Good Morning Good Morning

"Good Morning Good Morning"
Song by The Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released 1 June 1967
Recorded 8 and 16 February,
13, 28 and 29 March 1967,
EMI Studios, London
Genre Pop rock,[1] hard rock[2]
Length 2:41
2:35 (mono version)
Label Parlophone
Writer Lennon–McCartney
Producer George Martin
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band track listing

"Good Morning Good Morning" is a song written by John Lennon[3] (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and recorded by The Beatles, featured on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Contents

Lyrical inspiration

Inspiration for the song came to Lennon from a television commercial for Kellogg's Corn Flakes.[3]

The line "It's time for tea and Meet the Wife" refers to a BBC sitcom, Meet the Wife.[4]

Recording

The track was recorded on 8 February 1967, with overdubs on 16 February (bass and vocals), 13 March (brass section), 28 March (backing vocals and guitar solo), and 29 March (animal noises).[5] The guitar solo was played by Paul McCartney[5][6].

At Lennon's request, George Martin brought in Sounds Incorporated to provide the song's prominent brass backing.[4]

Lennon asked engineer Geoff Emerick to arrange the animal noises heard at beginning (and end) of the song so that each animal heard was one capable of devouring (or frightening) the animal preceding it.[4][6].

The final sound effect of a chicken clucking was so placed that it transforms into the guitar on the following track, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)".

The rapid 16th note bass drum fills were done on two bass drums according to "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" by Mark Lewisohn.

The length of the mono version of "Good Morning Good Morning" is 2:35, whereas the stereo version (due to a lengthier fadeout of animal noise) runs 2:41.

Unusual rhythm

The song has an unusual rhythmical feel and does not use the same time signature throughout. Beats are heard in groups of 2, 3 and 4, giving the impression that the time signature changes frequently. The song has been transcribed as a mixture of 4/4, 3/4 and 5/4.[7] Most of the song uses simple time, where the beats are divided into two, but the middle eight sections use compound time, where the beats are divided into triplets.

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[8]

Notes

  1. ^ "Alan W. Pollack review". http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/gmgm.shtml. 
  2. ^ Elizabeth Thomson and David Gutman, "The Lennon companion: twenty-five years of comment",ISBN 0306812703, p.119.
  3. ^ a b Sheff 2000, p. 183.
  4. ^ a b c Miles 1997, pp. 320–321.
  5. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, pp. 95, 97, 105–106.
  6. ^ a b Emerick 2006, pp. 176–179.
  7. ^ The Beatles - Complete Scores 1993, pp. 335–341.
  8. ^ MacDonald 2005, pp. 234–235.

References

  • Emerick, Geoff; Massey, Howard (2006). Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 1-592-40179-1. 
  • Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation (1993). The Beatles - Complete Scores. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard. ISBN 0-7935-1832-6. 
  • Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
  • MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised Edition ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3. 
  • Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6. 
  • Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4. 
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