’s also a lot of cowbell mixed in with the bongos in the verses. Cliff H. uses two different cowbells for these parts.
Although it seemed almost obligatory, I enjoyed giving Plinky the note “More cowbell” for the bridg at our final mixing session.
How it’s different from the Beatles’ version:
This is fairly consistent with what the Beatles did. They had fewer guitar tracks, with more drive.
I used a harpsichord patch for the keyboard-guitar doubled “solo”, but the Beatles (George Martin) used an out-of-tune piano recorded at half speed and played an octave lower. (I only learned this after the fact, or I would have tried to do it the same way.)
Fun fact:
The opening chord of A Hard Day’s Night was a pop music mystery and the source of arguments among musicians for decades. It was finally demystified when some curious folks were able to listen to partially isolated tracks. Harrison plays an F chord with a G added on top. (He’s playing on a 12-string guitar, which adds to the complexity of the sound, including an A on the G string, which sounds higher that that “top” G.) McCartney plays a D on the bass. Lennon plays a D suspended chord. And evidence suggests that George Martin added a single F note on the piano. You can see why there was confusion. If I had to give the whole thing a name, I would call it D-7 add 11.
CCW