revolver
Revolver - Well you say you want a Revolution
Released in the UK on August 5 Revolver was The Beatles seventh album and for many is regarded as the finest LP the band ever made (in 1997 it was named the 3rd greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV,Channel 4,The Guardian andClassic FM).
Recorded at Abbey Road studios between April and June 1966, Revolver stands up to repeated scrutiny and exposure, fully deserving its exalted reputation and high-ranking position in Greatest Albums Of All Time lists.
The Beatles' transition from a gigging unit to studio band was sealed with this record; a mature, complex, frequently witty work. There simply is no filler here; Paul McCartney is a man aflame. Many writers would struggle to manage just one piece of music the calibre of "Eleanor Rigby"," For No One", "Here, There and Everywhere", "Got To Get You Into My Life" or "Good Day Sunshine". Here, McCartney effortlessly delivers all five.
Although John Lennon's material is more slender though no less memorable ("Dr. Robert", "I'm Only Sleeping") he steals the show with his final song, the Tibetan Book Of The Dead-referencing "Tomorrow Never Knows", which points the way to not just the group's future but also the next few years in rock. Asking producer George Martin to make him sound like the "Dalai Lama chanting from a hilltop", the looped and flanged drone still sounds unlike anything else in rock and concludes the Beatles most remarkable and consistent offering to date. And all this is without mentioning the George Harrison's Indian experimentation ("Love You To"), his searing attack on the tax system ("Taxman") and the best kid's pop song of all time ("Yellow Submarine")
We could go but will leave you with just a few saliant facts about the release
Title: The title Revolver, like Rubber Soul before it, is a pun, referring both to a type of handgun as well as the "revolving" motion of the record as it is played on a turntable
Tracklisting: All tracks by Lennon/McCartney unless stated:
Side one
1. "Taxman" (George Harrison) – 2:39
2. "Eleanor Rigby" – 2:07
3. "I'm Only Sleeping" – 3:01
4. "Love You To" (George Harrison) – 3:01
5. "Here, There and Everywhere" – 2:25
6. "Yellow Submarine" – 2:40
7. "She Said She Said" – 2:37
Side two
1. "Good Day Sunshine" – 2:09
2. "And Your Bird Can Sing" – 2:01
3. "For No One" – 2:01
4. "Doctor Robert" – 2:15
5. "I Want to Tell You" (George Harrison) – 2:29
6. "Got to Get You into My Life" – 2:30
7. "Tomorrow Never Knows" – 2:57
The Cover:
The cover illustration was created by German-born bassist and artist Klaus Voormann, who was one of the Beatles' oldest friends from their days at the Star Club in Hamburg.
Voormann's illustration, part line drawing and part collage, included photographs by Robert Whitaker, who also took the back cover photographs and many other famous images of the group between 1964 and 1966 (see also the link Bob Whitaker Photos).
Voormann's own photo as well as his name (Klaus O. W. Voormann) is worked into Harrison's hair on the right-hand side of the cover. In the Revolver cover appearing in his artwork for Anthology 3, he replaced this image with a more recent photo.
Harrison's Revolver image was seen again on his single release of "When We Was Fab" along with an updated version of the same image.
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Robert Freeman print than was used on the cover:
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Detail from Russian release with different images:
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