"A Beautiful Morning" is a song written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and recorded by the Rascals. Released in early 1968, it was the group's first track released after shortening their name from the Young Rascals. The single was one of the earliest released in stereo, as 7-inch singles generally were in mono.[3] Together with the Doors "Hello, I Love You", it's credited with changing the industry standard of singles.[4]
| "A Beautiful Morning" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 West German picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by the Rascals | ||||
| B-side | "Rainy Day" | |||
| Released | March 22, 1968 | |||
| Recorded | March 6 and 8, 1968 | |||
| Studio | A&R, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:32 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati | |||
| Producer(s) | The Rascals | |||
| The Rascals singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song continued the theme of carefree optimism that had distinguished the previous year's "Groovin'". It was written one morning in Honolulu, Hawaii when the band was invited to perform there by promoter Tom Moffatt. It became a big hit in the United States, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and also reaching number 36 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart.[5] It was RIAA-certified as a Million Seller on June 28, 1968. The first album on which the song appeared was Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits.
Chart performance
editCertifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[11] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Other versions
editRenée Geyer covered the song on her album Dedicated (2007).
In other media
editThe song is featured in a Scrubs episode, at the start of a season 6 episode with Zach Braff, who plays J.D., dancing to it. It was also featured at the end of a second-season episode of The Greatest American Hero, in which Ralph had to disarm a nuclear missile. It was also featured in the movie Kingpin immediately following the scene that shows how Roy got his rubber hand.
The song was featured during the 1969 college graduation scene in The First Wives Club. It was also used in the 1993 movie A Bronx Tale opening the racetrack scene, as well as on Arrow at the end of the eighteenth episode of the fifth season, titled "Disbanded".[12]
The song was also featured in season 3 episode 14 and season 5 episode 1 of The King of Queens. Sugar Pine 7 used it in the episode of the same name from their webseries Alternative Lifestyle in 2017. The song's opening lines featured prominently in a 2002 TV commercial for the (since-recalled) pain reliever Vioxx, which opens with an idyllic clip of former Olympic champion figure skater Dorothy Hamill, skating on a pond amid bright sunshine.
It was also used with a cover in Bounce fabric softener ad campaign in the 1990s.
The song was used in a documentary of football club AFC Ajax about their 5-1 win over Liverpool F.C. in 1966.
References
edit- ^ Greenwald, Matthew, A Beautiful Morning - The Rascals, retrieved 2021-04-29,
One of the Rascals' most lovely and timeless creations, "A Beautiful Morning" neatly encapsulated the group's R&B roots
- ^ Greenwald, Matthew, A Beautiful Morning - The Rascals, retrieved 2021-04-29,
In the end, it's nothing short of one of the finest pop creations of the late '60s.
- ^ "The Stereo Singles Project, Part 4 Atlantic & Related Labels Stereo 45s (1968-70)". www.bsnpubs.com. 2021-10-05. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
- ^ Everett, Walter (May 2010). "'If You're Gonna Have a Hit': Intratextual Mixes and Edits of Pop Recordings". Popular Music. 29 (2): 233. doi:10.1017/s026114301000005x. S2CID 162240986.
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 482.
- ^ Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
- ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1968/Top 100 Songs of 1968". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
- ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1968". Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
- ^ "American single certifications – Rascals – Beautiful Morning". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ "Arrow recap: 'Disbanded'". Entertainment Weekly. March 29, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
External links
edit
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