It was 50 years ago today

[adorshki]

The Beatles finished cutting tracks of "And Your Bird Can Sing" :
http://www.beatlesbible.com/1966/04/26/recording-and-your-bird-can-sing/
http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/and-your-bird-can-sing/

 

[walrus]

Al, quite the random tidbit! Love it!

walrus

 

[adorshki]

Al, quite the random tidbit! Love it!

walrus

I was sure that if anybody here'd appreciate it, it would be you.
Some of the background stories are pretty funny.
I first looked it up quite a while ago wondering if it might document the use of the SF-12 given to George and John by Mark Dronge and left it bookmarked because the site itself's pretty cool.

 

[walrus]

Can't beat the diversity of sounds on Revolver. If you forced me to pick, it's my favorite Beatles album.

"And Your Bird Can Sing" has that awesome "dual guitar" thing going - Harrison and McCartney. You're right, an early version was supposedly recorded with a 12, but it was Harrison's Rickenbacker 12, not the Guild (at least that's what's documented).

walrus

 

[adorshki]

Can't beat the diversity of sounds on Revolver. If you forced me to pick, it's my favorite Beatles album.

Yep, me too. Has the most "favorites" on it and was the one that "got me started".

"And Your Bird Can Sing" has that awesome "dual guitar" thing going - Harrison and McCartney. You're right, an early version was supposedly recorded with a 12, but it was Harrison's Rickenbacker 12, not the Guild (at least that's what's documented).

Yeah couldn't find anything about the Guild back then so let it go.
The idea that what I thought was a 12-string (and still kind of suspect actually is) was actually G & P together was new to me.
I have the English vinyl of it and while I recognize multiple guitars on it I'd swear one was a 12 and figured it had to be George, like the guy who made the last comment in there about being able to hear the distortion caused by playing double-stops with a pick.
I just thought it was a 12.
Reading that forum makes me want to go home and put Beatles albums on the turntable.
:emmersed:

 

[Zelja]

John apparently describe this song as a "throwaway". I wish I could write a song as good as his "throwaway"!!

Joe Walsh was apparently took much time & effort to learns the guitar breaks in the song. Years later he met Ringo & said how hard it was & was a bit surprised when Ringo said it was double tracked. Yes, Joe learnt to play the two harmony guitar parts on the one guitar at the same time!!

 

[adorshki]

John apparently describe this song as a "throwaway". I wish I could write a song as good as his "throwaway"!!

Joe Walsh was apparently took much time & effort to learns the guitar breaks in the song. Years later he met Ringo & said how hard it was & was a bit surprised when Ringo said it was double tracked. Yes, Joe learnt to play the two harmony guitar parts on the one guitar at the same time!!

Yeah, both those covered in user comments about the song itself although John apparently was wont to change his recollections from year to year and mood to mood.
The best anecdote is that it's supposed to be about Frank Sinatra, but you'll have to go read that yourself.....(I ain't buyin' it, but it's funny!)

 

[Westerly Wood]

Al, might be a loaded question, but is Revolver the Beatles best album of all time?
Or was it just the first album they started their transformation towards Sgt Pepper type stuff and ultimately, the White album.
ONly album I really had of theirs was Abbey Road.

 

[walrus]

Al, might be a loaded question, but is Revolver the Beatles best album of all time?

Ah, excellent veer! My own opinion is Revolver is the last album of the Beatles as a cohesive unit. Certainly John and Paul were "together" on Pepper, but Ringo has often said that's the album where "he learned to play chess". But really it's the diversity of the music that raises Revolver to that pinnacle of the "best" in a lot of people's minds. Name a genre of music, it's probably represented on Revolver, and who knows WHAT "Tomorrow Never Knows" is!

walrus

 

[adorshki]

Al, might be a loaded question, but is Revolver the Beatles best album of all time?
Or was it just the first album they started their transformation towards Sgt Pepper type stuff and ultimately, the White album.
Only album I really had of theirs was Abbey Road.

Best Beatles album?
Well, you could hear inklings of a more sophisticated craft even on Rubber Soul which immediately precedes it.
Harrison plays sitar on record for the first time on "Norwegian Wood" for example, and gets 2 tunes for the first time too.
"Day Tripper" was recorded during the sessions but was released as a single.
It boils down to a matter of personal taste, I think.
My favorite Beatles period is that period from '65 to late '66 that included Help, Rubber Soul, and Revolver.
EVERY single tune on Soul and Revolver (to me) are keepers, I couldn't give up a one of them.
Well, maybe "Yellow Submarine"...
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Hendrix's tune and album "Are You Experienced" were directly influenced by "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Revolver in general.
All the albums after that become "I really love only 3 or 4 tunes and could live without the rest" (White album, 10 out of 30).
Revolver introduced the extreme technical side of sound crafting with "Tomorrow Never Knows", but basically I just like that period where they actually could play all the tunes as a band with needing to dub, and their youthful exuberance still shines through. It was their happy time.
And you as a Who fan have gotta love the way they could get those Epiphone Casinos to break up.
In fact I just started to wonder if Pete was influenced by "And Your Bird.." when he crafted that scorching intro to "Young Man" on Live at Leeds?
The Beatles wouldn't get that close again until John's intro to the single version of "Revolution".
On Yellow Submarine I could not live without George's tunes "It's All Too Much" and "Only A Northern Song" and John's "Hey Bulldog". Those are on Revolver's level.
Most of Abbey Road was a little too slick for my tastes when released, but it's aged well and is still an excellently engineered work.
Need I say my favorite tunes on that one were "Polythene Pam", "She's So Heavy" and the round of solos in "the End" ?
I can hear Walrus saying "What about 'Something' and 'Here Comes the Sun'? "
Well, they're in my "George Harrison" category... :biggrin-new:

And now, fifty years ago today:
http://www.beatlesbible.com/1966/04...n-sing-tomorrow-never-knows-im-only-sleeping/

 

[Westerly Wood]

Most Abbey Road was a little too slick for my tastes when released, but it's aged well and is still an excellently engineered work. Need I say my favorite tunes on that one were "Polythene Pam", "She's So Heavy" and the round of solos in "the End" ?

Appreciate your take on it all Al, and good call re Townsend and his tone, though I have never heard him mention it at all, as the Who's first album had tons of "grunge" already. And that would have been Dec '65 My Generation was released. Is Revolver before that? Could be...

And those solos at the End are my fave too of that album!

 

[davismanLV]

And speaking of George Harrison, I found a photo of his son Dhani Harrison, and look what guitar he's playing!! :encouragement:

 

[chazmo]

Hey, that's a New Hartford D-55!!

 

[Westerly Wood]

Hey, that's a New Hartford D-55!!

cool!

 

[adorshki]

Ah, excellent veer! My own opinion is Revolver is the last album of the Beatles as a cohesive unit. Certainly John and Paul were "together" on Pepper, but Ringo has often said that's the album where "he learned to play chess". But really it's the diversity of the music that raises Revolver to that pinnacle of the "best" in a lot of people's minds. Name a genre of music, it's probably represented on Revolver, and who knows WHAT "Tomorrow Never Knows" is!
walrus

Ah I see you slipped in while I was still composing.
Yeah, from '65 to '67 was their "chrysalis" period between being a pretty good boy band to full-fledged world-influencing artists.
The only youth on the planet that hadn't heard of 'em was China.
They didn't allow private ownership of radios or record player and they were virtually non-existent.
I say "Tomorrow Never Knows" was the world's first true "acid rock" song, putting the world on notice that psychedelics were going to be part of the cultural landscape for a while...
Another dividing line can be discerned:
Revolver marked the end of "singles" being culled to promote an entire album, there were no singles issued for Pepper.
The beginning of "AOR".

 

[adorshki]

Appreciate your take on it all Al, and good call re Townsend and his tone, though I have never heard him mention it at all, as the Who's first album had tons of "grunge" already. And that would have been Dec '65 My Generation was released. Is Revolver before that?

No, Revolver was released in August '66 but "Drive My Car", "Wait", "Run for Your Life" and "Think For Yourself" on Rubber Soul are all pretty hard-edged, especially for the time.
Actually George was the seminal influence of "jangly guitars".
Roger McGuinn went out and got his Rickenbacker 12-er after seeing "Help" in early '65. (Think: "Ticket To Ride")
"Mr. Tambourine Man" followed and started a whole new era of "folk rock".
And what was Pete's brand of choice early on?
:friendly_wink:

 

[Westerly Wood]

No, Revolver was released in August '66 but "Drive My Car", "Wait", "Run for Your Life" and "Think For Yourself" on Rubber Soul are all pretty hard-edged, especially for the time.
Actually George was the seminal influence of "jangly guitars".
Roger McGuinn went out and got his Rickenbacker 12-er after seeing "Help" in early '65. (Think: "Ticket To Ride")
"Mr. Tambourine Man" followed and started a whole new era of "folk rock".
And what was Pete's brand of choice early on?
:friendly_wink:

right, Rickenbacker Way to connect the dots Al, I believe that is your niche...

 

[Quantum Strummer]

IMO Revolver is the finest overall collection of songs the Beatles released. Pepper, while maybe a victim of earlier over-praise in that folks now tend to downplay it, is still IMO their finest album. BTW the version of Pepper on my mobile gizmos includes Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, which were recorded during the sessions for the album. I just put 'em in between Mr. Kite and Within You Without You.

-Dave-

 

[Westerly Wood]

Yellow Submarine, still a song I cannot stand and hope to never hear it again. The Beatles have a few of those songs, as do many artists I am sure.

 

[adorshki]

right, Rickenbacker Way to connect the dots Al, I believe that is your niche...

I do like to do that, but I'm always open to other interpretations and new dots to connect.
Pete (and the band) definitely did have their own musical style, but at the time producers and record companies still had a lot of say about what to record and release and it was largely "What's hot at the moment?".
Singles were still the largest volume of record sales and airplay of singles in the US at least was a record company's largest source of return on investment and AM radio was beast needing constant feeding..
Epstein and Martin themselves had originally formulated a release schedule for the Beatles: 2 albums and 4 singles every year.
"Paperback Writer" was the last single to conform to that schedule, along with "Day Tripper" it had been recorded during the Soul sessions but was held back and released just before Revolver.
Just before Soul, "Yesterday" was released as a single and became a huge cross-over hit to the adult/easy-listening market.
When the "Eleanor Rigby" single from Revolver with its string-heavy arrangement did the same thing, all of a sudden the Beatles were not just for kids anymore, the music industry realized they had a force to be reckoned with, and they started getting a lot more autonomy about what to record.
Revolver was the necessary predecessor to Pepper's for this to happen.
So I think one could say the Beatles paved the way for bands demanding and getting more artistic control in the studio, and Who's manager Kit Lambert's Track Records was one of Britain's first independent labels, geared towards the artist and not the bean-counters, founded in late '66, with The Who and the Jimi Hendrix Experience being their first clients.