I Feel Fine – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

I’ve been visiting Cork’s site for years and it’s one of my favorite blogs to go to. I’ve read posts about The Beatles, Sasquatch, Frozen Pizza, Iron Maiden, movies, blues songs, and many more. Take a visit to his site at https://mojohorizon.home.blog/

Beatles Donut Holes

I was born in 1970 so I don’t know if Beatles Donut Holes were ever a real thing during the Sixties, but they sure sound tasty. “I’ll have a John Lennon Long John and a large Blacca Macca Coffee to go please. Yeah, and let me get an order of Cinnamon Starr Sticks with a Savoy Truffle.”

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s this….even RAGING, RABID Beatles fans can miss some things…myself included. It’s like, “Oops, how did I miss it?” I’ve experienced this on more than one occasion in my own personal B.L.Q. (Beatles Listening Quest). The American and British album releases are the easiest example of this.

For example, I checked out the vinyl “Revolver” album from my local library branch and recorded it onto a cassette. A few weeks later I was standing in the Beatles’ section of my local record store scratching my head wondering why “Doctor Robert” and “I’m Only Sleeping” aren’t on my newly dubbed version of the album. Thanks, Capitol!

The first Beatles collection I remember owning was the “red” Greatest Hits 1962-1966. Here are two donut holes you might have missed. First is the James Bond-ish intro to the song “Help.”

I always enjoy listening to the 25 second mashup of twangy guitars, sitar, and orchestra instruments. At some point I bought the Help! soundtrack years later. Don’t ask which version because I have no idea. I always associate this song with this greatest hits collection. It would be a shame to like The Beatles and not have heard this one.

Another example is the song “I Feel Fine”, which is also part of that red 62-66 collection. It’s probably best known for the whole feedback intro on the song, but you might have missed something towards the very end of the recording. It helps if you crank the volume and/or wear headphones for this. Towards the very end of the song, around 2:15, I swear I hear the sound of a dog barking.

I Googled this prior to its inclusion in this blog and I’m not the only one who hears this. One person seemed to think it was Paul McCartney barking or whooping, but you tell me what you think. I always thought “Hey Bulldog” was their finest barking, but I could be wrong.

One of my earliest Beatles Donut Hole experiences came from recording “The Compleat Beatles” documentary off USA cable network back in the day. I had the first few lines of this thing memorized from watching it so much. “Liverpool: 200 miles northwest of London.” I went to visit an out of state friend and he brought up some scenes in the film that I had never seen — then I found out the network had cut some parts of the film for time so I had the “InCompleat Compleat Beatles.” I guess American film distributors would call it the “Incomplete Complete Beatles.”

Hopefully, you got a laugh reading this. Not everything associated with The Fab Four is necessarily a rarity or demo version of your favorite song. (I also checked out The Beatles Rarities from the same library branch by the way. ) I think the beauty of enjoying an established band like The Beatles allows fans to make their own discoveries. Here’s hoping no Donut Holes befall you anytime soon.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

One of the great guitar riffs in rock…very melodic and sounds great on a guitar.

John Lennon said he borrowed from the song “Watch Your Step” by the American blues musician Bobby Parker. I Feel Fine was released in late 1964. It was the A side of the single with She’s A Woman on the B side.

The first note of this song marked the first time feedback was used on a major release. It was created when John Lennon leaned his electric guitar against an amplifier and Paul McCartney played a note on his bass, creating a strangely appealing feedback loop.

The band thought it sounded great, but in this pre-Hendrix era, feedback was considered a technical malfunction and not an artistic enhancement.Producer George Martin was always open to new ideas and agreed to insert it at the beginning of the song. Paul would say that he let them experiment.

The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, Canada, UK, and New Zealand in 1965.

From Songfacts

An early Beatles track, “I Feel Fine” lyrically is a simple love song about a guy who is crazy about his girl. It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s effective:

She’s so glad, she’s telling all the world
That her baby buys her things, you know
He buys her diamond rings, you know

The refrain is typical of Lennon’s songwriting, with the three long notes: “I’m so glad.” The sudden explosive refrain in harmonies is similar to Giovanni Gabrieli’s grand concerto “In ecclesiis,” an early baroque-music-piece.

There is a very faint sound at the end of the song that was rumored to be barking dogs. It’s actually just McCartney goofing around.

The Beatles included this in their setlist when they toured the US in August 1965. Prior to their famous Shea Stadium appearance on August 15, they taped a performance of this song and five others for an Ed Sullivan Show episode that aired September 12.

The group made two music videos for this song as part of a one-day shoot where they banged out takes for four others as well. These were not high-concept films: just the band having some fun while lip-synching the tracks. The first “I Feel Fine” video got pretty goofy, with Ringo riding a stationary bike. For the second, the band simply sits down and eats lunch. This later version wasn’t released until 2015 when it was included on the 1+ collection.

The Ventures incorporated the riff into their surf rock instrumental version of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” on their 1965 Christmas album.

In America, this knocked “Come See About Me” by The Supremes from the top spot. “I Feel Fine” stayed for three weeks, at which point “Come See About Me” returned to bump it off.

I Feel Fine

Baby’s good to me, you know
She’s happy as can be, you know
She said so
I’m in love with her and I feel fine

Baby says she’s mine, you know
She tells me all the time, you know
She said so
I’m in love with her and I feel fine

I’m so glad that she’s my little girl
She’s so glad, she’s telling all the world
That her baby buys her things, you know
He buys her diamond rings, you know
She said so
She’s in love with me and I feel fine

Baby says she’s mine, you know
She tells me all the time, you know
She said so
I’m in love with her and I feel fine

…

Tag: I Feel Fine

Beatles Week – Beatles Donut Holes @mojohorizon.home.blog

Beatles – I Feel Fine