I have TCM set as the default station on my TV. Anyone surprised? I thought not.
I watched part of A Hard Day’s Night recently, which inspired this week’s FCH. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It’s more of a Lennon song but we’ll go with the official listing: John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote A Hard Day’s Night in 1964 for the album and movie of that title. Yeah, yeah. yeah.
We begin with a Beatles doubleheader:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here’s the great comic actor Peter Sellers giving a dramatic recitation of this week’s tune as Richard III:
Keely Smith with a version that could be called Beatnik Beatles:
Peggy Lee with a more traditional big band arrangement. FYI, Macca was a huge Peggy Lee fan, he even wrote a song for her.
A rough and tumble live version from the great Otis Redding:
British blues maven John Mayall recorded a pop funk version of the Lennon-McCartney classic in 1975.
A 21st Century version by a German band, Ringo Ska. Ja, ja, ja.
What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without instrumental versions of the week’s tune? This time, Perez Prado, The Bar-Kays, and Count Basie:
That’s it for this week. Let’s toast the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Long may you rock. It’s what The Who would want. Who the fuck are you to argue with them?
