Revolver (album)

Songs

Lennon's experiments

Lennon contributed five songs on the album. "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "She Said, She Said" are two guitar-laden tracks with swirling melodies. Lennon later explained that "She Said, She Said" had been inspired by remarks he recalled from an LSD trip he had taken in Los Angeles with other musician friends and young film star Peter Fonda. According to Lennon, under the influence of the drug, Fonda had been repeating over and over "I know what it's like to be dead", to which Lennon acerbically replied, "Who put all that shit in your head?". This exchange, with minor changes, formed the core of the song.

Related Topics:
And Your Bird Can Sing - She Said, She Said - LSD - Peter Fonda

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On "I'm Only Sleeping", Harrison played the notes for the lead guitar in reverse order, then reversed the tape and mixed it in. This song is Lennon's comment on the futility of progress and haste in the modern world, perhaps inspired by the works of E.M. Forster. The backwards guitar sound builds the sleepy, ominous, and weeping tone of the song, the first recorded instance of such a technique, which Lennon discovered while high on marijuana.

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However, the experimentation in these songs appears eclipsed by Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows", which was one of the first songs of psychedelia, and included such groundbreaking techniques as reverse guitar, processed vocals and looped tape effects. It also the only Beatles song to use a single chord.

Related Topics:
Tomorrow Never Knows - Psychedelia

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Much of the backing track consists of a series of prepared tape loops, stemming from Lennon and McCartney's interest in and experiments with magnetic tape and musique concrète techniques at that time. According to Beatles session chronicler Mark Lewisohn, Lennon and McCartney prepared a series of loops at home, and these then were added to the pre-recorded backing track. This was reportedly done live in a single take, with multiple tape recorders running simultaneously, and some of the longer loops extended out of the control room and down the corridor.

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Lennon's processed lead vocal was another innovation. Always in search of ways of enhancing his voice, he gave a directive to EMI engineer Ken Townshend that he wanted to sound like he was singing from the top of a high mountain. Townshend solved the problem by splicing a line from the recording console into the studio's Leslie speaker, giving Lennon's vocal its ethereal filtered quality -- although he was subsequently reprimanded by the studio management for doing so.

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Another key production technique used for the first time on this album was Automatic double tracking (ADT), invented by Townshend on 6 April 1966. This technique used two linked tape recorders to automatically create a doubled vocal track, replacing the standard method, which was to double the vocal by singing the same piece twice onto a multitrack tape, a task Lennon particularly disliked. The Beatles were reportedly delighted with the invention and used it extensively on Revolver. ADT quickly became a standard pop production technique and led to related developments including phasing, flanging and chorus.

Related Topics:
Automatic double tracking - 6 April - 1966 - Phasing - Flanging - Chorus

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McCartney's melodies

One of McCartney's more notable songs from this album is "Eleanor Rigby" which was released as a single (as a double A-side with "Yellow Submarine") concurrently with the album. This song contains McCartney's lyrical imagery and an intense and sometimes frightening string arrangement (scored by George Martin under McCartney's direction), which was inspired by the Bernard Herrmann score for François Truffaut's film Fahrenheit 451. Ringo has confirmed that he contibuted the line "Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear."

Related Topics:
Eleanor Rigby - George Martin - Bernard Herrmann - François Truffaut - Fahrenheit 451

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"Got to Get You Into My Life" was a Memphis Soul experiment and tribute to Stax Records that used brass instrumentation extensively; although cast in the form of a love song, McCartney has since revealed that the song was actually an ode to marijuana. It was released as a single in 1976, ten years after the release of the album. This may confuse people in later years; for example, a trivia question in between innings at a Seattle Mariners game in 1997 at the Kingdome incorrectly stated that this song was recorded in 1976.

Related Topics:
Stax Records - Brass instrument - Marijuana

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McCartney also contributed "For No One" (written for his then girlfriend, Jane Asher), a melancholy song, featuring a horn solo played by Alan Civil; "Good Day Sunshine", a cheery mockery of The Lovin' Spoonful; and the epic "Here, There, and Everywhere", written in the style of The Beach Boys.

Related Topics:
Jane Asher - Alan Civil - The Lovin' Spoonful - Here, There, and Everywhere - The Beach Boys

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Harrison's Contributions

George Harrison contributed three songs on Revolver including the opening track "Taxman" (to which Lennon also contributed, albeit reluctantly). The "Mr. Wilson" and "Mr. Heath" in the lyrics refer to Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, who were respectively the British Labour Prime Minister and Conservative opposition leader of the time. The song refers to the rates of income tax paid by high earners like The Beatles, which were sometimes as high as 95% of their income. This would lead to many top musicians becoming tax exiles in later years.

Related Topics:
Taxman - Harold Wilson - Edward Heath - Labour - Conservative - Tax exile

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Harrison also wrote "I Want to Tell You" about his difficulty expressing himself though lyrics, and "Love You To", a continuation of his experimentation with Indian music and the sitar, which started with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" on 1965's Rubber Soul.

Related Topics:
Indian music - Sitar - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Rubber Soul

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