#107 – I Feel Fine with Laurence Juber (guitarist, composer, Wings)

At the end of what was probably the busiest year they’d ever have, the Beatles needed a single for the Christmas market in 1964. They needed to churn it out while also wrapping up work on their 4th album. John picked up a riff from a Bobby Parker song and wrote what he thought was “a lousy song” around it, but nevertheless, brought it to the band. Thankfully, his fellow Beatles all had deep bags of tricks to pull from. Ringo added a latin groove straight out of “Tequila,” George added a Chet Atkins-infused solo, Paul keeps it tidy with a grooving bass part and great harmonies. And a little bit of musical voodoo gets sprinkled on top when the band stumbled upon the magic of feedback, which they then tack on to the beginning of the track. All of the sudden, this “lousy song” is their 6th consecutive #1 that year, stayed in their live set for the next 2 years, and goes on to be the 56th best selling single of all time in the UK. Not bad for a little song called “I Feel Fine.” The Beatles magic of turning a song into something stronger than the sum of its’ parts is on display here, as there’s not too much weight to the song, but boy is it a cool song.

Speaking of cool, how cool is this? Joining us on the show this week is guitarist, composer, and former Wings member Laurence Juber! The London-born virtuoso joined us for a lovely chat back in June (which is why some of the upcoming things he mentions have already happened), in which we discuss his Teatime with LJ livestreams on Facebook, the upcoming Brady Bunch musical he’s been working on, his journey with Wings, an absolutely lovely moment with George Harrison, and much, much more! Be sure to follow Laurence on Facebook at ⁠https://www.facebook.com/LaurenceJuberGuitar⁠ and you can check out all of his music and keep an eye on dates on his website at ⁠https://laurencejuber.com/⁠.

What do you think about “I Feel Fine” at #107? Too high? Too low? Or just right? Let us know in the comments on ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, or ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠! Be sure to check out ⁠⁠www.rankingthebeatles.com⁠⁠ and grab a Rank Your Own Beatles poster, a shirt, a jumper, whatever you like! And if you’re digging what we do, don’t forget to ⁠⁠Buy Us A Coffee⁠⁠!