"I've Got a Feeling" is a song by the English rock band
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
from their 1970 album ''
Let It Be''. It was recorded on 30 January 1969 during
the Beatles' rooftop concert
On 30 January 1969, the Beatles performed a concert from the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row, in central London's office and fashion district. Joined by guest keyboardist Billy Preston, the band played a 42-minute se ...
. It is a combination of two unfinished songs:
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
's "I've Got a Feeling" and
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
's "Everybody Had a Hard Year". The song features
Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...
on
electric piano
An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...
.
A studio take of the song, recorded about a week earlier, was released on the ''
Anthology 3'' compilation in 1996. The 2003 remix album ''
Let It Be... Naked'' includes a version of the song that is a composite edit of the rooftop concert take used on ''Let It Be'' and a second attempt at the song from the same concert.
With Lennon's vocals isolated out during the production of
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
's ''
Get Back'' documentary, McCartney performed the song live as a virtual duet on his 2022
Got Back tour.
Composition
Lennon's song was a
litany
Litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions. The word comes through Latin ''wikt:litania, litania'' from Ancient Greek wikt:λιτα ...
where every line started with the word "everybody". The song had been recorded twice before by Lennon, prior to the ''Let It Be'' sessions. The first occurred in early December 1968 at Lennon's
Kenwood estate on a portable cassette tape. For this, the lyric was "Every''one'' had a hard year" instead of the later "Everybody". Later in December 1968, with the lyric changed to "everybody," Lennon was filmed performing the song in the back garden of Kenwood. This footage was used in the
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...
art film
An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
''Rape: Film No. 6'', which was broadcast on Austrian television on 31 March 1969.
Personnel
Personnel per
Ian MacDonald
The Beatles
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Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
bass guitar, lead vocals
*
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
rhythm guitar, lead vocals
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...
lead guitar, backing vocals
*
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
drums
Additional musicians
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Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...
Fender Rhodes piano
References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:I've Got A Feeling
The Beatles songs
British blues rock songs
1970 songs
British hard rock songs
Songs written by Lennon–McCartney
Song recordings produced by Phil Spector
Songs published by Northern Songs