It was first recorded by American country folk-singing trio the Rooftop Singers as their last single in 1967.

[1] The song then became a hit for British psychedelic band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, featuring the three Shulman brothers who later formed the progressive rock band Gentle Giant.

[2] The song was recorded at Abbey Road using unconventional instruments such as a wind machine and included a spoken interlude in Chinese, composed of "sweet nothings"[3] and performed[4] by the Chinese-Trinidadian actress Jacqui Chan,[5] a friend of the band.

[7] Music historian Paul Stump called it "one of the first pop singles to employ a bank of keyboards simultaneously for melodic and colouristic purposes".

[10] Israeli rock band Nikmat HaTraktor had a hit with a Hebrew version of the track, taken from their 1990 self-titled debut album.