Revolver (album)
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Revolver is a 1966 album by British rock band The Beatles. Its front cover is a collage, designed by Klaus Voormann, a artist friend of the Beatles from Germany.
The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. While most of the Beatles's records were made in Studio Two, it was being used for another project, so much of Revolver was made in Studio Three, which was much smaller and meant for use by soloists. Space was cramped, and the sound of the record was different from their earlier ones.
The album also got a different reception from earlier Beatles albums. The band felt free to "branch out" into new themes and ideas, that nobody had tried in a pop music recording before. "Taxman" commented on the tax system in England. "Eleanor Rigby" was about loneliness. "Yellow Submarine" became a hit with children. "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got to Get You Into My Life" were covered by other bands.
A few of the songs made references to drugs, particularly John Lennon's songs. "She Said She Said" was about a party in Los Angeles the Beatles had gone to, and had taken LSD. "Doctor Robert" was about a New York doctor (Charles Roberts) who overprescribed sedatives and "feel-good" drugs for his patients. "Tomorrow Never Knows" came from Lennon's reading The Psychedelic Experience, which adapted the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a drug-user's guide.
Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison was pleased to have three of his own songs included on Revolver, "Taxman", "Love You To", and "I Want to Tell You". Most Beatles albums only had one or two Harrison songs. "Love You To" did not feature guitars, but Harrison instead played a sitar. World-famous sitarist Ravi Shankar heard the song, but did not like it, and offered to teach Harrison to play sitar properly. Shankar and Harrison went on to become lifelong friends.
Three songs from the album were "borrowed" by Capitol Records in the United States, and used on a compilation album, Yesterday... and Today, which came out before Revolver. The songs were "I'm Only Sleeping", "Doctor Robert", and "And Your Bird Can Sing". Capitol Records then released Revolver in a shortened version. The compact disc edition for sale today follows the original British version.
Revolver came out while the Beatles were on a concert tour. Bands normally perform songs from their latest album as a routine part of a concert. Strangely, the Beatles did not perform any Revolver songs on tour, but instead played the same music as on earlier tours. This got them criticism from some listeners. The tour also turned out to be the band's last. They played their final public concert in San Francisco, California on August 29, 1966.
[change] Songs
- "Taxman" (George Harrison) - vocal: Harrison
- Written with help from John Lennon. While Harrison resented paying taxes ("Are we being punished for something we've forgotten to do?" he said later), Lennon was more philosophical ("What the hell, it's buying people teeth").
- "Eleanor Rigby" (John Lennon / Paul McCartney) - vocal: McCartney
- Longtime Beatles friend Peter Shotton helped with the song's theme, suggesting that the two lonely people in the song meet, but too late. "Father McKenzie" was originally "Father McCartney", but McCartney changed it to not offend his father.
- "I'm Only Sleeping"* (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: Lennon
- The song includes a backwards guitar solo, carefully worked out by George Harrison. Lennon said later "There I go, dreaming my life away."
- "Love You To" (Harrison) - vocal: Harrison
- Harrison married model Pattie Boyd in January 1966.
- "Here, There and Everywhere" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: McCartney
- "Paul must have been in love with (his longtime girlfriend) Jane Asher." - Lennon, to Playboy magazine, 1980
- The song uses fourteen different chords.
- "Yellow Submarine" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: Ringo Starr
- Written and recorded with help from then-newcomer Donovan.
- "She Said She Said" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: Lennon
- "She" was actually a he; actor Peter Fonda, who described "dying" (cardiac arrest) on an operating table.
- "Good Day Sunshine" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: McCartney
- The song was later used as a commercial jingle.
- "Doctor Robert"* (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: Lennon
- "For No One" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: McCartney
- "And Your Bird Can Sing"* (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: Lennon
- Another version of the song imitates the musical style of The Byrds.
- "I Want To Tell You" (Harrison) - vocal: Harrison
- Harrison "invented" a new chord, adding an F note to an E chord, and used it in the song.
- "Got to Get You Into My Life" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: McCartney
- Later recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire, in a popular version.
- "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Lennon / McCartney) - vocal: Lennon
- The song's title came from an offhand remark by Ringo Starr.
Songs with an asterisk (*) were not included in the American release, by Capitol Records.
| The Beatles |
|---|
| John Lennon | Paul McCartney | George Harrison | Ringo Starr Pete Best | Stuart Sutcliffe |
| Management and production |
| Brian Epstein | Allen Klein | George Martin | Phil Spector | Abbey Road Studios | Apple Corps | Capitol Records |
| Albums |
| Please Please Me | With The Beatles | A Hard Day's Night | Beatles for Sale | Help! | Rubber Soul | Revolver | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | Magical Mystery Tour | The Beatles | Yellow Submarine | Abbey Road | Let It Be |
| Related articles |
| Apple Records | Badfinger | Mal Evans | Bill Harry | Mary Hopkin | Maharishi Mahesh Yogi | Heather McCartney | Linda McCartney | Mersey Beat | Yoko Ono | Peter Shotton | Zak Starkey |
