“Day Tripper” by The Beatles

"Day Tripper" came out in December 1965 as half of a double A-side with "We Can Work It Out", and it later landed on the 1966 album Yesterday and Today. Both songs grew out of the Rubber Soul sessions, and this one is mostly John Lennon's, with Paul McCartney chipping in, all of it hung on a coiled electric guitar riff that owes a debt to American soul.

Lennon and McCartney share the lead vocal, Lennon and George Harrison double up on guitars, McCartney's bass shadows the riff and Ringo Starr keeps it punchy, with George Martin producing and Norman Smith engineering. The single was the British Christmas number one that year, and the song stayed in the band's live sets until they quit the stage in August 1966.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.