Original Version recorded June 8 1964
Ukulele version recorded October 11 2011
Tyrrell – Vocals, Guitars, Wurlitzer Piano, String Synth
David Barratt – Bass, Handclaps and Ukulele
Produced by David Barratt at The Abattoir Mobile from original recordings made by Tyrrell in London.
Written by Paul McCartney – with maybe just a bit of help from John
Credited to Lennon/McCartney
ABOUT THE SONG
Effortlessly beautiful. This is one of the most perfect expressions of happiness ever recorded by The Beatles. McCartney at his very best. The song was played as the morning alarm on multiple Space Shuttle missions. Those lads at NASA knew what they were doing. I can see astronauts bouncing, if one can bounce in a no gravity area, on their way to their tasks in deep space, singing along with Paul.
It is very difficult to not like this song. Even professional curmudgeon, Leonard Bernstein said he liked it, and he hated everything.
Those of you who know me personally know that this has been a less than stellar week for my family, but arranging and playing this song changed my mood from a shaky D minus to a solid B plus, which is an amazing feat for a heavily researched and tested chemical compound let alone a simple pop song.
The Beatles, like everyone else in Britain were obsessed with the weather. The Beatles came from “The North”.
Anyone who watches “Game Of Thrones” knows “The North” does not do sunshine. When sunshine comes the inhabitants strip naked, sacrifice virgins, eat raw liver straight from the cow and weep until they laugh. It is no surprise that some of the best Beatles are about the weather.
“The North” is not a good place to worship the sun. It was a good place to be a heathen atheist, which of course John was.
I know it’s juvenile but I laugh when Ringo says “She fuckin’ does" during the last verse at about 1:25.
The Ukulele Version, performed by studio wiz, Tyrrell is transposed to a minor key. Everyone knows that to play in minor makes things sad but by some bazaar feat of McCartneyesque white magic “Good Day Sunshine” feels even happier when played in minor.
Tyrrell is supremely talented, good looking & charming. I hate him for being all of these things but I love him because he has magnificent dress sense and is able to kill a heron dead with a stone from 30 meters.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Tyrrell has been a guitarist all his life but discovered a love for studio production by the end of the eighties.
He’s been lucky enough to work with many great artists including Blue Pearl, The Orb, Stereo MCs, PM Dawn, Urban Species, Khaled, Lily Allen, Rui da Silva, Tara McDonald, Supafly Inc. and AVICII.
Since 1998, Tyrrell has released his own productions with collaborations Interfearence and Hooked as well as under his own name.