On this day in music history: December 26, 1964 - “I Feel Fine” by The Beatles hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is the bands’ sixth US chart topper in just ten months. Recorded on October 18, 1964 during the sessions for “Beatles For Sale”, John Lennon comes up with the songs’ main riff while the band are also recording “Eight Days A Week” that same day. The distinctive intro on “I Feel Fine” is one of the first notable uses of feedback on a record, which initially is the result of an accident when Lennon leans his Gibson J-160E guitar against his Vox AC-30 amplifier while it is still plugged in. “Fine” is backed with “She’s A Woman” (written mostly by McCartney). The US release of both songs differ from the UK Parlophone single as Capitol Records adds additional reverb to both songs where as the original British 45 features minimal post production processing. Not scheduled to be released in the US until November 23, 1964, somehow radio station KRLA in Los Angeles, CA acquires a copy of “I Feel Fine” on November 6, 1964 and begins airing it immediately. Capitol issues an immediate cease and desist letter to the station, asking them to refrain from further airplay or passing it on to another station before its official release. Five days later on November 11, 1964, KQV in Pittsburgh, PA obtains a copy of the record and passes a tape copy on to its sister station WABC in New York City. After the single is officially released to the public right before Thanksgiving, it ascends the charts rapidly. Entering the Hot 100 at #22 on December 5, 1964, rocketing to the top only three weeks later. The singles B-side “She’s A Woman quickly follows "Fine” into the top 10, peaking at #4 on the same date. The original US versions of both songs differ noticeably from their UK counterpart. Capitol Records’ A&R producer Dave Dexter adds a prodigious amount of reverb and compression to both tracks (on top of what producer George Martin has added to the tapes), in comparison to the “drier” sounding UK mixes. The US versions are also added to the US LP “Beatles ‘65” which is released in early December of 1964. Since both songs are originally mixed into mono only, the stereo LP features them in “Duophonic” re-chaneled fake stereo. “I Feel Fine” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.