I Should Have Known Better

(Lennon/McCartney)

Quick Facts

Composer	John
Lead Vocal	John
Recorded	Feb 1964
Length	2:43
Key	G
Noted Takes	22
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Norman Smith

Originally released on

A Hard Day's Night

Parlophone — PMC 1230 / PCS 3058

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Story

“I Should Have Known Better” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1964 album and film A Hard Day’s Night. Written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, it is a harmonica-driven pop song featured in the train-carriage scene of the film. The song required two recording sessions and a re-make before reaching its released form, with John’s approach to the harmonica part evolving substantially across the two days.

Lennon’s vocal is accompanied by his own harmonica, which opens and punctuates the song. The arrangement changed significantly between the two sessions: the first attempt on 25 February 1964 featured a heavier arrangement with a very Bob Dylan-ish harmonica solo and George Harrison’s lead guitar providing a closing figure; the second attempt on 26 February stripped back the approach, with the final take 9 recorded without harmonica for the first time — the harmonica and a double-track vocal were then added as an overdub from take 22.¹

What’s distinctive

At 2:43 it sits at the 64th percentile by length. One of 101 songs led primarily by John. Recorded during the A Hard Day’s Night (1964) sessions. Take count: 22 across two sessions — most takes in the second session did not get beyond the middle eight. The released master is take 9 (the first complete take with John singing without the harmonica), with a double-track vocal and harmonica overdub from take 22.¹

Recording

I Should Have Known Better was recorded across two sessions on 25 and 26 February 1964 at EMI Studio Two, Abbey Road, on the studio’s Telefunken M10/T9U four-track through the REDD.51 console. George Martin produced both sessions; Norman Smith engineered throughout, with Richard Langham as second engineer. The song shared its first session (25 February, 2.30–5.30pm) with the first attempt at And I Love Her; the second session (26 February, 2.30–5.30pm) was dedicated to the re-make.^1,2
The first attempt (25 February, takes 1–3) featured a substantially different arrangement. John opened the song with “a very Bob Dylan-ish harmonica solo” and George Harrison ended it with his lead guitar. Of the three takes attempted, only one made it through to the end. Take 2 was “instantly aborted when John broke into hysterics over his harmonica playing.” This initial arrangement was set aside in favour of the re-make begun the following afternoon.¹
The second session (26 February, takes 4–22) re-made the song from scratch. The large number of takes “should not be taken as an indication that the work was abnormally complicated” — very few got beyond the middle eight stage. Take 9 was the keeper, notable as the first complete take with John singing without the harmonica. An overdub from take 22 then added a double-track vocal and the harmonica, restoring the instrument to the arrangement but now as a layered element rather than a live performance constraint. The mono remix was subsequently taken “from take 22” — meaning the tape as it stood after the take 22 overdub onto the take 9 basic track.¹
The four-track process in early 1964 followed the standard layout: rhythm instruments (drums, bass, rhythm guitar) on track 1, lead guitar on track 2, vocals on track 3, and extras (overdubs, effects) on track 4. George Martin preferred to capture live vocals during the basic-track take rather than overdubbing them later, prioritising performance energy over technical isolation. On I Should Have Known Better, separating the harmonica from the vocal onto the overdub track (take 22) was a pragmatic solution: it allowed John to concentrate on singing during the basic track and then add the harmonica afterwards without the physical constraint of switching between vocal and harmonica within the same take.^1,2
Double-tracking was by this point an established element of the Beatles’ studio sound. The overdub from take 22 added both a double-track vocal and the harmonica, reinforcing the vocal line while simultaneously restoring the instrument that had defined the song’s earlier arrangement. The double-tracking process involved John recording a second vocal performance along to the previously recorded vocal track, creating a fuller sound from the subtle timing and pitch differences between the two performances.^1,2
The monitoring setup in Studio Two during early 1964 did not use headphones for the musicians. A “White Elephant” studio speaker was placed in the live room to play back previously recorded tracks during overdubs. The figure-of-eight polar pattern of microphones like the Neumann U48 was used to reject the speaker’s output, with the microphone’s null axis positioned toward the speaker to minimise leakage. This method shaped the room sound and overdub quality: when John overdubbed his harmonica and vocal onto take 9, he heard the basic track through the room speaker rather than through isolated headphone feeds.²
The amplification for the 25–26 February sessions was through Vox AC50 Super Twin amplifiers, which the 1964 equipment summary lists as the Beatles’ primary amplifiers through July. The session photo from 27 February (the same week’s sessions) documents AC50 Super Twin rigs mic’d with Neumann U47 microphones. The Vox AC30 Twin was also available early in the year, but the AC50 Super Twin was the primary rig by this date.²
The two-source comparison reveals complementary coverage. Lewisohn provides the definitive session chronology (dates, times, take numbers, personnel, the Dylan-harmonica narrative, the take 9/take 22 structure) while Ryan and Kehew provide the equipment context (console, tape machines, microphone setup, amplification, overdubbing technique, the White Elephant monitoring method). Lewisohn identifies the harmonica as a Hohner instrument by genre context; K/R’s 1964 equipment summary explicitly lists “Hohner harmonicas” among the available instruments.^1,2

Equipment

Studio	EMI Studio Two, Abbey Road (recording, 25–26 Feb 1964); EMI Studio One control room (mono mixing, 3 Mar; stereo mixing, 22 Jun 1964); EMI Studio Three control room (mono tape copying, 9 Jun 1964)
Tape machine	Telefunken M10/T9U four-track (recording); BTR-2 mono mixdown; BTR-3 stereo mixdown²
Console	REDD.51 (Studio Two, from January 1964)²
Microphones	STC 4038 (drum overhead), STC 4033-A (bass drum & bass cab), Neumann U47 (guitar amps), Neumann U48 figure-of-eight (vocals)²
Outboard / effects	RS124, RS114, Fairchild 660 (compressor/limiters); RS127 (EQ); echo chamber²
Guitars	Rickenbacker 325 Capri (John Lennon); lead guitar (George Harrison); Höfner 500/1 violin bass (Paul McCartney)²
Amplifiers	Vox AC50 Super Twin (through July 1964)²
Other instruments	Hohner harmonica (John Lennon)^1,2

Recording Timeline

25 February 1964 (Tue) — first attempt, EMI Studio Two — 2.30–5.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Richard Langham. Recording: I Should Have Known Better (takes 1–3). Also recorded this session: And I Love Her (takes 1–2). The first attempt used a heavier arrangement with John opening the song with a “very Bob Dylan-ish harmonica solo” and George Harrison ending it with his lead guitar. Only three takes were attempted; only one made it through to the end. Take 2 was instantly aborted when John broke into hysterics over his harmonica playing. This version was subsequently set aside in favour of the re-make the following afternoon.¹
26 February 1964 (Wed) — second attempt (re-make), EMI Studio Two — 2.30–5.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Richard Langham. Recording: I Should Have Known Better [re-make] (takes 4–22). The song was re-made from scratch. The large number of takes should not be taken as an indication that the work was abnormally complicated — very few got beyond the middle eight stage. Take 9 was the final version, John singing without the harmonica for the first time. An overdub from take 22 added a double-track vocal and the harmonica. Also recorded in the evening session (7.00–10.00pm): And I Love Her [re-make] (takes 3–19).¹
3 March 1964 (Tue) — mono mixing, EMI Studio One (control room only) — 10.00am–1.45pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: A.B. Lincoln. Mono mixing: I Should Have Known Better (from take 22). This first mono remix, prepared alongside five other songs for United Artists and EMI, was the released mono master.¹
9 June 1964 (Tue) — mono tape copying, EMI Studio Three (control room only) — 2.00–5.45pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Ken Scott. Mono tape copying of I Should Have Known Better alongside seven other A Hard Day’s Night tracks. Two identical tapes of the best mono remixes were prepared for Capitol Records and United Artists (the latter under the film contract).¹
22 June 1964 (Mon) — stereo mixing, EMI Studio One (control room only) — 11.30am–1.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Geoff Emerick. Stereo mixing: I Should Have Known Better (from take 22). An exhaustive day’s remixing, predominantly for the A Hard Day’s Night LP. The Beatles were in Wellington, New Zealand, at the time.¹

Take two was instantly aborted when John broke into hysterics over his harmonica playing. Actually, it is little short of miraculous how the other Beatles were able to record any Lennon song without collapsing into laughter, for while Paul or George’s 1-2-3-4 count-ins were always appropriately sensible, John’s — from the earliest surviving archive tape to the last — were anything but.— Mark Lewisohn¹

Studio Notes

The Dylan-harmonica pivot — The original 25 February arrangement opened with what Lewisohn describes as a “very Bob Dylan-ish harmonica solo.” The decision to strip the harmonica from the basic track on 26 February — recording take 9 with John singing without the harmonica for the first time — was the key creative breakthrough. It freed the vocal performance from the physical constraint of alternating between singing and playing harmonica within the same take, allowing each element to be captured at its best. The harmonica was then restored via overdub (take 22), transforming it from a live performance element to a production layer.¹
Take 9 / take 22 architecture — The released master has a composite structure: take 9 provides the basic track (rhythm section, vocals, lead guitar) and take 22 provides the overdub layer (double-track vocal and harmonica). This was a practical application of the four-track format’s key advantage: the ability to record overdubs without the generational loss that plagued the twin-track method. The mono remix was listed as “from take 22” because the tape bore the number of its final recording pass.^1,2
REDD.51 console — first months of operation — The I Should Have Known Better sessions fell within the first two months of the REDD.51’s installation in Studio Two (January 1964). The REDD.51 replaced the REDD.37 and, while very similar in design, offered new EMI-designed amplifier stages. A peculiarity of the REDD.51’s stereo mixing mode influenced the standard four-track tape layout: the track allocation convention (rhythm on track 1, guitar on track 2, vocals on track 3, extras on track 4) was “directly influenced by a peculiarity of the REDD.51 mixing console during stereo mixing.”²
Harmonica as a Beatles signature instrument — I Should Have Known Better is one of the last Beatles recordings to feature prominent Hohner harmonica. The instrument had been a defining element of the group’s sound from Love Me Do (1962) through to the A Hard Day’s Night sessions, but would largely disappear from Beatles recordings after 1964. The song’s recording process — separating the harmonica from the vocal onto an overdub track — represents the transitional moment between the harmonica as a live performance element and the increasingly layered production approach that would define the Beatles’ later work.¹
Film context — The song was written for the A Hard Day’s Night film and appears in the famous train-carriage scene. It was one of the songs for which the film production required copies before the film went into production: the 9 June mono tape copying session prepared tapes for both Capitol Records and United Artists, the latter under the film contract. The urgency of the film schedule drove the concentrated February recording period — nine songs for the film soundtrack were recorded in the space of six days (25 February – 1 March 1964).¹
Lennon’s count-ins — Lewisohn notes that John’s count-ins were famously eccentric: “while Paul or George’s 1-2-3-4 count-ins were always appropriately sensible, John’s — from the earliest surviving archive tape to the last — were anything but. Only John Lennon could have devised so many demented ways of saying four simple numbers.” The take 2 abort — John dissolving into hysterics over his own harmonica playing — is characteristic of this self-amusement.¹
Concurrent session density — The 25–26 February sessions that produced I Should Have Known Better also produced the first attempts at And I Love Her (25 Feb) and its re-make (26 Feb evening), plus the mono mixing of You Can’t Do That and Can’t Buy Me Love (26 Feb morning). The concentrated pace reflects the dual pressure of the film production schedule and the group’s return from their first US visit just three days earlier (22 February).¹
Echo chamber application — Throughout the Twin-Track period and into early 1964, the vocals were typically treated with reverb from Echo Chamber Two at Abbey Road, with a STEED pre-delay feeding the chamber. Norman Smith preferred a drier sound for the instruments, allowing the natural ambience of Studio Two to provide the room character: “the way I tried was to keep the sound good and dry. Get the basic rhythm more forward.” George Martin generally favoured more echo on the vocals: “George wanted more echo on the LP,” Smith recalled in 1963. The same personnel and chambers carried forward into the four-track sessions of early 1964.²

Releases

1964 UK mono LP A Hard Day’s Night (10 July 1964, Parlophone PMC 1230, side A track 2) — Released mono master from the 3 March 1964 mono remix (from take 22). P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith.¹
1964 UK stereo LP A Hard Day’s Night (10 July 1964, Parlophone PCS 3058, side A track 2) — Stereo master mixed from take 22 on 22 June 1964 at EMI Studio One, while the Beatles were in New Zealand. The REDD.51’s stereo mixing mode imparts a subtly different tonal character from the mono remix.^1,2
1964 US single (13 July 1964, Capitol 5222) — “A Hard Day’s Night” / “I Should Have Known Better.” Released as the B-side of the US single.¹
1964 US LP A Hard Day’s Night (26 June 1964, United Artists UAS 6366) — US United Artists pressing from the same masters, alongside orchestral film-score tracks by George Martin. The US LP’s side-A featured Martin’s orchestral interpretations; the Beatles’ recordings appeared on side B.¹
1964 UK EP Extracts from the Film A Hard Day’s Night (6 November 1964, Parlophone GEP 8920) — Four-track EP featuring “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “If I Fell,” and “And I Love Her.”¹
1995 Anthology 1 — The 25 February 1964 outtake (the heavier, Dylan-ish harmonica arrangement from takes 1–3) was released on Anthology 1, providing a documented alternate version.
2009 Stereo Remasters — 24-bit flat transfer of the original stereo master (Allan Rouse / Guy Massey / Steve Rooke), preserving the 22 June 1964 REDD.51 stereo mix characteristics. The Mono Masters companion carries the 3 March 1964 mono master.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), pp. 39–41, 45–46, 200.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), pp. 361, 374, 376, 378, 385.

Frequently asked

Who wrote I Should Have Known Better?

“I Should Have Known Better” was written by John Lennon (credited Lennon–McCartney).

Who sings lead on I Should Have Known Better?

The lead vocal on “I Should Have Known Better” is by John Lennon.

When was I Should Have Known Better recorded?

“I Should Have Known Better” was recorded across two sessions on 25 and 26 February 1964 at EMI Studio Two, Abbey Road. Takes 1–3 (25 Feb) and 4–22 (26 Feb). The released master is take 9 with a double-track vocal and harmonica overdub from take 22.¹

How many takes did I Should Have Known Better require?

22 takes across two sessions. The first session (25 Feb, takes 1–3) featured a heavier arrangement with a Bob Dylan-ish harmonica opening; the second session (26 Feb, takes 4–22) produced take 9 as the basic track, with take 22 adding a double-track vocal and harmonica overdub.¹

On this page

Story

What’s distinctive

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

Studio Notes

Releases

Sources

Frequently asked