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  #1  
Old 03-04-2022, 04:45 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Default "A Hard Day's Night" by Lennon/McCartney (cover)



This is my cover of the Beatles' song, "A Hard Day's Night."

I am using my Gibson AJ and my Rickenbacker 360 electric 12-string for the song. I am playing bass on my Carvin bass, I also played the opening chord on the piano, and sang all the lead and harmony parts.

I had to sing the John Lennon parts (with my Gibson AJ) and the Paul McCartney parts (with my Ric 360-12) separately because the vocal parts slightly overlap.

I did make some effort to play the opening chord as correctly as I know how. The two guitars are playing an Fadd9 (which is an F chord with an added high G on the 1st string) and the 5th string A is left open on that F chord. Also, the piano plays a Gsus4 and the bass plays a D, which fits in with the piano's Gsus4 chord. The song is in the key of G, so without that Gsus4 added to the opening Fadd9 chord, it's very hard to find the correct starting sung note for the song.

I hope you enjoy this -- thank you for watching!

- Glenn
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Old 03-04-2022, 05:12 PM
waco kid waco kid is offline
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I don't post here often, but, you're really nailing these Beatle songs.....
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Old 03-04-2022, 05:36 PM
Chickee Chickee is offline
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I knew you had this cover in your pocket by the second verse….but I was dying to see how you would burn the final lick!!! The big RIC comes out of the closet to nail it to the floor. Oh Glenn, you have such a terrific touch with this stuff.
frank d.
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Old 03-04-2022, 06:17 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by waco kid View Post
I don't post here often, but, you're really nailing these Beatle songs.....
Hi Waco Kid!

Thank you for being willing to provide support and your kinds words! I really appreciate it! I'm so pleased that you feel these Beatles covers are working out okay.

I hope you are doing okay! Be well!

- Glenn
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Old 03-04-2022, 06:23 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by Chickee View Post
I knew you had this cover in your pocket by the second verse….but I was dying to see how you would burn the final lick!!! The big RIC comes out of the closet to nail it to the floor. Oh Glenn, you have such a terrific touch with this stuff.
frank d.
Thank you Frank!

I really appreciate hearing from you and finding out that you felt this came out reasonably well.

I have gotten a little rusty on that Ric 360-12; it has a 1 5/8" wide nut with 12-strings in there, so it's very crowded. So playing that last lick on the electric 12-string took a few days of practice because I wasn't always playing the B-string cleanly. You know --- prang, prang, thud, prang, etc... I did finally get there after about 3 different tries on 3 consecutive days. Every time I learn something new, I really find it helpful to sleep on it for a few days so my brain can work it out.

That 12-string is a fun guitar to play as a rhythm guitar. Just lightly across the strings and out comes all this glorious sound.

Thanks so much Frank! I love hearing from you! I hope all is well there for you and your family.

- Glenn
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Old 03-04-2022, 07:31 PM
westview westview is offline
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And the hits keep coming. That sounded great.
I was a kid again in the movie theater waiting for the screaming girls.
Well done. A full sound. Could hear that Carvin bass. Nice choice of guitars.
I'll have another listen.
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Old 03-04-2022, 07:56 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by westview View Post
And the hits keep coming. That sounded great.
I was a kid again in the movie theater waiting for the screaming girls.
Well done. A full sound. Could hear that Carvin bass. Nice choice of guitars.
I'll have another listen.
Thank you Westview!

How nice of you to be so supportive on these Beatles songs! It's greatly appreciated!

You know, I remember, too, being in a theater watching the Beatles in the "Hard Day's Night" movie. I was 17 years old, but I felt like I, too, was in the theater with all those kids in the movie.

Thank you on the choice of guitars. I have only one bass guitar, that Carvin neck-thru design. Sometimes I think I should have bought a Fender Precision Bass, but the Carvin was a little less expensive and it sounds really good. It's really all the bass I will ever need. Slowly I am getting a little better on the bass guitar. It's not taking a whole lot of time anymore for me to figure out what to do.

I really do like the sound of acoustic guitar mixed in with an electric guitar, just like the Beatles used to do.

Thank you again, Westview! I greatly appreciate your comments!

- Glenn
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Old 03-04-2022, 08:51 PM
superbitterdave superbitterdave is offline
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You are definitely on a Beatles bender. Good for you!

I thought your superpower to switch from an acoustic to an electric 12 string Rickenbaker instantaneously was incredible.

OK, more seriously, nailed again. Your harmonies were spot on, playing executed perfectly as always. What I really got a kick out of here was your stereo mix in the solo - I don’t always wear headphones when watching these, but today, boy am I glad I did.

Well done!

Cheers,

Dave
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  #9  
Old 03-05-2022, 12:56 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by superbitterdave View Post
You are definitely on a Beatles bender. Good for you!

I thought your superpower to switch from an acoustic to an electric 12 string Rickenbaker instantaneously was incredible.

OK, more seriously, nailed again. Your harmonies were spot on, playing executed perfectly as always. What I really got a kick out of here was your stereo mix in the solo - I don’t always wear headphones when watching these, but today, boy am I glad I did.

Well done!

Cheers,

Dave
Thank you Dave!

I'm so glad you felt this came across well! Thank you for your kind comments!

Regarding the solo, I showed only the video of myself playing the Ric 360 electric 12-string, but in fact, I was sort of disappointed that I could not make the Ric 360-12 solo sound like George Harrison's Rick 360-12. I believe the reason that I couldn't is that he had a technician change the strings on the guitar around so that the high octave string was located on the high side so that it would sound first on a down strum with a plectrum or flat pick. The normal Rickenbacker way to set up this guitar is with the lower bass string on the top side so that on a down strum or stroke, the bass string sounds first. You know, the Byrds kind of sound. And that's how my guitar is set up, per Rickenbacker's standard.

To try to get a sound a little closer to George Harrison's sound on the "Hard Day's Night" recording, I also recorded my Guild F-512 acoustic 12-string playing this same solo together with the already recorded sound of the Rick 360-12. I then put the Guild F-512 on the left side and the Rick 360-12 on the right side of the stereo mix. I still was not satisfied with the Guild F-512 sound -- it sounded very chunky compared to the Rick 360-12 -- so I ran the recorded acoustic 12-string through a Fender Deluxe Reverb simulated amp to make it sound more electric. So, what you are hearing is stereo 12-string guitars played in separate recordings. The end result is still not very George Harrison sounding, but it did come out sounding pretty interesting.

Thanks for noticing, Dave! I hope all is well for you!

- Glenn
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Old 03-05-2022, 01:01 AM
superbitterdave superbitterdave is offline
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Originally Posted by Glennwillow View Post
Thank you Dave!

I'm so glad you felt this came across well! Thank you for your kind comments!

Regarding the solo, I showed only the video of myself playing the Ric 360 electric 12-string, but in fact, I was sort of disappointed that I could not make the Ric 360-12 solo sound like George Harrison's Rick 360-12. I believe the reason that I couldn't is that he had a technician change the strings on the guitar around so that the high octave string was located on the high side so that it would sound first on a down strum with a plectrum or flat pick. The normal Rickenbacker way to set up this guitar is with the lower bass string on the top side so that on a down strum or stroke, the bass string sounds first. You know, the Byrds kind of sound. And that's how my guitar is set up, per Rickenbacker's standard.

To try to get a sound a little closer to George Harrison's sound on the "Hard Day's Night" recording, I also recorded my Guild F-512 acoustic 12-string playing this same solo together with the already recorded sound of the Rick 360-12. I then put the Guild F-512 on the left side and the Rick 360-12 on the right side of the stereo mix. I still was not satisfied with the Guild F-512 sound -- it sounded very chunky compared to the Rick 360-12 -- so I ran the recorded acoustic 12-string through a Fender Deluxe Reverb simulated amp to make it sound more electric. So, what you are hearing is stereo 12-string guitars played in separate recordings. The end result is still not very George Harrison sounding, but it did come out sounding pretty interesting.

Thanks for noticing, Dave! I hope all is well for you!

- Glenn

You continually amaze me with both your musical skill and attention to detail. Wow.

I tend to think of my covers as being different interpretations of the original. What you are doing highlights my fear - I’m just lazy; you truly put the research, thought, effort, and skill into it. Your results speak for themselves.

Again, well done!

Cheers,

Dave
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Old 03-05-2022, 01:17 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by superbitterdave View Post
You continually amaze me with both your musical skill and attention to detail. Wow.

I tend to think of my covers as being different interpretations of the original. What you are doing highlights my fear - I’m just lazy; you truly put the research, thought, effort, and skill into it. Your results speak for themselves.

Again, well done!

Cheers,

Dave
Hi Dave,

Well, thank you again for your kind words.

Sometimes I do generate covers that are my own interpretations, and I have done that with Beatles songs, such as my version of "In My Life". https://youtu.be/xMAylTnXSy4

But lately I have been trying to cover the Beatles songs at least instrumentally more like the Beatles did these songs, just to see what I can learn and what I can get accomplished. I am not trying to sound like any of the Beatles as a singer -- that's just never going to happen. But it's been fun to see if I can actually follow their scores for their songs.

Thanks so much, Dave!

- Glenn
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Old 03-05-2022, 07:53 AM
Gitfiddlemann Gitfiddlemann is offline
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Hi Glenn,
Yet another fine, and very enjoyable cover of a classic. Your attention to detail was mentioned in some of the comments, and I have to second that.
Great playing and singing Glenn. I love that Rickenbacker of yours. I'm sure there was one used in the original, probably by George on those lead breaks.
In the original version, it always struck me what a tasteful choice it was to have McCartney take the lead in singing the refrain. At least, that's what I hear. Maybe it's because he had the higher register, since it seems to stretch the vocal range.
You nailed all parts so well Glenn! Awesome effort.
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Old 03-05-2022, 08:36 AM
Stratcat77 Stratcat77 is offline
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Bravo! Love the intro, the ending and everything in between!
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Old 03-05-2022, 10:31 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Originally Posted by AndreF View Post
Hi Glenn,
Yet another fine, and very enjoyable cover of a classic. Your attention to detail was mentioned in some of the comments, and I have to second that.
Great playing and singing Glenn. I love that Rickenbacker of yours. I'm sure there was one used in the original, probably by George on those lead breaks.
In the original version, it always struck me what a tasteful choice it was to have McCartney take the lead in singing the refrain. At least, that's what I hear. Maybe it's because he had the higher register, since it seems to stretch the vocal range.
You nailed all parts so well Glenn! Awesome effort.
Hi Andre!

Thanks so much for watching and listening to this cover and for taking time to comment here! It really is greatly appreciated!

I do feel quite certain that John Lennon sang the verses and that Paul McCartney sang (what I would call a) bridge, the "When I'm home..." part. John Lennon's vocal range was more like my vocal range or vice versa. But Paul McCartney pitched that bridge so that it was up there even higher than where John sang, hitting a high A at the end of the bridge. It was really stretching things for me to hit that A note, and I didn't really hit it all that well. Fortunately, the vocal part was doubled so that the raggedness of my voice was not quite so objectionable.

It was interesting for me on this cover that since the harmony parts are less complex and fewer, this cover was considerably easier for me compared to some of the others I have done recently. The "Help!" cover was particularly challenging for me.

Thanks so much Andre! I really appreciate your taking time to comment like this!

- Glenn
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Old 03-05-2022, 10:40 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Bravo! Love the intro, the ending and everything in between!
Thank you Marty!

Yes, you are right in that the intro and the ending are both pretty impactful. I have to guess that they were trying to make a statement for the main theme of their movie at the time, give it some punch.

I did a few hours of research on YouTube about studies other folks have done about how the Beatles came up with that opening chord. My Beatles "Complete Scores" book did not annotate that intro the same way that some of the YouTube folks did. I ended up using a combination of chords that made the most sense to me, but almost nobody on YouTube completely agrees with how that opening chord was made. What I found was that the addition of the piano's Gsus4 chord made a huge difference. My Beatles "Complete Scores" book says the opening chord is, simply, a Gsus4. But to my ears it's a little more colored than that. I found a video where George Harrison stated that he and John played an F chord with an added G (Fadd9) on that opening, so I think that's pretty good information.

Thank you for checking this cover out Marty! It's very much appreciated! I hope you and your wife are doing well!

- Glenn
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