All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
In early 1966, The Beatles (busy being the biggest band in the world) had little time to make music. They were tired of playing live. They had recently completed a British tour, and had to do a World Tour (which would end up being their last) starting June. Luckily, a break opened up in The Beatles' schedule. The contractually obligated third Beatles movie, (after A Hard Day's Night and Help!) was scheduled to be filmed, but when the time came, a script had not been agreed on. The Beatles had three months of free time. Those three months were well spent.
August 5th, 1966, Revolver was released. It was named by Lennon, a pun on the movement of a record.. Other names for the record that never made it are 'Abracadabra' and 'Beatles on Safari'. The cover art (appropriately trippy, but not as trippy as Sgt. Pepper) was done by Klaus Voorman, an early friend of The Beatles. The American version of Revolver was without the songs I'm Only Sleeping, Doctor Robert and And Your Bird Can Sing.
Revolver is variety. It begins with a political rock rant, which is followed by a two minute song, with violins replacing guitars. Next comes a light and lazy song about sleep. Then we get an Indian sounding song. Then a ballad. Then a children's song. Then a psychedelic song. And that's just the first side. What could Eleanor Rigby and Yellow Submarine ever have in common? How could these records be pressed without the machines exploding? One thing comes to mind: all these songs are examples of the best of their genre.
George Harrison has three songs on this album, a much higher appearance rate than usual. Harrison's stuff is just as solid as the Lennon/McCartney stuff, and he even gets to start the album off with Taxman. Ringo's time to shine on the album is Yellow Submarine, which stuck around as his most memorable song. (Paul can write a damn fine children's song). And the boys learn to play with a brand new band member on Revolver, who makes guest apperances in songs like She Said She Said and Tomorrow Never Knows.
Songs:
- Taxman
Written by Harrison
George Harrison opens up Revolver with a rant about the British taxes. Supposedly, The Beatles were taxed up to 95% of their earnings at that point in time. Surprisingly, It is Paul, not George (the lead guitarist) who is responsible for the great guitar riff that opens up the song..
- Eleanor Rigby
Written by McCartney with Lennon assistance
Short and haunting song about loneliness, backed up with strings. One of the Beatles best. Multiple stories behind the name and the content of the song have been told. Paul and John met at church St. Peter's, Woolton, where in the graveyard, there is a grave with the name Eleanor Rigby, which could have stuck in Paul's head. But then again, he says...
"I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it. The first few bars just came to me, and I got this name in my head... Daisy Hawkins picks up the rice in the church. I don't know why. I couldn't think of much more so I put it away for a day. Then the name Father McCartney came to me, and all the lonely people. But I thought that people would think it was supposed to be about my Dad sitting knitting his socks. Dad's a happy lad. So I went through the telephone book and I got the name McKenzie. I was in Bristol when I decided Daisy Hawkins wasn't a good name. I walked 'round looking at the shops, and I saw the name Rigby. Then I took the song down to John's house in Weybridge. We sat around, laughing, got stoned and finished it off." -McCartney, 1966
- I'm Only Sleeping
Written by Lennon with McCartney assistance
Light Lennon song about sleep, made interesting with a Harrison solo both recorded and played backwards, to spruce things up.
- Love You To
Written by Harrison
Harrison's first major Indian-sounding song, which still managed to be poppy enough to look fine on this album. Unfortunately, from here on, Lennon would refuse to aid Harrison in his songs.
- Here, There and Everywhere
Written by McCartney
There are 3 real McCartney ballads on Revolver, Eleanor Rigby, For No One, and Here, There and Everywhere, the latter being the only one that isn't incredibly gloomy. Paul wrote this outside, sitting at Lennon's pool, as a response to The Beach Boys' God Only Knows (on their fantastic Pet Sounds album)]. Some nice tunes can be made with all four of the The Beatles singing. Perhaps not at a Beach Boy level, but still....
- Yellow Submarine
Written by McCartney with Lennon assistance
A goofy children's song, perfect for Ringo's voice. Later turned into the cartoon (which is excellent, despite the lack of Beatles input) which fulfilled their contract as the third movie.
- She Said She Said
Written by Lennon
While they were tripping, Peter Fonda repeatedly told John Lennon "I know what it's like to be dead". So Lennon wrote this song.
- Good Day Sunshine
Written by McCartney with Lennon assistance
Side two of the album begins with this cheery McCartney song, influenced by the style and music of The Lovin' Spoonful.
- And Your Bird Can Sing
Written by Lennon
And Your Bird Can Sing, is a catchy upbeat song, and according to Lennon himself, completely empty, a throwaway. But I've always liked it.
- For No One
Written by McCartney
Recorded with just Ringo and a horn player, this is Paul's last attempt to depress us on Revolver. He writes and sings of lost romance and all that usual stuff, and as always, he does it so much better than anyone else. And the French Horn is a nice touch.
- Doctor Robert
Written by Lennon with McCartney assistance
Written as a parody about a real doctor in New York who cured you...by giving you drugs. One of the weaker songs on the album, but that's not saying much.
- I Want To Tell You
Written by Harrison
A simple song, Harrison sings about his struggle expressing himself with lyrics.
- Got To Get You Into My Life
Written by McCartney with Lennon assistance
Motown and marijuana. McCartney experimented with the Motown sound. And the lyrics, according to him, are about pot.
- Tomorrow Never Knows
Written by Lennon
"That's me in my 'Tibetan Book of the Dead' period. I took one of Ringo's malapropisms as the title, to sort of take the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics."
-Lennon, 1980
The title of this song was taken by an offbeat comment by Ringo (just like A Hard Day's Night).
Lyrically, Lennon was influenced by LSD and the Timothy Leary book. Musically, it's a masterpiece, complete with experimental sounds of all kinds. Lennon originally wanted a thousand Tibetan monks to chant in the background, but was convinced against it. Unfortunately.
The song is way, way ahead of its time.
According to VH1, Revolver is the best Rock and Roll album of all time. Actually, VH1 didn't pick it, a bunch of music critics and famous artists were polled, and this came out on top. Perhaps Revolver is your favorite album of all time. Perhaps it isn't. Maybe you dislike it. Or maybe you hate it. Maybe you buy copies of the original vinyl on ebay and at garage sales, just so you can smash them on your porch.
Doesn't matter. Revolver is still important; it's still a Beatles album, and it still made a significant impact on music. Personally, Revolver isn't my favorite album of all time. But I certainly can't object to it being on the top.
So, they stepped up their music, leaving the rest of the music community in the dust, and their product? Rubber Soul. A leap from Rubber Soul? Revolver. Where could they go from there?
Really now, what could possibly top Revolver?
So play the game "Existence" to the end
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Sources:
http://www.tacoshell.com/spinalcracker/cgi-bin/search.pl?index
http://www.sixtiespop.freeserve.co.uk/revolver.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A676271