Revolver

In 1962, a teen boy band came to the attention of a music producer by the name of George Martin.  Up until this time, this band was not only little known, it was almost never known.  In spite of that fact, George Martin decided to work with this group who called themselves, The Beatles. 

With songs like “Please Please Me” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” it wasn’t long before the success of these four musicians would spark an all-out frenzy.  Being born in Liverpool, this frenzy of fandom, soon to be dubbed “Beatle Mania”, would eventually become the driving force behind a much-needed break from performing.  Who can blame them?  With four albums spanning only a 21-month period, it was only a matter of time before The Beatles would feel the need to retreat from the public spotlight.

During their time away, LSD and Timothy Leary’s “The Psychedelic Experience”, would prove to be a potent influence on the mind of John Lennon, only to emerge with a desire and drive to transform his own psychedelic experiences into musical expression.  These ideas would help to forge their next album, paving the way for a new type of music called, “psychedelic” rock.  This album would come to be known as, Revolver.

Rampant experimentation in audio engineering was the call-of-the-day for this new album.  Guitar riffs were played, recorded, and dubbed backwards.  Wine glasses were utilized to provide an interesting ensemble of unfamiliar sounds.  Hand-cut sections of recordings were looped together throughout the album, much like music loops are done digitally today.  A Leslie speaker was used to magnify and record the lyrics on “Tomorrow Never Knows,” providing an almost eerie and otherworldly sound never heard before.  Virtually every aspect of the common elements of music was toyed with in some way.  The implications of this brave experiment in studio instrumentation and audio engineering may never be known in its entirety.

Until now, the only truly enjoyable experience I’ve had with the music of The Beatles came from the movie, “Across the Universe” from Revolution Studios.  Now, instead of saying, “You never know what tomorrow holds.”… I simply say, “Tomorrow Never Knows.”