What's It All About?

This blog has been created to celebrate the most glorious and influential era of the long playing (LP) record.

I intend in the course of the blog to focus on one period which I believe was the absolute pinnacle of creativity as far as the pop/rock album was concerned. The Beatles had led the charge in the early 1960's and with the 1965 release of 'Rubber Soul' had begun to stretch the concept of the 'pop song'. Bob
Dylan dared in 1965 to include on 'Bringing It All Back Home' a song 'It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) which was over seven minutes long and then he topped that later the same year when the closing track from 'Highway 61 Revisited' ('Desolation Row') clocked in at over eleven minutes.

However, it was in May 1966 that I believe the bar was raised to new heights. This blog takes it from there.....

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

The Beatles - Revolver




At 8.00 pm on Wednesday 6 April 1966, The Beatles convened in Studio Three at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, to commence work on a song then known simply as 'Mark 1'. It was the first song to be recorded for their as then unnamed next album. The song became 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and the album became 'Revolver'.

It should be remembered that at that time, The Beatles were still very much a live touring band and after having written and recorded 'Rubber Soul' during October and November 1965, they set off on a series of nine concerts in ten days during December. The three months between then and the beginning of April 1966, was probably the longest period of inactivity the group had had since hitting the big time. Not that that time was wasted. Clearly Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had been busy writing and the luxury of having more time to develop their music certainly shows. While 'Revolver' is a logical progression from 'Rubber Soul', it is also a giant leap forward.

At this point, I would just like to pause to emphasise one fact that I find quite remarkable. Take a listen to the album 'Please Please Me' followed immediately by 'Revolver'. Then remind yourself that between the 11 February 1963 recording session for the first album and the 6 April 1966, was a period of only 1,151 days! I find it incredible that so much change could occur in so short a time scale.

When, twelve months later, The Beatles would record 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', they were no longer a touring band, had clearly been influenced by the likes of 'Pet Sounds' and 'Freak Out!' and had the luxury of taking as much time as they wanted in the studio to perfect their art. 'Revolver' on the other hand had to be completed by 24 June at the latest, as they were then flying to Munich to commence what would become their penultimate tour. (Their final tour began in Chicago on 12 August and ended at Candlestick Park, San Francisco on 29 August).

Despite these pressures, they managed to produce an album which many regard as their absolute finest.

'Taxman'
George Harrison was to have three of his compositions feature on 'Revolver', more than on any other Beatles album up to that point. 'Taxman' is the first of these. Recording began on 20 April but the following day a complete remake was recorded in 11 takes and eventually overdubs including the count-in introduction were added on 16 May. Backward guitar parts (soon to become a regular feature of Beatles recordings) were added on 21 June.
While the song is credited to George Harrison, Paul McCartney should receive a special mention for his bass guitar work that drives the rhythm and also for playing the guitar part that closes the song. While I would highly recommend this album in any format, listening to this track in mono really emphasises the astonishing bass playing of McCartney.

'Eleanor Rigby'
More than any other Beatles album to date, 'Revolver' is about contrast and different musical styles. Witness the complete change in style between the rocky album opener and this beautiful song featuring Paul's voice backed by a double string quartet. Prior to recording, George Martin requested that the string ensemble run through the piece first with vibrato and then again without. Both he and Paul McCartney agreed that the piece played straight made for a more dramatic accompaniment.
The track was recorded over two days beginning on Thursday 28 April but with an additional vocal added on 6 June (this being the 'Ah look at all the lonely people' refrain).
Comparisons between the mono and stereo versions of this song reveal how little care and attention went into creating the stereo mix. The stereo version is quite literally strewn with sloppy errors. For example, as Paul sings the first syllable of Eleanor, the ADT is left switched on and is suddenly switched off midway through the word. More distracting was the decision to have the main vocals panned to the right side something which jars particularly when listening on headphones. The mono version is of course, perfect.
The song was destined to be released as a single on the same date (5 August) as the album.

'I'm Only Sleeping'
It is something of an anomaly that this song is musically by no means slow, yet still evokes the lazy feel described in the song lyrics. This is achieved in part by Lennon's somnolent sounding vocal and in even greater part by Harrison's backward guitar solo. Recording of this number began on Wednesday 27 April, a vocal was added two days later and the backward guitars and backing vocals were added at two sessions on 5 and 6 May. The backward guitar was achieved, not by recording a part normally and then playing the tape in reverse, but rather by George Martin writing out a guitar part in reverse and George Harrison playing that.
A rehearsal version included on The Beatles Anthology Volume 2 reveals that at one stage a vibraphone was included in the instrumentation but this was clearly dropped for the final recording.
Three tracks in, this happens to be the first instrumental contribution to the album by John Lennon.

'Love You To'
Four tracks into the album and already George Harrison is presenting his second song and once again, John Lennon is missing altogether. When recording began on 11 April, this song was unnamed but eventually was dubbed 'Granny Smith' before receiving it's final title.
Despite the use of sitar on 'Norwegian Wood', this was Harrison's first real venture into Indian music.
Differences between mono and stereo mixes are few but mono listeners are treated to an extra thirteen seconds during the fadeout.

'Here, There And Everywhere'
One could be forgiven for thinking that with this beautiful song, Paul McCartney was attempting to emulate what Brian Wilson was doing on 'Pet Sounds'. However, 'Pet Sounds' had only been released in the US one month before the first recording date for this song (Tuesday 14 June 1966) and wasn't released in the UK until July 1966. In his interesting book 'The Beatles In Mono', Andrew Hickey points out that the drum sound in parts seems to emulate the timpani sound that Brian Wilson was using in songs such as 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' and 'I'm Waiting For The Day'. In his book 'The Long Player, Goodbye' Travis Elborough suggests that McCartney attended a 'Pet Sounds' listening session at London's Hilton Hotel and then returned home to start work on this song, however no date is given and there appears to be no other evidence to support this theory.
Whatever the influence for the song, it is an astonishing piece of music and performance, whatever you may think of the sentimentality of the lyrics.
The final take of the song was completed on 16 June with John Lennon present but not actually playing. Paul gave his voice a fragile quality by singing the song in the wistful, breathy style of Marianne Faithfull.


'Yellow Submarine'
Those who dispute the fact that 'Revolver' is the greatest Beatles album, usually point to this track as their evidence. While it is a nothing more than a children's song, it is a very well produced children's song, taking a whole twelve hours of recording time on 26 May and 1 June. The June recording date featured contributions from the likes of Marianne Faithfull, Brian Jones, Patti Harrison and even the Beatles chauffer Alf Bicknell! Packed with a wide variety of sound effects and possibly Ringo's best vocal performance up to that time, the overall effect is quite contagious and as Ian MacDonald says in 'Revolution In The Head', it is 'impossible to dislike'. It also gives a psychological lift to side one of the album after the sad tale of the loneliness and death of 'Eleanor Rigby' and the following track in which Lennon sings 'I know what it's like to be dead.'

'She Said She Said'
Ending side one of the original album, this song began life as a much slower acoustic demo with Lennon singing the lines inspired by a late night conversation he had with the American actor, Peter Fonda. The actor bored and irritated Lennon with a tale of having a near death experience after an operation but somehow the words quoted above, stuck in Lennon's mind. The fact that Lennon was having an LSD trip at the time probably helped. This song was recorded in three takes at the very last session for the album. This took place on Tuesday 21 June 1966. While the lyrics may have intrigued the average teenage Beatles fan in the summer of 1966, it was the music that made this a truly great addition to this album. Subtle rhythm changes, fantastic guitar playing and awesome drum and cymbal work from Ringo make this a fitting end to side one.
Curiously, according to the book 'Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock'n'Roll' by Robert Rodriguez, Paul McCartney had stormed out of the sessions and did not feature at all on this track. The bass was played by George Harrison.

Flip over now for side two.

'Good Day Sunshine'
'Revolver' represents a peak in the creativity of Paul McCartney as a songwriter, with John Lennon beginning to take something of a back seat. Beginning side two of the album is yet another McCartney song where, aside from some hand claps, Lennon takes no part instrumentally. A very upbeat song which reflects the wonderful summer weather of 1966, this is yet another fine piece of work yet is arguably the least ambitious recording on the whole album. It was recorded essentially in one day (8 June) with overdubs added the following day.

'And Your Bird Can Sing'
The first version of this was recorded on 20 April but almost from the beginning, John and Paul dissolve into hysterical laughter. Released on 'Anthology 2', this version demonstrates  the influence of the jingle-jangle sound of US band The Byrds through the use of the 12-string Rickenbacker guitar. Another version was recorded on Tuesday 26 April. The words of the song have never really been explained but writer John Lennon dismissed the work as 'fancy paper around an empty box.' Whatever Lennon's thoughts, this is another song which utilises the fine interaction between electric guitar and bass in similar fashion to 'Rain' which was also recorded at these April 1966 sessions. To my mind, these songs exemplify the sound of the 'Revolver' album.

'For No One'
One wonders just how many superb compositions Paul McCartney can produce on one record. This is his third astonishing piece on 'Revolver' and is arguably his most mature composition to date. Recording began on 9 May, continued on 16 May and was concluded on 19 May with the addition of a piece written and played on French horn by distinguished session musician, Alan Civil. Originally titled 'Why Did It Die?' the title was possibly changed because of the numerous references to death on side one of the album. Lennon and Harrison played no part in the recording of this song.
In my opinion, McCartney never produced anything as good as this again as his later 'big ballads' began to become rather over sentimental for my tastes.

'Dr Robert'
Another song that was predominantly written by John Lennon and which again features that distinctive guitar sound. However this is a genuine band performance with all Beatles involved. It was a relatively straight forward recording on 17 and 19 April.
The subject of the song may have been Dr. Robert Freymann who provided amphetamines and vitamins to his rich and famous clients (in 1955 he signed the death certificate for jazz legend, Charlie Parker).

'I Want To Tell You'
Originally given the throw away title 'Laxton's Superb' by engineer Geoff Emerick, this song was recorded relatively quickly on 2 and 3 June 1966. The third Harrison song to feature on the album is perhaps most noteworthy for the discordant chord that occurs at the end of each line, giving the song a jarring feel. John Lennon later borrowed this chord to use on 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)'. Paul McCartney plays bass and piano on the track while John Lennon instrumentally contributes only tambourine and hand claps.

'Got To Get You Into My Life'
As upbeat as the opening track of side two, but whereas McCartney admitted a Lovin' Spoonful influence for 'Good Day Sunshine', the influence here is clearly the Stax/Tamla Motown soul sound. While McCartney had this song prepared before the sessions began, he appears to have been unclear as to how to present it. At the very first recording session on 7 April 1966, it was an acoustic number but by the time he returned to the song on 18 May, he had decided to utilise a brass section including two members of Georgie Fame's backing group, The Blue Flames. One of the early takes is included on 'The Beatles Anthology 2' and with it's sparse organ, acoustic guitar and drum arrangement, it is a totally different sounding song to the final released version.

'Tomorrow Never Knows'
Ironically the final song on the album was the first to be attempted in the studio on 7 April. Also ironically it is the most advanced sounding piece on the album as well as being the most advanced of all the recordings attempted by The Beatles up to that date. Known originally as 'Mark One' the first version from 7 April is very different, yet just as compelling as the final released version completed on 22 April. Inspired by Lennon's use of the drug LSD and his simultaneous reading of 'The Tibetan Book Of The Dead', this piece of music was as far removed from 'She Loves You', recorded only three years earlier, as it is possible to imagine. The track is perhaps most notable for three things. First, Ringo Starr's hypnotic thumping drum patterns. Second the use of tape loops to create weird and wonderful effects to voices and instruments and third, the voice of John Lennon which almost achieves the sound he had in his head of thousands of Tibetan monks chanting on a mountain top.
Hearing the piece today, it is difficult if not impossible to imagine the effect this music had on 'pop' fans in the mid 1960's. If parents and their kids had not been divided in their opinions on The Beatles up to this point, they certainly were now.


































The album was released in the UK on 5 August 1966 but it's US release contained only 11 tracks as 3 had been used on an earlier album. The effect of this in the US was to diminish even further the contribution of John Lennon. With it's iconic front cover design by German musician and artist, Klaus Voorman and the incredible music contained in the fourteen UK tracks, 'Revolver' had a massive impact on the music world. From here on, albums would gradually become as important and eventually more important than singles. The Beatles would cease to be a touring band and would hereafter concentrate their energies on perfecting their music in the studios. Things would never be quite the same again.


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