The “Disappointing” Realization About The Beatles That Led to This 1967 One-Hit Wonder

We’ve all been there. You listen to a new song you enjoy and get blown away by a particularly great or memorable lyric, only to find out that what you thought the musician was saying wasn’t right at all. Such was the case for John Fred Gourrier, a Louisiana musician who heard “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” for the first time on the radio while he was getting ready for a gig. “When it came on, I thought he was saying, ‘Lucy in disguise with diamonds,’” Gourrier recalled, per Fred Bronson’s The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.

Videos by American Songwriter

Gourrier loved the line. “That’s the first time it hit my mind, those Beatles were so clever!” He recalled. The only problem, of course, was that he had misheard the lyric (and song title). “I was totally disappointed,” Gourrier said. The musician eventually turned that misheard lyric into a new song inspired by beachgoers in Florida, all clad in sunglasses. Gourrier and his band, John Fred & His Playboy Band, set out to record a pseudo-satire of a rock song. The title came from his misheard Beatles lyric with a twist: “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)”.

The song was a massive success, topping the charts in the U.S., Switzerland, South Africa, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and Australia. John Fred & His Playboy Band’s track performed even better than the original by The Beatles.

Not Everyone Was Sold on “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)”

According to John Fred Gourrier, the band thought the idea of creating a satirical rock ‘n’ roll song was funny. But that doesn’t mean everyone loved every part of the track. Per The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, the band didn’t like the song’s ending, which featured Gourrier slowly saying, “I guess I’ll just take your glasses.” Nevertheless, they recorded the track at the Robin Hood Brians studio in Tyler, Texas. The chart-topping track was the band’s first big break.

Most people assumed that John Fred & His Playboy Band were new to the music scene. But that was only true in a commercially successful sense. Gourrier and his bandmates had been playing music together since their mid-teens, when Gourrier sat in on a band’s set during a party because the singer was hoarse. Music was a years-long pursuit of Gourrier’s, much to the chagrin of his father, who disapproved of the career choice. (His dad played third base for the Detroit Tigers.)

“Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” might not have the same enduring legacy as “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. But it remains a particularly campy part of pop culture history from the late 1960s.

Photo by Eyles/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images