I Should Have Known Better

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"I Should Have Known Better" is a song composed by John Lennon^[1][2] (credited to Lennon/McCartney), and originally released by The Beatles on the United Kingdom-version of A Hard Day's Night, their soundtrack for the film of the same name.

In January 1964, during a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, the Beatles became aware of American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan and, having acquired a copy of his album Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, began playing it continuously.^[3] American journalist Al Aronowitz personally introduced them to Dylan when the Beatles visited New York in February 1964, and Dylan subsequently became a big influence on the group, especially Lennon, who even started wearing a copycat Huckleberry Finn cap.^[4] A consequence of this “infatuation” (as Ian McDonald later described it) was the song "I Should Have Known Better".^[5]Paul McCartney said Dylan's songs were "great lyrically,"^[6] and Lennon credited Dylan with inspiring him to write more meaningful lyrics.^[7]

Lennon's harmonica playing opens the track, the last occasion the Beatles were to feature the instrument on an intro ("I´m a Loser", recorded 14 August 1964, has a harmonica solo) and thus drawing a line under a significant period of their music. The song's middle sixteen section features George Harrison's brand new Rickenbacker 360/12.^[5]

The song is performed in the train compartment scene of A Hard Day's Night. It was in fact filmed in a van, with crew members rocking the vehicle to fake the action of a train in motion. ^[8]

An orchestrated version of the song conducted by George Martin appears on the B-side of the U.S. version of the album.

[edit] Recording

The first recording session for the song was on 25 February 1964 at Abbey Road Studios when three takes were attempted, but only one was complete. Take 2 was aborted when Lennon broke into hysterics over his harmonica playing. The song was re-recorded the next day after making some changes to the arrangement.^[9]

The mono and stereo versions have slightly different harmonica introductions. In the stereo version, the harmonica drops out briefly.^[10]

[edit] Release

[edit] United Kingdom

In the UK, "I Should Have Known Better" was on A Hard Day's Night and released on 10 July 1964. It was not released as a single at that time. In 1976, it was released as a B-side to "Yesterday".^[11][12]

[edit] United States

In the U.S., "I Should Have Known Better" was released on 13 July 1964 as the B-side to "A Hard Day's Night."^[13][14] As part of the movie contract, United Artists acquired album rights for the American market.^[15] They released a soundtrack album on 26 June 1964 with 8 Beatle songs and 4 instrumentals. "I Should Have Known Better" was performed in the film, and it appears on the soundtrack. Capitol Records released Something New a month later with songs from the UK-version of A Hard Day's Night that were not used in the film and other material. "I Should Have Known Better" did not appear on a Capitol album until five years later on the Hey Jude compilation album.^[14]

[edit] Continental Europe

"I Should Have Known Better" was released as a single in a number of continental European countries, including West Germany where it reached number 6 [1] and Norway, where it reached number 1 [2]

[edit] Credits

• John Lennon — vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, harmonica
• Paul McCartney — bass guitar
• George Harrison — 12-string lead guitar
• Ringo Starr — drums

Credits per Ian MacDonald^[5]

[edit] Cover versions

Green Day later reworked the song as "Hold On" on their album Warning.^{[citation needed]} It was also played live on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1996 when Starr was a guest on the show. The song was also covered by The Beach Boys in 1965. The Skatalites recorded an instrumental version under the name "Independence Anniversary Ska." She & Him covered the song on their 2008 premiere album, Volume One. French version by Richard Anthony (la corde au cou). The Punkles did a Punk cover of this song on their first album.

American Idol Season 7 contestant Ramiele Malubay performed this song during the top 11 week which the theme was The Beatles part 2

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press, 194. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 
2. ^ Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 164. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. 
3. ^ The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. London: Cassell& Co, 112. ISBN 0-304-35605-0. 
4. ^ Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing, 357-359. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} MacDonald, Ian (1994). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 85. ISBN 0-8050-2780-7. 
6. ^ Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, 195. 
7. ^ Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying, 179. 
8. ^ Dowlding, William (1989). Beatlesongs, 68. 
9. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books, 39-40. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
10. ^ Cross, Craig (2005). The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 384. ISBN 0-595-34663-4. 
11. ^ Cross, Craig (2005). The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record, 592. 
12. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions, 200. 
13. ^ Cross, Craig (2005). The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record, 530-531. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Lewisohn, Mark (1988 pages=201). The Beatles Recording Sessions. 
15. ^ Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia, 483-484.