Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 18 October 1964
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 27 November 1964 (UK), 23 November 1964 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, guitar
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass
George Harrison: vocals, guitar
Ringo Starr: drums
Available on:
Past Masters
1
Anthology 2
Live At The BBC
The Beatles' eighth single, I Feel Fine was recorded during the sessions for the Beatles For Sale album, although it was a stand-alone release.
George and I play the same bit on guitar together - that's the bit that'll set your feet a-tapping, as the reviews say. I suppose it has a bit of a country and western feel about it, but then so have a lot of our songs. The middle eight is the most tuneful part, to me, because it's a typical Beatles bit.
Anthology
I Feel Fine was a riff-driven, blues-based number. It was written by John Lennon, possibly during the 6 October 1964 recording session for Eight Days A Week.
The guitar riff was actually influenced by a record called Watch Your Step by Bobby Parker. But all riffs in that tempo have a similar sound. John played it, and all I did was play it as well, and it became the double-tracked sound.
Anthology
The Beatles had originally intended for Eight Days A Week to be their next single, but the plan was shelved once they had completed I Feel Fine.
The song itself was more John's than mine. We sat down and co-wrote it with John's original idea. John sang it, I'm on harmonies and the drumming is basically what we used to think of as What'd I Say drumming. There was a style of drumming on What'd I Say which is a sort of Latin R&B that Ray Charles's drummer Milt Turner played on the original record and we used to love it. One of the big clinching factors about Ringo as the drummer in the band was that he could really play that so well.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The Beatles also recorded I Feel Fine for BBC radio. The performance was taped at the Playhouse Theatre in London, on 17 November 1964. It was first broadcast on the Top Gear programme on 26 November, and again on 26 December on Saturday Club. It was eventually released on 1994's Live At The BBC.
I Feel Fine was part of The Beatles' live repertoire from 1964 to 1966. It was one of the songs performed during their final tour date on 29 August 1966, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.
[...] laughter as they try to complete I'll Follow the Sun. It also contains versions of songs including I Feel Fine, I'm A Loser and She's A [...]
"I Feel Fine was completed in nine takes. The first eight were of the rhythm track only, and the final take was an overdub of the vocals."
The "Studio Sessions 1964" bootleg, released in 1994 by Yellow Dog, contains a few takes of I Feel Fine (1, 2, 5, 6, & 7). Takes 1, 2, and 5 on that CD have John singing along with the band. Take 6 seems to be the first one played without vocals.
who played the intro feedback? George or John?
David - on page two of this article there's info on the feedback note. For the record, it was a bass note played by McCartney, combined with feedback from Lennon's acoustic guitar pickups.
Who plays the lead intro to I Feel Fine?
The intro was Lennon on an acoustic guitar (a Gibson J-160E).
Some people still say that Ringo ain't good drummer. Bollox. That latin drumbeat is as good as Ray Charles drummer's in "What'd Say".
The bridge/solo sounds very similar to a song I cannot put my finger on. I swear I have heard an older song where one of the main riffs sounds a bit like the solo in this song. I am not talking about the Bobby Parker song either. Anyone else?
First time I heard feedback. Thanks John.
I wonder what the strict recording policies were where feedback was not allowed.
I always wondered if Ringo actually played the drums on this tune. They are just so damn good! They don't really sound like his clumsy but unique soulful style. He definitely comes nowhere near playing this beat live.
What an insult to Ringo!
It is no longer cool to dis Ringo. Unbelievable that die-hard Ringo haters can read Paul's words about Ringo's mastery of this specific beat and STILL doubt that it's him. Ringo was/is a wonderful drummer. Live with it.
Die-hard Ringo haters? Whatever that means. I am simply stating that the drum beat does not sound like ringo. I love ringo, and when I say "clumsy", I mean that an endearing way, his fills are a bit clumsy that is what makes them so great. Ringo does not even come close to playing this beat live. I know playing live is totally different than in the controlled environment of a studio but still. As for Mr. Brush, you don't need to spend time defending any of the Beatles. We all love them, they are the greatest thing that ever was or will be. We are all Beatles nuts. why do you think we spend time blogging about them? Having said that, one feels like they know them and love them so much that they have the right to be critical of them. By offering different perspectives of their legacy, you keep it alive and interesting. Lay off the reprimands and by the way Pepper is still Paul's album.
Nando---are you thinking of "Last Train to Clarksville" by the Monkees?
"Last Train" sounds more like "Paperback Writer" than anything!
Sugarloaf's (partly autobiographical) hit song "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" blatantly uses the "I Feel Fine" riff during the choruses. And in the middle-8, the singer optimistically describes his band as "sound[ing] like John, Paul and George!" It was a Top Five hit in 1975 (in North America, anyways), could that be the one Nando's thinking of?