[2] The original version of "Good Night" featured Starr on lead vocal, George Harrison and John Lennon playing the melody on guitars, and Paul McCartney singing a harmony.

[3] A fragment from this rehearsal[3] and take 22 of the song, along with an overdub of the orchestra from the close of the released version, is heard on the Beatles' 1996 compilation album Anthology 3.

Lennon recalled asking George Martin to give the song a lush orchestral arrangement in the style of old Hollywood films and admitted, "Yeah, corny".

[3] With "Good Night", Starr became the third Beatle, after McCartney and Harrison, to record a song credited to the group without the other members performing (Lennon would be the fourth with "Julia").

[4] Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its release, Jacob Stolworthy of The Independent listed "Good Night" at number 28 in his ranking of the White Album's 30 tracks.