TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES: 89

"Good Day Sunshine" (McCartney – August 8, 1966) 

Revolver – Side 2, Track 1 (2:08)
YouTube (McCartney live in Kiev, 2008)

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone and About.com –

Background – 

Not all English summers are warm and balmy, the way they usually are in the US, but the summer of 1966 was reportedly a particularly beautiful one, a bucolic season which led to several sunshine-themed hits in the summer before the Summer of Love. Paul was a big fan of the recent Lovin' Spoonful hit "Daydream," admiring the skiffle-like guilelessness of the tune and its ode to chucking everything for a summer stroll. While at John's house in Weybridge, waiting for him to wake up and start writing with him, McCartney came up with the basic structure for a song called "A Good Day's Sunshine." John helped him flesh it out somewhat (the line "She feels good, she knows she's looking fine" seems to hearken back to "Girl"), and the duo immediately brought it in for the Revolver sessions.

The recording of what was now called "Good Day Sunshine" was a simple one. Paul laid down the basic track on June 8, 1966, with himself on piano and Ringo on drums, nailing the basic track in one take. Paul added lead vocals and bass, and George and John contributed backing vocals. The next day, Paul added a jangly honky-tonk style piano in the verses and producer George Martin added an unprecedented third piano track, a jaunty two-bar solo sped up slightly to give it the proper feel, much like the "harpsichord" he'd played on "In My Life." George and John helped Paul with some more harmonies, Ringo contributed some nice extra touches, including the cymbal washes that accentuate the song, the whole band clapped hands to augment the rhythm in places, and "Good Day Sunshine" was complete.

The song was recorded at Abbey Road 8 June 1966, with overdubs added the following day. McCartney sang the lead vocal and also played bass guitar and piano accompanied by Ringo Starr on drums. Music critic Ian MacDonald was unsure if John Lennon played guitar on the track; in his description of the recording sessions for the song, Mark Lewisohn did not mention a guitar track. Lennon and George Harrison add harmony vocals during the choruses. Lennon can be barely heard repeating "she feels good" after McCartney at 1:27. George Martin played the piano solo, recorded with the tape recorder running slower than usual and thus in the released version the solo sounds faster than it was actually played.

Like '"She Said, She Said" the song closes with an imitative canon in the voices.

"Good Day Sunshine" has been played as the wake-up music on multiple Space Shuttle missions. McCartney played the song live to the crew of the International Space Station on November, 13 2005 in the first-ever concert link-up to the space station.

"Good Day Sunshine" was one of several Beatles songs thought to refer to drugs, but it was retroactive in this case -- the famed LSD tabs known as "Orange Sunshine," developed by underground chemist Stanley Owsley, didn't become available until 1969. John and Paul were both always adamant that this track was as innocent as it seemed. However, Owsley did provide tabs to the band during the filming of "Magical Mystery Tour."

The song is played at Safeco Field, home of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners, when the retractable roof is retracted.

Personnel –

John Lennon – Backing vocals, harmony vocals, handclaps
Paul McCartney – Lead vocals, backing vocals, harmony vocals, bass guitar (1961 Hofner 500/1), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills"), handclaps
George Harrison – Backing vocals, harmony vocals, handclaps
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig)
George Martin – Piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills")

Trivia –

This song jarringly ends in a different home key, just like "A Hard Day's Night." It's also got an open-ended finish that would be used often in the band's "middle period" -- for example, George's cascading vocal harmonies on "I Want To Tell You." The Beatles had only modulated up a half-step once before, however, on Paul's "And I Love Her."

John answers Paul at 1:26 of the original recording with what sounds like a repeat of the line "She feels good." Paul himself has replicated this in concert.

The original US mono mix leaves a bass drum hit and some snare fills in after the ending vocals begin cascading; this was "fixed" in the stereo versions.

Paul has performed this song live on his 1990 "Get Back" tour, and also in 2005 to wake up the crew of the US space shuttle! It was also re-recorded for his 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street.

Conductor Leonard Bernstein was one of the Beatles' main champions in the classical world, and often pointed to this song as proof of their structural brilliance. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys has also listed this as one of his favorite Beatles songs.
The Seattle Mariners baseball team has been known to play this song over the loudspeakers when retracting Safeco Field's mechanized dome to let in the sun.

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) January 10 –

1962 –Performance at the Cavern, with Gerry and the Pacemakers, and the Strangers.

The Beatles with Gerry and the Pacemakers and Roy Orbison

1963 – Concert at the Grafton Ballroom, Liverpool.

1964 – US LP release: "Introducing The Beatles".

– 'Beatles Christmas Show', at the Astoria Cinema, Finsbury Park, London.

1965 – Sid Bernstein calls Brian, proposing him a Beatles concert at the Shea Stadium.

1966 – Brian is appointed a director of Lennon Books Limited.

– US single release: "Woman", with Peter and Gordon.

1967 – Studio 3. 7.00pm-1.40am. Recording: "Penny Lane"(overdub onto take 9). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Geoff Emerick; 2nd Engineer: Phil McDonald. 

– Recording of various effects (scat singing, bell) for 'Penny Lane'.

1968 – "Hello, Goodbye" number 1, 6th and last week (UK New Musical Express chart).

– EMI Recording Studio, Bombay, India. 10.00am-7.00pm approx. George session.– New Delhi. The General Secretary of the Movement for the Spiritual Regeneration announces the Beatles will visit India to attend a trascendental meditation course.

1969 – George leaves the Beatles.

1970 – "Live Peace In Toronto", number 136, 1st week in the ranking (Billboard).

1971 – Start of the trial after Paul's action. 

Photos from Google.