Any Time at All

Not to be confused with Anytime at All.
"Any Time at All"
Song by The Beatles from the album A Hard Day's Night
Released 10 June 1964 (mono)
10 July 1964 (stereo)
Recorded 2 June 1964
Abbey Road Studios
Genre Rock and roll
Length 2:13
Label Parlophone
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin
A Hard Day's Night track listing

"Any Time at All" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was mainly composed by John Lennon, with an instrumental middle eight by Paul McCartney.[1] It first appeared on the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night album.

Origin

In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon described the song as "An effort at writing 'It Won't Be Long'. Same ilk: C to A minor, C to A minorwith me shouting."[2]

Lennon's handwritten lyrics for "Any Time at All" were sold for £6,000 at an auction held at Sotheby's in London, on 8 April 1988.[3]

Recording

Incomplete when first brought into Abbey Road Studios on Tuesday 2 June 1964,[4] Paul McCartney suggested an idea for the middle eight section based solely on chords, which was recorded with the intention of adding lyrics later. But by the time it was needed to be mixed, the middle eight was still without words and that is how it appears on the LP.[3] These few notes were influential in sections of Xanadu, I Say a Little Prayer and Tonight I'm Yours. McCartney sings the second "Anytime at all" in each chorus because Lennon couldn't reach the notes.[5] "Any Time at All" reprises a George Martin trick from "A Hard Day's Night" by using a piano solo echoed lightly note-for-note on guitar by George Harrison.[6]

Releases

In addition to A Hard Day's Night, "Any Time at All" was included on:

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[7]

Cover versions

Notes

References

  • "Any Time At All". The Beatles Bible. 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2009.
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
  • MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
  • Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
  • 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.

Further reading