Before I dive into my post on the Beatles' new Revolver reissue out today, here's the new stereo mix of Taxman. Listen for the dynamic punch and push...
Revolver was recorded between April and June in 1966 and released August 5, 1966. I was 9 when Revolver came out in the U.S., but the album never wound up in my hands. I'm not sure why. The omission might have been due to my gift-giving extended family's disapproval of an album named for a gun. Or maybe it was because I was in day camp in August and wasn't around. Or perhaps it was the confusion created by the tiny gap in time between one Beatles album, Yesterday and Today, and another, Revolver, not to mention the mixed up Capitol version sold in the U.S. vs. the British EMI album. According to relatives, I already had Yesterday and Today, why did I need another Beatles album so soon?
Yesterday and Today was released only in North American in mid-June 1966, with just 11 tracks. The LP included songs from the British versions of Help! and Rubber Soul and three new ones from the British version of Revolver. All of the songs on Yesterday and Today were new to American ears. My copy came from an aunt, and I played it daily. When the U.S. version of Revolver came out less than two months later, it dropped I'm Only Sleeping, And Your Bird Can Sing and Doctor Robert. Those had already appeared on Yesterday and Today in June. All three were written primarily by John Lennon, which left the American version of the album with three songs by George Harrison, six by Paul McCartney and just two by Lennon. The release of Yesterday and Today and the abbreviated version of Revolver made a mess of the band's intended audio presentation of their material, and the longstanding practice of issuing two different versions of the same Beatles album was abandoned.
The upshot was that I, like most of my friends, never owned Revolver. For us, Rubber Soul led to Yesterday and Today and then to Sgt. Pepper and beyond. I didn't hear the unadulterated Revolver until years later, when British versions of Beatles releases became available here in the imports section of record stores. By then, Revolver sounded rather foreign and disjointed, since the musical narrative of the full album had never been stamped on my childhood memory cohesively, like Rubber Soul, Yesterday and Today and Sgt. Pepper.
So for me, today's new reissue of Revolver is a relatively new and welcome experience on my part. I'm fully familiar with all of the songs, of course, but as with any Beatles album, there's a story told when one song hands off to the next, a story I missed. Which means I listened hard to the re-mastered album about 25 times over the past week to hear how the songs operated as independent song statements and how they snapped together as an LP.
My Super Deluxe edition features five CDs for a total of 63 tracks. There's a new stereo mix of the album by Giles Martin (Sir George's son), an original mono master, two CDs of recording sessions for the songs and an EP of the single release of Paperback Writer with Rain on the flip side—both in stereo and mono versions. And there's a superb 100-page hardbound book in a 12.56” x 12.36” slipcase.
The new music is astonishingly clear and dimensional, thanks to the astute ear of Giles and the technology developed by Emile de la Rey at Peter Jackson’s WingNut Films Productions Ltd. All the new Revolver formats include the album’s new stereo mix, sourced directly from the original four-track master tapes. All of the physical and digital Super Deluxe collections include the album’s original mono mix, 28 early takes from the recording sessions and three home demos, and a four-track EP with new stereo mixes and remastered original mono mixes for Paperback Writer and Rain. The four LPs and 7-inch EP are on half-speed mastered 180-gram vinyl.
From a music standpoint, Revolver was never considered a perfect Beatles album and that remains the case after many listens. The material ranges from mind-blowing highs to pedestrian lows—albeit the lows are few. In the astonishing category are Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, I'm Only Sleeping, Love You To, She Said She Said, And Your Bird Can Sing, Doctor Robert, Tomorrow Never Knows, Rain and, most of all, Paperback Writer. In each case, there are edgy contrasts, revolutionary rock statements and fascinating song lyrics. One must constantly remember that this is 1966 to appreciate how far ahead of the curve the Beatles were and the foundation they were pouring for future bands.
On the sluggish end of the spectrum are Here, There and Everywhere, which now sounds like a demo for a kinder Live and Let Die; Yellow Submarine, which sounds like a children's drinking song; and Good Day Sunshine, which feels dreary and dated. I'm sort of in the middle on Got to Get You Into My Life. This one feels like a prototype for the sound Paul would achieve with his post-Beatles band Wings and seems like overly polished fare wedged between jagged masterpieces. On the other hand, the song's acrylic-sounding horn arrangement gives the track a brash, badass attitude that the song itself lacks.
Most fascinating of all on the Super Deluxe package are the studio sessions. You get to hear lots of mini audio stories of how songs came together—the great ones and the few softies. The audio backstory, as always with the Beatles, becomes additional evidence of how ingenious they were as they worked through song approaches and segments. Not only did they know exactly what they wanted from a song, they thought about it in advance and dug in until their vision emerged fully constructed on the conveyor belt. The session work for And Your Bird Can Sing, for example, is a jaw-dropper.
What has always puzzled me is why Paperback Writer never made it onto the British album or the American one. Listening back now, it seems a no-brainer to include it and Rain and drop Yellow Submarine and For No One. In some ways, Revolver would have been stronger with these two included and the other two out. Paperback Writer remains one of Paul's most intriguing songs, from the Beach Boys-y a cappella opener to the fade out. Also brilliant is Ringo's fascinating drum beat, the song's instrumental restless thrust, Paul's throbbing bass, the opening guitar riff (who played it is still unclear), and the vocals throughout. It's a perfect song.
All in all, the new Revolver release is a revelation, especially with its new clarity and sonic detailing. The quality of the songwriting remains startling, the arrangements are gripping and exotic, there's a new radical rock edge emerging, and the session material holds a bounty of craft that made this band eternal and dominant. I didn't need Revolver once Yesterday and Today was placed in my hands in the summer of '66, but experiencing the complete album like a 9-year-old this past week was pure joy and an intellectual treat.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find the new Revolver reissue (Apple)in its various formats here.
JazzWax clip: Here's Got to Get You Into My Life (second version/unnumbered mix)...
And here's a promo video with more info...
JazzWax note: You can read my take on the Beatles' Abbey Road box here, the Let It Be box here and the Sgt. Pepper box here.
