48 years ago....

This tune hit the airwaves on AM radio and then hit the movie theaters.  Another one of their big hits.
 
Two friends and I decided to cover it to see what happens.
 
This was done with 8.5.3 Producer and a RME FF800.
 
I used a '63 Esquire and my friend used his V64 Ric 360-12, both through a Vox amp and mic'ed with an EV N468.
 
Bass was my '72 Guild JSII through a G-K 1001RB MkII and recorded as a DI plus a mic on two separate tracks.
 
Drums were done by Randy and recorded with 5 mics.  
 
The piano solo was done on a Axiom Pro 49 using a Dimension Pro setting.  The guitar solo was the the '63 Esquire through the Vox and mic'ed.
 
The main vocal was my friend Mimi using a Mojave MA300 tube mic, thru a Golden Age pre-73 preamp and the McCa part was me on a Rode NT2000 into the RME pre.  
 
A Hard Day's Night - cover
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11397443
 
Does it hit the mark? 

Guitarhacker


sounds good.... that first chord set the stage just right,...and the rest was pretty close to the original. 

wow...has it really been that long? 

Thanks Herb!
 
We didn't have access to a '58 Ric 325 Capri.  So, we had to do some substitutions with what we have.   The other thing is the bass line I did had some correct McCa elements but was not exactly note for note.   Even with these deviations, the original vibe of the song still shines through, I think.
 
We get a lot of enjoyment at figuring these things out and trying to execute them.

back to sixties.. sounds good.. exellent cover version

Thanks JD, Makke & ABV!

Mimi does do a great vocal job on our Beatles covers.   If you get that part of it, it's at least half the battle of doing a convincing cover of theirs.   If you are interested, I think we have about 12 others recorded and at various stages of completion here....
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=980574

The opening chord is actually made up of 4 elements.   Two guitars, a piano and a bass.   It's the Ric 360-12 playing a F/G add 9, the '63 Esquire playing a Dsus4, then the piano hitting 4 or 5 notes and the bass playing high D.   Add it all up and you get the famous opening "mystery" chord. 

Thank you Lynn!    we're very aware of how tricky it is to do a Beatles cover because the bar was set SO high originally by them and now it is or almost sacred ground.   We have to be very careful on how we treat one of their songs.    For Mimi, Randy & I, they were the reason we got into music, so this becomes a tip of the hat to our mentors.

I didn't mention it before and don't know if you noticed the bongos mixed in with the drums.   The bongos were done by Randy and are played when the cowbell is not.   They have an interesting but subtle effect on propelling the song.

Next up, we have The Word in process with all the tracks laid down except for drums.... and we have Strawberry Fields started too.   I also think we are going to do Walrus.   That ought to be fun!