The Beatles song inspired by The Lovin’ Spoonful
When it came to recording their seventh studio album, Revolver, The Beatles looked far and wide for inspiration. With no plans to play the album live, the band incorporated sounds that would be hard to replicate in concert, including reversed tapes, automatic double tracking and string octets. The result was one of their most innovative and pioneering works, encapsulating the band’s interest in psychedelics, Eastern culture and avant-garde music.
Whereas ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ contains distinctive Indian influences such as the sitar and tambura, and ‘Love You To’ reflects Indian classical music, ‘Good Day Sunshine’, the first track on side two, takes inspiration from New York rockers The Lovin’ Spoonful. The American band were popular during the mid to late 1960s, emerging from Greenwich Village’s folk music scene. John Lennon and George Harrison had attended one of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s gigs in April 1966 at the Marquee in London. Members of both The Rolling Stones and The Beatles declared the New Yorkers the “hot new group”.
Paul McCartney wrote ‘Good Day Sunshine’ at John Lennon’s house in Surrey, inspired by the bright summer day. The musician used Lennon’s piano to compose the melody. Lennon recalled that he “threw in a line or something”, but the work was mainly McCartney’s.
Discussing the origins of the track, McCartney shared: “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.”
‘Good Day Sunshine’ – criticised for weakening the album due to its lighthearted sensibility and theatrical elements – was recorded over two days in June 1966. The band rehearsed the song three times, the first being the strongest. From there, McCartney overdubbed his leading vocals with harmonies provided by Lennon and Harrison. The following day, Ringo Starr added drums, George Martin provided a piano solo – played in a barrelhouse style, and the whole band recorded additional handclaps.
The song helped to soundtrack the hot summer that graced England in 1966. According to author Howard Sounes, “The sun seemed to shine every day during the summer of 1966; English music and youth style was applauded; the England soccer team won the World Cup, and the Beatles’ Revolver was the soundtrack album of the season.”
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