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I Feel Fine

Beatles

It's amusing today to think how the executives at Capitol Records complained about the feedback at the top of "I Feel Fine", assuming it was some gross oversight that was never removed from the tape. In light of future events in popular music, these same executives must have experienced a potent dose of culture shock. Granted, in 1964 feedback wasn't normally induced deliberately, but the Beatles weren't a normal band, either. They had developed a fascination with the technical aspects of the recording studio and were eager to add new sounds to their palette. The way things turned out, the noisy guitar intro was the Beatles' first step into the mysterious world of tape effects and electronically generated sound.

The riff that Ray Charles introduced on "What'd I Say" proved to be a pretty useful starting point for a number of rock and roll songs. Structurally, it was nothing more than an arpeggiated blues progression, but its very simplicity made it functional to later songwriters. Some variations were parochial while others were so imaginative that it was difficult to trace the source of their inspiration. "I Feel Fine" was among the latter. The notes of the guitar phrase that run throughout the song and the structure of the rhythm are similar to those on "What'd I Say", but the tone of the guitar and the arrangement of the notes combined for the ultimate example of a rock and roll “hook”. It catches you, pulls you in, and holds you until the record is over.

Can you believe that it was only eleven months since the Beatles first hit our shores with "I Want To Hold Your Hand"? They were given the impossible task of living up to the expectations generated by the hysteria of Beatlemania, and against all odds, beyond anybody's wildest expectations, they lived up to, then surpassed, all of it. Measuring musical growth is among the most subjective of topics, but who would deny that we all emerged from 1964 with a completely different perspective than we had going in? There was a brave new world ahead, and Americans had chosen the Beatles to carry the torch. To quote R.E.M., "It's the end of the world as we know it, but I FEEL FINE."