Eight Days a Week (song)

Infobox Song
Name =Eight Days a Week


Caption =
Type =
Artist =The Beatles
alt Artist =
Album =Beatles for Sale
Published =
Released =December 4, 1964
track_no =
Recorded =Abbey Road 6 October 1964
Genre =Rock
Length =2:43
Writer =Lennon/McCartney
Label =Parlophone
PMC 1240 (mono)
PCS 3062 (stereo)
CDP 7 46438 2
Producer =George Martin
Audio sample? = yes
Chart position =
Tracks =
prev =
prev_no =
next =
next_no =
Misc = Extra musicsample|filename=Beatles eight days.ogg |format=Ogg |title=Eight Days a Week |Type=song
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Beatles for Sale
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side one
# "No Reply"
# "I'm a Loser"
# "Baby's in Black"
# "Rock and Roll Music"
# "I'll Follow the Sun"
# "Mr. Moonlight"
# Medley: "Kansas City"/"Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey";Side two
# "Eight Days a Week"
# "Words of Love"
# "Honey Don't"
# "Every Little Thing"
# "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"
# "What You're Doing"
# "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby"Infobox Single
Name = Eight Days a Week


Artist = The Beatles
B-side = "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party"
Released = 15 February 1965 (US only)
Format = 7"
Genre = Rock
Length =
Label = Capitol 5371 (US)
Chart position = * #1 (US Billboard Hot 100)
* #1 (CAN CHUM Chart)
Reviews =
Last single = "I Feel Fine"
(1964)
This single = "Eight Days a Week"
(1965)
Next single = "Ticket to Ride"
(1965)
Misc = |

"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was recorded by The Beatles and released on their December 1964 album "Beatles for Sale".audio|Beatles eight days.ogg|sample

The song, along with two others from the album ("Baby's in Black" and "No Reply") was planned as a single release. In the end, it was released as a single only in the US on 15 February 1965 becoming a number-one hit. Its second -side was "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". The single release in the US was the result of DJs playing the song from imported copies of the "Beatles for Sale" album as an exclusive since it was not included on the album's US counterpart "Beatles '65". Later, it made a US album appearance on "Beatles VI".

Although it was a huge American hit, the group didn't think highly of the songfact|date=September 2008, and never performed it live. They did, however, lip-synch to it during an April appearance on "Thank Your Lucky Stars".

According to Paul McCartney the title was inspired by a remark from a chauffeur who drove him to Lennon's house in Weybridge.

Curiously, McCartney has also credited the title to Ringo Starr, who was noted for his malapropisms. [ [http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/paulint.html 1984 Playboy Interview] "http://www.music.indiana.edu", 13 October 2007]

cquote|LINDA: Ringo also said, 'Eight days a week.'

PAUL: Yeah, he said it as though he were an overworked chauffeur. (in heavy accent) 'Eight days a week.' (laughter) When we heard it, we said, 'Really? Bing! Got it!'| | |Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney| [ [http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/courses/rock/paulint.html 1984 Playboy Interview] "http://www.music.indiana.edu", 13 October 2007] "Eight Days a Week" is noteworthy as one of the first examples of the in-studio experimentation that the band would use extensively in the future; in two recording sessions totalling nearly seven hours on October 6 devoted exclusively to this song, Lennon and McCartney tried one technique after another before settling on the eventual arrangement. Each of the first six takes of the song featured a strikingly different approach to the beginning and ending sections of the song; the eventual chiming guitar-based introduction to the song would be recorded in a different session and edited in later. [ [http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/eight-days-a-week/ The Beatles Bible: Eight Days A Week] Retrieved 7 October 2008.] The final version of the song incorporated another Beatle first and pop music rarity: The song begins with a fade in as a counterpoint to pop songs which end in a fade out.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by:
* Alma Cogan in 1965 as a double-A sided single with "Help!"
* The Supremes in 1965
* Procol Harum in 1975 on their album Procol's Ninth
* Billy Preston in 1976 on his album "Billy's Bag"
* The Runaways in 1978 on their album, And Now... The Runaways
* Joan Jett in 1982
* Lorrie Morgan in 1987 on her album Leave the Light On
* The Libertines in 2003
* The Worthless Peons - (Ted's Band) in the Scrubs season 3 episode, "My Best Friend's Wedding"
* The Punkles did a Punk cover of this song on their first album in 1998.
* B.E. Taylor in 2006 on his album, "Love Never Fails" (he has also played the song during nearly all of his concerts)
* In 2008, Country singer, Kristy Lee Cook performed a bluegrass version of this song on American Idol (season 7) as her selection for the first Beatles-based week.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/edaw.html Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Eight Days a Week"] . Retrieved on October 29 2006.