Today’s classic song of the day is “One Fine Day.” This one was written by the legendary songwriting team of Carole King (music) and her then-husband Gerry Goffin (words) back in 1963. They originally intended the song for Little Eva, who had a previous hit with their song, “The Loco-Motion,” and occasionally babysat for their kids. When that didn’t pan out, they took the tune to the Tokens who, in addition to being a recording act themselves, also produced a number of other acts. The Tokens fed “One Fine Day” to the Chiffons, a popular girl group who’d just had a number-one hit with “He’s So Fine,” because they apparently thought another “Fine” song might be a success.
It turns out they were right. The Tokens took the Chiffons into the studio and, using Carole King’s distinctive piano track from her demo recording as the base, added instrumental backing from some of New York City’s finest studio musicians, including Carl Lynch and Charles Marcy on guitars, Dick Romoff on bass, and Gary Chester and Buddy Saltzman on drums. The resulting single, released in May of 1963, hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It was also a top forty hit in France, New Zealand, and the UK.
Almost twenty years later, Carole King herself recorded her own version of “One Fine Day” for her Pearls: Songs of Goffin and King album. (That album consisted of her solo versions of songs she and Mr. Goffin wrote for other artists during the Brill Building era and, if you don’t own it, you should; it contains some of Ms. King’s best early compositions—which are among her best, period.) Released as a single in May of 1980, Ms. King’s cover of “One Fine Day” hit #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #19 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Musically, “One Fine Day” uses standard doo-wop chords and progressions. The verse goes I – V – vi – IV, then a traditional downward I – vi – IV – V7, repeated. The bridge is a little more sophisticated and Carole King-y, complete with extended chords. It starts out with an interesting vm7 – I – vm7 – I before heading to some subdominant variation with a series of IV -IVM7 – IV6 – IVadd9 chords. That leads to a vim7 – II – vim7 – II (which is really a subtle key shift), with that last major II serving as the dominant of the natural dominant, rolling back to V – IV – V – IV – V. Which then, of course, transitions back to the tonic and the original chords of the verse. Clever, that bridge.
So here’s your daily bonus video of the day. It’s Ms. King herself performing “One Fine Day” from her 1981 Carole King—One to One concert. She is having a blast with what is truly a very fun little song.
