{"id":9560,"date":"2024-12-17T15:37:53","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=9560"},"modified":"2024-12-17T15:37:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:37:53","slug":"revolver-deep-dive-part-14-tomorrow-never-knows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/revolver-deep-dive-part-14-tomorrow-never-knows\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolver Deep Dive Part 14: Tomorrow Never Knows"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Side Two, Track Seven<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d: The First Shall Be Last<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Jude Southerland Kessler<\/em><\/p>\n

For the last 18 months, our Fest Blog has been replete with deep dives into the songs comprising The Beatles\u2019 remarkable LP, <\/em>Revolver. At long last, we\u2019ve reached the final track\u2026a track which, oddly enough, was the first recorded during the sessions for the album. Innovative, a bit bizarre, and fascinating, \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d was a game-changer. Indeed, the very title of the track was thought-provoking. It summarized the feelings of so many fans after listening to the new record. In only three short years, The Beatles had swiveled from \u201cShe Loves You\u201d to \u201cIn My Life\u201d to this! What a tremendous difference. In the summer of 1966, the question on everyone\u2019s mind was, \u201cWhat will happen next?\u201d And the answer\u2026 \u201cTomorrow never knows.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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

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

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

Date Recorded:<\/strong> Wednesday, 6 April 1966<\/p>\n

Place Recorded:<\/strong> Studio Three<\/p>\n

Time Recorded:<\/strong> Evening Session from 8.00 p.m. \u2013 1.15 a.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Technical Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Sound Engineer:<\/strong> Geoff Emerick (newly promoted to fill this slot)<\/p>\n

Second Engineer:<\/strong> Phil McDonald (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, 70 and Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual<\/em>, Vol. 2,<\/em> 105)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On this day:<\/strong> The Beatles begin work on their seventh studio LP with the recording of John Lennon\u2019s song originally entitled \u201cMark I\u201d and eventually known by a Ringo-ism, \u201cTomorrow Never Knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take One featured John playing a four-note melody on EMI studio\u2019s 1965 Lowrey DSO-I Heritage Organ, Harrison playing a distorted tremolo electric guitar (one of three that he had in studio including his 1961 Fender Stratocaster with synchronized tremolo, his 1964 Gibson Maestro Vibrola vibrato, or his 1965 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino with Bigsby B7 vibrato, and finally, Starr on his 1964 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl \u201cSuper Classic\u201d drum set. Take One was recorded faster than the playback speed. Hammack tells us that when played at a normal speed, the music would sound \u201cthicker and deeper.\u201d (Hammack, 105) After Take One, there were two superimpositions added: Ringo added a second drum part, this time at the regular speed while John added his vocals, amplified through a Leslie speaker to give them a \u201cflange-like distortion.\u201d (Hammack, 106)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then, Lennon asked to do another take that would provide a completely different backing track<\/em> for \u201cMark I.\u201d Take Two failed, but Take Three featured Starr on drums (\u201cheavy backbeat,\u201d Hammack tells us) and McCartney on his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S. Take Three was selected to receive further attention as \u201cbest.\u201d (Hammack, 106)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Second Date Recorded:<\/strong> Thursday, 7 April 1966<\/p>\n

Place Recorded:<\/strong> Studio Three<\/p>\n

Time Recorded:<\/strong> 2.30 p.m. \u2013 7.15 p.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Technical Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

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

(Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, 70 and Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual<\/em>, Vol. 2,<\/em> 105)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On this day: <\/strong>The Beatles returned to studio to complete additional work on Take Three of \u201cMark I.\u201d Both John and Ringo had supplied \u201ctape loops\u201d for the recording on April 6, but now Paul and George arrived with loops as well. George Martin listened to all of the tape loops and selected 16 to use on the recording. Then, with the help of The Beatles, this selection was narrowed down again to only five loops. (See the \u201cWhat\u2019s Changed\u201d<\/strong> segment of this blog for a thorough discussion of \u201ctape loops.\u201d) Recording the tape loops (a highly tedious process) was the work of this day. (Hammack, 107)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also, on this second day of work, John recorded a second vocal without<\/em> the Leslie effect. This would be used in the first 87 seconds of the completed song. (Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2<\/em>, 106 and Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, 72)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Third Date Recorded:<\/strong> Friday, 22 April 1966<\/p>\n

Place Recorded:<\/strong> Studio Two<\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 2.30 p.m. \u2013 11.30 p.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Technical Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

Second Engineer:<\/strong> Phil McDonald (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, 72 and Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2<\/em>, 107)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On this day:<\/strong> The Beatles returned to Studio Two for the last session of superimpositions onto Take Three of \u201cMark I.\u201d Lennon double-tracked his vocals from 7 April and then decided to replace the back-half of the original vocals from the 7 April session with a brand-new performance. This time, Lennon\u2019s voice was run through the Leslie 122 speaker. (Note: This starts 87 seconds into the song. Lewisohn tells us that prior to this time mark, Lennon\u2019s voice \u201cwas just treated with ADT,\u201d Artificial Double Tracking. (The Beatles Recording Sessions<\/em>, p. 72)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

George Harrison added sitar work and a performance on the tambura, a very cumbersome \u201cIndian four or five-stringed droning instrument\u201d (Hammack, 107). McCartney added a backwards lead guitar riff \u00a0(played on the Epiphone Casino) and Starr added tambourine. McCartney also added piano work on EMI\u2019s 1905 Steinway upright piano. One of The Beatles (or perhaps George Martin) supplied some work on organ as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This very complicated, highly layered song was at last completed. Mixing work would follow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewisohn, <\/em>The Beatles Recording Sessions, 70-72, Lewisohn, <\/em>The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 216-217, Miles, <\/em>The Beatles Diary, Vol. 1, 225 and 228, Emerick, <\/em>Here, There and Everywhere, 111-113, Hammack, <\/em>The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 105-108, The Beatles, <\/em>The Beatles Anthology, 209-210, Rodriguez, <\/em>Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll, 106-111, Womack, <\/em>Sound Pictures, The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, 31-34, Harry, <\/em>The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia, 652, Harry, <\/em>The John Lennon Encyclopedia, 911-912, Miles, <\/em>The Beatles Diary, Vol. 1, 228 and 239, Winn, <\/em>That Magic Feeling, 7-8, Gould, <\/em>Can\u2019t Buy Me Love, 317-320, Spizer, <\/em>The Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records, 216-217,<\/em> Turner, <\/em>Beatles \u201966, 134-147, Turner, <\/em>A Hard Day\u2019s Write, 115-116, Margotin and Guesdon, <\/em>All the Songs, 352-355, Pascal, Ed. <\/em>The Beatles: The Fabulous Story of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, 3, Riley,<\/em> Tell Me Why, 199-201, MacDonald, <\/em>Revolution in the Head, 148-153, Spizer, <\/em>The Beatles From Rubber Soul to Revolver, 222-223, Everett, <\/em>The Beatles as Musicians, Revolver Through Anthology, 34-38, Davies, <\/em>The Beatles Lyrics, 176-178, Spignesi and Lewis, <\/em>100 Best Beatles Songs, 130-132, and Mellers, <\/em>Twilight of the Gods, 81-82<\/em>. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Individual Composition vs. Collaboration<\/strong> \u2013 Many of The Beatles\u2019 songs on 1965\u2019s Rubber Soul<\/em> had been the result of teamwork. Regularly, Paul had motored out to Kenwood where, after lunch, John and Paul would work on the songs together. (This is very much the case with \u201cDrive My Car\u201d and \u201cMichelle,\u201d for example.) But in The Fabulous Story of John, Paul, George and Ringo<\/em>, we are told that by the spring of 1966 and the advent of Revolver,<\/em> \u201cthe two writers were progressing along divergent paths.\u201d (p. 30)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    This holds true in the creation of \u201cTomorrow Never Knows,\u201d one of the earliest compositions completed for Revolver<\/em>. John had the multifaceted song ready to record by the first week of April 1966, after working on it for several months in his new third-floor Kenwood home studio. (Miles, The Beatles Diary, Vol. 1<\/em>, 225) In fact, in Sound Pictures, The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin<\/em>, Womack tells us that \u201ca few days before [The Beatles\u2019] April 6 recording session, [John] premiered his new song for Martin and McCartney at Brian Epstein\u2019s Belgravia home during a planning session for their new long-player.\u201d (p. 32)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    By 1966, the days of shoulder-to-shoulder collaborations were gradually coming to an end. But when one of the boys created something unusual or fantastic, the others were inspired to participate.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    In Here, There and Everywhere<\/em>, Geoff Emerick tells us that in late 1965 or early 1966, \u201c\u2026all four Beatles\u2026had gone out and bought themselves open reel tape recorders\u2026 [and] they conducted sonic experiments in their respective homes. They would often bring in bits of tape and say, \u2018Listen to this!\u2019 as they tried to outdo one another in a de facto<\/em> \u2018weird sound\u2019 contest.\u201d (p. 111) And even though most of the compositions for Revolver<\/em> were the product of individual experimentation, a song like \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d inspired collaborative creative efforts. This collaboration occurred in the studio, as The Beatles supplied their own individually created pieces as a way to \u201ccome together.\u201d<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    We all know that John wrote the lyrics and music for \u201cTomorrow Never Knows,\u201d and he explained in lavish detail the \u201caura\u201d that he sought for the song. Then, John and Ringo showcased a recording of loop effects that they had created for the new track. (Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere<\/em>, 111)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Emerick says that, \u201cPaul [then] sat up all night composing a whole series of short tape loops for the song\u2026an extraordinary collection of bizarre sounds\u2026\u201d (p. 111-112) And George Harrison created loops as well. (Hammack, 106) Upon hearing this collection of oddities, \u201cGeorge Martin and [Emerick] huddled over the console,\u201d playing the various loops, \u201craising and lowering faders to shouted instructions from John, Paul, George, and Ringo.\u201d(p. 112)<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Several weeks later, Emerick tells us, \u201cGeorge Harrison showed up with the tamboura\u2026Harrison\u2026said that the tamboura drone would be the perfect complement to John\u2019s song, and he was right.\u201d (p. 112-113) Clearly, The Beatles worked together as a team to perfect \u201cTomorrow Never Knows,\u201d and the result was a \u201cgrand finale\u201d that left listeners wide-eyed over the artistic, groundbreaking record.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The Use of Tape Loops \u2013 <\/strong>In his Beatles Recording Reference Manual<\/em>, 2,<\/em> Jerry Hammack observes that in 1966, \u201cThe Beatles\u2026having conquered the world of pop music\u2026had earned the opportunity to do whatever they wanted.\u201d (p. 105) And with their very first song recorded for Revolver<\/em>, they did precisely that. One of the newest and most exciting of their innovative techniques involved the creation and application of tape loops.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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

      In The Beatles Diary, Vol. 1<\/em>, Barry Miles reports that during the first week of January 1966, \u201cJohn installed a home studio at Kenwood, and over the next months he experimented with creating many avant garde<\/em> sounds, plus one-man demos of his new compositions.\u201d (p. 225) One of the novelties that most fascinated John was the tape loop. John explained the creation of a loop in this way: \u201cPaul and I are very keen on electronic music. You make it clinking a couple of glasses together, or with bleeps from the radio, then you loop the tape so that it repeats the same noises at intervals. Some people build up whole symphonies from it.\u201d (p. 228)<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Jerry Hammack, in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2<\/em>, gives a more technical explanation of tape loops: \u201cTape loops are short segments of audiotape containing previously recorded sounds that are connected in a continuous loop at the top and tail of the tape. The repetition of the \u2018loop\u2019 creates an audio pattern, the duration determined by the length of the tape.\u201d (p. 106) Hammack goes on to say that the sound effects in this song \u201cwere all created in this manner.\u201d (p. 106) Indeed, in Tell Me Why<\/em>, Riley describes the tape loops in \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d as \u201c\u2026noises, backwards guitars, and eerie bird sounds swoop[ing] all around [The Beatles]. The swirls of motion are the product of\u2026tape loops mixed randomly together for a blizzard effect\u2026\u201d (p. 199)<\/p>\n

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

      Each of The Beatles contributed to the 20 tape loops that were presented to George Martin who selected 16 as viable. Then together, The Beatles and Martin narrowed the choices down to five. (Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2,<\/em> 107) Hammack tells us that the five chosen loops were: \u201cMcCartney\u2019s laughter, sped up and sounding like a seagull; a B-flat major orchestral chord from a Jan Sibelius recording; two sitar parts, played backwards; and miscellaneous Mellotron sounds.\u201d (Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2<\/em>, 107) These unique sounds helped to create the signature other-worldly effect of \u201cTomorrow Never Knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      ***Our discussion of tape loops on \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d is far from comprehensive. I highly recommend the discussion of \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d in Robert Rodriguez\u2019s work <\/strong><\/em>Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll<\/strong>, pp. 106-111. <\/em><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. A Song About Life After Death or The Best Way to Experience LSD<\/strong> \u2013 The Beatles had written and\/or sung about myriad topics including love, money, fame, deception, betrayal, anger, dancing, boys, and girls, but they had never tackled the miles-from-Chuck-Berry topic of life-after-death\u2026or, as others suggest, the best way to experience LSD. John\u2019s willingness to approach these weighty topics and Martin\u2019s willingness to place \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d as the concluding song on the new Beatles\u2019 LP demonstrated a vast shift in who The Beatles were in 1966 and who they would become in the years ahead.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        If you view this song as a guidebook to life after death, then Spignesi and Lewis\u2019s summary of Lennon\u2019s thesis applies: \u201cIn \u2018Tomorrow Never Knows,\u2019 John offers departed souls two choices. The first is to become one with the void and escape the cycle of life and death and rebirth; the second, to continue on, be reborn, and \u2018play the game \u2018existence\u2019 to the end.\u2019\u201d (p. 130) A serious focus on death and its implications had been central to John\u2019s life since the 1955 loss of his Uncle George (his truest father figure), the tragic loss of his mother, Julia, in 1958, and the loss of his soul mate, Stu Sutcliffe, in 1962. Thoughts of death were never far from John\u2019s mind. So, certainly, this may be one element of the song.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        However, in 1965, John was reading Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner\u2019s The Psychedelic Experience<\/em> (which offered a loosely translated presentation of Leary\u2019s philosophies based on Leary\u2019s interpretation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead<\/em>). In Part Two of The Psychedelic Experience<\/em>, Leary and his co-authors offer \u201ca user\u2019s manual for an acid trip,\u201d (Gould, 319) and the advice given in this part of the book spoke to John, who had found LSD to be revelatory. Somewhat echoing Leary \u2013 though, as Gould points out, John later refers to it as \u201cthat stupid book of Leary\u2019s,\u201d (Gould, p. 319) \u2013 John began to pen lyrics urging others to \u201crelease the ego\u201d when experiencing the effects of LSD. Quoting Leary\u2019s words, John offered his own guidebook for navigating the realm of LSD. Indeed, Womack reminds us that it was Leary, not Lennon, who first urged his readers to \u201cturn off your mind, relax, float downstream.\u201d (Sound Pictures, The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin<\/em>, 32)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Womack further proposes that Leary \u2013 and John \u2013 are talking about sublimating the ego as a \u201cvaluable means for preparing the acid-dropper to experience the life-altering throes of an LSD trip, which for many users, [George] Harrison included, took on death-like proportions.\u201d (Sound Pictures, The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin<\/em>, p. 32)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        However one interprets the lyrics of this first song recorded for Revolver,<\/em> it is easy to see that things in the world of The Beatles had dramatically changed. Spizer, in The Beatles from Rubber Soul to Revolver<\/em>, notes, \u201cJohn had grown from \u2018Love, love me do\/You know I love you\u201d to: \u2018Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream\/ It is not dying, it is not dying\/ Lay down all thought, surrender to the void\/ It is shining, it is shining.\u2019\u201d (p. 222)<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Even the instruments that The Beatles selected to convey this mystical message were dramatically different: the tambura, sitar, mellotron, tambourine\u2026and vocals transmitted through a Leslie speaker.\u00a0 For many fans, this new sound was incredible: \u201cit [was] shining, it was shining.\u201d But for others, the fab boys who had won their hearts with \u201cI Want to Hold Your Hand\u201d had been replaced by strange, unrecognizable artists.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. A Preponderance of \u201cFirsts\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 There are so many \u201cfirsts\u201d surrounding \u201cTomorrow Never Knows.\u201d John himself said it is his first psychedelic song. It\u2019s the first song in which a Leslie speaker is used to modulate the sound of a human voice. (Spignesi and Lewis, 130) We\u2019ve already discussed tape loops. And this is the first Beatles song which does not include the title in the lyrics. Once this traditional barrier was swept aside, many others like it would follow: \u201cA Day in the Life,\u201d \u201cBeing for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,\u201d \u201cYer Blues,\u201d \u201cThe Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,\u201d and \u201cThe Inner Light.\u201d Rubber Soul<\/em> was an innovative LP, but Revolver<\/em> was a complete transformation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

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

          NEXT MONTH:<\/em><\/strong> Robert Rodriguez<\/strong> will have \u201cthe last word\u201d on <\/em>Revolver. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Revolver Side Two, Track Seven \u201cTomorrow Never Knows\u201d: The First Shall Be Last by Jude Southerland Kessler For the last 18 months, our Fest Blog has been replete with deep dives into the songs comprising The Beatles\u2019 remarkable LP, Revolver. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[59,111,117,125],"class_list":["post-9560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-beatles","tag-beatles","tag-revolver","tag-the-beatles","tag-tomorrow-never-knows"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9560","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=9560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9561,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9560\/revisions\/9561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}