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"I Should Have Known Better" is a song by English rock band the Beatles composed by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and originally issued on A Hard Day's Night, their soundtrack for the film of the same name released July 10, 1964. The song was issued as the B-side of the U.S. single A Hard Day's Night/I Should Have Known Better released July 13, 1964. An orchestrated version of the song conducted by George Martin appears on the North American version of the album.

Origin

In January 1964, during a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, the Beatles first became aware of American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, and after acquiring a copy of his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, they began playing it continuously. American journalist Al Aronowitz 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. One consequence of this “infatuation” (as Ian MacDonald later described it) was the song "I Should Have Known Better." Paul McCartney said Dylan's songs were "great lyrically," and Lennon credited Dylan with inspiring him to write more meaningful lyrics.

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.

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

The mono and stereo versions have slightly different harmonica introductions. In the stereo version, the harmonica drops out briefly. (A stereo edit that fixes this mistake appears uniquely on the US Capitol release of the 1982 Beatles compilation Reel Music.) Also, a noticeably clumsy and audible tape edit is heard during the second chorus between "You're gonna say you love me, too" and "And when I ask you to be mine."

Release

United Kingdom

In the UK, "I Should Have Known Better" appeared on A Hard Day's Night and was 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."

United States

In the US, "I Should Have Known Better" was released on 13 July 1964 as the B-side to "A Hard Day's Night" and reached No. 53 in the Billboard Top 100, and No. 43 on the Cash Box chart. Of note, there were four higher-charting Beatles' hits blocking its entrance into the Top 40.

As part of the movie contract, United Artists acquired album rights for the American market. They released a soundtrack album on 26 June 1964 with eight Beatles songs and four 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. It was later released by Capitol on the Hey Jude compilation album in 1970.

Continental Europe

"I Should Have Known Better" was released as a single in a number of continental European countries, including Norway, where it reached number one, and West Germany, where it reached number six.

Personnel

• John Lennon – double-tracked vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, harmonica
• Paul McCartney – bass
• George Harrison – twelve-string lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums

Personnel per Ian MacDonald

Cover versions

• The Naturals covered it in August 1964 on the Beatles record label (Parlophone) and had a minor hit (UK number 24).
• Johnny Rivers covered it on his 1964 live album, In Action.
• Jan & Dean released the song on their 1965 album, Command Performance.
• The Beach Boys covered it on their 1965 album, Beach Boys' Party!.
• The Skatalites recorded an instrumental version under the name "Independent Anniversary Ska" in 1966.
• Brinsley Schwarz released a cover under the name "Limelight" in 1975.
• Stars on 45 covered it as part of an eight song Beatles medley in their hit "Stars on 45," which reached No.1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in June 1981.
• She & Him covered the song on their 2008 debut album, Volume One, as a duet with both M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel singing.
• The Punkles did a punk cover of this song on their first album.
• Phil Ochs covered the song with Eric Andersen during a Greenwich Village concert in 1964; the live version can be heard on The Broadside Tapes 1.
• Ramiele Malubay performed the song on the Top 11 week of the seventh season of American Idol. A studio version of Malubay's performance was released as a single on the iTunes Store in March 2008.

Notes

1. Sheff 2000, p. 194.
2. Miles 1997, p. 164.
3. The Beatles 2000, p. 112.
4. Harry 2000, pp. 357–359.
5. ^ MacDonald 2005, p. 109–110.
6. Miles 1997, p. 195.
7. Sheff 2000, p. 179.
8. Lewisohn 1988, pp. 39–40.
9. Cross 2005, p. 384.
10. Cross 2005, p. 592.
11. Lewisohn 1988, p. 200.
12. Cross 2005, pp. 530–531.
13. Lewisohn 1988, p. 201.
14. Harry 2000, pp. 483–484.
15. Lewisohn 1988.
16. MUSIKKEXTRA 2009.
17. Inifity Charts 2009.

References

• The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. London: Cassell& Co. ISBN 0-304-35605-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cross, Craig (2005). The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc. ISBN 0-595-34663-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Dowlding, William (1989). Beatlesongs. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "German Top 20 - The Chart of 1964". Inifity Charts. 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
• Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "Topp 20 Single uke 42, 1964". MUSIKKEXTRA. 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.

External links

• Template:MetroLyrics song

• Use dmy dates from June 2011
• The Beatles songs
• The Beach Boys songs
• Song recordings produced by George Martin
• Number-one singles in Norway
• 1976 singles
• Songs written by Lennon–McCartney
• Phil Ochs songs
• She & Him songs
• Jan and Dean songs
• Capitol Records singles
• 1964 songs
• Songs published by Northern Songs