Kate Taylor Premieres Sunny Beatles Cover From New Album

Beatle remakes have been with us for decades, but Kate Taylor’s rendition of “Good Day Sunshine” brings several new twists to the concept of another Lennon-McCartney revisit.

Taylor, the younger sister of James, came to the world’s attention in 1971 with her star-studded (and soul-flavored) debut, Sister Kate. In the five decades since, Taylor took a low-key approach to her career, recording and touring intermittently and largely opting for family life in Massachusetts.

Last year, Taylor reunited with producer Peter Asher and some of the musicians who’d worked on Sister Kate to cut another album of originals and covers, with the 50th anniversary of Sister Kate in mind. According to Asher, their deep-groove version of Revolver‘s “Good Day Sunshine” was inspired by a 1967 remake of the song by obscure soul singer Ray Redmond. That cue also plays into Taylor’s own love of R&B. (One of her daughters, after all, is named Aretha.)

The sunny vibe of the song, which includes Taylor exclaiming “Good morning, world!” near its start, also couldn’t have arrived at a better time, as pandemic restrictions continue to be lifted and more of us get out in the world for the first time in over a year. The song will be part of Taylor’s Why Wait! album, due August 6th.