{"id":9035,"date":"2023-05-03T14:11:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T19:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=9035"},"modified":"2023-05-03T14:11:44","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T19:11:44","slug":"revolver-deep-dive-part-3-im-only-sleeping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/revolver-deep-dive-part-3-im-only-sleeping\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolver Deep Dive Part 3: I’m Only Sleeping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revolver<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Side One, Track Three<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d\u2026or So He Said!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Jude Southerland Kessler, Don Jeffries, and Bob Wilson<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Through 2023, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog will explore the intricacies of The Beatles\u2019 astounding 1966 LP, <\/em>Revolver. This month, Don Jeffries<\/strong> and Bob Wilson<\/strong> of the fascinating new book on the<\/em> \u201cPaul is Dead\u201d controversy,<\/em> From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road: A Billy Shears Story, join Jude Southerland Kessler, author of The John Lennon Series<\/strong>, for a fresh, new look at track three of this landmark LP.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s Standard:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dates and Times Recorded, Studios Used:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

27 April 1966 (Studio 3 from 11.30 p.m. – 1.00 a.m.)<\/em><\/p>\n

29 April 1966 (Studio 3 from 5.00 p.m. – 1.00 a.m.)<\/em><\/p>\n

5 May 1966 (Studio 3 from 9:30 p.m. – 3.00 a.m.)<\/em><\/p>\n

6 May 1966 (Studio 2 from 2.30 p.m. – 1.00 a.m.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Source: Lewisohn\u2019s <\/em>The Complete Beatles Chronicle and <\/em>The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Tech Team:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Producer:<\/em><\/strong> George Martin<\/em><\/p>\n

Engineer: <\/em><\/strong>Geoff Emerick<\/em><\/p>\n

Second Engineer: <\/em><\/strong>Phil McDonald<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Instrumentation and Musicians:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

John Lennon, the composer,<\/em><\/strong> sings double-tracked lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar on his 1964 Gibson J-160E. <\/em><\/p>\n

Paul McCartney<\/em><\/strong> sings harmony vocals and plays bass. Some sources claim he used his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass. Others, just as adamantly, state Paul used his Hofner. Rodriguez says the Hofner was used to get \u201cthose tiptoeing bass sounds.\u201d \u00a0In <\/em>The Anthology, George Martin states that Paul played the lead line with George Harrison. In <\/em>Here, There, and Everywhere, Geoff Emerick seconds this assertion. (p. 124)<\/em><\/p>\n

George Harrison<\/em><\/strong> sings harmony vocals and plays lead guitar. However, no source, including Babiuk\u2019s <\/em>Beatles Gear, identifies the guitar Harrison was using for the dramatic \u201cbackwards\u201d guitar solo. And if, as Martin and Emerick insist, Paul played lead simultaneously, we do not know what instrument Paul was employing either. <\/em><\/p>\n

Ringo Starr<\/em><\/strong> plays his 1964 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl \u201cSuper Classic\u201d drum set. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/em><\/strong> The Beatles, <\/em>The Anthology, 211, Lewisohn, <\/em>The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 219-220, Lewisohn, <\/em>The Recording Sessions, 77-78, Emerick, <\/em>Here, There, and Everywhere, 124, Rodriguez<\/em>, Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll, 129-132, Margotin and Guesdon, <\/em>All the Songs, 328-329, Winn, <\/em>That Magic Feeling, 15 and 18<\/em>, Hammack, <\/em>The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 132-134, Turner, <\/em>A Hard Day\u2019s Write, 106, Mellers, <\/em>Twilight of the Gods: The Music of The Beatles, 71-73, MacDonald, <\/em>Revolution in the Head, 161, Riley, <\/em>Tell Me Why, 185-186, O\u2019Toole, <\/em>Songs We Were Singing: Guided Tours Through The Beatles Lesser Known Tracks, 116-118, Spizer, <\/em>The Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records, 200, Davies<\/em>, Beatles Lyrics, 150-153, Womack, <\/em>Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, 129 and 139, Spignesi and Lewis, <\/em>100 Best Beatles Songs, 180-182 and Cardinale, \u201cThe Spark of Inspiration\u201d found at<\/em> https:\/\/medium.com\/synapticalchemy\/the-spark-of-inspiration-2e51272d0dcd<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s Changed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Kenneth Womack perceptively observed in Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles<\/em>, \u201cWhere Rubber Soul<\/em> is about The Beatles\u2019 self-conscious redefinition of themselves and their art, Revolver<\/em> is about taking those new-fangled models of themselves and their art out for a proverbial spin. This album is about revving up the engines of their musicality\u2026about The Beatles\u2019 desire to push the boundaries of their achievement, to experiment\u2026\u201d (p. 129)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And experimentation is precisely<\/em> what John Lennon is about here in \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d as he cleverly recreates his favorite place: the enchanted world of sleep-inspiration, the birthplace of that cherished \u201cspark of after-midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his blog \u201cThe Spark of Inspiration,\u201d Stephen Cardinale poetically observes: \u201cThe spark of inspiration is\u2026a force that pulls you from your slumber and won\u2019t allow you to rest until you\u2019ve imprinted the ground with that spark from the heavens.\u201d Very early on, John Lennon discovered and utilized this field of somnambulant stimulation, and throughout his career, he would credit it with the stimulus for songs such as \u201cAcross the Universe\u201d and \u201cWatching the Wheels.\u201d In the slim space between wake and slumber,\u00a0 John encountered the shadowy land where (for him) great ideas exist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping,\u201d John utilizes every \u201cbell and whistle\u201d at his disposal to recreate the fertile fog of semi-consciousness. Calling upon the genius of The Beatles and the musical acumen of George Martin and Geoff Emerick to help him bring this world to life,\u00a0 Lennon employs sophisticated technical tricks \u2013 and a few simple ploys \u2013 to set an elaborate stage for us all\u2026and to wave a welcoming hand toward his \u201cLand of Nod.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Robert Rodriguez, in Revolver<\/em>, How The Beatles Reimagined Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll<\/em>, states, \u201cJust as when you\u2019re a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so it was in 1966: if you were a Beatle, every sound was fair game to be sped up, slowed down, turned backwards, doubled, and otherwise sliced and diced.\u201d And here, John and the band do precisely that; they create extraordinary sound effects that pull us into Lennon\u2019s exotic reality. These devices include:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Frequency Modulation \u2013 <\/strong>On page 15 of That Magic Feeling<\/em>, John C. Winn tells us, \u201cOn 27 April, The Beatles\u2026taped 11 takes of John\u2019s new composition, \u2018I\u2019m Only Sleeping.\u2019 These were played in the key of Em, but with the tape running fast.\u201d (At 56 cycles, Lewisohn tells us in The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, p. 76) \u201cThis gave the song a more languid, dreamy quality when played back\u201d at normal speed, at 47\u00be cycles, Lewisohn states. (The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, p. 76) The resulting exotic harmonies skew away from the harmonies of \u201cThis Boy.\u201d They are equally lovely, but now also haunting.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Rodriguez explains that John\u2019s vocal was recorded with the tape rolling more slowly than customary. (In The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, p. 77, Lewisohn tells us it ran at 45 cycles.) Then, when the tape proceeded at normal speed in playback mode, John\u2019s voice became \u201cmore dreamlike,\u201d more ethereal, and removed. (pp. 130-131)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Beatles had become fascinated with frequency modulation in making \u201cRain.\u201d And here it was carefully applied to veil John\u2019s sleepy song in the drowsy cobweb of half-consciousness.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Use of Backwards Tracks<\/strong> \u2013 The Beatles used 17 seconds of backward guitar in the body of \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d and another ten seconds in the fade-out. That\u2019s all. And to capture this beautifully bizarre sound, it took six hours of intense work. Geoff Emerick claims it was nine hours of labor (p. 124), and Hunter Davies, in The Beatles Lyrics<\/em>, claims it took 12 hours. (p. 151) This may seem rather extravagant, but as Spignesi and Lewis state, when The Beatles \u201cwanted an effect, they moved earth and sky to achieve it.\u201d (p. 181) The curiously curling and writhing guitar is the essence of the sleep soundtrack: the stuff of dreams.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Here is how George Martin explained the \u201cvery strange\u201d technique employed to achieve the sound: \u201cIn order to record the backward guitar on a track like \u2018I\u2019m Only Sleeping,\u2019 you work out what your chord sequence is and write down the reverse order of the chords \u2013 as they are going to come up \u2013 so you can recognize them. You then learn to boogie around on that chord sequence, but you don\u2019t really know what it\u2019s going to sound like until it comes out again. It\u2019s hit or miss, no doubt about it, but you do it a few times, and when you like what you hear, you keep it.\u201d (Spignesi and Lewis, 180) That sounds logical \u2013 doable, even.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      But in Here, There, and Everywhere<\/em>, EMI Engineer Geoff Emerick claimed the process was \u201cone hard day\u2019s night!\u201d (p. 124) He says it \u201cturned out to be an interminable day of listening to the same eight bars played backwards over and over and over again.\u201d (p. 124)<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      As mentioned earlier, Beatles scholars disagree about whether or not Paul joined George in playing the backwards line. But all agree that two<\/strong> guitar parts were recorded. In The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, Lewisohn says, \u201c[The Beatles] made it doubly difficult by recording two guitar parts \u2013 one ordinary and one a fuzz guitar \u2013 which were superimposed on top of one another.\u201d Similarly, O\u2019Toole in Songs We Were Singing<\/em>, states, \u201cMartin\u2026had to conduct Harrison beat by beat, with the guitarist ultimately recording two separate solos \u2013 one with fuzz effects or distortion, and one without. Martin then laid the tracks on top of one another\u2026\u201d However, Hammack in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2 <\/em>says that \u201con May 5th<\/sup>, McCartney and Harrison added lead guitars to the song\u2026The solos (one with fuzz distortion added) were recorded simultaneously.\u201d One guitarist or two? We may never know definitively. But the artistry and care given to this song is just shy of miraculous.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. 3<\/strong>. Simple Sound Effects<\/strong> \u2013 Of course, not all of The Beatles\u2019 \u201csound effects\u201d in \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d were groundbreaking. At 1:57 in the song, you can hear someone (presumably, John) say, \u201cYawn, Paul.\u201d And at 2:01, Paul yawns. It\u2019s not a highly complex maneuver, but it adds the perfect final touch in the recreation of John\u2019s Muse-inhabited realm of sleep. And as O\u2019Toole remarks, \u201c\u2026it represents [The Beatles] at their most experimental to date\u2026nothing was off limits for this 1966 masterpiece.\u201d (Songs We Were Singing<\/em>, 116)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        A Fresh New Look: <\/strong><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Don Jeffries is the author of myriad books including <\/em>Bullyocracy: How the Social Hierarchy Enables Bullies to Rule Schools, Work Places and Society at Large; <\/em>On Borrowed Fame: Money, Mysteries, and Corruption in the Entertainment World, and <\/em>Hidden History: An Expose of Crimes, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups in American History. Don is a lifelong Beatles fan, and we\u2019ve shared many in-depth conversations about Beatles music on his popular I-Heart Radio show, \u201cThe Don and Ella\u201d show. <\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Bob Wilson is well-known in The Beatles World for his very popular podcast with Warren Brown, \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d and his intriguing solo podcast, \u201cDon\u2019t Pass Me By.\u201d He has also contributed several articles to <\/em>Beatles Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        This month, Don and Bob Wilson are releasing their first venture into Beatles investigative research. After interviewing numerous Beatles friends and experts about the \u201cPaul is Dead\u201d controversy, they will soon be releasing <\/em>From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road: A Billy Shears Story. Here are their insights on \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Jude Southerland Kessler:<\/em><\/strong> Don and Bob, John wrote many songs about sleep in his Beatles and solo career. Sleep was a muse to him, a mystical place to seek inspiration.\u00a0 And sometimes, it was simply a place to escape. How do you view sleep in this particular rendition? Is John talking about shutting out the world or letting in creativity?<\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Don Jeffries and Bob Wilson<\/em>: <\/strong>We know that John loved to sleep and also to lie in bed. Apparently, his bed was a kind of refuge for him. It\u2019s no accident that the \u201cGive Peace a Chance\u201d video took place during John and Yoko\u2019s \u201cBed-In for Peace.\u201d John would touch upon the theme of sleep in other songs, such as \u201cI\u2019m So Tired.\u201d During his solo career, he wrote both the scathing attack on Paul McCartney, \u201cHow do you Sleep?\u201d(on which Harrison also played) and the aptly titled \u201cNumber 9 Dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        But John\u2019s \u201cbed-in\u201d time didn\u2019t necessarily note slothfulness. In fact, In \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping,\u201d to quote author Hunter Davies in Beatles Lyrics,<\/em> \u201cThe words are sharp and succinct, not at all the mark of a lazy lyricist. John loved his bed. When he wasn\u2019t sleeping, he was often propped up on pillows, writing\u2026John loved to stay in bed creating and writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Lennon needed sleep to create; many of his songs touch on this. John famously described how \u201cNowhere Man\u201d came to him, \u201cthe whole damn thing, as I lay down.\u201d Similarly, the words to \u201cAcross the Universe\u201d\u00a0 came to him as he lay in bed after an argument with Cynthia. Here, John lauds the creative process he always enjoyed in \u201chalf-sleep.\u201d Sam Kemp of Far Out<\/em> magazine referred to\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d as \u201can ode to the importance of being idle.\u201d But this sort of idleness is equivalent to receptiveness, not oblivion. John is listening, thinking, and creating.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Kessler:<\/em><\/strong> I so agree! We\u00a0 are alerted to John\u2019s <\/em>wakefulness from the very first line of the song when he sings: \u201cWhen I wake up early in the morning\u2026\u201d And as the song progresses, John reminds us that he is\u00a0 \u201ckeeping an eye on the world going by my window.\u201d Clearly, John is not sleeping but existing in that dozing state in which ideas flow freely.<\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        What do you like about \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d? What\u2019s its charm for you?<\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Jeffries and Wilson<\/em>:<\/strong> I almost always love Lennon\u2019s melodies. His voice here, as it regularly does, draws the listener in. I consider Lennon to be the greatest vocalist in the history of popular music. He could make any song contagious.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        As he would do in his song \u201cI\u2019m so Tired,\u201d Lennon seemed to have a special talent for melodies that make the listener think of sleep, or even feel sleepy. All anecdotal evidence suggests that Lennon\u2019s inordinate amount of time spent in bed made him an expert on the subject.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        The dreamlike sound in \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d was enhanced by its E minor key. Furthermore, as Jude indicated in the \u201cWhat\u2019s New\u201d segment of the blog, new studio tricks were used to create that very atmosphere. The backing track, as she explained, was recorded faster and then slowed down when played back at average speed. This evoked the image of \u00a0\u201crunning through deep water\u201d or \u201cmoving in a dream.\u201d (And, of course, John’s lead vocal was processed in the opposite way to produce a high-pitched, far-away sound.)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Simpler techniques in the recording also catch my attention. For example, Paul actually yawns during the song. And John\u2019s word choices cleverly evoke a \u201chussssshed\u201d feeling of sleep: lazy, crazy, speed, staring, ceiling, shake me. The song\u2019s repeated \u201cs\u201d and \u201csh\u201d sounds lull us.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        However,\u00a0 I\u2019m not the only one who admires this song. Steven Spignesi and Michael Lewis, in The 100 Best Beatles Songs<\/em>, rate it at #57. They call it: “One of the band’s drowsiest, most lethargic songs\u201d but point out that it has \u201cJohn\u2019s cleanest and most well-written lyrics.\u201d (p. 182) And in Revolution in the Head<\/em>, noted author Ian McDonald says, \u201c\u2018I\u2019m Only Sleeping\u2019 with its dreamy multitracking, a dim halo of slowed cymbal sound, and softly tiptoeing bass is\u2026deep in artifice. The Beatles\u2026[created] a new sonic environment.\u201d And while admitting that the song\u2019s theme is sleep and lethargy, MacDonald notes that \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d was \u201cmore active than anything [John Lennon] had written since \u2018Girl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Kessler:<\/em><\/strong> Don and Bob, some music critics have claimed that this song is about drug usage, not sleep. Which theory do you support and why?<\/em><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Jeffries and Wilson<\/em>:<\/strong> I don\u2019t think there are any drug inferences here, although certainly, the ethereal nature of the song might lend itself to being listened to while smoking marijuana. People have often claimed drug messages in Lennon\u2019s songs. Lennon\u2019s lyrics were sometimes ambiguous enough to be open to multiple interpretations, but in this case, it seems pretty clear that it\u2019s a simple song about the joys of half-sleep and the creativity found there.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        In his book Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, <\/em>Dr. Kenneth Womack notes that a big difference is observed when John is writing about drugs\u00a0and when he’s writing\u00a0about sleep. When he’s writing about drugs, John is adrift, floating downstream. For example, “In \u2018Tomorrow Never Knows,\u2019 you turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream<\/em>….truly surrender to the void.” However, in \u201cI’m Only Sleeping,\u201d John is floating upstream, awake and aware of what’s going on outside his window. This has nothing to do with drugs.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        For more information on From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road: A Billy Shears Story, HEAD HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

        For more information on Don Jeffries, HEAD HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

        For more information on Jeffries\u2019 publications, HEAD HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

        Follow Don on Twitter HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Revolver Side One, Track Three \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping\u201d\u2026or So He Said!   by Jude Southerland Kessler, Don Jeffries, and Bob Wilson   Through 2023, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog will explore the intricacies of The Beatles\u2019 astounding 1966 LP, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,28],"tags":[98,111,117],"class_list":["post-9035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-john-lennon-2","category-the-beatles","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-revolver","tag-the-beatles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9035"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9039,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035\/revisions\/9039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}