Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 8, 9 June 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 5 August 1966 (UK), 8 August 1966 (US)
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass, piano, handclaps
John Lennon: backing vocals, handclaps
George Harrison: backing vocals, handclaps
Ringo Starr: drums, handclaps
George Martin: piano
Available on:
Revolver
Capturing the mood of the gloriously hot summer of 1966, Good Day Sunshine kicked off side two of Revolver.
It was really very much a nod to The Lovin' Spoonful's Daydream, the same traditional, almost trad-jazz feel. That was our favourite record of theirs. Good Day Sunshine was me trying to write something similar to Daydream. John and I wrote it together at Kenwood, but it was basically mine, and he helped me with it.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
In the studio
Good Day Sunshine was recorded over two days in June 1966, under the working title A Good Day's Sunshine. On 8 June The Beatles rehearsed the track many times before recording the rhythm track – bass, piano and drums – three times.
The first of these takes was the best, and onto it Paul overdubbed his lead vocals, along with harmonies from John and George.
The next day Ringo added more drums, George Martin played his piano solo, more harmonies were added to the ending, and all four Beatles taped handclaps.
Is that really ringo saying “she fuckin’ does” during that last verse at about 1:25?
It’s Lennon repeating: “She feels good”
Yes, right after Paul sings “She feels Good” you can hear Lennon Jokingly repeat “She feels good” ya know he meant it in a sexual way and you can actually hear the smile in Paul’s voice as he sings, “She knows she’s looking fine”
I love that part of the song, cuz you always had Lennon messing around w Paul trying to make Paul laugh or screw up. The closeness of those two then was still so cool to hear.
I know Paul was talented but did he really play both bass and piano when recording the rhythm tracks – you’d need 4 hands to do so (4 Hands to Mold You?). Perhaps somebody else played a temporary piano or bass track and Paul replaced it later? More likely Paul and Ringo recorded piano and drums with the bass and the rest overdubbed.
They recorded it at different points during the day. They would record just the bass, and then just the piano, and the other instruments all separately, and then put them together.
According to Peter Framptin on the Beatles channel, George played bass.
Everett’s take:
Paul plays piano and Ringo drums for the basic track. Paul’s lead vocal for the verses went onto track two and John and Paul’s vocals for the chorus went on to track three. The bass was added to track four. These four tracks were reduced to two tracks.
Ringo then added more crash cymbals, bass drum and snare to the choruses plus tom or rim tapping elsewhere. At the same time Paul added a shuffling lead piano part and those available clapped hands for the last verse and chorus.
The fourth track had George Martin recording the tremolo-rich honky-tonk piano solo (at a slower speed) and Paul, John and George adding vocals for the coda which were given tape echo.
I don’t care what anyone says, George Martin WAS the fifth Beatle. He has added so much of his musical talents to numerous Beatle songs, with Good Day Sunshine being the perfect example.
are you related to Martin, a cousin perhaps?
No, not a relative. Just giving credit where credit is due. The Beatles owe Martin so much….starting with their career.
Totally agree with you.
During the “Good Day Sunshine” parts, you can here the snare drum rolls, and an extra snare drum along with the beat. There are 2 drum parts, presumably Ringo. Maybe one was played by paul?
No, both parts were played by Ringo.
But why were there 2 drum parts at all?
Also notice the ride cymbal roll on the 4th bar of the intro done at the same time or simultaneous with the triplet beats/hits on the snare. I think those were impossible to accomplish by one drummer unless Ringo overdubbed it or somebody was on the ride cymbal while Ringo is doing the snare part.
GM’s solo is played in a grand piano with some effect or is it an electric one, like a fender rhodes or even a Hofner ?
George has admitted he played bass on many tracks. it is a simple bass line. i am sure it could be George. He had a Burns bass and they may have had the Bass VI by then also
One of my all time favorite songs to listen to on a beautiful day
I just love this song…you can notice here Paul’s talent for music….well apart from the top hits like All My Loving or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
An excellent song, and probably the first of some Beatles songs that share a peculiar feature: the alternation between B major and A major. I suspect John was influenced by this song to write Doctor Robert, which, just like Good day Sunshine goes from A in the verse to B in the chorus. A year later Paul reverse the roles in Penny Lane, which is in B, but goes to A in the chorus. Then John follows him once more, in I´m the Walrus, which starts in B, then turns for most of the song to A, only to temporarily return in the “Sitting in the English garden” part to B. And even later in Hey Bulldog B and A are to be found in each other’s near. Obviously a trick they relished.
Good observation
I always interpreted this song as somewhat sarcastic. The piano is too solemn and deep and serious for the lyrics, so I always thought it was a dark joke: good day, sunshine, (ominous piano)
I love this! If you saw the new documentary Eight Days a Week, they made an awesome use of this song that plays on that “ominous piano” effect: it plays under footage of the protests and burnings of Beatles records in the South after the “bigger than Jesus” comment. 🙂
Both Lennon and McCartney play piano on the band track. In the chorus Lennon adds the octave fills between “Good Day Shine” (he uses a similar lick in “All You Need Is Love”). In the verse he plays the descending chromatic run and then a boogie part. McCartney plays the syncopated right hand chords. The parts are clearly scored in THE COMPLETE BEATLES SCORES and can be heard fairly clearly separated in the left and right channels. That would leave Harrison on bass (and Martin on the piano solo).
Problem with the The Complete Beatles Scores is they note only two voices in the chorus. But I hear three voice harmony..
John and George did backup for the chorus.
Lovely optimistic Paul McCartney tune from”Revolver”. Obviously John Lennon helped. Wonderful piano playing in this by McCartney.
I have always liked that song!i remember one summer day I played it over and over again. my cousin told me to turn it off.
{he did not like it.} but I like d it, it is a happy, optimistic type song.
This was my dad’s favorite Beatle song…..He wasn’t really a fan…
He liked the positivity of it…….
There is the arpeggiated guitar part that comes in.. Who played that? I’m guessing George?
Paul and George Martin are on piano. George Harrison plays bass guitar since it was recorded during the basic takes and McCartney was at the keys. Nobody documents this but John Lennon played electric guitar on the basic track as well, on his Epiphone Casino. You can faintly hear it playing in the song’s final master.