"I Feel Fine" is a riff-driven rock song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and released in 1964 by the Beatles as the A-side of their eighth British single. The song is notable for being one of the first uses of guitar feedback in popular music.
Origin
Lennon wrote the guitar riff while in the studio recording "Eight Days a Week." "I wrote 'I Feel Fine' around that riff going on in the background", he recalled. "I told them I'd write a song specially for the riff. So they said, 'Yes. You go away and do that', knowing that we'd almost finished the album Beatles for Sale. Anyway, going into the studio one morning, I said to Ringo, 'I've written this song but it's lousy'. But we tried it, complete with riff, and it sounded like an A side, so we decided to release it just like that."
Lennon loved technology, and when the feedback was coincidentally recorded during the I Feel Fine session, liked the sound of it and placed it at the beginning of the song. Both John Lennon and Watch Your Step", a 1961 release written and performed by Bobby Parker and covered by the Beatles in concerts during 1961 and 1962.[7] Paul McCartney said the drums on "I Feel Fine" were inspired by Ray Charles's "What'd I Say".
At the time of the song's recording, the Beatles, having mastered the studio basics, had begun to explore new sources of inspiration in noises previously eliminated as mistakes (such as electronic goofs, twisted tapes, and talkback). "I Feel Fine" marks one of the earliest examples of the use of feedback as a recording effect in popular music. Artists such as the Kinks and the Who had already used feedback live, but Lennon remained proud of the fact that the Beatles were one of the first groups to actually put it on vinyl.
Structure
"I Feel Fine" is written in Gretsch Tennessean), followed by the more "electric" sound of John's amped acoustic. The song ends with a fadeout of the G major portion of the opening riff repeated several times.
Feedback
"I Feel Fine" starts with a single, found object, an accident caused by leaning the guitar against the amp." Although it sounded very much like an electric guitar, Lennon actually played the riff on an acoustic-electric guitar (a Gibson model J-160E), employing the guitar's onboard pickup.
Later, Lennon was very proud of this sonic experimentation. In one of his last interviews, he said, "I defy anybody to find a record... unless it is some old blues record from 1922... that uses feedback that way. So I claim it for the Beatles. Before Hendrix, before The Who, before anybody. The first feedback on record." [11]
Music video
Two different music videos directed by Joe McGrath were filmed. Both feature various bits of gym equipment. In one, George, Paul and John perform the song while Ringo rides the exercise bike. In the other they are all eating Fish and Chips, while trying to mime to the song.
Charts
The single reached the top of the British charts on 12 December of that year, displacing the Rolling Stones' "Little Red Rooster", and remained there for five weeks.
"I Feel Fine" was also the first Beatles single to be released almost concurrently in the US and the UK. The song has sold 1.41 million copies in the UK.[12]
US Charts
The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 charts for three weeks in late 1964/early 1965. The B-side was the #4 hit "She's a Woman".
"I Feel Fine" was the last of the six Beatles songs to go to #1 on the Hot 100 within one calendar year's time (1964), an all-time record. The song was the sixth of seven songs by the Beatles to hit #1 in a one year period; an all-time record. In order, these were "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Love Me Do", "A Hard Day's Night", "I Feel Fine", and "Eight Days a Week". For songwriters Lennon and McCartney, it was the seventh #1 they wrote in a calendar year (1964), an all-time record.(see List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones)
The song was the first of six Hot 100 #1 chart toppers in a row (not counting the EP "4 - by the Beatles") by one act, also a record at the time. The subsequent singles were "Eight Days a Week", "Ticket to Ride", "Help!", "Yesterday" and "We Can Work It Out".
Other releases
In the United States, the song was released on their Capitol album Beatles '65, and is presented in a duophonic mix featuring a layer of reverb added by executive Dave Dexter, Jr.. This was on the stereo version of the album. The mono mix- released as a single on Capitol- features an exclusive mix with added reverb and a shorter fade as created by Beatles producer George Martin.
In the United Kingdom, the song was released on the LP format on A Collection of Beatles Oldies. A true stereo version can be found on the Past Masters Vol 1 and Beatles 1 CDs.
There is also another stereo version that sounds the same, but with whispering at the very beginning which appears on the original release of 1962–1966.
An outtake in mono is included in the On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 compilation released in 2013.
Personnel
-
Personnel per Ian MacDonald
Cover versions
-
In 1965, The Ventures included a cover of the song on their LP Knock Me Out.
-
In 1966, Chet Atkins released an instrumental cover on his album Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles.
-
In 1967, Alma Cogan released a version on her album Alma.
-
In 1986, Queen would often play this song's signature riff during their Magic Tour.
-
In 1988, Sweethearts of the Rodeo released a Country version as a single.
-
In 1998, The Punkles did a Punk version on their first album, The Punkles.
-
In 2002, Take That included "I Feel Fine" in their "Beatles Medley".
-
In 2003, Curtis Stigers did a ballad version on his album You Inspire Me.
-
In 2005, Westlife included the song in their The Number Ones Tour set list.
-
In 2005, Les Fradkin released an instrumental version on his album While My Guitar Only Plays.
-
In 1997 John Farnham on compilation album Anthology 3: Rarities
-
In 2012, Reynolds & Williams Band released a bluegrass inspired version on their debut EP "Reynolds & Williams".
Chart performance
The Beatles
|
Chart (1964)
|
Peak
position
|
|
Canadian RPM Top Singles
|
1
|
|
UK Singles Chart
|
1
|
|
US Billboard Hot 100
|
1
|
Sweethearts of the Rodeo
Year-end charts
Notes
-
^ "1" Liner Notes by Mark Lewisohn
-
^ , 29 March 2007One Note AheadShaheen J. Dibai, "Bobby Parker: The Real Fifth Beatle?", . Retrieved 2 November 2013
-
^ http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbjypb.int3.html
-
^ Ami Sedghi (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
-
^ "Sweethearts of the Rodeo Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Sweethearts of the Rodeo.
-
^ "Best of 1989: Country Songs".
References
-
Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio (Revised ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books.
-
-
"Beatles For Sale". Beatles Interview Database. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
-
-
Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, ed. (1993). The Beatles - Complete Scores. Milwaukee:
-
-
-
"RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - The Beatles Gold Singles".
-
Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York:
-
Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 341.
|
|
|
|
-
"I Love You" (Cliff Richard & The Shadows, 1960)
-
"Moon River" (Danny Williams, 1961)
-
"Return to Sender" (Elvis Presley, 1962)
-
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" (The Beatles, 1963)
-
"I Feel Fine" (The Beatles, 1964)
-
"Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" (The Beatles, 1965)
-
"Green, Green Grass of Home" (Tom Jones, 1966)
-
"Hello, Goodbye" (The Beatles, 1967)
-
"Lily the Pink" (The Scaffold, 1968)
-
"Two Little Boys" (Rolf Harris, 1969)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Kristine Arnold
-
Janis Gill
|
|
|
|
Studio albums
|
|
|
|
|
Notable singles
|
|
|
|
|
Related articles
|
|
|
This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.
Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.