“Any Time At All”

• Published on 1964
• Author: Lennon/McCartney
• Track 8 on “A Hard Day’s Night“

What the Beatles said about “Any Time At All”

JOHN 1980: “An effort at writing ‘It Won’t Be Long’ –same ilk. C to A minor, C to A minor with me shouting.”

Info about “Any Time At All”

Credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, “Any Time At All” was mainly composed by John Lennon, with an instrumental middle eight by Paul McCartney. It first appeared on the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night album.

Incomplete when first brought into EMI Studios on Tuesday 2 June 1964, 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. McCartney sings the second “Any time at all” in each chorus because Lennon couldn’t reach the notes. “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.

Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for “Any Time at All” were sold for £6,000 to an unidentified individual at an auction held at Sotheby’s in London, on 8 April 1988.

Personnel

• John Lennon – lead vocal, acoustic rhythm guitar, electric guitar (concluding chord)
• Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass, piano
• George Harrison – 12-string lead guitar, classical guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums, cowbell