In April 1966 The Beatles began working on their seventh album Revolver. At this point in time, The Beatles were thinking about stopping their tours and becoming a studio band. With this album, the group had the opportunity to experiment with different sounds, and at times it is hard to believe these were the same guys who once sang "Love Me Do" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."
Recording for this album began in April 1966 with the song "Tomorrow Never Knows," which is the last track and also one of the group's more experimental songs. Revolver was released on August 5, 1966 in the U.K. and August 6, 1966 in the U.S. The U.S. version omitted some songs including "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "I'm Only Sleeping," but fortunately, the complete U.K. version is the one available on CD today.
The first track on the CD is the rocking Taxman. This song gives usual lead guitar player George Harrison a chance to shine, with satirical lyrics about a taxman who takes everyone's money. I especially love the line, "Now my advice for those who die: Declare the pennies on your eyes." The music for this song is fantastic, with Paul on lead guitar, Ringo on drums, and John on tambourine. "Taxman" is definitely more rock than pop.
Up next is the brilliant Eleanor Rigby, which was written by Paul McCartney and features his lead vocals, with John and George backing him up. The music for the song was provided by session musicians and sounds very nice, with violins, violas, and cellos. The lyrics are very touching, as Paul sings about two lonely people, Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie, and how their paths sadly cross at the end. This is a beautiful song, and it became a number one hit.
John Lennon's I'm Only Sleeping is the third track on the album. The song is simply about not wanting to get out of bed, a feeling I can certainly identify with. John sings and plays lead guitar, while Paul and George are on bass and lead guitars respectively and provide backing vocals, and Ringo of course is on drums. The song has a dreamy kind of feel to it, and it is one of my favourites. "Everybody seems to think I'm lazy/ I don't mind, I think they're crazy" is a sentiment which fits me, as anyone who knows me can attest.
We get another George Harrison composition with the next track, Love You To. The funny thing is I hated this song when I first heard it, but now it is one of my favourites. "Love You To" reflects George's interest in Eastern culture, and the song features Indian musician Anil Bhagwat on the tabla. The song just sounds to me like George was on drugs when he wrote it, honestly, with lyrics like "Make love all day long/ Make love singing songs." This song is certainly unlike anything on The Beatles' previous albums.
The next track, Here, There and Everywhere, is quite a change from "Love You To." This is a slow ballad from Paul, and it features soft guitar work and drums, along with some beautiful lyrics. This is just a very sweet song, as Paul sings lyrics like, "To lead a better life/ I need my love to be here." It's not as strange or experimental as the other songs on here, but it is a great song nonetheless.
Finally, Ringo Starr gets his standard one song per album with the Lennon-McCartney composed Yellow Submarine. The song is basically a children's song about living in a yellow submarine. Ringo sings lead and plays the drums, with John and Paul on acoustic guitars and George shaking a tambourine. All three guys also provide background vocals. The song is pretty simple, but it later became the title of their third movie.
Track seven, She Said She Said, features John singing lead and the other guys on their regular instruments, Ringo on drums, etc. The lyrics are quite strange, with lines like "She said I know what it's like to be dead" and "You're making me feel like I've never been born." I have heard that this song was inspired by Lennon's LSD use, but it is still a pretty cool song with some great music.
We get a sudden mood change with Paul's Good Day Sunshine. Honestly, I often skip this song because it doesn't fit in with the other songs, which have a darker mood. This is still a nice song, though. Like most McCartney songs, it is about love ("I'm in love and it's a sunny day"), and it is said that Paul wrote this one in the style of songs by The Lovin' Spoonful.
And Your Bird Can Sing again features John singing lead. The lyrics are kind of weird ("When your bird is broken, will it bring you down? You may be awoken"), but the song features some great guitar riffs from George. I think this song has some of the best music on the Revolver album.
Another Paul ballad is next, For No One. This is definitely one of my favourites, telling the sad story about a man who has had his heart broken. "And in her eyes you see nothing/ No sign of love behind the tears cried for no one/ A love that should have lasted years." An emotional and beautiful song and one of the best on the album. Interestingly, this song features only two of The Beatles, Paul and Ringo. It also features some French horn playing from Alan Civil.
Doctor Robert is a faster-paced song from John. It seems to be about drugs, with lyrics like "If you're down he'll pick you up, Doctor Robert/ Take a drink from his special cup, Doctor Robert." This is a good upbeat rock song.
George manages to get a third song onto this album with I Want To Tell You. In addition to their usual instruments, John shakes a tambourine and Paul plays the piano. The song is about having something to say but not being able to say it. "I want to tell you/ My head is filled with things to say/ When you're here all those words, they seem to slip away." This is another of Revolver's great songs.
Got To Get You Into My Life features Paul singing lead and John once again on tambourine. The song has a brassy sound to it, and it sounds awesome. There is some great work from Paul on the bass guitar, and horns to give the song a Motown feel. The song seems to be about getting a girl into Paul's life, but I have heard that it is actually about drugs. Anyway, this doesn't change the fact that this is another excellent song.
Last on the album is the experimental Tomorrow Never Knows, which was actually the first song recorded. George gets to use his sitar in addition to playing lead guitar, and there are lots of weird sounds, which sound like seagulls to me. The lyrics are very strange and seem to be about drugs again, with lines like "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream/ It is not dying, it is not dying." This is a very strange song, and it foreshadows the work The Beatles would later do. A great closer to the album.
When I first purchased Revolver, I didn't know what to expect. I had heard that it was the greatest album of all time and that it was nothing more than drug-induced trash. I find that I lean more towards the former opinion, and this is definitely in my top three favourite Beatles albums. Although their next album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is considered by many to be their masterpiece, Revolver paved the way for that album and showed us a glimpse of what was to come. I can't recommend this CD highly enough. If you haven't heard it, buy it now, and if you have it, play it again. It's just that good.
Repeat (songs I can never get enough of): Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, I'm Only Sleeping, And Your Bird Can Sing, For No One, Got To Get You Into My Life, Tomorrow Never Knows Skip (songs I have trouble listening to even once): none
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