Revolver (Beatles album)
Revolver is a 1966 album by British rock band The Beatles. It was their 7th album. Its front cover is a , designed by Klaus Voormann, an artist friend of the Beatles from Germany.
| Revolver | |||||
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| Studio album by | |||||
| Released | 5 August 1966 | ||||
| Recorded | 6 April – 21 June 1966 | ||||
| Studio | EMI Studios, London | ||||
| Genre | |||||
| Length | 35:01 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
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| Singles from Revolver | |||||
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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 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 . "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 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 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.
Songs
All songs written and composed by Lennon-McCartney, except where noted.
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Taxman" (George Harrison) | Harrison | 2:39 | ||||||
| 2. | "Eleanor Rigby" | McCartney | 2:08 | ||||||
| 3. | "I'm Only Sleeping" | Lennon | 3:02 | ||||||
| 4. | "Love You To" (Harrison) | Harrison | 3:01 | ||||||
| 5. | "Here, There and Everywhere" | McCartney | 2:26 | ||||||
| 6. | "Yellow Submarine" | Starr | 2:40 | ||||||
| 7. | "She Said She Said" | Lennon | 2:37 | ||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "Good Day Sunshine" | McCartney | 2:10 | ||||||
| 2. | "And Your Bird Can Sing" | Lennon | 2:02 | ||||||
| 3. | "For No One" | McCartney | 2:01 | ||||||
| 4. | "Doctor Robert" | Lennon | 2:15 | ||||||
| 5. | "I Want to Tell You" (Harrison) | Harrison | 2:30 | ||||||
| 6. | "Got to Get You into My Life" | McCartney | 2:31 | ||||||
| 7. | "Tomorrow Never Knows" | Lennon | 2:57 | ||||||
Revolver (Beatles Album) Media
Harrison, McCartney and Lennon with George Martin at EMI Studios in 1966
EMI's Abbey Road Studios (pictured in 2005). Most of the sessions for Revolver took place in the complex's intimate Studio 3.
A Fairchild 670 stereo compressor. Fairchild's mono equivalent, the 660, was used extensively during the Revolver sessions and contributed to the robust sounds captured on the album.
For the cover of Revolver, Klaus Voormann drew inspiration from The Yellow Book illustrator Aubrey Beardsley.[1]
Capitol's trade ad for the album's double A-side single, favouring "Yellow Submarine" over "Eleanor Rigby"
The group (with disc jockey Jim Stagg) during their final tour, in August 1966
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Sources
- Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 39 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
- ↑ Gould 2007, p. 348.