Diverse ( 139 )

Van Halen ( B11 )

The album was followed by a tour. The III Tour saw Van Halen playing in new countries, including first ever visits to Australia and New Zealand. "Without You" acquired No. 1 place on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts in 1998, the 13th song of theirs to do so, and thus making them the band with the most Mainstream Rock No. 1s.

Shortly afterwards, Van Halen returned to the studio and in early 1999, they started work on a new album. Working titles of songs included "Left for Dead", "River Wide", "Say Uncle", "You Wear it Well", "More Than Yesterday", "I Don't Miss You ... Much", "Love Divine", and "From Here, Where Do We Go?". The project was never released, with Cherone leaving the band amicably in November 1999 Citing musical differences, it is likely III's poor sales and critical reception had a big impact. None of the material from these sessions has ever been released, and in fact the band released no new material at all until three new songs were included on the 2004 Best of Both Worlds compilation. Lyrics that Cherone had written for the Van Halen III follow up would be used in his next project with Tribe of Judah.

Touring with Cherone had proven disappointing in terms of attendance. Eddie later admitted that "the powers that be" (Warner Bros.) had forced his hand in parting with Cherone. Unlike with the previous two singers, there was reportedly no bad blood behind the breakup, and Cherone remained in contact and on good terms with Van Halen. As when Hagar left, speculation resumed on a Roth reunion.

1999–2003: Hiatus from public

Eddie recovered from his hip surgery in November 1999, but from 2000 to early 2004 no official statements were made by Van Halen and no music was released.

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Status Quo - Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo ( D1 )

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John Lennon ( b10 )

Led by Harrison and Lennon's interest, the Beatles travelled to the Maharishi's ashram in India in February 1968 for further guidance. While there, they composed most of the songs for their double album The Beatles, but the band members' mixed experience with Transcendental Meditation signalled a sharp divergence in the group's camaraderie. On their return to London, they became increasingly involved in business activities with the formation of Apple Corps, a multimedia corporation composed of Apple Records and several other subsidiary companies. Lennon described the venture as an attempt to achieve "artistic freedom within a business structure". Released amid a period of civic unrest and protests, the band's debut single for the Apple label included Lennon's B-side "Revolution", in which he called for a "plan" rather than committing to Maoist revolution. The song's pacifist message led to ridicule from political radicals in the New Left press. Adding to the tensions at the Beatles' recording sessions that year, Lennon insisted on having his new girlfriend, the Japanese artist Yoko Ono, beside him, thereby contravening the band's policy regarding wives and girlfriends in the studio. He was especially pleased with his songwriting contributions to the double album and identified it as a superior work to Sgt. Pepper. At the end of 1968, Lennon participated in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a television special that was not broadcast. Lennon performed with the Dirty Mac, a supergroup composed of Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. The group also backed a vocal performance by Ono. A film version was released 1996.

Yoko Ono and Lennon in March 1969

By late 1968, Lennon's increased drug use and growing preoccupation with Ono, combined with the Beatles' inability to agree on how the company should be run, left Apple in need of professional management. 

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The Doors ( B19 )

Awards and critical accolades:

• In 1993, the Doors were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• In 1998, "Light My Fire" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (track).
• In 1998, VH-1 compiled a list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll. The Doors were ranked number 20 by top music artists while Rock on the Net readers ranked them number 15.
• In 2000, the Doors were ranked number 32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists, and "Light My Fire" was ranked number seven on VH1's Greatest Rock Songs.
• In 2002, their self-titled album' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (Album).
• In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Doors 41st on their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
• Also in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time included two of their songs: "Light My Fire" at number 35 and "The End" at number 328.
• In 2007, the Doors received a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
• In 2007, the Doors received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• In 2010, Riders On The Storm was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame under the category Rock (track).
• In 2011, the Doors received a Grammy Award in Best Long Form Music Video for the film When You're Strange, directed by Tom DiCillo.

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Patrick Moraz - Like a Child in Disguise ( l1 )

Think that today
I'll go down by the sea
Think that today
It was made for me
Pack myself a lunch
And I will pack myself ahead
All today is Saturday
I'll spend Sunday in bed
And I'm so glad
That you've decided to come
You won't regret it
As we lunch in the sun
I?m the loser, but I
Know how to play the game
Couldn't she see that I'm a
Child in disguise
Experience makes the
Child grow wise

Here I am stuck in the middle with you
You give me rest and no complaints

Drawing little boxes
On pieces of paper
Looking out the window
On this rainy day
Head in hands
And with nothing to say
But, I'm the loser and I
Know how I played that game
And I think that I lost it
When all I wanted to do
Was touch you
I suppose you didn't
Think that much of me
Couldn't she see that I'm a
Child in disguise
Experience makes the
Child grow wise
Off to work tomorrow
Same old week
Still there's always Saturday
Saturday
Saturday makes the week
Saturday makes the week
Saturday makes the week
Saturday makes the week
Saturday makes the week
Saturday makes the week

Van Halen ( B10 )

Roth released a statement in which he apologized to the media and the fans, stating that he was an unwitting participant in a publicity stunt by Van Halen and manager Ray Danniels. The next day, Eddie and Alex released their own statement, claiming they had been completely honest with Roth and had never suggested he was guaranteed to be the next lead singer.

Eddie Van Halen later explained (in regard to the MTV Video Music Awards appearance) that he had initially been embarrassed by Roth's antics while on camera behind Beck, who was giving an acceptance speech for the award that Van Halen had presented to him. Immediately following this, the band had been taken to a backstage press conference where press queries about a reunion tour were met with Eddie Van Halen saying that he needed a hip replacement and would have to record an entire new studio album before any tour. In private Roth told Eddie to avoid talking about negative things like his hip and the two almost came to blows, thereby shattering any chance of a full-scale reunion.

1996–1999: Gary Cherone era

Vocalist Gary Cherone (pictured in 2008) joined the band briefly in the late 1990s

Van Halen's next lead singer was Gary Cherone, frontman of the then-defunct Boston-based band Extreme, a group which had enjoyed some popular success in the early 1990s. The result was the album Van Halen III. Many songs were longer and more experimental than Van Halen's earlier work. It was a notable contrast from their previous material, with more focus on ballads than traditional rock songs ("How Many Say I", with Eddie on vocals). Sales were poor by the band's standards, only reaching a Gold certification, despite the album peaking at No. 4 on the U.S. charts. However, Van Halen III did produce the hit "Without You", and another album track, "Fire in the Hole", appeared on the Lethal Weapon 4 soundtrack.

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Diverse ( 138 )

Istoric ( 194 )

22.02.1977 - The Sex Pistols primesc premiul pentru cea mai proasta formatie a anului din partea cititorilor unei reviste din Marea Britanie.

John Lennon ( b9 )

1966–1970: Studio years, break-up and solo work

The Beatles performing in their 1967 television film Magical Mystery Tour

After the band's final concert on 29 August 1966, Lennon filmed the anti-war black comedy How I Won the War – his only appearance in a non-Beatles feature film – before rejoining his bandmates for an extended period of recording, beginning in November. Lennon had increased his use of LSD and, according to author Ian MacDonald, his continuous use of the drug in 1967 brought him "close to erasing his identity". The year 1967 saw the release of "Strawberry Fields Forever", hailed by Time magazine for its "astonishing inventiveness", and the group's landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which revealed lyrics by Lennon that contrasted strongly with the simple love songs of the group's early years. In late June, the Beatles performed Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" as Britain's contribution to the Our World satellite broadcast, before an international audience estimated at up to 400 million. Intentionally simplistic in its message, the song formalised his pacifist stance and provided an anthem for the Summer of Love.

After the Beatles were introduced to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the group attended an August weekend of personal instruction at his Transcendental Meditation seminar in Bangor, Wales. During the seminar, they were informed of Epstein's death. "I knew we were in trouble then", Lennon said later. "I didn't have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music. I was scared – I thought, 'We've fucking had it now.'" McCartney organised the group's first post-Epstein project, the self-written, -produced and -directed television film Magical Mystery Tour, which was released in December that year. While the film itself proved to be their first critical flop, its soundtrack release, featuring Lennon's Lewis Carroll-inspired "I Am the Walrus", was a success.

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Carl Palmer - Heat of the Moment ( l1 )

When I ride the hounds of hell
Twist my foot, I nearly fell
I was lucky I was alive
One look back, I could have died

I was the sole survivor
Sole survivor, sole survivor
Solitary fire

When I saw it I was amazed
One time glory right in my gaze
I saw the sorry, I saw the joy
Light in the darkness none could destroy

I am the sole survivor
Sole survivor, sole survivor
Solitary fire

And from the wreckage I will arise
Cast the ashes back in their eyes
See the fire I will defend
Just keep on burning right to the end

I'll be the sole survivor
Sole survivor

The Doors ( B18 )

The Doors' first album, The Doors, re-entered the Billboard 200 album chart in September 1980 and Elektra Records reported the Doors' albums were selling better than in any year since their original release. In response a new compilation album, Greatest Hits, was released in October 1980. The album peaked at No. 17 in Billboard and remained on the chart for nearly two years.

The revival continued in 1983 with the release of Alive, She Cried, an album of previously unreleased live recordings. The track "Gloria" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart and the video was in heavy rotation on MTV. Another compilation album, The Best of the Doors was released in 1987 and went on to be certified Diamond in 2007 by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 10 million certified units.

A second revival, attracting another generation of fans, occurred in 1991 following the release of the film The Doors, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Val Kilmer as Morrison. Stone created the script from over a hundred interviews of people who were in Jim Morrison's life. He designed the movie by picking the songs and then adding the appropriate scripts to them. The original band members did not like the film's portrayal of the events. In the book The Doors, Manzarek states, "That Oliver Stone thing did real damage to the guy I knew: Jim Morrison, the poet." In addition, Manzarek claims that he wanted the movie to be about all four members of the band, not only Morrison. Densmore said, "A third of it's fiction." In the same volume, Krieger agrees with the other two, but also says, "It could have been a lot worse." The film's soundtrack album reached No. 8 on the Billboard album chart and Greatest Hits and The Best of the Doors re-entered the chart, with the latter reaching a new peak position of No. 32.

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Van Halen ( B9 )

Hagar was reluctant to work on a compilation album before a new album came out, but if the rest of the band and Danniels insisted on going forward with one at that time, his preference was that it should include only Roth-era songs, or as a second choice, that two volumes should be released, one of Roth-era songs and one of Hagar-era songs. During this same period, competing personal priorities and creative differences contributed to increasing interpersonal tensions within the band, particularly between Eddie and Hagar. The relationship between Hagar and Van Halen broke down.

1996: Temporary reunion with Roth

David Lee Roth called Eddie to discuss what tracks would be included on a planned Van Halen compilation (work on which had actually begun before Hagar's departure). They got along well, and Eddie invited him up to his house/studio. Shortly afterwards, Roth re-entered the studio with the band and producer Glen Ballard. Two songs from those sessions were added to the band's Best Of – Volume I album and released as singles to promote it.

In September, Van Halen was asked to present an award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. They agreed, and on September 4, 1996, the four original members of Van Halen made their first public appearance together in over eleven years. This helped to bring the compilation to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts. However, unknown to Roth, Eddie and Alex were still auditioning other singers, including Mitch Malloy.

The band's appearance on the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards fueled reunion speculation. But several weeks after the awards show, it was discovered that Roth was out of Van Halen again. 

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Queensrÿche - The Warning ( D1 )

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Diverse ( 137 )

The Rolling Stones ( I2 )

John Lennon ( b8 )

After a year of Beatlemania in the UK, the group's historic February 1964 US debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show marked their breakthrough to international stardom. A two-year period of constant touring, filmmaking, and songwriting followed, during which Lennon wrote two books, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. The Beatles received recognition from the British establishment when they were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Lennon grew concerned that fans who attended Beatles concerts were unable to hear the music above the screaming of fans, and that the band's musicianship was beginning to suffer as a result. Lennon's "Help!" expressed his own feelings in 1965: "I meant it ... It was me singing 'help'". He had put on weight (he would later refer to this as his "Fat Elvis" period), and felt he was subconsciously seeking change. In March that year he and Harrison were unknowingly introduced to LSD when a dentist, hosting a dinner party attended by the two musicians and their wives, spiked the guests' coffee with the drug. When they wanted to leave, their host revealed what they had taken, and strongly advised them not to leave the house because of the likely effects. Later, in a lift at a nightclub, they all believed it was on fire; Lennon recalled: "We were all screaming ... hot and hysterical." In March 1966, during an interview with Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, Lennon remarked, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink ... We're more popular than Jesus now – I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity." The comment went virtually unnoticed in England but caused great offence in the US when quoted by a magazine there five months later. The furore that followed, which included the burning of Beatles records, Ku Klux Klan activity and threats against Lennon, contributed to the band's decision to stop touring.

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The Doors ( B17 )

All of the ex-Doors solo albums have met with mixed reviews. In recent years Densmore formed a jazz band called Tribaljazz and they released a self-titled album in 2006.

In 2002, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger formed a new version of the Doors which they called the Doors of the 21st Century. After legal battles over use of the Doors name with drummer John Densmore in February 2003 who filed an injunction against his former bandmates, they changed their name several times and ultimately toured under the name "Manzarek–Krieger" or "Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of the Doors". In July 2007, John Densmore said he refused to play with the band unless it was fronted by Eddie Vedder because Densmore claimed Vedder was on Morrison's singing level. The group was dedicated to performing the music of the Doors and Jim Morrison. The band performed in Mexico, Bolivia, France, Israel, Russia, Italy, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Austria in 2011.

On May 20, 2013, Ray Manzarek died at a hospital in Rosenheim, Germany, at the age of 74 due to complications related to bile duct cancer. Robby Krieger and John Densmore, the two remaining living Doors members, came together February 12, 2016 to honor Ray Manzarek called "A Celebration For Ray Manzarek." All proceeds went to "Stand Up to Cancer."

Legacy

Beginning in the late 1970s, there was a sustained revival of interest in the Doors which created a new generation of fans. The origin of the revival is traced to the release of the album An American Prayer in late 1978 which contained a live version of "Roadhouse Blues" that received considerable airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations. In 1979 the song "The End" was featured in dramatic fashion in the film Apocalypse Now and the following year a best-selling biography of Morrison, No One Here Gets Out Alive, was published.

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Van Halen ( B8 )

All four studio albums produced during this period reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop music charts and 17 singles breached the top 12 of the mainstream rock tracks chart. During that era, a single taken from 1988's OU812, "When It's Love", reached the Top Five, peaking at No. 5. In addition, Van Halen was nominated for two Grammy awards. The band won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal for the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. Van Halen continued to enjoy success throughout the mid-1990s. In 1995, Van Halen released the album Balance and supported Bon Jovi on their European Summer stadium tour. They also made a live album called Live: Right Here, Right Now.

During the recording of songs for the film Twister, escalating tension between Hagar and the Van Halen brothers boiled over and Hagar departed on Father's Day, 1996. The band had recorded "Humans Being", a song for which Eddie, unhappy with Hagar's lyrics, retitled the song and wrote the melody. This upset Hagar, and when they were to record a second song for the soundtrack, Hagar was in Hawaii for the birth of his child. It was not an easy birth as the baby was breech, so needed to be delivered via C-section. With Hagar back in Hawaii and against the idea of doing the project, but having another song left to contribute, the Van Halen brothers alone recorded the instrumental "Respect the Wind". The performance, which featured Eddie playing guitar and Alex playing keyboards, was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 39th Annual Grammy Awards.

Metallica and Van Halen posing backstage in 1988

The band was also working on a compilation album. This led to conflicts with Hagar and the group's new manager, Ray Danniels, (Ed Leffler's replacement and Alex Van Halen's former brother-in-law), even though it was Leffler who had renewed their contract with Warner Bros. Records and had added in the Best Of album option years before.

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Chris Spedding - Riverboat ( l1 )

Time dies tryin' to fly by
Got a grain of love in my eye
And if I meant to made it
Tryin' to beat each other if they can.

But that river boat keeps on chuggin'
While we keep on kissin' and huggin'
We got love, we got love.

Big wheels just keep on turnin'
And the fires just keep on burnin'
Love keeps on gowin'
Yeah, river just keep on flowin'.

Time dies tryin' to fly by
Got a grain of love in my eye
Opportunity knockin'
Big boat keep on rockin'.

That river boat keep on chuggin', chuggin'
We just need to keep on kissin' and huggin'
We got love, we got love, yes we do.

Big boat just keep on chuggin'
We just keep on ride along, kissin' and huggin'
We got love, yes we do, we got love.

Don't you know that river boat it keeps on chuggin'?
We just need to keep on kissin' and huggin'
We got love.

Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear ( D1 )

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John Lennon ( b7 )

Lennon in 1964

Brian Epstein managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. He had no previous experience managing artists, but he had a strong influence on the group's dress code and attitude on stage. Lennon initially resisted his attempts to encourage the band to present a professional appearance, but eventually complied, saying "I'll wear a bloody balloon if somebody's going to pay me." McCartney took over on bass after Sutcliffe decided to stay in Hamburg, and Best was replaced with drummer Ringo Starr; this completed the four-piece line-up that would remain until the group's break-up in 1970. The band's first single, "Love Me Do", was released in October 1962 and reached No. 17 on the British charts. They recorded their debut album, Please Please Me, in under 10 hours on 11 February 1963, a day when Lennon was suffering the effects of a cold, which is evident in the vocal on the last song to be recorded that day, "Twist and Shout". The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership yielded eight of its fourteen tracks. With a few exceptions, one being the album title itself, Lennon had yet to bring his love of wordplay to bear on his song lyrics, saying: "We were just writing songs ... pop songs with no more thought of them than that – to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant".In a 1987 interview, McCartney said that the other Beatles idolised Lennon: "He was like our own little Elvis ... We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest."

Ringo Starr, George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1963

The Beatles achieved mainstream success in the UK early in 1963. Lennon was on tour when his first son, Julian, was born in April. During their Royal Variety Show performance, which was attended by the Queen Mother and other British royalty, Lennon poked fun at the audience: "For our next song, I'd like to ask for your help. For the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands ... and the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery.

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Istoric ( 193 )

24.08.1991 - Metallica ajung pentru prima oara nr 1 in Anglia cu albumul Metallica 91.

The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.4 )

Argentinian rock musician Charly García covered the song on his 1990 album, Filosofía Barata y Zapatos de Goma. The track was named "Me Siento Mucho Mejor" and the lyrics were translated into Spanish.

Country pop artist Juice Newton covered the song on her 1985 Old Flame album but the song is slightly retitled as "Feel a Whole Lot Better". Newton's version also alters some of the song's verse lyrics. Likewise, The Crust Brothers covered the song on their 1998 live album, Marquee Mark, under this slightly altered title.

Johnny Rivers covered the song in 1973 on his Blue Suede Shoes album and the song was also included on his 2006 compilation album, Secret Agent Man: The Ultimate Johnny Rivers Anthology.

Dinosaur Jr. did a grungy cover on the Byrds tribute album, Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds. Reportedly, this version was Gene Clark's favorite cover of the song because he felt that the band had captured the essence of the lyrics, but successfully made the music even more uptempo.

Marty Stuart's 2017 album Way Out West features a mash-up of "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better" and some original Stuart lyrics. Not only that but the album was produced by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, who also plays guitars on the track as he did on Petty's version from Full Moon Fever.

Single by the Byrds
from the album Mr. Tambourine Man
A-side	"All I Really Want to Do"
Released	June 14, 1965
Recorded	April 14, 1965
Studio	Columbia, Hollywood, California
Genre	Folk rock, pop
Length	2:32
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Gene Clark
Producer(s)	Terry Melcher

The Doors ( B16 )

In 2013, the remaining members of the Doors recorded with rapper Tech N9ne for the song "Strange 2013", appearing on his album Something Else, which features new instrumentation by the band and samples of Jim Morrison's vocals from the song "Strange Days".

In their final collaboration before Manzarek's death, the three surviving Doors provided backing for poet Michael C. Ford's album Look Each Other in The Ears.

February 12, 2016, at The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, John Densmore and Robby Krieger reunited for the first time in 15 years to perform in tribute to Ray and benefit Stand Up to Cancer. That day would have been Ray's 76th birthday. The night featured Exene Cervenka and John Doe of the band X, Rami Jaffee of the Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert Deleo, Jane's Addiction's Stephen Perkins, Emily Armstrong of Dead Sara, Andrew Watt, among others.

After the Doors

After Morrison died in 1971, Krieger and Densmore formed the Butts Band as a consequence of trying to find a new lead singer to replace Morrison. The surviving Doors members went to London looking for a new lead singer because they were unable to recruit in the US. The Butts Band formed in 1973, signing with Blue Thumb records. They began working on their first album titled Butts Band that was released the same year. They disbanded in 1975 after the second album. Phil Chen, who played bass on the band's second album, would later join Robby once again with Manzarek–Krieger.

Manzarek made three solo albums from 1974 to 1983 and formed a band called Nite City in 1975, which released two albums from 1977 to 1978. Krieger released six solo albums from 1977 to 2010.

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Van Halen ( B7 )

His hit single "I Can't Drive 55" came from his 1984 album VOA, produced by Ted Templeman who had also produced Montrose's first album Montrose, as well as all of Van Halen's albums up to that point. Hagar agreed to join and also serve as a rhythm guitarist on stage to add to the Van Halen sound.

In the May 2015 season premiere episode of the TV show Live from Daryl's House, musical guest Hagar stated that he had heard a rumor from "several people" and asked host Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates to confirm if he had been "asked by Eddie to sing in Van Halen." Hall affirmed that he had been asked after a Hall & Oates concert in 1985, but declined.

The first time the record company heard any of the new material with Hagar was when Warner Brothers president Mo Ostin came to the band's 5150 Studios. Hagar said the band played "Why Can’t This Be Love" live with Eddie on keyboards, after which Ostin proclaimed: "I smell money."

The 1986 Van Halen album 5150 was a huge hit, becoming the band's first No. 1 album on the Billboard charts, driven by the keyboard-dominated singles "Why Can't This Be Love" (#3 U.S.), "Dreams", and "Love Walks In" (Top 30 U.S.). To further introduce the new era for the band, a new Van Halen logo was put on the cover. The new logo retained elements of the original, but now the lines extending from either side of 'VH' wrapped around and formed a ring.

Following the release of the 5150 album, the "5150 Tour" tour was launched to support it across North America. Footage was released on VHS and DVD as Live Without a Net. In the band minimized the use of pre-Hagar Van Halen songs in the set, other than the band's best known classics. This was a trend that continued, with the expanding repertoire of Hagar-era songs slowly whittling away at the number of Roth-era songs on the set list.

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The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.3 )

Said Dickson, "There was always something to unravel in those songs, the non-explanation of the complex feeling. For instance, if you remember I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better, it doesn't say: "I'll feel a whole lot better", but "I'll probably feel a whole lot better." For me, that makes the song. There's a statement followed by a hesitation." Dickson would later work as a producer on Clark's 1984 album Firebyrd, which featured a re-recorded version of "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better".

Reception

Although it was initially released as the B-side of the "All I Really Want to Do" single, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" was itself heavily promoted by Columbia Records during the time that "All I Really Want to Do" spent on the Billboard charts. As a result, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., reaching number 103. Mark Deming has commented that "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" was the first song written by a member of the Byrds to be commercially successful.

Since its release, the song has become a rock music standard, inspiring a number of cover versions over the years. It is also considered by many critics to be one of the band's, as well as Clark's, best and most popular songs, with Rolling Stone magazine ranking it at number 234 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Cover versions

Tom Petty covered the song (as "Feel a Whole Lot Better") on his 1989 solo album, Full Moon Fever. Petty's version was released as the fourth single from the album and peaked at number 18 on the US Rock chart.

Don Nix on his 1976 album Gone Too Long with George Harrison, retitled "Feel a Whole Lot Better".

In 1978, country singer Bobby Bare covered the song on his album Sleeper Wherever I Fall San Francisco band The Flamin' Groovies also released a cover of the song on their 1978 Sire Records release, Flamin' Groovies Now. Paisley Underground band The Three O'Clock covered the song on their Baroque Hoedown EP. Reportedly, Gene Clark sings backing vocal on this version of the song.

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John Lennon ( b6 )

By the summer of 1957, the Quarrymen played a "spirited set of songs" made up of half-skiffle and half-rock and roll. Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen's second performance, which was held in Woolton on 6 July at the St Peter's Church garden fête. Lennon then asked McCartney to join the band.

McCartney said that Aunt Mimi "was very aware that John's friends were lower class", and would often patronise him when he arrived to visit Lennon. According to McCartney's brother Mike, their father similarly disapproved of Lennon, declaring that Lennon would get his son "into trouble". McCartney's father nevertheless allowed the fledgling band to rehearse in the family's front room at 20 Forthlin Road. During this time Lennon wrote his first song, "Hello Little Girl", which became a UK top 10 hit for the Fourmost in 1963.

McCartney recommended his friend George Harrison to be the lead guitarist. Lennon thought that Harrison, then 14 years old, was too young. McCartney engineered an audition on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, where Harrison played "Raunchy" for Lennon and was asked to join. Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon's friend from art school, later joined as bassist. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe became "The Beatles" in early 1960. In August that year, the Beatles were engaged for a 48-night residency in Hamburg, in West Germany, and were desperately in need of a drummer. They asked Pete Best to join them. Lennon's aunt, horrified when he told her about the trip, pleaded with Lennon to continue his art studies instead. After the first Hamburg residency, the band accepted another in April 1961, and a third in April 1962. As with the other band members, Lennon was introduced to Preludin while in Hamburg, and regularly took the drug as a stimulant during their long, overnight performances.

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The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.2 )

Composition and content

The song dates from the Byrds' pre-fame residency at Ciro's nightclub in Los Angeles, as Clark explained during an interview: "There was a girlfriend I had known at the time, when we were playing at Ciro's. It was a weird time in my life because everything was changing so fast and I knew we were becoming popular. This girl was a funny girl, she was kind of a strange little girl and she started bothering me a lot. And I just wrote the song, 'I'm gonna feel a whole lot better when you're gone,' and that's all it was, but I wrote the whole song within a few minutes."

Byrds expert Tim Conners has called the song "the Platonic ideal of a Byrds song", in reference to the presence of some of the band's early musical trademarks, including Jim McGuinn's jangling 12-string Rickenbacker guitar; Chris Hillman's complex bass work; David Crosby's propulsive rhythm guitar, and the band's complex harmony singing and use of wordless "aaahhhh"s. Band biographer Johnny Rogan has also commented on the song's country-influenced guitar solo.

The song is built around a riff that Clark later admitted was based on the Searchers' cover of "Needles and Pins". Music critic Mark Deming has said that, lyrically, "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" takes a sardonic view of romance, with Clark undecided about whether to break off a relationship with a woman who hasn't been entirely honest with him. The song's refrain of "I'll probably feel a whole lot better when you're gone" betrays Clark's uncertainty about ending the relationship and whether such an act would be the answer to his problems or not.

Deming has also pointed out that the use of the word "probably" in this refrain is key and lends the track a depth of subtext that was unusual for a pop song in the mid-1960s. Jim Dickson, the Byrds' manager, has remarked that this level of subtext was not unusual in Clark's songs of the period

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The Beach Boys - County Fair ( L2 )

This time each year in our hometown
The county fair comes our way
Where the folks gather round to be happy and spend their day
A-here's what happened now,
I soon decide that I'd take with me
The most specialest girl I knew
I had her pack us a lunch and on down the dirt road we flew

(Hurry hurry, step right up and win your girl a stuffed koala bear)
[Aw, come on Nicky. Win me a koala bear]
(Break the balloon with a dart)
(Yes you son, come up here. Win your girl a stuffed koala bear)
[Oh please win me a koala bear]
(Break the balloon with a dart. Come on son, step right up)
(Get up there, that's a boy)

Right then I knew what I had to do
(Hurry, hurry)
Before that day was through
(Step right up)
I had to win a stuffed doggie or I'd break her poor heart in two
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)
A let me tell you now,
I passed up a chance when I walked by a booth
(Hurry, hurry)
Where you throw a dart and break a balloon
(Step right up)
I snuck by a couple more, but I had to get caught real soon
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)

(Step right up, test your strength.)
(Come on son, ring the bell with the hammer)
[Aww, come on muscles]
(Win your girl a stuffed koala bear)
[Ooohhh]
(Come on son, are you a man or a weakling?)
(Yes you, step up here and test your strength)
(Win your girl a stuffed koala bear)
[Come on baby]
(Come on son)

I hit the rubber stump just as hard as I could
(Hurry, hurry)
But I didn't make it ring the bell
(Step right up)
I tried again and again, but I just didn't do so well
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)
Can you believe it now,
Up walked a fella and he tapped me on the shoulder, said
(Hurry, hurry)
I can win your girl a prize
(Step right up)
So, he flexed all his muscles and knocked the bell up in the sky
(Hurry, hurry)
(Win a prize)

Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
(Hurry, hurry)
Took my girl and the doggie away
(Step right up...)
Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
(Step right up son, test your strength)
Took my girl and the doggie away
(Come on kid, ring the bell)
Yeah the big strong guy knocked the bell in the sky
[Ah, goodbye muscles. I don't need you anymore]
Took my girl and the doggie away
[Loser]

The Byrds - I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better ( S1.1 )

"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a song by the Los Angeles folk rock band the Byrds, first released in June 1965 on the B-side of the band's second single, "All I Really Want to Do". Despite initially being released as a B-side, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., just outside the Billboard Hot 100. It was also included on the Byrds' debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.

The song was written by band member Gene Clark, who also sings the lead vocal. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" has been covered by a number of different artists over the years, and is regarded by fans and critics as one of the Byrds' best known songs."I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" is a song by the Los Angeles folk rock band the Byrds, first released in June 1965 on the B-side of the band's second single, "All I Really Want to Do". Despite initially being released as a B-side, the song managed to chart in its own right in the U.S., just outside the Billboard Hot 100. It was also included on the Byrds' debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man.

The song was written by band member Gene Clark, who also sings the lead vocal. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" has been covered by a number of different artists over the years, and is regarded by fans and critics as one of the Byrds' best known songs. 

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