THE BEATLES – A HARD DAY'S NIGHT with special guests Peter Mills & James McGrath.

This interview took place before and after we listened to the vinyl album.

Considering the quality of the original material on 'With the Beatles,' it shouldn't have been a surprise that Lennon & McCartney decided to devote their third album to all-original material. Nevertheless, that decision still impresses, not only because the album is so strong, but because it was written and recorded at a time when the Beatles were constantly touring, giving regular BBC concerts, appearing on television and releasing non-LP singles and EPs, as well as filming their first motion picture. In that context, the achievement of 'A Hard Day's Night' is all the more astounding. Not only was the record the de facto soundtrack for their movie, not only was it filled with nothing but Lennon-McCartney originals, but it found the Beatles truly coming into their own as a band by performing a uniformly excellent set of songs. 

Peter Mills and James McGrath teach in the School of Cultural Studies and Humanities at Leeds Beckett University. They have been friends and colleagues for many years, and Peter supervised James's PhD on the music of Lennon & McCartney. So it seems only right that they have co-edited a book of 14 brand new essays on The Beatles, entitled 'The Beatles in Perspective: A Carnival of Light', published by Equinox Books in 2023. 

They chose 1964's 'A Hard Day's Night' album as their CAT Club subject.

CAT Club stalwart, Ian Clayton was in the interviewer's chair.

Happy Trails.

This event took place on 16th November 2023 in the Pigeon Loft at The Robin Hood, Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

To find out more about the CAT Club please visit: www.thecatclub.co.uk

This podcast has been edited for content and for copyright reasons.

Happy Trails.