The Beatles - Revolver

It was 1962, and the now famous Beatles were not doing well. The band had been turned down by several labels, and had failed two try-outs for Decca, and the future looked grim. It wasn’t until manager Brian Epstein eventually contacted George Martin of Parlophone Records that the Beatles finally got a break. While Martin was unimpressed with the band’s sound, his respect for Epstein lead the producer to extend an offer of a recording try-out at Abbey Road studios.

Again, Martin seemed unimpressed by the band when they arrived and performed at the studio. Martin specifically disliked the drummer, Pete Best, who would soon be replaced by Ringo Starr. While he disliked the music, he felt that the band themselves were likeable, somewhat talented musicians who were dedicated enough to possibly make things work. Martin decided to offer them a five-year contract at Parlophone, essentially single-handedly saving what would become one of the greatest and most influential rock groups of all time.

With Martin at the helm, several of the Beatles early songs were transformed into hits – specifically “Please Please Me” and “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Please Please Me was soon released and was a large commercial hit, topping the charts for an impressive thirty weeks. By 1964, the Beatles were massively popular. In only twenty-one months, the group had pushed out four albums’ worth of material. Beatlemania was already in full-tilt.

It wasn’t until 1966 that the Beatles’ experimental and groundbreaking Revolver was released, however. The public viewed the earlier Beatles as a group of friendly rocker heartthrobs, but slowly their image was transformed into one of very serious, very experimental artists. Utilizing new technology and techniques like ADT, tape loops, unconventional mic placement, spinning Leslie speaker vocals, and the deadening of Starr’s bass drum by placing a wool sweater inside, lead to a very strange and arcane feel throughout the album. Lyrics were often inspired by LSD trips, loneliness, and depression. The studio was an instrument for Martin and the Beatles, who, rather than being limited by conventions, altered the studio’s tools to benefit them.

Revolver is another album that I’ve been hearing my entire life, and re-examining it yields some very impressive results. I look at each song in an entirely different light, and I am endlessly amazed at the groundbreaking techniques present on this record. The songs are weird, sad, happy, often cryptic, but, like Pet Sounds, relentlessly authentic. Another great classic revisited and appreciated in an entirely new light.