Revolver Deep Dive Part 5: Here, There & Everywhere
Revolver
Side One, Track Five
“Here, There And Everywhere”: In Which Paul McCartney “Obliterates Place”[i]
by Jude Southerland Kessler and Melissa Davis
Through 2023, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog will explore the intricacies of The Beatles’ astounding 1966 LP, Revolver. This month, Melissa Davis will provide our “Fresh New Look” at “Here, There And Everywhere,” the gorgeous song inspired by a particularly happy time in the romance of Paul McCartney and Jane Asher. Melissa was a member of the inaugural class of the world’s first graduate degree program concentrating on the musical and cultural impact of The Beatles, moving to Britain in 2009 and graduating from Liverpool Hope University in 2011. Her dissertation, A Contextual Analysis of the Reception of The Beatles in America, examined the questions: “Why then and why them?” Melissa has co-authored The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide to the Literature (2012) and its 2013 supplement with Michael Brocken, founder of the first Beatles MA program. She is currently at work on the third volume of the bibliography.
Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of The John Lennon Series and a Guest Speaker at the upcoming Chicago Fest for Beatles Fans, August 11-13. She has written the “What’s Standard” and “What’s New” segments of this blog.
What’s Standard:
Recording Stats:
14 June 1966 – EMI, Studio 2 – 7:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. On this evening, 4 rhythm track takes were recorded, and vocals were superimposed onto take 4.
16 June 1966 – EMI, Studio 2 – 8:30 p.m. – 3:30 a.m. The decision to start the work over on “Here, There And Everywhere” was made. The boys began anew with take 5. By take 13, John C. Winn tells us “the bass, drums, and electric guitar rhythm track (with a second guitar playing volume pedal ‘swells’ near the end) was perfected.” Winn says Paul was singing a live guide vocal, which may have been redone later. (That Magic Feeling, 25) You can hear that “live guide vocal” on Anthology 2. Backing vocals were added during this session. At the close of this evening, Mark Lewisohn states, “A 14th take was created by reduction, onto which Paul superimposed his live lead vocal…” (The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 226) Womack goes on to say that Paul had varispeed recording applied to his vocal to manipulate the sound. ”Martin and Emerick recorded the track at a slower speed. During playback, varispeed recording [produced] a higher pitch – in this case, with the rendering of McCartney’s vocal at a higher frequency.” (The Beatles Encyclopedia, 386)
17 June 1966 – EMI, Studio 2 – 7:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Paul added a second lead vocal to the final track of the song. He harmonized with himself on the second “love never dies” and “watching her eyes.” George added some lead guitar work. At the conclusion of this session, a rough mono mix was made.
21 June 1966 – further mixing of the song was accomplished.
Of Special Note:
Under the category of “What’s Standard,” we must not neglect to comment on The Beatles’ harmony. Paul, of course, is singing the melody line, but directed by George Martin, John and George are singing what Margotin and Guesdon refer to as “sumptuous vocal parts” (All the Songs, 333) Martin himself arranged these harmony lines, and they are performed beautifully. Such harmony may be standard – perhaps even “expected” – for The Beatles (think “This Boy” and “Yes It Is”), but their work is, nevertheless, breathtaking.
Tech Team:
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer: Phil MacDonald
Instrumentation and Musicians:*
Paul McCartney, the composer, sings lead vocal and harmony vocal. He plays his 1962 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino (some sources say “Epiphone Texan”) electric guitar with Selmer Bigsby B7 vibrato and his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass, using his 1963 Fender Bassman 6G6-A amplifier with cabinet.
John Lennon sings backing vocals and adds finger snaps.
George Harrison sings backing vocals, plays lead guitar on his 1965 Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string guitar and adds finger snaps.
Ringo Starr plays his 1964 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl “Super Classic” drum set, including brushes, and adds finger snaps.
*This information from Hammack’s The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 151-152.
Sources: Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 225-226, Lewisohn, The Recording Sessions, 83, Harry, The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia, 304-305, Womack, Long and Winding Roads, 140, Margotin and Guesdon, All the Songs, 332-333, Winn, That Magic Feeling, 25, Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 151-152, Riley, Tell Me Why, 186-187, Turner, A Hard Day’s Write, 108, Spizer, The Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records, 214, MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, 168, Davies, The Beatles Lyrics, 158-161, Mellers, Twilight of the Gods: The Music of The Beatles, 74-75, Everett, The Beatles as Musicians, Revolver Through The Anthology, 60, Womack, The Beatles Encyclopedia, 386, Sheff, The Playboy Interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 152, and McCartney, Paul McCartney: The Lyrics, 272-273.
What’s Changed:
- A New McCartney “Personal Fav” – Paul states that of all the songs he’s composed “Here, There And Everywhere” is his all-time favorite, “with ‘Yesterday’ a close second.” (McCartney, The Lyrics, 273 and MacDonald, 168) Although MacDonald disagrees with this choice, stating that the sentimental lyrics render the song “chintzy and rather cloying,” McCartney would probably just shrug and respond, “You’d think that people would’ve had enough of silly love songs, but I look around me and I see it isn’t so…” Indeed, John Lennon said of “Here, There And Everywhere”: “That’s Paul’s song completely, I believe. And one of my favorite songs of The Beatles.”
- An “Overture”…or as Tim Riley phrases it, the tune’s “disarmingly simple four-bar introduction” (Tell Me Why, 186) – Many sources indicate that this is the “first time” that The Beatles have opened a song with an introductory melody and lyrics that will not be repeated again within the body of the song. However, that’s not quite true since John Lennon’s composition (performed by George Harrison) “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” opens with a brief overture: “You’ll never know how much I really love you/You’ll never know how much I really care.”
As Hammack points out in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, this technique is a throw-back to the classic songs that populated The Beatles’ youth, songs such as Harold Arlen’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” (p. 151) Indeed, Disney’s “I’m Wishing” (from Snow White) and Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” were familiar “chestnuts” to the lads as well. Both featured preambles. But employed on a 1966 LP by the world’s most famous rock band, the renaissance of the “overture” stands as yet another innovation that makes Revolver so unique.
In Paul McCartney: The Lyrics, Paul reminisces that he was trying to imitate Cole Porter in “Anything Goes.” He explains, “…we were trying to emulate some of our favourite old songs that had a completely rambling preamble.” (p. 272-273) Hammack observes, “John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s ‘Here, There And Everywhere’ served notice that the duo could master any form they chose to explore.” (p. 151)
- Poetically Interlocking Lyrics – In The Beatles Lyrics, Hunter Davies extols the ingenuity of Paul’s manipulation of the words “here,” “there,” and “everywhere.” Davies says, “It’s easy to miss how clever the lyrics are. [McCartney takes] the three adverbs in the title, one by one, structuring the verses around Here, then There, and then Everywhere. He finishes the first line on ‘here’ and then begins the next line with the same word, and then repeats the same trick for the fourth and fifth lines with ‘there.’” (p. 158)
One might more accurately substitute the term “verse” for “line” in Davies’s quote, but whatever terminology one employs, Davies is correct. And in his 1980 interview with David Sheff, John Lennon admiringly noted Paul’s poetic technique. McCartney is consciously and poetically interlinking all space (“I need my love to be here,” “Nobody can deny that there’s something there,” and “I want her everywhere,”) and time (”hoping I’m always there”) into the ideal realm in which he wants his love to exist.
Tim Riley in Tell Me Why points out that when Paul steps into the “everywhere” segment, “the bridge leaps to a new harmonic ground.” (p. 187) This musical shift emphasizes the far-reaching implications of that highest, all-encompassing plane. Indeed, the shift from mere “here” and “there” to “everywhere” evokes a major chord – perhaps indicating that when his love is “everywhere,” all will be resolved.
- Special Effects – There are many brief but elegant “extras” in this song. Just before Paul sings, “but to love her is to need her everywhere,” listeners are treated to a guitar line that sounds very much like a mandolin. MacDonald notes that this was achieved “through the Leslie cabinet.” (Revolution in the Head, 168) And as the song plays out, Riley points out that “a descending French horn figure is added in the right channel.” (Tell Me Why, p. 187) This is achieved, MacDonald explains, “by use of the volume pedal.” (168) The song, of course, would have succeeded without these lagniappe flourishes, but empowered to experiment and embellish, The Beatles were lavish – pulling out all the stops.
- A Nod to Marianne Faithful – Some sources tell us that Paul worked to model his vocals after Marianne Faithfull’s soulful 1964 rendition of “As Tears Go By.” Listen and decide for yourself: https://tinyurl.com/bdy6ju6b
A Fresh New Look:
Jude Southerland Kessler: Although Paul was inspired by several other well-known artists in the creation of this song’s introduction and melody (to be discussed in the next few questions), the “love” to whom Paul writes is his girl, Jane Asher. Throughout 1964 and 1965, his songs for Jane had indicated trouble in paradise. In “You Won’t See Me,” “I’m Looking Through You,” and even “We Can Work It Out,” (“Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight”), we got the clear message that the two were at odds. Here, Paul’s message seems gentler and more hopeful. Was there a biographical reason for this change of heart?
Melissa Davis: Well, that sort of tells the tale right there, doesn’t it? As with all relationships over time, you fight, you make up, you break up, you get back together. The infatuation stage fades, and you begin to fully appreciate what the relationship and the other person bring to your life. Some couples get married. To each other. Some don’t. It’s a maturing process both individually and within the relationship.
Paul moved into the London home of Jane’s parents six months after they met in April 1963 when she had just turned 17, and he was not quite 21. While John was already married and a father, George and Ringo shared a bachelor apartment, spending much of their free time enjoying Swinging London. The Asher home was better suited to McCartney in that it offered a combination of the family atmosphere he craved, music (Mrs. Asher had taught George Martin at the Guildhall School of Music) and an introduction to the sophisticated world of London’s theater, art and music scenes.
But despite having a home base, McCartney was still very much a working Beatle contractually committed to writing and recording singles, albums and movie scores, filming a new movie a year, making television appearances, and, of course, touring with his mates – hardly conducive to a steady romantic relationship. Just as in any relationship, especially that of young people still living at home, Jane and Paul would have their ups and downs. Complicating matters was Jane’s desire to pursue her acting career and the added fact that Paul McCartney just happened to be the most eligible bachelor in the world.
The songs noted in the question reflect the spats, fights, break-ups and make-ups that all couples face, but Paul had the gift of being able to use them as inspiration for lyrics to express his emotions almost in real time.
When “Here, There And Everywhere” was written in mid-June 1966, Paul was in the process of rehabbing the home he had purchased at 7 Cavendish Avenue in St. John’s Wood. According to Peter Brown in The Love You Make (2002), “Instead of turning the decoration over to professionals, they decided to furnish it themselves. They took pleasure in shopping for each piece individually, sometimes buying used furniture at secondhand shops…”
So, we can guess that the time around the composing and recording of “Here, There And Everywhere” might have been a particularly happy time for the couple, looking forward to moving out of Mom and Dad’s and into a home of their own!
Kessler: By 1966, the Beach Boys and The Beatles had supposedly entered into a symbiotic-creative relationship. How did that inspirational association affect “Here, There And Everywhere”?
Davis: As an original generation fan, I experienced the Beach Boys and The Beatles contemporaneously. I was a kid, but my college-aged brother had a band that was headquartered at our house and rehearsed in our living room, and I benefitted from exposure to all kinds of great music that most of my friends didn’t have in their home.
The retrospective narrative (with a liberal dose of revisionist history thrown in for good measure) has had the Beach Boys moving from cars, girls, and surfboards to innovation in the studio combined with deep and mature lyrics that not only put them on an equal basis with The Beatles, but inspired Revolver and, according to some, made Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band possible. The reality in 1966 might not have matched such generous re-appraisal.
Yes, yes, I know. I’m familiar with Paul McCartney singing the praises of Brian Wilson and Pet Sounds. I also know he has a tendency to sometimes remember things as he wishes they had been rather than as they were or altogether misremembering them, e.g. the origin of the name Eleanor Rigby. But I am sure he feels genuine respect for Brian Wilson’s genius.
No one loves to sing along in the car with “I Get Around” at top volume more than I do, but with all due respect… I have a confession to make: I don’t buy the hyperbole.
The Beach Boys were AM radio; The Beatles were singles, albums, and movies. The Beatles were men; the Beach Boys were… well, boys. Brian Wilson may have been born a mere two days after Paul McCartney in June 1942, but he was still a ‘boy’ in a band with his younger brothers.
1964 was the year of The Beatles. The year of Beatlemania. They came to America, launched The British Invasion, and popular music shifted in a matter of weeks. Billboard’s 1963 Year End Top 100 featured a healthy contingent of R&B and Motown, but otherwise consisted of a mélange of folk, light pop, country (Johnny Cash), crooners (Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Al Martino, Steve Lawrence, and Tony Bennett all had records in the top 100 that year), Henry Mancini instrumentals, foreign language (“Sukiyaki,” and “Dominique” by the Singing Nun) and even novelty (“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah”). Surf was only a sliver with five records in the Billboard Top 100 for the entire year of 1963; the Beach Boys hadn’t had a #1 at that point, despite releasing singles since 1961.
To say The Beatles dominated the charts in 1964 is an understatement. Much has been made of the fact that by first week of April, The Beatles held the top five singles on the U.S. charts. This overlooks the additional seven Beatle singles in the Top 100 that week; two more records were songs about The Beatles. They also had the top two albums. They replaced themselves at the top of the charts. Three times.
The Beatles set fashion trends around the world and not just with teenagers; the Beach Boys wore dorky clothes and had unfashionably short hair.
The Beatles made movies that premiered with royalty in attendance. They had been recognized by the Queen. Most Americans mistook the MBEs for knighthoods, but it was still a step beyond anything accorded other groups.
Reporters queried The Beatles about the Warren Commission Report and the war in Vietnam. The Beatles forced desegregation at their concerts in the South. No one cared what other groups thought about much of anything.
In the summer of 1964, The Beatles starred in their first movie, garnering unexpected rave critical reviews (and that opening chord in “A Hard Day’s Night!”). Then, they toured internationally (Australia!).
Brian Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown at Christmas 1964, less than ten days after Beatles ’65 was released in the U.S. (Beatles For Sale in the U.K.). I’m not saying the two events are exactly related, but… there is much anecdotal comment from their contemporaries, professional musicians who felt the overwhelming pressure of competing with The Beatles, especially when it came from record label executives or a demanding manager.
The Beach Boys Today! was released in March of 1965, with the singles “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “Do You Want To Dance?” and “When I Grow Up To Be A Man.” The Beach Boys were singing adolescent lyrics about dancing and growing up like “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older…”
Beatles For Sale/Beatles ’65 featured “I Feel Fine” and “She’s A Woman,” “No Reply,” “I’ll Be Back,” “I’m A Loser,” and “I’ll Follow The Sun.” All about slightly more mature relationship issues.
The Beatles taped “Yesterday” for The Ed Sullivan Show the day before their August 15, 1965 Shea Stadium appearance. In a genre-shattering 2 minutes and 3 seconds, it blew down the limits of what popular music could be.
The Beach Boys Party! album came out three months later at the end of 1965. It was largely a compilation of covers (“Alley Oop,” “Papa Oom Mow Mow,” “Hully Gully”) and included three Lennon/McCartney compositions: “I Should Have Known Better,” “Tell Me Why,” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.”)
Rubber Soul was released at the same time for the holiday season: “Norwegian Wood,” “Girl,” “In My Life,” and “Nowhere Man.”
Influence at the time seemed to be flowing east to west across the Atlantic.
By 1966, Brian Wilson was writing on pot; three of the four Beatles had taken LSD. In fact, when The Beatles were in Los Angeles during a break in their tour, the Byrds were invited over for music and acid. When David Crosby was spotted crouching behind a stage curtain during a press conference, John Lennon identified him to the press as, “our mate, Dave.” It was around that time that The Beatles publicly proclaimed the Byrds as their favorite group.
Despite the growth the Beach Boys were experiencing as Brian Wilson’s severe anxiety took him off tours and put him almost exclusively in the studio when he was able, The Beatles were featuring the sitar on a second song and constructing electronic tape loops for the finale to Revolver. They were grousing about British tax policy, musing about the loneliness of an old woman, and knowing what it’s like to be dead.
The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (recorded over a period of nine months from July 12, 1965 through April 13, 1966) was released on May 16, 1966. During that time, they released four singles: “The Little Girl I Once Knew,” “Barbara Ann,” “Sloop John B,” and “California Girls,” the last undoubtedly the one that influenced The Beatles’ “Back In The USSR” in late 1968.
Revolver was recorded from April 6 to June 21, 1966 (11 weeks) and released on August 5 of that year. In addition to “Here There And Everywhere,” Revolver gave us “Taxman,” “Good Day Sunshine,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.” It is simply in a class by itself.
Because the Beach Boys could not create the musical sounds Brian Wilson heard in his head, over 40 session musicians (including 25 members of the Wrecking Crew) and a 10-piece string section are credited with virtually all instrumentation on Pet Sounds. Revolver was recorded by the four Beatles playing their own instruments with the contribution of brass from Sounds Incorporated, an Indian tabla player on “Love You To” and a string octet on “Eleanor Rigby.”
Pet Sounds marked a departure for the Beach Boys from their own style and genre and opened their musical future to new possibilities; Revolver changed music for everyone and forever. The album was considered groundbreaking at the time it was released and influenced the groups and music that followed.
The year 1966 saw an explosion of new and immensely talented groups, many inspired by The Beatles. These groups were releasing innovative and exciting music featuring lyrics of depth, introspection and, in some cases, inexplicable meaning, which were intriguing and engrossing.
It’s important to remember contextually that the year of Pet Sounds was also the year of Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am A Rock” and “Homeward Bound.” Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman.” Dylan’s “I Want You” and “Rainy Day Woman #12 and #35.” And if it was harmonies you wanted, one could feast on more Simon and Garfunkel, The Mamas and the Papas, The Hollies, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The 5th Dimension, and of course, the Byrds whose “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” and “Eight Miles High” were massive hits in both the U.S. and the U.K.
The Beatles’ shared love of harmony since their days listening to the Everly Brothers had resulted in years of singing, composing, performing and recording close, three-part harmonies, something The Beach Boys’ gorgeous vocals no doubt reinforced. After all, The Beatles were a group that loved covering girl groups, disregarding any awkwardness in four guys singing about boys with McCartney once saying the fun of it was “singing Bop-shoo-op-um-bop-bop-shoo-op with your mates.”
The Beatles were competitive among themselves, always trying to do better than their last record. That spirit, which Paul has long acknowledged, even vis-á-vis his songwriting partner, John Lennon, would have kicked in when they heard songs and albums they liked or they felt challenged them. So, yes… The Beatles listened intently to what was being recorded by other groups, and Pet Sounds must have been a spur for them, but not on Revolver. And it’s hard to see how Pet Sounds influenced “Strawberry Fields Forever” or “Penny Lane,” their first songs after Revolver, released while Pepper was in the works.
Pet Sounds did not do well commercially upon its release in the U.S. in May 1966; three singles gave it exposure (“Caroline No,” a Brian Wilson solo release that made it to #32; “Sloop John B” at #3, and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” at #8, with “God Only Knows” originally on the B-side).
As for “God Only Knows,” I’ve no doubt Paul loves it. I’m sure Paul does wish he had written the song. Who wouldn’t?
It’s a beautiful song. Its message is as romantic as “Here, There And Everywhere,” and McCartney is a romantic, “Helter Skelter” notwithstanding.
The song is critically acclaimed and universally loved. Bono says the song is proof of the existence of angels. Pete Townsend says it ‘still sounds perfect.’ Barry Gibb loves it. Jimmy Webb, who knows a little something about songwriting, calls it his favorite song. Even the critics love it.
Artists as diverse as Andy Williams, David Bowie, Glen Campbell, Elvis Costello and the London Symphony Orchestra have covered it. Most recently, someone (or someones) called Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem recorded it. Versions in Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Icelandic are available.
But the hyperbole, much of it stemming from McCartney’s well-publicized and genuine admiration of Brian Wilson and reverence for Pet Sounds, overstates the influence. I just take the now-assumed symbiotic relationship with a measure of salt.
That’s only my opinion. I love The Beatles, I’ve studied The Beatles, read and written about The Beatles. I’ve played their music (badly). Their music was sung at my wedding. It will probably be played at my funeral. Just a nice bookend. I’ve been steeped in them for almost 60 years. But that doesn’t mean everyone reading this won’t have their own opinions. We’re just lucky to have the music to disagree about!
Kessler: Fantastic observations, and so beautifully said, Melissa. As I researched the “What’s Standard” and “What’s New” segments of this blog, I found these words from Ian MacDonald in Revolution in the Head that second your emotion. He states, “However, while Pet Sounds, conceived of as a ‘reply’ to Rubber Soul deeply impressed McCartney and spurred him to better it in The Beatles’ next album Sgt. Pepper, Wilson’s masterpiece wasn’t issued in Britain until July. Even supposing him to have had an advance copy, no musical link exists between ‘Here, There And Everywhere’ and anything on Pet Sounds…” (p. 168)
So, moving on…
“Here, There And Everywhere,” as we indicated earlier, was one of John Lennon’s favorite songs. In fact, Paul says he received the rare “Lennon face-to-face compliment” for it. What do you think John liked and respected so much about this composition?
Davis: I think John would have noted the very personal lyrics of “Here There, and Everywhere” as this was a direction he had been heading, as well. Paul was writing about his relationship with Jane through good times (“Good Day Sunshine”), not-so-good times (“I’m Looking Through You”) and just plain confusing times (“You Won’t See Me”). John was sharing more of his own feelings in his lyrics (“Norwegian Wood,” “Nowhere Man,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” “Girl,” “In My Life,” and “She Said She Said”) and might have respected Paul doing the same.
John might also have rated the admission by another Liverpool lad that he needed this special woman in his life. Self-improvement would show up in the next album, Sgt. Pepper, in the form of “Getting Better.”
John undoubtedly would have appreciated the song’s melody and loved singing the harmony. It is an exquisitely beautiful piece of music that would have appealed to a man who had “Julia,” “Goodnight,” and “A Day In The Life” inside him, just waiting to be written.
Kessler: And finally, what do YOU like about “Here, There And Everywhere,” Melissa? Nearly sixty years after its release, is it still relevant and effective today?
Davis: I was in middle school (junior-high in those days) when I first heard this song and had been a devout “George Gurl” from the moment I “met” The Beatles on the first Ed Sullivan Show appearance on February 9, 1964. My friends all had their own favorite, of course, including one “Paul Gurl” who could never accept that he had a girlfriend.
We were just beginning to figure out what we would want in a boyfriend, and the song stated it as simply as possible: Paul believed he was better for having his girlfriend in his life. He needed her to be the man he wanted to be. What girl wouldn’t dream about her boyfriend feeling that way about her? What woman wouldn’t want a man thinking and singing those words? “Here, There And Everywhere” helped crystalize the concept of a love beyond “just holding hands.”
A few years later, Paul expressed the same sort of sentiment about another woman, his wife Linda, in the song, “My Love.” It is vastly inferior to “Here, There And Everywhere,” but the feeling behind it is from the same place in his heart. And, not coincidentally, “My Love” remains an unfailingly popular selection in his current touring setlist.
Years later, the introductory phrase (“To lead a better life, I need my love to be here…”) formed the basis of the famous takeaway from the film, As Good As It Gets, when Jack Nicholson tells the Helen Hunt character, “You make me want to be a better man.”
The song was played during a wedding scene on Friends, as certain a sign of cultural significance as any. No doubt it has been a part of many actual weddings and probably played a role in more than a few make-ups and proposals of all kinds in the past nearly sixty years. The emotion behind the singer’s acknowledgement of what his love means in his life and his honest declaration will always be relevant as long as people fall in love.
And then there’s the music.
“Here, There And Everywhere” is quite simply one of the best examples of what I think separates The Beatles from many of the excellent bands of that, or any other, era – the pure alchemy born of musicinstrumentlyricvocalmelodyharmonyemotionrhythmpoetrywitinsightselfawarenessfriendshiploveandjoy in just the right proportions almost every time.
Yes, all one word.
[i] In his work Twilight of the Gods: The Music of The Beatles, Wilfred Mellers pays this lovely homage to Paul McCartney: “If Love You To tells us how the love experience erases time, Here, There And Everywhere obliterates place.” (pp. 74-75)
For more information on Melissa Davis, go to:
e-mail: thebeatleworks@gmail.com
website: www.thebeatleworksltd.com
Revolver Deep Dive Part 4: Love You To
Side One, Track Four
“Love You To:” Now For Something Completely Different
by Jude Southerland Kessler and Susan Shumsky
Through 2023, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog has been moving track-by-track through The Beatles’ incredible 1966 LP, Revolver. This month, author Susan Shumsky, D.D., who has 20 books in print in English, 39 foreign editions, and 49 book awards, and has recently released The Inner Light: How India Influenced The Beatles, will provide our “Fresh New Look” at this pivotal George Harrison song.
Shumsky studied and lived in the ashrams of The Beatles’ mentor Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for two decades, spending six of those years on his personal staff. A spiritual teacher and producer of holistic conferences at sea, spiritual retreats, and tours to sacred destinations, she has done over 700 speaking engagements and 1300 media appearances, including Cosmopolitan magazine, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Fox News TV, and William Shatner’s “Weird or What?” In addition, she has appeared in several films, including the Beatles documentaries “The Beatles and India” and “Here There and Everywhere.” Susan has been an essential part of our Fest Family for years, speaking at both the New Jersey and Chicago Fests.
For our June study, Susan joins Fest blogger Jude Southerland Kessler, author of the five-volume John Lennon Series – and the new audiobook of She Loves You (Vol. 3 in the series) – for this in-depth look at “Love You To.”
What’s Standard:
Date Recorded: 11 April 1966
Time Recorded: 2:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 72)
Studio: EMI Studios, Studio 3
Tech Team
Producer: George Martin
Balance Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer: Phil McDonald
In That Magic Feeling, John C. Winn tells us that on 11 April 1966, this was recorded:
A1 – George recorded the basic rhythm track by singing and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar (identified by Margotin and Guesdon as his Gibson JE-160). Paul provided backing vocals on the last word of each verse.
A2 – Paul played fuzz bass, using a volume pedal to “swell the notes.”
A3 – Then, the sitar, tambura, and tabla are overdubbed. Anil Bhagwat plays the tabla.
A4 – A second sitar and fuzz guitar are overdubbed. (Some sources state George played this fuzz guitar. Jerry Hammack in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2 states that George used either the “1961 Fender Stratocaster with a synchronized tremolo, [the] 1964 Gibson SG Standard with Gibson Maestro Vibrola vibrato, [or the] 1965 Epiphone ES-230TD.” (p. 114) Other sources have indicated that John Lennon might have played the fuzz guitar here.)
Furthermore, Winn tells us that on this same day, “a 34-second edit piece was taped for the song’s intro, consisting of…sitar. At the end of the day, a rough mono mix of take 6 was made for George to take home.” (p. 9)
Date Recorded: 13 April 1966
Time Recorded: 2:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Studio: EMI Studios, Studio 3
Tech Team
Producer: George Martin
Balance Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer: Richard Lush (In his Beatles Recording Sessions, Lewisohn notes, “Eighteen-year-old Richard Lush, another Abbey Road apprentice with a promising future, made his recording session debut as Beatles tape operator on this day.” p. 73)
On the 13th, take 6 was reduced to take 7 as A1 and A2 were combined. Then, A3 and A4 were combined. (Winn, That Magic Feeling, 9)
Paul then added a new tape on which he sang high harmony on the lines, “They’ll fill you in with all their sins you’ll see.” (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 73). However, both Lewisohn and Rodriguez tell us that Paul’s high harmony part eventually “fell by the wayside.” (Rodriguez, Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, 114)
Also, on the 13th, Ringo played the tambourine.
Date Recorded: 25 April
John C. Winn informs us that the 34-second intro piece was added to “Love You To” on this day.
Editing was done on 20 June and 21 June. During this time frame, George Harrison decided on the title of “Love You To,” supplanting its working title (supplied by Geoff Emerick) of “Granny Smith” – Emerick’s favorite apple. (Winn, 9 and Emerick, 123)
Instrumentation and Musicians:
George Harrison, the composer, sings lead vocals and plays an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and possibly, the sitar. (Some music critics question the latter. In Revolution in the Head, for example, Ian MacDonald states that a “sitarist [is]now thought to have played most of what was attributed to Harrison.” p. 155).***
Paul McCartney plays bass on his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass in the early stages of the song and possibly provides backing vocals.
Ringo Starr plays tambourine.
Anil Bhagwat plays tabla.
***Note from Susan Shumsky: Anil Bhagwat swears that George played the sitar throughout.
Ayana Deva Anagadi on sitar. (Womack, Long and Winding Roads, 139)
Several other accomplished musicians from the North London Asian Music Circle play tambura.
Sources: The Beatles, The Anthology, 209, Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 217, Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 72-73, Shumsky, The Inner Light: How India Influenced The Beatles, 69-77, Spizer, The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver, 216, Rodriguez, Revolver, How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, 66-67 and 114-115, Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 113-114, Everett, The Beatles as Musicians, 40-42, Margotin and Guesdon, All the Songs, 330-331, Winn, That Magic Feeling, 9-10, Emerick, Here, There, and Everywhere, 123-124, Turner, A Hard Day’s Write, 106, Turner, Beatles ’66, 147-149, Riley, Tell Me Why, 186, MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, 155, Womack, Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, 139-140, and Hunter Davies, The Beatles Lyrics, 156-157.
What’s Changed:
The better topic to address might be “What Hasn’t Changed?” In this fourth track on Revolver, nothing is familiar!!! No guitars, no drums, no standard four-chord rock progression. Everything we thought we knew about The Beatles has altered. Let’s take a look:
- A Second Harrison Track on Side One – Gone are the days of the obligatory “one-track-per-album” Harrison allotment. On Revolver, not only does George perform three songs, but he also scores the opening track! And here, George comes back strong with a second original offering for Side One, even though Lennon and McCartney have, thus far, performed only one song each.
In his book Here, There, and Everywhere, EMI Engineer Geoff Emerick observed, “I noticed a definite maturing of George Harrison during the course of the Revolver sessions. Up until that point, he had played a largely subordinate role in the band…But he ended up recording three original songs on this album.” (p. 125)
- The “Integration of Foreign Musical Cultures” – Tim Riley uses these words to quantify the unique sound of Harrison’s second track on Revolver. Riley goes on to say, “It’s a bold move from [George], trading in the religion of Chuck Berry’s guitar for Ravi Shankar’s meditative sitar.” (Tell Me Why, 186)
Bold move, indeed! For most fans, the melody of “Love You To” was utterly alien. As Hunter Davies aptly observes in The Beatles Lyrics, “The shock of the music – to our naïve, primitive, virgin 1966 ears, accustomed to guitar-based rock’n’roll – rather overshadowed the words. And it still does.” (p. 156)
“Love You To” was replete with instruments that Beatles fans had never heard. Yes, there had been a bit of sitar in “Norwegian Wood,” but a glimpse only. Now, Harrison was introducing the tabla and tambura. On a grander scale, even the tone, meter, and musical progression of “Love You To” sounds unusual to untrained Western ears. Harrison truly was stepping out – introducing not just a new song but a revolutionary new genre and a new way of thinking!
- Emerick’s Revolutionary Close-Miking of the Tabla – In Emerick’s own words, “I had never miked Indian instruments before, but I was especially impressed with the huge sound coming from the tabla (percussion instruments similar to bongos). I decided to close-mic them, placing a sensitive ribbon-mic just a few inches away, and then I heavily compressed the signal. No one had ever recorded a tabla like that – they’d always been miked from a distance. My idea resulted in a fabulous sound, right in your face….” (Here, There, and Everywhere, p. 125)
The employment of the ribbon-mic, Jerry Hammack explains, was radical in and of itself. He says, “As another departure from Norman Smith’s recording techniques, ribbon microphones wouldn’t normally be used in close proximity as they were sensitive to rapid changes in air pressure such as those created by a drum (the tabla being a pair of hand drums)….” (The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 113) Even the recording techniques of “Love You To” issued in a new era at EMI.
- A Dramatic Change of Meter – As “Love You To” nears its close, the meter decidedly changes pace, a sound that Walter Everett tells us “was a normal event for Indian listeners.” But for Western ears, this accelerated whirlwind of sound was “something entirely different.” (The Beatles as Musicians, 40) This change of pace would begin to influence John’s songs within just a few weeks, Everett states. After being largely ignored for a few years, George Harrison was now emerging as a trendsetter.
- A Change of Attitude – Music experts point out that many of Harrison’s early songs express a mistrustful, “leave-me-alone” attitude. As Robert Rodriguez observes in Revolver, How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, “Thematically, George’s material [before Revolver] tended toward conveying disapproval (“Don’t Bother Me,” “You Like Me Too Much,” “Think For Yourself”) – not usually the stuff of which pop hits were made.” (p. 66)
Yet, here in “Love You To,” Harrison’s newfound interest in Indian music and religion seems to have altered his course. As a lifelong pragmatist, George is still fully aware that “each day just goes so fast/You turn around it’s past.” But Harrison’s reaction to the fleeting nature of existence is no longer depression or resentment. Instead, George wants to celebrate each day with song and love-making: “Make love all day long! Make love singing songs!”
Furthermore, although George is still conscious of the fact that:
“There’s people standing round
Who’ll screw you in the ground,
They’ll fill you in with all their sins, you’ll see…”
George opts to ignore those individuals…to take the high road and live a life full of passion and celebratory music. He isn’t oblivious to reality; he has learned to cope with life’s downside in a new and positive way.
A Fresh, New Look:
Jude Southerland Kessler: Susan, for years, Beatles music experts have told us about unique elements in this song that made it very special. But most people – unfamiliar with the terms these experts used – still didn’t understand exactly what was happening in the song musically. So, if you don’t mind, please walk us through what these terms mean and how they relate to “Love You To.”
Susan Shumsky:
Sitar – Indian musical instruments were played on the soundtrack of The Beatles movie Help!, a parody about ancient Indian highway robbers and murderers called “thuggees.” The first time George Harrison encountered the sitar was in Twickenham Studios while filming Help! in February 1965. He described, “We were waiting to shoot the scene in the restaurant when the guy gets thrown in the soup, and there were a few Indian musicians playing in the background. I remember picking up the sitar and trying to hold it and thinking, ‘This is a funny sound.’” (Havers, “The Making of George Harrison’s ‘Within You Without You,’” Udiscovermusic.) Later that year, Jim McGuinn and David Crosby of The Byrds introduced George to the music of Indian sitar virtuoso Pandit Ravi Shankar. Soon afterward, George visited Indiacraft, a shop in London on Oxford Street, where he purchased a second-rate sitar, which he plucked on the song “Norwegian Wood.”
George said, “When I first heard Indian music, I just couldn’t really believe that it was so, so great. And the more I heard of it, the more I liked it. And it just got bigger and bigger, like a snowball.” (D’Silva, The Beatles and India, directed by Ajoy Bose and Peter Compton, Renoir Pictures). “You can get so much more out of it if you are prepared really to concentrate and listen. I hope more people will try to dig it.” (Beatles and Roylance, The Beatles Anthology, 209)
“Love You To” was the first song George wrote for Indian musical instruments. He said, “The sitar sounded so nice and my interest was getting deeper all the time. I wanted to write a tune that was specifically for the sitar.” (Beatles and Roylance, The Beatles Anthology, 209)
Sitar is a stringed Indian instrument of the lute family. About four feet long, it has a deep pear-shaped gourd body; a long, wide, hollow wooden neck; metal strings, and both front and side tuning pegs. There are usually five melody strings, one or two drone strings that accentuate the rhythm, and up to 13 sympathetic strings beneath the frets that are not played by the performer but resonate in sympathy with the playing strings, creating a polyphonic timber. Twenty arched movable convex metal frets are tied along the neck. Musicians pluck the strings with a wire plectrum on the right forefinger while the left hand presses or pulls the strings with subtle pressure on or between the frets.
Today, sitar is the dominant instrument in Hindustani music; it is played as a solo instrument and in ensembles with tambura (drone lute) and tabla (drums). George Harrison popularized the sitar in the West because he studied with Ravi Shankar.
Sitar is played on the following Beatles records: “Norwegian Wood,” “Love You To,” and “Within You Without You.” In George’s solo career, sitar appeared on many of his albums, usually played by Ravi Shankar.
After George gave up recording songs with sitar, he began imitating sitar sounds by playing glissando riffs on a slide guitar. A few samples include “My Sweet Lord,” “Wah Wah,” “I Dig Love,” “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” “Someplace Else,” “Free as a Bird,” “Marwa Blues,” Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep,” Badfinger’s “Day After Day,” and Ringo’s “Back Off Boogaloo.”
Tabla – The tabla is two drums (bass and snare) played by one performer. Both drums have compound skins onto which a black paste of flour, water, and iron filings, called siyahi, is added to alter the resonance frequency. The smaller, higher-pitched drum is the dayan, usually made of heavy lathe-turned rosewood. The larger drum, called bayan, is made of metal or pottery. An off-center siyahi on the bayan allows the performer to vary the pressure, changing the pitch with the palm while striking with the fingertips.
The first time that tabla appeared on a Beatles song was “Love You To.” It is also played on “Within You Without You.” Tabla tarang (an ensemble of 10 to 16 dayan drums—each tuned to a different note) is heard on “The Inner Light.” Tabla was played widely in George Harrison’s post-Beatles projects and was also used by other solo Beatles.
Tambura – The tanpura or tambura is a long, four-stringed fretless lute made of light hollow wood, with either a wood or gourd resonator. Tambura typically plays the background rather than the melody. It accompanies, supports, and blends with the tones sung or played on the lead instruments and/or vocals by providing a continuous harmonic drone. The tambura player plucks the strings in a continuous loop rather than in rhythm with the piece. This repeated cycle is the sonic canvas on which the melody is painted.
Tambura is played on the following Beatles records: “Love You To,” “Within You Without You,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Getting Better,” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” George sometimes used a harmonium or organ as a drone instrument to mimic the tambura, most notably on “Blue Jay Way.”
Swarmandal – Although some noted sources have stated that Swarmandal (a plucked box zither) was used in “Love You To,” it was not played on this song. It is played on the following Beatles records: “Within You Without You” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
Sitarist Ted Morano (see below re. his bio) told me: “The only error that I found in your book The Inner Light is the mention of swarmandal being used on the track ‘Love You To’ (the glissando that opens the track). That is not a swarmandal, it is the taraf (sympathetic) strings on the sitar. The taraf strings are 11-13 strings that run under the frets, and are tuned to the raga being performed. It is common for a sitarist to strum the taraf strings at the beginning of a performance.
“Here are examples from Ravi Shankar recordings:
Khyal – Although some sources state that “Love You To” was George’s first khyal, this style is not really relevant to the song “Love You To.” In khyal, the vocalist and instrument, such as sarangi (Indian violin) or harmonium, play the same melody in heterophony. George tried to copy the khyal style on the echoing parts of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (starting with “cellophane flowers,” etc.). George said, “For ‘Lucy’ I thought of trying that idea [of melody played in unison with voice], but because I’m not a sarangi player, I played it on guitar along with John’s voice. I was trying to copy Indian classical music.” (Beatles and Roylance, The Beatles Anthology: www.beatlesebooks.com/lucy-in-the-sky.) George was also inspired by Khyal in “Within You and Without You,” where dilruba (an Indian cello similar to sarangi) mirrored the same melody as George’s vocal, note for note.
Kessler: Susan, we know that George Harrison requested that the North London Asian Music Circle accompany him in performing the melody of “Love You To.” Tell us more about them, please.
Shumsky: In 1946, Indian writer and activist Ayana Angadi and his British wife Patricia Fell-Clark founded the Asian Music Circle (AMC), at their home in Fitzalan Road, Finchley, North London. The organization promoted Asian arts and culture. Inspired by meeting Ravi Shankar in India, American violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin became president of AMC in 1953. By inviting B. K. S. Iyengar (founder of Iyengar Yoga) to teach at AMC, Menuhin introduced yoga to Britain.
In 1955, AMC hosted the first classical Indian music concerts in the West at the “Living Arts of India Festival” in New York, which introduced Ali Akbar Khan (on sarod), Ravi Shankar (Khan’s brother-in-law, on sitar), and Vilayat Khan (on sitar). This led to the first Indian music album in the West: Music of India: Morning and Evening Ragas (Angel 1955), and to Ravi Shankar’s popularity in the jazz community.
George Martin, staff producer at EMI’s Parlophone Records, had previously gotten referrals from AMC’s Ayana Angadi to hire local Indian musicians for film and recording work. In 1962, Martin began working with The Beatles when they signed with Parlophone. Under Martin’s influence, their film Help! featured an Indian-themed script and musicians.
As George Harrison was playing sitar on “Norwegian Wood” in the recording studio on October 21, 1965, a string broke. Martin suggested contacting Ayana Angadi for a replacement. Ringo made the phone call and Angadi’s daughter asked loudly, “Ringo who?” Angadi rushed to the phone, and then brought the string, along with his wife and four children, to EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, to watch The Beatles record. (Newman, Abracadabra! The Complete Story of the Beatles’ Revolver, 23.)
For the next six months, George and Pattie spent every weekend at the Angadi home, immersed in Indian music. They attended recitals at AMC and watched Ravi Shankar perform at the Royal Festival Hall. (Turner, Steve. Beatles ‘66: The Revolutionary Year) With enthusiasm to master sitar, George began studying with an AMC sitar player. (Rodriguez, Robert. Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock ’n’ Roll, 114)
Kessler: Robert Rodriguez, in Revolver: How The Beatles Re-imagined Rock’n’Roll, tells us, “Some believe that the apparent complexity heard on ‘Love You To’ was beyond [George’s] capabilities, at least in spring 1966. But others point to his single-minded diligence in mastering the instrument [the sitar], as well as his study through private lessons, proximity to accomplished musicians, and close listening to pertinent records.” Where do you stand in this discussion? Do you think George ceded most of the responsibility to the North London Asian Music Circle, or could he function as lead performer?
Shumsky: Ted Morano earned an MFA Degree in North Indian Classical Music, Sitar performance, from the California Institute of the Arts. He is a master at sitar, surbahar, tabla, dilruba, pakhawaj, and tambura, a dhrupad vocalist, and a highly respected Indian music teacher. He performed “Within You, Without You” and “The Inner Light” many times with the Beatles Magical Orchestra and other groups (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTG7M6sEZfQ). He also recorded the dilruba tracks for “Within You, Without You” for Geoff Emerick as part of his “The Sessions” show.
After the remix of Revolver was released, Ted concluded that George was definitely the sole sitarist on “Love You To.” He said, “The 2022 remixed edition of Revolver has excellent sound quality, and this clarity makes it easier to hear the different layers in the song. Now it is easy to hear that George double-tracked sitar on the main riff, to give it a bigger sound. The way George strums the sitar strings at the start of his brief alap, and also plays harmonics, is not characteristic of how a trained Indian sitarist would play. The structure of his solo later in the song is also not how a trained Indian sitarist would play. Most revealing was hearing the mono mix of the song, which is several seconds longer than the stereo version, and George can be heard in the fade-out playing several figures which, while very musical and creative, are not something that a trained Indian sitarist would play.
Morano goes on to say: “More important info came to light regarding the sitar that George used on the recording. It is not the same sitar that is used on ‘Norwegian Wood.’ George obtained a better sounding and playing instrument after the recording of Rubber Soul. According to Pattie, he spent most of their honeymoon obsessively practicing sitar. Although this was before he began learning from Ravi Shankar, he did receive some basic instruction in London that enabled him to make significant progress on his own. This can clearly be heard on ‘Love You To.’”
Kessler: Similarly, Harrison selected a distinguished percussionist, Anil Bhagwat, to perform with him on the track. Give us some background info about this notable musician, if you don’t mind.
Shumsky: “Love You To” was the first pop song to present Indian music in an authentic classical Hindustani structure and arrangement, which earned George the title “The Mystic Beatle.” George’s hypnotic, drone-like vocals augmented the Indian effect. For the recording session on April 11, 1966, George hired unidentified musicians referred by the Asian Music Circle to play the Indian music track. Instruments on the track included sitar, tabla, and tambura.
Anil Bhagwat was hired to play tabla—the first time that tabla ever appeared on a Beatles song. Bhagwat recalled, “Angadi called and asked if I was free that evening to work with George. He didn’t say it was Harrison. It was only when a Rolls Royce picked me up that I realized I’d be playing on a Beatles session.
“When I arrived at Abbey Road, there were girls everywhere with Thermos flasks, cakes, sandwiches, waiting for The Beatles to come out.” “George told me what he wanted and I tuned the tabla with him. He suggested I play something in the Ravi Shankar style, sixteen-beats, though he agreed that I should improvise. Indian music is all improvisation. It was one of the most exciting times of my life.” (Womack, The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four, 310)
Other than Anil Bhagwat, AMC musicians that performed on “Love You To” have never been identified. However, Bhagwat claimed, “I can tell you here and now—100 percent it was George on sitar throughout.”
In my book The Inner Light: How India Influenced The Beatles, I quoted sitarist Ted Morano as saying that to strengthen what George played, another sitarist probably overdubbed the main melody and also played the fadeout at the end. However, on November 25, 2022, Morano changed his mind: “It is a fortuitous coincidence that the new Revolver editions also came out this week. There is a lot of Beatle frenzy right now. In fact, after listening to the clearer mix, and the out-take of George rehearsing ‘Love You To,’ I am convinced that it is only George playing sitar. There were no overdubs by another sitarist.”
Kessler: In The Beatles Lyrics, Hunter Davies observes, “The shock of the music – to our naïve, primitive, virgin 1966 ears, accustomed to guitar-based rock’n’roll – rather overshadowed the words.” Agree or disagree? And is this true today, do you think?
Shumsky: I agree that the intensity of the double-tracked Indian music and the relentless beat of the tabla were probably quite a shock to Western ears, and it overshadowed the song’s lyrical message. In fact, double-tracking Indian music had never previously existed in India, so it would have even been a shock to Indian ears. I feel that few people listening to this song paid attention to the lyrics, as they were trying to accustom to what they probably perceived as deafening, strange sounds of cacophonous instruments.
Kessler: Finally, what is the message of this song? To me, it’s equivalent to Robert Herrick’s 1648 poem, “To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time,” with a shot of inspiration from John Lennon’s line in “Dizzy Miss Lizzy”: “Love me ’fore I grow too old!” Or, as Ken Womack suggests, it’s about “the fleeting nature of existence.” (Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, 139) Yet, Tim Riley asserts the lyrics are about “the Eastern philosophy of time as a dimension to be passed through.” (Tell Me Why, 186) What’s going on in this song? Is it about all of one of these things, some, or none? Do tell.
Yes, I feel that “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” conveys a similar message as “Love you To.” This idea of the ephemeral nature of our physical world, along with the urgency to make the most of every moment, parallels both Herrick’s poem and George’s lyrics. He often sang about the fleeting duality of the material world and its contrast with the eternal oneness of the spiritual world. On the physical plane, “all things must pass.”
Also, in the context of 1966, during which this song was composed, The Beatles were influenced by the psychedelic Flower Power philosophy of “Make Love, Not War,” espoused by San Francisco hippies at the time. This slogan became the cornerstone of hippie philosophy. The message of “Love You To” swings from free love and the embracing of spiritual awakening to cynicism and the rejection of materialistic society.
Indian philosophy tells us that material life is not permanent and therefore not real. This corporeal body we temporarily inhabit is not our true eternal nature. Attachments to the physical plane bind us to chains of ignorance. Only one thing is eternal. It is not the material world. It is the unmanifest consciousness, beyond space, time, and causation.
We believe ourselves to be our physical body, thoughts, feelings, intellect, ego, or experiences. But that is not who we really are. We are the unbounded, undifferentiated radiance of Brahman—pure consciousness. Divine love, free from ego attachment, is key to letting go of material bonds. By embracing the simplicity of pure love, we realize our true divine nature—absolute bliss consciousness (satchitananda), beyond the physical. It is never born and never dies.
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Revolver Deep Dive Part 3: I’m Only Sleeping
Revolver
Side One, Track Three
“I’m Only Sleeping”…or 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’ astounding 1966 LP, Revolver. This month, Don Jeffries and Bob Wilson of the fascinating new book on the “Paul is Dead” controversy, From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road: A Billy Shears Story, join Jude Southerland Kessler, author of The John Lennon Series, for a fresh, new look at track three of this landmark LP.
What’s Standard:
Dates and Times Recorded, Studios Used:
27 April 1966 (Studio 3 from 11.30 p.m. – 1.00 a.m.)
29 April 1966 (Studio 3 from 5.00 p.m. – 1.00 a.m.)
5 May 1966 (Studio 3 from 9:30 p.m. – 3.00 a.m.)
6 May 1966 (Studio 2 from 2.30 p.m. – 1.00 a.m.)
Source: Lewisohn’s The Complete Beatles Chronicle and The Beatles Recording Sessions
Tech Team:
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer: Phil McDonald
Instrumentation and Musicians:
John Lennon, the composer, sings double-tracked lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar on his 1964 Gibson J-160E.
Paul McCartney 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 “those tiptoeing bass sounds.” In The Anthology, George Martin states that Paul played the lead line with George Harrison. In Here, There, and Everywhere, Geoff Emerick seconds this assertion. (p. 124)
George Harrison sings harmony vocals and plays lead guitar. However, no source, including Babiuk’s Beatles Gear, identifies the guitar Harrison was using for the dramatic “backwards” guitar solo. And if, as Martin and Emerick insist, Paul played lead simultaneously, we do not know what instrument Paul was employing either.
Ringo Starr plays his 1964 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl “Super Classic” drum set.
Sources: The Beatles, The Anthology, 211, Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 219-220, Lewisohn, The Recording Sessions, 77-78, Emerick, Here, There, and Everywhere, 124, Rodriguez, Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, 129-132, Margotin and Guesdon, All the Songs, 328-329, Winn, That Magic Feeling, 15 and 18, Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 132-134, Turner, A Hard Day’s Write, 106, Mellers, Twilight of the Gods: The Music of The Beatles, 71-73, MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, 161, Riley, Tell Me Why, 185-186, O’Toole, Songs We Were Singing: Guided Tours Through The Beatles Lesser Known Tracks, 116-118, Spizer, The Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records, 200, Davies, Beatles Lyrics, 150-153, Womack, Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, 129 and 139, Spignesi and Lewis, 100 Best Beatles Songs, 180-182 and Cardinale, “The Spark of Inspiration” found at https://medium.com/synapticalchemy/the-spark-of-inspiration-2e51272d0dcd.
What’s Changed:
As Kenneth Womack perceptively observed in Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, “Where Rubber Soul is about The Beatles’ self-conscious redefinition of themselves and their art, Revolver 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…about The Beatles’ desire to push the boundaries of their achievement, to experiment…” (p. 129)
And experimentation is precisely what John Lennon is about here in “I’m Only Sleeping” as he cleverly recreates his favorite place: the enchanted world of sleep-inspiration, the birthplace of that cherished “spark of after-midnight.”
In his blog “The Spark of Inspiration,” Stephen Cardinale poetically observes: “The spark of inspiration is…a force that pulls you from your slumber and won’t allow you to rest until you’ve imprinted the ground with that spark from the heavens.” 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 “Across the Universe” and “Watching the Wheels.” In the slim space between wake and slumber, John encountered the shadowy land where (for him) great ideas exist.
In “I’m Only Sleeping,” John utilizes every “bell and whistle” 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, Lennon employs sophisticated technical tricks – and a few simple ploys – to set an elaborate stage for us all…and to wave a welcoming hand toward his “Land of Nod.”
Robert Rodriguez, in Revolver, How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, states, “Just as when you’re 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.” And here, John and the band do precisely that; they create extraordinary sound effects that pull us into Lennon’s exotic reality. These devices include:
- Frequency Modulation – On page 15 of That Magic Feeling, John C. Winn tells us, “On 27 April, The Beatles…taped 11 takes of John’s new composition, ‘I’m Only Sleeping.’ These were played in the key of Em, but with the tape running fast.” (At 56 cycles, Lewisohn tells us in The Beatles Recording Sessions, p. 76) “This gave the song a more languid, dreamy quality when played back” at normal speed, at 47¾ cycles, Lewisohn states. (The Beatles Recording Sessions, p. 76) The resulting exotic harmonies skew away from the harmonies of “This Boy.” They are equally lovely, but now also haunting.
Rodriguez explains that John’s vocal was recorded with the tape rolling more slowly than customary. (In The Beatles Recording Sessions, p. 77, Lewisohn tells us it ran at 45 cycles.) Then, when the tape proceeded at normal speed in playback mode, John’s voice became “more dreamlike,” more ethereal, and removed. (pp. 130-131)
The Beatles had become fascinated with frequency modulation in making “Rain.” And here it was carefully applied to veil John’s sleepy song in the drowsy cobweb of half-consciousness.
- Use of Backwards Tracks – The Beatles used 17 seconds of backward guitar in the body of “I’m Only Sleeping” and another ten seconds in the fade-out. That’s 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, claims it took 12 hours. (p. 151) This may seem rather extravagant, but as Spignesi and Lewis state, when The Beatles “wanted an effect, they moved earth and sky to achieve it.” (p. 181) The curiously curling and writhing guitar is the essence of the sleep soundtrack: the stuff of dreams.
Here is how George Martin explained the “very strange” technique employed to achieve the sound: “In order to record the backward guitar on a track like ‘I’m Only Sleeping,’ you work out what your chord sequence is and write down the reverse order of the chords – as they are going to come up – so you can recognize them. You then learn to boogie around on that chord sequence, but you don’t really know what it’s going to sound like until it comes out again. It’s hit or miss, no doubt about it, but you do it a few times, and when you like what you hear, you keep it.” (Spignesi and Lewis, 180) That sounds logical – doable, even.
But in Here, There, and Everywhere, EMI Engineer Geoff Emerick claimed the process was “one hard day’s night!” (p. 124) He says it “turned out to be an interminable day of listening to the same eight bars played backwards over and over and over again.” (p. 124)
As mentioned earlier, Beatles scholars disagree about whether or not Paul joined George in playing the backwards line. But all agree that two guitar parts were recorded. In The Beatles Recording Sessions, Lewisohn says, “[The Beatles] made it doubly difficult by recording two guitar parts – one ordinary and one a fuzz guitar – which were superimposed on top of one another.” Similarly, O’Toole in Songs We Were Singing, states, “Martin…had to conduct Harrison beat by beat, with the guitarist ultimately recording two separate solos – one with fuzz effects or distortion, and one without. Martin then laid the tracks on top of one another…” However, Hammack in The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2 says that “on May 5th, McCartney and Harrison added lead guitars to the song…The solos (one with fuzz distortion added) were recorded simultaneously.” One guitarist or two? We may never know definitively. But the artistry and care given to this song is just shy of miraculous.
- 3. Simple Sound Effects – Of course, not all of The Beatles’ “sound effects” in “I’m Only Sleeping” were groundbreaking. At 1:57 in the song, you can hear someone (presumably, John) say, “Yawn, Paul.” And at 2:01, Paul yawns. It’s not a highly complex maneuver, but it adds the perfect final touch in the recreation of John’s Muse-inhabited realm of sleep. And as O’Toole remarks, “…it represents [The Beatles] at their most experimental to date…nothing was off limits for this 1966 masterpiece.” (Songs We Were Singing, 116)
A Fresh New Look:
Don Jeffries is the author of myriad books including Bullyocracy: How the Social Hierarchy Enables Bullies to Rule Schools, Work Places and Society at Large; On Borrowed Fame: Money, Mysteries, and Corruption in the Entertainment World, and Hidden History: An Expose of Crimes, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups in American History. Don is a lifelong Beatles fan, and we’ve shared many in-depth conversations about Beatles music on his popular I-Heart Radio show, “The Don and Ella” show.
Bob Wilson is well-known in The Beatles World for his very popular podcast with Warren Brown, “Tomorrow Never Knows” and his intriguing solo podcast, “Don’t Pass Me By.” He has also contributed several articles to Beatles Magazine.
This month, Don and Bob Wilson are releasing their first venture into Beatles investigative research. After interviewing numerous Beatles friends and experts about the “Paul is Dead” controversy, they will soon be releasing From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road: A Billy Shears Story. Here are their insights on “I’m Only Sleeping.”
Jude Southerland Kessler: 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. 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?
Don Jeffries and Bob Wilson: We know that John loved to sleep and also to lie in bed. Apparently, his bed was a kind of refuge for him. It’s no accident that the “Give Peace a Chance” video took place during John and Yoko’s “Bed-In for Peace.” John would touch upon the theme of sleep in other songs, such as “I’m So Tired.” During his solo career, he wrote both the scathing attack on Paul McCartney, “How do you Sleep?”(on which Harrison also played) and the aptly titled “Number 9 Dream.”
But John’s “bed-in” time didn’t necessarily note slothfulness. In fact, In “I’m Only Sleeping,” to quote author Hunter Davies in Beatles Lyrics, “The words are sharp and succinct, not at all the mark of a lazy lyricist. John loved his bed. When he wasn’t sleeping, he was often propped up on pillows, writing…John loved to stay in bed creating and writing.”
Lennon needed sleep to create; many of his songs touch on this. John famously described how “Nowhere Man” came to him, “the whole damn thing, as I lay down.” Similarly, the words to “Across the Universe” came to him as he lay in bed after an argument with Cynthia. Here, John lauds the creative process he always enjoyed in “half-sleep.” Sam Kemp of Far Out magazine referred to “I’m Only Sleeping” as “an ode to the importance of being idle.” But this sort of idleness is equivalent to receptiveness, not oblivion. John is listening, thinking, and creating.
Kessler: I so agree! We are alerted to John’s wakefulness from the very first line of the song when he sings: “When I wake up early in the morning…” And as the song progresses, John reminds us that he is “keeping an eye on the world going by my window.” Clearly, John is not sleeping but existing in that dozing state in which ideas flow freely.
What do you like about “I’m Only Sleeping”? What’s its charm for you?
Jeffries and Wilson: I almost always love Lennon’s 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.
As he would do in his song “I’m so Tired,” 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’s inordinate amount of time spent in bed made him an expert on the subject.
The dreamlike sound in “I’m Only Sleeping” was enhanced by its E minor key. Furthermore, as Jude indicated in the “What’s New” 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 “running through deep water” or “moving in a dream.” (And, of course, John’s lead vocal was processed in the opposite way to produce a high-pitched, far-away sound.)
Simpler techniques in the recording also catch my attention. For example, Paul actually yawns during the song. And John’s word choices cleverly evoke a “hussssshed” feeling of sleep: lazy, crazy, speed, staring, ceiling, shake me. The song’s repeated “s” and “sh” sounds lull us.
However, I’m not the only one who admires this song. Steven Spignesi and Michael Lewis, in The 100 Best Beatles Songs, rate it at #57. They call it: “One of the band’s drowsiest, most lethargic songs” but point out that it has “John’s cleanest and most well-written lyrics.” (p. 182) And in Revolution in the Head, noted author Ian McDonald says, “‘I’m Only Sleeping’ with its dreamy multitracking, a dim halo of slowed cymbal sound, and softly tiptoeing bass is…deep in artifice. The Beatles…[created] a new sonic environment.” And while admitting that the song’s theme is sleep and lethargy, MacDonald notes that “I’m Only Sleeping” was “more active than anything [John Lennon] had written since ‘Girl.’”
Kessler: Don and Bob, some music critics have claimed that this song is about drug usage, not sleep. Which theory do you support and why?
Jeffries and Wilson: I don’t 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’s songs. Lennon’s lyrics were sometimes ambiguous enough to be open to multiple interpretations, but in this case, it seems pretty clear that it’s a simple song about the joys of half-sleep and the creativity found there.
In his book Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, Dr. Kenneth Womack notes that a big difference is observed when John is writing about drugs and when he’s writing about sleep. When he’s writing about drugs, John is adrift, floating downstream. For example, “In ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ you turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream….truly surrender to the void.” However, in “I’m Only Sleeping,” John is floating upstream, awake and aware of what’s going on outside his window. This has nothing to do with drugs.
For more information on From Strawberry Fields to Abbey Road: A Billy Shears Story, HEAD HERE
For more information on Don Jeffries, HEAD HERE
Revolver Deep Dive Part 2: Eleanor Rigby
Revolver
Side One, Track Two
“Eleanor Rigby” Lives On
by Jude Southerland Kessler and Simon Weitzman
Through 2023, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog will be delving into the fine details of The Beatles’ astounding 1966 LP, Revolver. This month network TV director, producer, and author, Simon Weitzman – best known in The Beatles’ World for his beloved film A Love Letter to The Beatles: Here, There, and Everywhere – joins John Lennon Series author Jude Southerland Kessler for a fresh, new look at a track that literally changed all we had come to know about The Beatles! Simon is co-author, with Paul Skellett, of four remarkable Beatles books: Eight Arms to Hold You, All You Need is Love, The Mad Day Out with Tom Murray, and The Beatles in 3D. We’re thrilled to have Simon with us this month and in person, in just a few days, at the New York Metro Fest for Beatles Fans!
What’s Standard:
Date Recorded:
The Home Demo was recorded by Paul in late March 1966 at Ringo’s flat in Montague Square (Winn, 7)
First EMI session, 28 April 1966, Studio Two
5 p.m.- 7:50 p.m. (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 77)
Second EMI session, 29 April 1966, Studio Three
5 p.m. – 1 a.m. (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 77)
Third EMI session, 6 June 1966 in Studio Three (control room only)
7 p.m. – 12 a.m. (Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 82)
Tech Team
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer: Phil McDonald
Stats: On 28 April, a professional string octet (members listed below) recorded 14 takes. On 29 April, as John C. Winn tells us in That Magic Feeling, “Paul added his lead vocal on track 4, and then he, John, and George harmonized for the choruses on track 3.” (p. 24) That evening, the tape recorder was slowed a bit to achieve a higher pitch when played at regular speed. Finally, on 6 June (spilling over into the small hours of 7 June), Paul re-recorded his vocal, employing a unique concept provided by Martin. Martin had suggested Paul “sing the chorus in counterpoint to his final vocal refrain.” (Winn, That Magic Feeling, 24)
Instrumentation and Musicians:
Paul McCartney, the composer, sings lead vocal.
John Lennon sings backing vocals.
George Harrison sings backing vocals.
String Octet including violinists Tony Gilbert (first violin) Sidney Sax, John Sharpe, and Jurgen Hess; violists
Stephen Shingles and John Underwood, and cellists Derek Simpson and Norman Jones. Musical arrangement by George Martin. (Hammack, 136)
Sources: Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 219, Lewisohn, The Recording Sessions, 77, Martin, All You Need is Ears, 199, Emerick, Here, There, and Everywhere, 127, Rodriguez, Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, 167-169, Davies, The Beatles Lyrics, 144-149, Margotin and Guesdon, All the Songs, 326-327, Winn, That Magic Feeling, 7 and 24, Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 136-137, Turner, A Hard Day’s Write, 104-105, Riley, Tell Me Why, 184-185, Spizer, The Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records, 213, Spignesi and Lewis, 100 Best Beatles Songs, 93-95, McCartney, Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, 157-163, Sheff, The Playboy Interviews, 118-119 and 151, Shotton, John Lennon: In My Life, 123-124, and MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, 162-163.
What’s Changed:
Absolutely Everything!!! If you knew nothing at all about The Beatles, and heard “Love Me Do” followed by “Eleanor Rigby,” you would vow that those two songs were not composed by the same band! Even if we juxtaposed 1965’s “Help!” against 1966’s “Eleanor Rigby,” the differences would still be myriad and vast. The second track on Revolver truly changed so much that we know about The Beatles. It was a dramatic 180-degree pivot. Here are just a few of the meteoric changes:
- Instrumental Personnel – Paul sings the lead vocal while John and George sing back-up, but nary a Beatle plays an instrument on this track. The instruments are manned by a professional string octet, but not by John, Paul, George, and Ringo. That is certainly “something new”!
- Instruments – four violins, two violas, two cellos. And that is all. To quote Clang: “Shocking!”
- “A Complete Change of Style” – This quote regarding “Eleanor Rigby” (and “Tomorrow Never Knows”) is from Sir George Martin. And of course, he said it perfectly. Both songs propelled us headlong into “the new direction.” Prior to Rubber Soul and Revolver, Beatles music had been upbeat if not always optimistic. Even songs expressing crushing depression (such as “I’ll Cry Instead” and “Help!”) sound hopeful, if not downright joyous.
But “Eleanor Rigby” is unabashedly a song about painful isolation from which there is no glimmer of rescue. In The Beatles’ catalog, this is a revolutionary theme and sound. As Tim Riley observes in Tell My Why: “The ‘ah’s’ aren’t soothing, they’re aching, and the sudden drop in the cellos after the first line sinks the heart along with it.” Yes, “Misery” was a song of heartbreak but left open the possibility that the wayward girl would “come back to me.” And in “Girl,” the bickering couple only suffer through their troubles because they’re still very much in love.
But the world of “Eleanor Rigby” is a place in which “no one was saved.” In Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, Robert Rodriguez points out that even “Yesterday” holds more hope than “Eleanor Rigby.” He observes: “’Yesterday’ bore obvious commerciality with its time-honored theme of love gone wrong. But ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was a somewhat unsettling composition devoid of traditional romanticism, calculated to stir rather than to soothe.”
- Contested Authorship of Lyrics – The lyrics of only one other Beatles song – “In My Life” – has been claimed by both John and Paul. Through the years, Paul has always claimed full authorship for “Eleanor Rigby.” In Paul McCartney, The Lyrics, he goes into great detail about several “old ladies” he encountered in his youthful Bob-A-Job-Week chores – ladies who inspired the character. And Paul adds that Eleanor Bron might have reinforced the concept of using “Eleanor” as the character’s name. Then he states, “Initially, the priest was ‘Father McCartney’ because it had the right number of syllables. I took the song out to John at that point, and I remember playing it to him, and he said, ‘That’s great, Father McCartney.’ He loved it. But I wasn’t really comfortable with it because it’s my dad – my Father McCartney – so I literally got out the phone book and went on from ‘McCartney’ to ‘McKenzie.’” (pp. 157-163)
However, in the 1980 Playboy Interviews, John Lennon told David Sheff, “Yeah, ‘Rigby.’ The first verse was [Paul’s], and the rest are basically mine…we were sitting around with Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall, and he said to us, ‘Hey, you guys, finish up the lyrics.’…and I was insulted that Paul had just thrown it out of the air. He actually meant he wanted me to do it, and of course, there isn’t a word of theirs in it because I finally went off to a room with Paul and we finished the song.” John then goes into great detail about the writing process of “Rigby,” even stating that “when [he] stepped away to go to the toilet,” George and Paul were working on “Rigby” in his absence, and they came up with the line, “Ah look at all the lonely people.” When he returned, John says, “They were settling on that.” He says that he heard it, loved it, and remarked, “That’s it!” (pp. 118-119)
Later in the same interview, John restated his contribution to “Eleanor Rigby,” calling it “Paul’s baby, but I helped with the education of the child.” (p. 151)
However, in his book, John Lennon In My Life, Pete Shotton revealed a very different account of the song’s creation. Pete says that he and about 8-10 other people (including Ringo) were spending an evening in John’s home Kenwood when Paul arrived. McCartney presented those gathered with a set of lyrics for “Eleanor Rigby,” and said, “I’ve got this little tune here. It keeps popping into me head, but I haven’t got very far with it.”
Pete says, “We all sat around, making suggestions, throwing out the odd line or phrase…[When] Paul got to the verse about the cleric, whose name he had down as ‘Father McCartney,’ Ringo came up with the line about ‘darning his socks in the night,’ which everybody liked.” However, Pete says that he objected to the cleric’s name and pointed out to Paul that fans might think it is Jim McCartney having to darn socks, lonely and all alone. And when Paul agreed, Pete goes on: “…I noticed a telephone directory lying around and said, ‘Give us that phone book, then, and I’ll have a look through the Macs.” And he did. After finding and rejecting the humorous name “McVicar,” Pete says that he asked Paul to “try Father McKenzie out for size, and everyone appeared to like the lilt of it.” (Shotton, 123)
Then, according to Pete, Paul told the gathered group: “The real trouble is I’ve no idea how to finish this song.” Ideas and suggestions were thrown out at random. And Pete claims that he suggested having Eleanor die and having Father McKenzie perform the burial. Pete states that he said, “That way you’ll have the two lonely people coming together in the end – but too late.” (Shotton, 124) It was a concept, Pete tells us, that Paul seemed to endorse, but an ending that John did not care for one bit.
Quite a different tale! So, where does the truth lie? Who wrote what and when and why?
The only thread that is consistent in all accounts is that Paul took the song to John and somehow the two of them – alone or with other people – finished the lyrics as a joint effort. All other details vary, depending upon the teller of the tale. Rarely does this scenario occur with a Beatles song. Credits are shared; nods are given. But the history of “Eleanor Rigby” is much like the record’s namesake, aloof and unknown.
- Recording Techniques – When Paul McCartney told new EMI engineer Geoff Emerick that he wanted the strings on “Eleanor Rigby” “to sound really biting,” Emerick was a little intimidated. How could he achieve that? In his book Here, There, and Everywhere, Emerick tells us that he devised an outrageous plan to close-mic the strings. He explains: “String quartets were traditionally recorded with just one or two microphones placed high, several feet up in the air so the sound of bows scraping couldn’t be heard.”
Defying this unwritten rule, Geoff close-miked the instruments. It was a bold act of genius. And the result was precisely what Paul wanted! Not only did the strings supply melody but they also supplied percussion. And their “harsh realism” brought the strident authenticity of a callous world into this lonely and tragic song. (More on this in Simon Weitzman’s “Fresh, New Look” interview below.)
One final note…According to The Beatles, “Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name.” But in 2023, almost 60 years from her appearance in the world of The Beatles, Eleanor lives on. By the mid 2000’s, the song had been covered by over 200 musicians. Ray Charles, for example, hit No. 35 on the Billboard charts with his version of the song. In 1969, Aretha Franklin’s take on the number shot to No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. But these two icons are not alone in their respect for the song. Hundreds of other groups recorded their own tributes to Father McKenzie, all the lonely people, and yes, to Eleanor. In 2023, Eleanor is still with us…living on.
A Fresh, New Look:
We’re thrilled to have Simon Weitzman with us this month for a close and personal examination of “Eleanor Rigby.” Apart from his other many credits, listed earlier in the blog, Simon is working on a documentary about Beatles PA and Rolling Stones Tour Manager, Chris O’Dell. He’s also completing his wonderful film, A Love Letter to The Beatles: Here, There, and Everywhere, which you will be able to enjoy at the New York Metro Fest for Beatles Fans. Taking time out of his hectically busy schedule to discuss “Eleanor Rigby” was a real treat for the Fest staff. Thank you, Simon!!!!
Jude Southerland Kessler: Hi Simon, thank you “ooover and oover and oover again” (whoops, wrong band!!) for giving us the gift of your time. We know you’re incredibly busy, so I’ll dive right in. Simon, the 1966 addition of young Geoff Emerick to the production team at EMI certainly made Revolver an edgier, more experimental LP. Please tell us a bit about Emerick’s clever method of making the orchestral segment “hard-biting,” as Paul had requested him to do.
Its production is as exquisite as it is different. Paul was a forward-thinker and was amenable to George Martin’s suggestions that classical music be employed. Despite initial misgivings, Paul wisely followed Martin’s lead and brought classical influences firmly into the 20th century. It was familiar ground for George Martin; it enabled him to take a leap of faith with Paul and really push the strings in the recordings, whilst taking inspiration from Bernard Herrmann, who himself innovated the modern film compositions that were to shape cinema throughout the century. Indeed, “Eleanor Rigby” has a soundscape that would very comfortably sit in a number of movie soundtracks today.
“I was very much inspired by Bernard Herrmann…[he] really impressed me, especially the strident string writing. When Paul told me he wanted the strings in ‘Eleanor Rigby’ to be doing a rhythm, Herrmann…was a particular influence.”
- George Martin as quoted in The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn, 77
The sound revolution in “Eleanor Rigby” was further extended by the youthful influence of sound engineer Geoff Emerick. Emerick loved classical music but wasn’t bound by the rules and containment of his predecessors. He was more in tune with Paul’s desire to take what was known from the genre and move it into the contemporary music of the time…in effect, making classical acceptable to the pop genre and vice versa. To achieve this – as Jude noted – Emerick brought the microphones closer to the players, managing to isolate each string in a way that hadn’t been done before, This caused some of the more purist musicians some discomfort during the recordings. You just didn’t do that to musicians in session; well, not until now. As Emerick clearly stated in his book Here, There, and Everywhere: “On ‘Eleanor Rigby’ we miked very, very close to the strings, almost touching them. No one had really done that before; the musicians were in horror.”
The combination of Emerick’s soundscape enthusiasm mixed with Martin’s more orthodox approach worked perfectly to create something that sounded filmic, classical, and modern, all at the same time – just as Paul had always seen it in his mind’s eye.
Kessler: Simon, please give us your thoughts on the imagery of the desolate woman and the desperate priest whom no one could hear and whom no one drew near. What do they say to you? Is there hope in this song?
For me, “Eleanor Rigby” is about the mask we put on when we are in social situations and the personas we invent to create our own self-worth. The line: “Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door” is a face we all wear when we leave our homes and try to interact and connect with the world. “Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, lives in a dream” for me, translates as the daydream in which most of us live as we look at what we perceive to be what we should be doing with our lives…and what we perceive everyone else is doing with theirs, as well as being the outsider who is always trying to conform.
“Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear, no one comes near. Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there, what does he care?’” Again, for me the song concentrates on the lifelong search for our self-worth and ultimately, the things we do to satisfy our own perception of achievement. We are conditioned to do things that are recognized. We are educated to believe that the things we do to create our own self-worth don’t count if no one else is watching or listening. Perhaps Paul was also thinking about the apparent futility of everything. Perhaps he, too, was asking, “Does any of it matter?” and “Why are we conditioned to think like this?”
“Eleanor Rigby, died in the church and was buried along with her name, nobody came. Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave, no one was saved.” These final words remind us that we are all ultimately alone. Although in this case, Father McKenzie – whose life is as lonely as Eleanor’s – is at least there to see her over to the afterlife. There is ultimately someone there to see us through, even if it is after we have passed, if only to acknowledge our existence.
Then, there is the final chorus: “All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” This speaks to me and to all of us, I believe, at some stage of our lives, or a lot of stages in our lives. “All the lonely people, where do they all belong?” Where do any of us belong? It’s such a clever observation of the human condition and our need to find our place in the world. It addresses our belief that we only count if we are recognized by others…when the reality is discovering and being at one with our self-worth, however our life turns out. That is ultimately what it’s all about.
Kessler: Finally, Simon, why does this song appeal to you, personally?
This is a song that I very much identify with as an only child and as someone who lives on his own. Ultimately, we are all ‘lonely people,’ but what Paul McCartney (possibly together with John) tapped into is the ultimate loneliness of us all. Even if we are successful, we are unsure. If we are unsuccessful, we feel remote from those who seemingly find success easier. “Eleanor Rigby” is also about the lives we lead, despite the isolation we encounter in life. It is a song that speaks to so many people, even if they aren’t hardcore Beatles fans.
It’s a song that has always made me think. Very few of us get through life without anxiety and self-doubt. I do get very lonely. I suffer from anxiety and issues of self-worth, perhaps like so many of us in this Beatles family. And perhaps that’s why this family exists and why it is so successful…because it is one of the few places in life where we do belong, where we are amongst our own kind and where we can embrace individuality and encourage each other. It feels like this song was designed as a “shout out” to everyone looking for themselves.
We all have to go through life trying to exude a confidence we probably don’t have. Look at musicians like Adele, who suffer from imposter syndrome. I think we all suffer from imposter syndrome, unless we lack the humanity that anchors us to the reality of our short lives in the vastness of eternity. It doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank, how good looking you are perceived to be, or what circles you move in – isolation is the biggest challenge we encounter in life, and it is easy to get lost. Look at the unfortunate people who are homeless and struggle to be seen at all by so many of us. Everyone deserves to be seen.
I wonder if Paul ever imagined that the fans of The Beatles would still be together after all these years and that the music and the legend of the group would create such a strong family bond? Yet, here we are. We are very lucky to have our Beatles family. It’s what keeps many of us sane and gives us a community to feel comfortable with. I think our Beatles community has a bond stronger than The Beatles ever anticipated. It has been the catalyst that unites us and helps us get through the tough times, and songs like “Eleanor Rigby,” for me, remind us where we all are and how lucky we are to have each other. A place where we can belong, be valued, and not feel so lonely.
Kessler: Simon, truer words were never penned! Thank you for being an integral part of this special look at “Eleanor Rigby”! We can’t wait to see you in just a few days at the New York Metro Fest for Beatles Fans!
For more info on Simon Weitzman, HEAD HERE or follow him on Facebook HERE or on LinkedIn HERE
For more information on Jude Southerland Kessler and The John Lennon Series, HEAD HERE
Revolver Deep Dive Part 1: Taxman
Side One, Track One
“Taxman”… in Which Everybody Gets a BIT of Money
by Jude Southerland Kessler and Bruce Spizer
Through 2023, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog will explore the complexities of The Beatles’ revolutionary 1966 LP, Revolver. This month, taxman-by-day (a.k.a. corporate tax attorney) and Beatles music authority in all other hours, Bruce Spizer, will provide our “Fresh New Look” at this song, penned over five decades ago.
Bruce is an integral part of our Fest Family and is the author of The Beatles Are Coming!, Beatles for Sales on Parlophone Records, The Beatles Story on Capitol Records (Parts 1 and 2), The Beatles on Apple Records, and The Beatles Swan Song. In recent years, he has created the insightful Beatles Album Series, including The Beatles and Sgt. Pepper: A Fan’s Perspective, The Beatles White Album and the Launch of Apple, and his latest release, The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver. For our February blog, Bruce joins Jude Southerland Kessler, author of The John Lennon Series, for exciting, in-depth coverage of the opening track of this important and pivotal LP.
What’s Standard:
Date Recorded: 20-22 April 1966
Time Recorded: Work done on the 20th followed work on “And Your Bird Can Sing.” That session, in its entirety, was from 2:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
On 21 April, work took place between 2:30 p.m. – 12:50 a.m.
On 22 April, work took place between 2:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Studio: EMI Studios, Studio 2
Tech Team
Producer: George Martin
Balance Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Second Engineer: Phil McDonald
Stats:
On 20 April, four tracks were recorded. Only two were completed. (Rodriguez, 126)
On 21 April, eleven rhythm tracks (electric guitars, bass, and drums) were recorded. George overdubbed two vocal tracks, with backing vocals from John and Paul. Ringo added a tambourine. Paul recorded the incredible lead solo. John and Paul sang the rapid falsetto “Anybody got a bit of money” lines. Paul’s count-in is present. (Winn, 13)
On 22 April, a reduction mix of Take 11 combines both vocal tracks onto one track of a new tape. That is referred to as Take 12. The newly-available track is then filled with a cowbell. The falsetto line, “Anybody got a bit of money” is erased. The “Mr. Wilson/Mr. Heath” bit is added. Some errant guitar notes are erased. Another “rasping lead guitar solo,” as Beatles guru Mark Lewisohn phrases it, was added by Paul. (The Beatles Recording Sessions, 76) John C. Winn points out that it was, “spliced on to the main body of the song and George’s final ‘me’ at the end of the song.” (14)
Editing was done on 27 April and 16 May.
Instrumentation and Musicians:
George Harrison, the composer (with assistance from John Lennon) sings lead vocals and plays one of three guitars that he had available. These guitars were, according to Hammack’s Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, either the 1961 Fender Stratocaster, the 1964 Gibson SG Standard, or the 1965 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino. (129)
John Lennon, lyrical contributor, sings backing vocals, and some sources have John manning the tambourine.
Paul McCartney, plays bass on his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S bass and provides the lead solo on his Casino electric guitar (Hammack, 130). Paul also provides backing vocals with John.
Ringo Starr plays his 1964 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl Super Classic drum set; he also mans the cowbell and most sources say the tambourine as well.
Sources: The Beatles, The Anthology, 197, Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, 218-219, Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions, 76, Spizer, The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver, 22-35, Rodriguez, Revolver, How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, 126-129, Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual, Vol. 2, 129-131, Margotin and Guesdon, All the Songs, 324-325, Winn, That Magic Feeling, 12-13, Emerick, Here, There, and Everywhere, 126, Turner, A Hard Day’s Write, 102-103, Riley, Tell Me Why, 182-183, Spignesi and Lewis, 100 Best Beatles Songs, 147-149, MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, 160, Davies, The Beatles Lyrics, 142-143, and Babiuk, Beatles Gear, 178-185.
What’s Changed:
- A Harrison Album Opener – Almost always, John Lennon had been afforded the honor of opening his band’s LPs. He’d done so on With The Beatles, Beatles for Sale, A Hard Day’s Night, and Help! On The Beatles’ first LP Please Please Me, the opening track was a collaborative effort (“I Saw Her Standing There”) that introduced the lads to the listening world. But not until the band released Rubber Soul did Paul McCartney motor into the opening slot with “Drive My Car.” Traditionally, one expected Lennon to kick albums off, but of course, one could readily accept Paul at the helm. George had been accustomed to one-sies (and rarely, two-sies) at the mic on each long-playing record. Now, to be selected to open the record was a rather revolutionary honor for George.
Indeed, in Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, Rodriguez points out that “Not only would [Harrison] get an unheard-of three songs on the album, but he had the first cut as well. It was an honor that left him ‘dead chuffed’…” And George handled this nod with aplomb. (128) Note: As Bruce Spizer will point out, Rodriguez is referring to three original songs on an LP and not counting cover songs sung by George.
In his book, Here, There, and Everywhere, new Revolver Engineer Geoff Emerick commented, “I thought George’s strongest song on Revolver was ‘Taxman,’ and George Martin must have agreed, since he decided to put it first of the album – the all-important spot generally reserved for the best song, since the idea was to try to capture the listener immediately.” Emerick and a host of other Beatles music experts cite the extremely clever lyrics as the song’s strongest feature. Part of that charm came from…
- A Lennon/Harrison Collaboration – By 1966, Beatles fans were accustomed to John’s collaborations with Paul and to John writing songs such as “Do You Want to Know A Secret” and “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You” for George. But this time, George penned the album’s opening track by himself and then approached John for a bit of assistance.
Years later, John stated, “[George] came to me…I didn’t want to do it. I thought, ‘Oh no, don’t tell me I have to work on George’s stuff. It’s enough doing my own…But because I loved him and didn’t want to hurt him, [I] said okay.” (Margotin and Guesdon, 324) In Beatles Lyrics, Hunter Davies points out that to enhance “Taxman,” John added the lines: “…if you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat. If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat.” Davies says, “John’s input made [‘Taxman’] wittier and smarter and the finished lyrics were much better.” (142) In his extraordinary work, Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, Robert Rodriguez concurs to some degree. He states that Harrison had already crafted strong lyrics, but says, “It was John who gave the already-biting lyrics some extra sting.” (126) Beatles music experts also point out that this section was re-written in a call-and response-pattern, and it certainly revealed a band angst, a general feeling of resentment towards the British income tax system (which was taking over 90 percent of their income), not just from George’s perspective but from all of The Beatles.
- A Change in Engineers – Just before the group began to record Revolver, long-time engineer, Norman Smith was replaced by Geoff Emerick. As Andy Babiuk points out in Beatles Gear, Emerick “was a young engineer, eager and willing to experiment. Emerick had worked on Beatles sessions as far back as A Hard Day’s Night in 1964, but now he joined George Martin’s production team as chief engineer to help translate The Beatles’ ever-expanding musical ideas.” (178) And Babiuk states that with Emerick on board, the watchword for Revolver was “experimentation.” (178)
For example, in “Taxman,” there are not one but two count-ins. George clearly voices what is ostensibly “the real thing” as part of the song. Yet in the background, Paul is speaking the actual count-in. Not only does the verbal count-in reflect back to the first song of their first LP, but the dual count-ins (one real and one “for show”) function symbolically, perhaps representing the fans’ fantasy version of The Beatles’ life spread atop the surface of the harsh, underlying real world in which John, Paul, George, and Ringo actually lived and breathed. The juxtaposition of the dual count-ins signals a new level of creativity and a new depth of meaning in each song on Revolver.
Harrison also wryly employs the popular “Batman!” theme shriek for a hero when decrying the band’s actual anti-hero, the “Taxman!” Rodriguez points out that the “Batman!” theme was well-known in England in 1966, having been covered in an instrumental by the Markettes and later by The Who. So, using the comic theme, Rodriguez suggests, is George’s way of “giving his listeners a wink [and]…letting them [know] that, real tax issues aside, his rant shouldn’t be taken at face value.” (Revolver, How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll, 127) It’s a tacit joke between the artists and the audience. Thankfully, Martin and Emerick were open to such crafty ideas, and without a blink, they found a way to “make it so.”
- Unique Subject Matter – George Martin readily admitted that the songs on Revolver were “far more varied than anything [The Beatles had] ever done before.” (Spizer, The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver, 23) And it wasn’t only the boys’ music that was innovative! The song themes themselves were sweepingly different. Instead of the traditional “moon, croon, spoon, June” songs, Revolver frankly discussed death, loneliness and isolation, loss, drug usage, and yes, taxes.
George commented, “’Taxman’ was when I first realized that even though we started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes. It was and is so typical. Why should this be so? Are we being punished for something we have forgotten to do?” (Davies, The Beatles Lyrics, 142)
By 1966, The Beatles’ eyes were wide open. They were no longer young, green boys, fresh on the scene. The new “studio Beatles” were sophisticated world travelers who had learned how to wrangle with the music industry’s “big cigars,” fans, governments, and press…and to survive. They had faced near-death experiences, complicated personal relationships, and yes, even financial worries. As Hunter Davies points out, “Brian Epstein [had] tried a few tax-saving devices – sheltering one million with a financial wizard in a tax haven in the Bahamas. The money disappeared…” (The Beatles Lyrics, 142) The Beatles of Revolver have learned a thing or two, and on their 7th LP, they tell us about it.
- Paul Takes the Lead – In our next section, Bruce Spizer will discuss Paul’s remarkable lead guitar work, but we must note here that having Paul rather than George play the lead solo in the middle and at the end of “Taxman” was a landmark moment. From Revolver on, the vastly talented McCartney would increasingly begin to assume roles traditionally allotted to the other three.
A Fresh, New Look:
Who better to give us all a unique and insightful look at “Taxman” than our own Fest Beatles music expert, Bruce Spizer?! (And let us not forget that in addition to being a Beatles author/historian, Bruce is Board Certified in Taxation by the Louisiana Bar Association, making him a “Taxman” by trade.) In his latest book The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver, Bruce reminds us that when Revolver was released, Melody Maker observed that there are “still more ideas buzzing around in The Beatles’ heads than in most of the pop world put together.” (31) Let’s chat with Bruce about those incredible ideas and innovations in “Taxman.”
Jude Southerland Kessler: Bruce, the fact that a George Harrison composition opens Side One of Revolver is significant in many ways. Tell us about this interesting new development in Beatles music history and why it matters.
Bruce Spizer: George had always been intimidated by John and Paul when it came to songwriting. Who wouldn’t be? He had to wonder at first if his songs were good enough to be on a Beatles album. And it only got worse when The Beatles phased out cover versions of songs from their stage act as album material. Any song George got would eliminate a Lennon-McCartney composition, so it had to be good.
Although George had received co-writer’s credit for coming up with the guitar solo on Paul’s early composition “In Spite Of All The Danger” and wrote the Hamburg days instrumental “Cry For A Shadow” with John, John and Paul decided to exclude George from their songwriting team. Harrison would have to go it alone. He got his first proper song, “Don’t Bother Me,” on the group’s second U.K. album, With The Beatles. After being shut out for the next two albums, he had two songs each on Help! and Rubber Soul. But on Revolver, he not only had three songs, but was given the all-important opening track, a show of confidence from George Martin and his fellow band mates.
This validation of his songwriting ability encouraged George to write more songs and to push for having them included on The Beatles albums. He had four songs included on The White Album and two of the best songs on Abbey Road. George no longer lacked the confidence to write songs and was even beginning to push to have more of his songs being included on the group’s albums. When George realized during the Get Back sessions that he could not get his songs recorded when limited to two or three songs per album, the seed was planted for him to put all of his own songs out on a solo album, leading to his excellent LP All Things Must Pass.
So, the placement of “Taxman” as the lead track of Revolver is significant because it contributed to George’s growing confidence as a songwriter, and it forced John and Paul to recognize that George’s songs were worthy of inclusion on Beatles albums even if it meant fewer songs written by John and/or Paul.
AMERICAN NOTE: While fans only familiar with The Beatles’ core catalog of British releases will tell you that Revolver is the first Beatles album to open with a George song, that is not quite correct if one counts songs in which George is the lead vocalist. Capitol’s April 1964 release, The Beatles’ Second Album, opens with George singing lead on Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.”
BRITISH NOTE: While Revolver is the first British album containing three George compositions, it is not the first to have three George lead vocals. I want to tell you the answer, but I need you to think for yourself. Don’t bother me with asking for clues. The answer is With The Beatles, on which George sings lead on his own “Don’t Bother Me,” Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” and the obscure girl-group song by the Donays, “Devil In His Heart” (gender changed in the lyrics and title to “Devil In Her Heart”).
Kessler: A comparison of the opening of “Taxman” and the opening of “I Saw Her Standing There” on Please Please Me produces some interesting similarities and differences. In Revolution in the Head, for example, Ian MacDonald says that the differences in these two introductions clearly symbolize “a new start in The Beatles career.” How so?
Spizer: In my book The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver, I compare the two openings as follows:
“Revolver opens with a slow, lazy “One, two, three, four, one, two” count-in by George augmented by tape sounds and a cough. Paul’s original count-in for the song’s backing track can be heard as well, just as Harrison ends his count. It is a far cry from Paul’s youthful, exuberant “One, two, three, faaa!” count-in that preceded “I Saw Her Standing There,” the opening track on the group’s first Parlophone LP, Please Please Me, and the second song on Capitol’s Meet The Beatles! LP. In comparing those early albums to Revolver, the music and lyrical themes that follow are as different as the count-ins.”
Looking back, Paul’s “One, two, three, faaa!” count-in to the lead track on the Please Please Me LP was a stroke of genius on the part of George Martin. He wanted to get The Beatles’ first album off to a memorable and rousing start with what he described as a “potboiler,” so he chose “I Saw Her Standing There,” a high-energy rocker. He edited Paul’s count-in from Take 9 (with the volume increased) to the opening of the master take of the song. It was the perfect introduction to a great 14-song set of performances taken from The Beatles’ stage show.
In my upcoming book, The Beatles Please Please Me to With The Beatles, I discuss how the Beatles and George Martin selected the songs for the first LP:
“With only a single day available, Martin knew time was an issue. ‘I asked them what they had which we could record quickly, and the answer was their stage act.’ This would consist of a mix of Lennon-McCartney original compositions and cover versions of songs by other artists.”
Although Martin had ruled out recording The Beatles in concert at the Cavern, he wanted to capture that sound in the studio. In my upcoming book I write:
“Engineer Norman Smith placed the microphones further from the amplifiers than what was normally done so that they would pick up not only direct sound from the amplifiers, but also the ambient sound of the room. This gave the songs a more raucous sound, resembling what was heard at the group’s live performances.”
By 1966, the boys had grown up. They and George Martin were no longer looking for that “live-in-concert” sound. As stated on the back cover to The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver:
“With Revolver, The Beatles were looking for more color in their recordings, trying new instruments and techniques. But they were not using studio wizardry to cover weaknesses; they were looking for new sounds to enhance their already brilliant songs.”
In effect, the studio became an instrument all its own for The Beatles to experiment with. The whirling tape sounds heard in the introduction to “Taxman” foreshadow the role that recording tape would play on the album – new techniques such as artificial double-tracking, varispeed recordings, backwards tape recordings and tape loops. Although many of these tape tricks are heard throughout the album, it is the album’s final track, “Tomorrow Never Knows,” that takes full advantage of the techniques that the Abbey Road engineers used so effectively on the album.
The Beatles’ next few projects continued to take advantage of the studio, although The Beatles briefly attempted to get back to the sound of their Please Please Me LP during the Get Back project, foregoing overdubs and other tape effects and going for a “live-in-the-studio” sound, culminating with their famous rooftop concert, where their sound bounced around London buildings instead of studio walls.
Paul’s fast and youthful count-in on “I Saw Her Standing There” is appropriate for an album whose ten new songs were quickly recorded in 14 hours on a single day by a group referred to as “the boys.” George’s slow and mature-sounding count-in on “Taxman” is equally appropriate for an album recorded in 300 hours over a two-and-a-half-month span by a group of maturing young men whose musical abilities were evolving at a mind-numbing pace.
AMERICAN NOTE: Americans who bought the Vee-Jay album Introducing The Beatles, which featured 12 of the 14 songs appearing on the Please Please Me LP, were literally short-changed on the opening. Engineer Roger Anfinsen, who worked at Chicago’s Universal Recording Studios, prepared mono and stereo masters of the Vee-Jay album in late June 1963. Either on his own or following instructions from Vee-Jay, Anfinsen edited most of Paul’s count-in at the beginning of the tape, perhaps thinking it did not belong on the album. Thus, both the mono and stereo versions of Introducing The Beatles open with Paul shouting “Faaa!”
Kessler: Although George wrote the lyrics to this song with some assistance from John Lennon, many music experts call “Taxman” a “true group effort.” Do you agree with this observation, and if so, why?
Spizer: I guess people call “Taxman” a “true group effort” because John assisted George with the lyrics, Paul contributed a great lead guitar solo, and all four Beatles play on the song. That was not always the case on Revolver. No Beatle plays on “Eleanor Rigby,” and Paul and Ringo are the only Beatles playing instruments on “Good Day Sunshine” and “For No One.” John also does not play an instrument on “Love You To” or “Here, There And Everywhere.” But over half the songs on the album have all four Beatles fully participating.
Nonetheless, when the album came out in 1966, Melody Maker astutely noted that “The Beatles individual personalities are now showing loud and clear,” with only a few of the LP’s songs really being Beatle tracks. “Most are Paul tracks, John tracks, George tracks, or in the case of ‘Yellow Submarine,’ Ringo’s track.” George’s fascination for Indian music and Paul’s liking of classical music effects clearly come through. Out of George’s three songs on the album, “Love You To” and “I Want To Tell You” are clearly “George tracks,” while “Taxman” is more of a group effort.
As for Paul playing the guitar solo, that had to have been an awkward moment for George. After all, he was the group’s lead guitarist, and it was his song. But the final result was well worth it. According to Paul: “George let me have a go for that solo because I had an idea. I was trying to persuade George to do something…feedback-y and crazy. And I was showing him what I wanted, and he said, ‘Well, you do it.’” Although George may have capitulated with a taste of resentment and sarcasm, he was later appreciative, saying: “I was pleased to have Paul play that bit on ‘Taxman.’ If you notice, he did like a little Indian bit on it for me.”
George allowing the band’s bass player to usurp his guitar solo on his own composition shows that George put the group and the quality of the song ahead of his ego. Now that’s a group effort!
AMERICAN NOTE: While the British version of Revolver has 14 tracks, the Capitol version only has 11 songs. This is because Capitol placed three of the British album’s songs on an earlier release, Yesterday And Today. Unfortunately, all three of these songs, “I’m Only Sleeping” “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “Doctor Robert,” were songs with John on lead vocal. This gave Americans the impression that John had contributed very little to the album.
Kessler: Revolver firmly established The Beatles as recording artists rather than a stage band or a touring band. Tell us about some of the techniques used on “Taxman” that would have been difficult to duplicate on stage.
Spizer: Before Revolver was released, Paul was quoted as saying about the album: “They’ll never be able to copy this one!” He was most likely thinking of songs like “Eleanor Rigby,” “Love You To,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and to a lesser extent, “For No One” and “Got To Get You Into My Life.” “Taxman” is actually one of the album’s songs that could have been played live; however, it would not have sounded like the album track unless you had an extra guitar player for the song’s solo and people adding tambourine and cowbell. And, of course, you’d need great musicians to handle Paul’s stop-and-start bass guitar riff working in tandem with Ringo’s energetic drumming, not to mention George’s distorted rhythm guitar and Paul’s aggressive guitar solo.
The Fest loves Bruce…and we sincerely appreciate his sharing insights on “Taxman” with us. You can meet Bruce in person, get a copy of his book, and hear him speak throughout the weekend at the
New York Metro Fest for Beatles Fans, 31 March – 2 April at the Hyatt Regency, Jersey City
For more information about Bruce and his books HEAD HERE
Join Bruce Spizer on “She Said She Said” as he talks about The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver
For more information about Jude Kessler and The John Lennon Series, HEAD HERE
Revolver Deep Dive: Talent is the best weapon
If Frank Sinatra is correct and “success is the best revenge,” then surely “talent is the best weapon.” And for The Beatles, their ever-emerging and morphing talent was exhibited most effectively in their 1966 album, Revolver. Revolver shattered almost everything that fans and critics had come to think of as “classic Beatles.” It launched us all into an era of new sounds, new techniques, new topics and ideas. Even the LP’s clever title conjured up myriad novel images:
images of rotating turntables,
circular doors opening to new avenues,
opinions pivoting as the world revolved from comfortable “she loves you” yesterdays to thought-provoking “tomorrow never knows” futures.
Opening up and provoking thought: That is exactly what The Fest for Beatles Fans blog will be doing over the next 16 months as we begin to explore the genius and artistry of Revolver, track-by-track. We will study each song in depth and ask our own Fest authors and experts to share their insights into the 14 songs of 1966 that introduced us all to “the studio Beatles.” We will examine these innovative tunes and lyrics with the help of Bruce Spizer, Jay Bergen, Christine Feldman-Barrett, Dr. Kit O’Toole, Laura Cortner and Dr. Bob Hieronimus, Erin Torkelson Weber, Bob Wilson and Don Jeffries, Debbie Greenberg, Susan Shumsky, Ivor Davis, Melissa Davis, Bill King, and me, Jude Southerland Kessler.
Each month, I will research and present what the Beatles music experts have to say about “who played what and how and when and where” on that month’s selected track – presenting that information in our “What’s Standard” section of the Fest Blog. Then, the innovations of each song will be covered in the “What’s Changed” section. Finally, I’ll interview a guest Beatles author/expert, asking that individual to answer 4 in-depth questions about “the song of the month.”
We’ll begin this study in February with a look at “Taxman.” Guest Expert Bruce Spizer, who recently released the already best-selling book The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver, will kick things off. Already, Bruce and I are both hard at work, preparing the blog for you. We’re hoping that the information we uncover will provide a “Fresh New Look” at a song that may have been penned by George Harrison (with some help from John Lennon) but took all four Beatles to perfect. We hope we can serve up some food for thought about the exciting opening track on this great LP.
Because that, after all, is the theme of Revolver. It was, in essence, the modern “shot heard round the world,” signaling freedom from past convention in favor of a “band-new,” independent beginning. It was the decisive break between the stage band we had come to love so dearly and the studio band that would amaze us (no maybe) over and over again – with songs that would be almost impossible to be performed on a stage. Revolver encouraged us to stop, pay attention, and listen…very carefully. And over the next 16 months, that is what we will do.
The Fest for Beatles Fans cordially invites you to join us in this trek through the best music of 1966, brought to you via the genius of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and the magnificent sound artists led by Sir George Martin at EMI studios.
Soon, we shall begin. Stay tuned.
Jay Bergen represented John Lennon the man, not John the Beatle
If you’re a Beatles fan hungry for new material about one or all of the Fab Four…or if you’re a researcher seeking authentic, primary source material about John’s solo years, look no further than Jay Bergen’s book, Lennon, the Mobster, & the Lawyer, The Untold Story. This 2022 publication is a gold mine! Bergen was John’s attorney in the case against mobster Morris Levy, who tried to market a bootleg of John’s Rock ‘n’ Roll LP that Levy called Roots. And Jay has his own personal story of his days preparing for the trial as well as John’s lengthy and insightful court testimony to share with you. This is factual, documented material you’ve never read before. And it is fascinating!
Jay himself is fascinating. An esteemed New York litigator, Bergen represented the New York Yankees, then-Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants in the 80s/90s Major League Baseball salary arbitration with their players. He also represented Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan’s first manager, in litigation with the star.
But, as you will see in the interview below, Jay is also down-to-earth, gregarious, and extremely kind. Over the course of the Roots trial, John and Jay became friends, sharing many conversations, lunches, and walks together. This is a story that will not only inform you about John’s creative process, his love of 1950s music, and his passion for his work, but will also give you a new glimpse at John, the man.
After 36 years of research on John Lennon, I found this one of the best books ever written about his life in the 1970s. Let’s meet Jay and hear more about this riveting story…
Jude Southerland Kessler: Jay, for those in our Fest for Beatles Fans family who don’t know the stories of John’s legal troubles in the mid-1970s, please give us a synopsis of what happened to precipitate the Roots trial against Morris Levy.
Jay Bergen: In 1970, Morris Levy filed a lawsuit claiming that “Come Together,” written by John Lennon, infringed the copyright to “You Can’t Catch Me.” It was one of Levy’s bogus infringement claims for which he was notorious. The case was coming to trial in NYC in October 1973, but during that time frame, John was in LA recording an album of oldies rock ’n’ roll with Phil Spector producing. John did not want to leave LA, so he settled the case by agreeing to record three Levy-owned songs, including “You Can’t Catch Me,” on his “next album,” which was supposed to be John’s oldies album.
Spector disappeared with the LA master tapes. It took Capitol Records six months to get the tapes from Spector and send them to John in NYC. They arrived when he was ready to record new songs he had written at the Record Plant. John knew the Spector masters required a lot of work so he put them aside and recorded the new songs. That was Walls and Bridges released in September 1974. Levy knew that rock ’n’ roll oldies could not be on an album of John’s songs but still claimed that this was John’s “next” album and John had not complied with the settlement.
Levy then demanded a meeting with John on October 8, 1974. Levy, John, May Pang, and Harold Seider, John’s business advisor, met, and Levy claimed in January 1975 that John made an agreement that night allowing him to release the oldies album on TV on a worldwide basis.
In February 1975, Capitol learned that Levy was buying TV ad time to advertise a bootleg unfinished version of John’s oldies LP that he was calling Roots. John finished his album and Capitol rush released John Lennon Rock ’n’ Roll on February 13th. Levy then stopped his TV ads – after selling 1,270 albums. He then filed a lawsuit against John, Capitol Records, EMI Records, Harold Seider, and Apple Records alleging breach of contract, fraud, and other false claims. Two weeks later his lawyers filed a federal antitrust case against the same defendants alleging $14 million in damages.
Kessler: How did you become John’s attorney and how long did you work to gather data for the case? How involved was it?
Bergen: On February 3, 1975 my partner David Dolgenos – John’s lawyer in connection with the dissolution of The Beatles partnership – asked me to attend a meeting at Capitol’s offices about a rumor that Morris Levy was going to release a bootleg John Lennon album. While I was meeting with three Capitol lawyers, John Lennon suddenly entered the room. I was stunned since I didn’t know he was going to be at the meeting. John filled us in on his contact with Levy and this possible bootleg album.
During the meeting, I asked John how long it would take to finish the oldies album. He said it would take two days, and he wanted to finish it now. Once John delivered the finished album, Capitol could release it in a week to ten days. So that’s what happened.
Even before the first lawsuit was filed, I began interviewing John, May Pang, and Harold Seider in more detail because I wanted to get the facts about all of the dealings with Morris Levy down pat. In the course of doing so, I also learned that Levy was connected to the Genovese crime family in NYC, that he was really a bad guy, and that he had been in “business” with the Mafia for many years.
Pulling together all of the facts was involved because I learned that John had spent time with Levy at a club/restaurant where Levy was a member. I also discovered that in October 1974, John had taken the band with whom he was going to record some new tracks for the oldies album to Levy’s farm for a weekend of rehearsals. More disturbing was that John had accepted Levy’s invitation to spend part of the Christmas holidays with May Pang and his son Julian, who arrived from England at Disney World in Florida. This series of events could be interpreted as evidence that John and Levy were close friends and that perhaps they had made a deal!
Kessler: So, John agreed to be very active in the case against Levy… to be present in court, to give testimony, and to assist in any way possible. Do you feel that John contributed to the case against Levy and to the success of your litigation? If so, how?
Bergen: Yes, John was in court every day, even when he did not have to testify. I think that impressed Judge Griesa because it showed how important the case was to John. Yoko Ono was there also when the trial was spread over January, March, and April 1976, twenty days. Levy was not present very often. Since John was there every day, he was able to watch each witness and see how the judge ran the trial. John knew what to expect when he testified.
John was the best witness I ever had. He was willing to review all the facts and prepare for his deposition and trial testimony. While the judge was a trained musician, he knew nothing about The Beatles or John Lennon or rock ’n’ roll music. John explained his entire process of producing records, the amount of space needed between each track, how long each side of an LP should be, etc. The judge was really into it, so he and John would have these long question/answer periods which drove Levy’s lawyer crazy. He’d try to object, but the judge ignored him.
Kessler: Before you really began work on the case full-scale, you were asked to the Dakota to meet Yoko and chat with her. Please tell us about the meeting…a meeting that you categorize as “an audition.”
Bergen: Sometime in late March, John called me and asked me if I could come up to the Dakota the next morning at 11 AM to meet Yoko. He said, “She just would like to meet you.” When I arrived, we sat in their big living room overlooking Central Park. John was not there.
Yoko had read the two complaints and asked me a series of questions about them. She also wanted to know about my background and experience as a trial lawyer. She was very interested and asked very good questions. She was extremely smart. She politely grilled me. After about an hour or so, she told me that John and she were very worried about Levy’s cases; she emphasized that all John and she wanted to do was hold down the amount of money that John would owe Levy. I told her that if I had anything to say about it, John would not owe Levy anything! That was my goal.
She finally stood up, said she was glad to have met me and thanked me for coming.
You might say I was naïve, but it wasn’t until many years later that I fully realized that our meeting was an “audition” so to speak…and that if Yoko had not liked me and thought that I was not the right lawyer to represent John, I would have been replaced.
Kessler: Jay, one of the most interesting parts of your book was John’s court testimony about how involved he was in the creative process for each of his solo LPs (just as The Beatles were actively involved in the making of their LPs.) Tell us about John’s involvement in insuring that each LP was special…and if you would, please share some passages with us that John actually said about that process.
Bergen: It’s really hard to describe John’s “involvement” as you say, without reading the entire two chapters — “How We Learned The Trade” and “John’s Creative Process” — in which some of his testimony is set forth. Let me insert the portions of that testimony:
Bergen: Now, would you generally describe the recording processes for the Court from the moment you got into the studio?
Lennon: Well, it varied from artist to artist.
Bergen: In [your] experience tell us what procedures you followed?
Lennon: In general, I take the group into the studio, and in general, I record my own songs, so I have to teach them the songs, either in the studio or outside of the studio. Generally, I teach them inside the studio, like a rehearsal or run-through.
And for that we would put it on just a one track or a two track. We would not waste time setting a 16-track machine, which costs money for the tape, and it is not worth it. So, we just run rehearsal on a smaller tape. And then we will try after we run through all the songs, and I have decided which ones they seem to be getting the best, after two days of that, say, I will start laying down the basic tracks for the first song. It usually take[s] the engineers an evening or half an evening to get the sound of the drums, then the sound of the bas[s], then the sound of the guitar, then the sound of the piano, and then a combination of all those people playing at once.
Bergen: You mean, to get it at the right level?
Lennon: The engineer has to know virtually what the drum is going to do, what it is going to sound like when it is hit, whether it is going to distort, so that there has to be an interruption and a sound check without having anything to do with the song, then rehearse the sound without me. The engineer will say drummer, drum, play your tom-tom, and he will play the tom-tom and adjust the mikes and move them around and play the tambourine or cymbals. They have to go through the whole thing before they even start the session.
Usually, I hire the studio, so I know I am going to be there for a month; I am usually there for ten days with the musicians, and so all the instruments are set up already, but even with that, after the run-through and the sound check still each night they will run through the sound of the instruments again, because people come in and move microphones, or the musicians forget and they kick the amplifiers or they change the volume.
Bergen: You mean then before you start the sessions?
Lennon: Yes, every night. That is why we get there early and I generally like to sing with the musicians. I may be in a booth that is supposed to be soundproof.
But I like to sing with the musicians, because then I get the rhythm; I like to do it by feel. Quite often I can’t use my vocal, but at least I know how it was.
Bergen: When you say you can’t use the vocal?
Lennon: I can’t use [it], sometimes it is no good, and I like to play an instrument myself. So, if I am lucky, I get a vocal. But even though I am singing, I have to be listening to the drummer and the bass player and all. I go around and say, “Has anybody got any secrets I didn’t hear?” Sometimes they [tell] you when it is too late, “Oh, yes, I played a wrong note here.” “Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t hear it.” So, it is a matter, I have to produce it listening hard and do this for ten days usually. I usually put ten tracks on an album. I will tell you the reason if you want to know.
Bergen: Yes.
Lennon: In general, I put ten tracks because I have learned over the years — well, everybody knows this — after you get past 20 minutes the volume of a record has to go down, and it has something to do with the grooves getting thinner. I have had records over 20 minutes, but when it gets over 20 minutes, the volume goes down, and if you average out ten songs it works out to about 20 minutes a side. So it usually takes about ten days to [p]lay the basic tracks down with the musicians, and then usually I send them home, and if I am going to overdub, like a saxophone or xylophone or flute or whatever, I want to put it on, then I will hire a new lot of people with those instruments.
Bergen: Talking about how long a record should be, what you mean is that there is just so much space on each [side] of a record for the sound that is going to be of a proper quality?
Lennon: Well, it is a matter of taste. I am not saying you [cannot] have more.
Bergen: I am talking about what you do.
Lennon: [It can] be done to 28 minutes, but I don’t like to do that, because I want the record loud, and if the groove is deeper you can get more bass drum, and it even goes to the selection of what to put nearest to the center of the record, because the nearer to the center of the record you get the quieter it has to be. The grooves change when you get to the middle. That is what I have learned from the engineers.
Bergen: You say you like the records loud?
Lennon: Yes, I like them to have depth.
Bergen: If you put your record on at a certain sound, say my stereo at home, it will play [at] a certain level, if you put on another record without adjusting the volume it may not be as loud?
Lennon: That is quite possible, yes.
Bergen: Now, you started talking about the next step after you finish the first basic tracks with the musicians. What is next?
Lennon: Every time I go in, I relearn the whole business. So, sitting here cold it is hard to remember what I do next. Probably I take those things home, play them on a cassette, listen to them, and decide what kind of instrumentation I want to put over the top of it.
Bergen: You mean what instruments in addition to the basic instruments that have been put on by you during these ten days?
Lennon: There is a chance that I have a few things I want to do with the tracks. In the meantime, I take them home and listen, or go to the studio and listen, and then decide the next phase, whether I am going to put in a rhythm section or something else.
This concludes the court testimony in Lennon, the Mobster, & the Lawyer, The Untold Story found on pp. 131-137.
Kessler: Jay, why was John’s testimony on this matter so crucial?
Bergen: Because John had to explain to the judge how careful he was in producing his albums – which was the exact opposite of what Levy did with the 7 1/2 inches per second unmixed and unfinished two-reel tape of the album John gave him just to listen to! Levy kept hounding John for a tape so he could hear the three songs owned by his publishing company that John had to have on his next album. Through John’s testimony, we had to make the judge understand that John had not given Levy the two tapes so that Levy could begin marketing them as the finished album.
Kessler: Jay, another section of the book that I, as a Lennon biographer, especially enjoyed was his testimony about what each song on the Rock ’n’ Roll LP meant to him. Can you tell what he said about “Bring It On Home To Me” “Bony Moronie,” and “Slippin’ and Slidin’.”
Bergen: John had reasons for each of the songs on the album and he testified that he was the only one who knew those reasons. For example:
“Bring It On Home To Me” is one of my [all-time] favorite songs, and, in fact, I have been quoted as saying I wish I had written it, I love it that much, and I was glad to be able to do it.
“Bonie [sic] Maronie [sic]” was one of the very earliest songs, along with “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” and I remember [sing]ing it the only time my mother saw me perform before she died. So I was hot on “Bonie [sic] Maronie [sic].” That is one of the reasons. Also, I liked Larry Williams, who recorded it.
“S[l]ippin’ & Slidin’,” the B side of Long Tall Sally, which is the first Little Richard song I ever heard and was also recorded by Buddy Holly, so that covers a little of both. It was a song I knew. It was easier to do songs that I knew than trying to learn something from scratch, even if I was interested in the songs.
Kessler: Since the book came out, you’ve been on countless radio shows and podcasts, and you’ve been a sought-after speaker at numerous conventions and special events. You’ve been asked so many questions. If you don’t mind, please ask yourself a question that you haven’t been asked yet and that you want to answer. We’re all ears!
Bergen: I’ve told the story in the book about what happened when I stopped by the Record Plant Studios on my way home the evening of December 3, 1980, to say hello to a client, singer/songwriter Eve Moon, who was recording an album for Capitol Records there.
As I walked into the first-floor reception area on 44th Street just off Eighth Avenue, I was very surprised to see Yoko Ono sitting on a couch at the far end of the room. She immediately said to me: “What are you doing here?” I said “Hello Yoko” as I walked toward her.
I asked how John was since I assumed he was in one of the two studios on the first floor (Eve Moon was in a studio on the 10th floor). I knew that since Yoko was there, John had to be in one of those two studios right in back of me.
Later, on my way out I asked Yoko to give my best to John.
No one has ever asked me why didn’t I check each of those two studios and go in and say hello to John?
I could have easily done that. John would have been happy to see me, I know he would have been. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in four years that wouldn’t have made a difference to him or me. We had defeated Morris Levy together.
For a variety of reasons, I did not have a “voice” in my personal life. I was not like that in my professional life. I developed an aggressive style as a trial lawyer, not to the point that I was obnoxious. But I did not hesitate to speak up in situations where I had to.
That was not true many times in my personal life.
Five nights later, John Lennon was gunned down in front of the Dakota! And I had missed the opportunity to see him one last time.
I’ve replayed that night in my mind more than once over the decades since.
*****
As you can see, Lennon, the Mobster, & the Lawyer, The Untold Story is a remarkable book with facts and stories about John Lennon and his creative work that is extremely important and new! You can purchase the book at the Fest bookstore, on Amazon, or here.
And you can see him in action in this video episode of the “She Said She Said” podcast with Lanea Stagg of the Recipe Records Series and me:
Follow Jay on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
I also highly recommend the superb audiobook of Lennon, the Mobster, & the Lawyer, The Untold Story which is available on Audible. Scott McKinley, who does the professional voice work for this book, is amazing! His John Lennon is spot-on! McKinley keeps you so engaged that you can’t tear yourself away! I carried my phone around for days, listening to the audiobook. You will really enjoy it, trust me. Find it here.
Thoughts on Rubber Soul as we wrap our track-by-track deep dive
For the last year and a half, our Beatles family of experts/authors have worked in concert to explore (track-by-track!) the phenomenal, pivotal LP that was Rubber Soul. To discuss which instruments were used on which songs, who played what, and how each song was created in studio, I spent hours poring over Beatles music studies (listed at the end of this blog). During that process, I found that (on several occasions) music experts were 180-out from one another; rarely did all of the authorities agree on the guitar used or who performed each part of the song. Working diligently to suss out the “facts and stats” for each song track discussion, I think we all discovered new schools of thought and began to look at Rubber Soul with a revitalized vision
A plethora of our Fest For Beatles Fans experts donated their time to answer interview questions that provided “A Fresh, New Perspective” on each track, and I hope you agree with me that their insights permitted us all to see these great 1965 songs in a better light. We heard from Kenneth Womack, Bruce Spizer, Al Sussman, Susan Ryan, Robert Rodriguez, Janet Davis, Jim Berkenstadt, Lanea Stagg, Jerry Hammack, Piers Hemmingsen, Sara Schmidt, Tom Frangione, David Bedford, and Scott Freiman. Then, professional artist Rande Kessler re-examined the creative cover of the LP while Terri Whitney created a poem to Rubber Soul that touched our hearts.
It was a wonderful series of thought-provoking Fest Blogs, and we thank each person who contributed to this study.
But…there is still so much to discover about Rubber Soul, as we approach its 60th Anniversary in 2025. For decades Revolver was regularly touted as “the transitional LP” that signaled the end of the touring years and ushered in the “studio years.” But progressively, music experts pointing to Rubber Soul’s transition toward world music influences, its radical change in attitudes toward women, its shift from simple “moon-June-croon” love songs to intricate songs about complicated relationships, and its move toward intricate instrumentation as the transition point in The Beatles’ careers. Recently, Milwaukee journalist Bobby Tanzilo stated, “While the world glorifies Sgt. Pepper, many die-hard fans credit 1965’s Rubber Soul for kicking off The Beatles’ experimental phase.” The LP is gaining greater prominence and stepping into its own.
If you somehow missed the Fest Blogs on this unique album, I invite you to go back and enjoy them right here on the Fest For Beatles Fans website. They began in January 2021 and ended in August 2022. If you’ve digested all of the blogs as we went along, here is a bit of additional reading to enjoy:
The Beatles: Rubber Soul to Revolver, Bruce Spizer, 2022. The latest release in Spizer’s Beatles Album Series is thorough, interesting, and perceptive. Spizer not only traces the genesis and development of these two records with his signature accuracy, but he also calls upon respected Beatles authors to cover their fields of expertise. Piers Hemmingsen writes about the Canadian reception for these two remarkable LPs. Al Sussman provides the historical backdrop for their creation. Frank Daniels tells us about 1966 in film and comics. And Bill King, the creator of Beatlefan magazine gives us a chapter on “Summer of ’66: A Quiet Revolution.” As always, Bruce Spizer also provides priceless fan remembrances about the impact of Rubber Soul and Revolver upon the lives of ordinary people. With superb photos that you’ll find nowhere else, Spizer’s examination of The Beatles’ 1965 and 1966 LPs is extraordinary.
This Bird Has Flown, The Enduring Beauty of Rubber Soul, Fifty Years On, John Kruth, 2015. Kruth’s book is a thorough study of Rubber Soul, artfully highlighting the many aspects of the record that are propelling it into the limelight again in recent years. In an interview with OnMilwaukee.com, Kruth stated, “Rubber Soul is so rich – the first time George uses the sitar – on “Norwegian Wood,” Paul employs jazz chords on “Michelle,” John evokes Weill and Brecht on “Girl,” Ringo sings country on “What Goes On” on the Brit pressing. {And] Paul’s “I’ve Just Seen a Face” seemed to spell out everything I was searching for in a love relationship, overtly as romantic as it was.” In meticulous but very interesting detail, Kruth guides Beatles fans through each Rubber Soul track with care and attention to detail. You will enjoy this book and learn so much from it!
The Beatles as Musicians, The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul, Walter Everett, 2001. If you are a serious music student or aficionado, this book is for you. Everett breaks down each track into its component parts. A respected Beatles scholar and lecturer, Everett delves into music theory, instrumentation, lyrics, and recoding techniques. A classic work, this book will never go out of style.
Finally, I could not have approached this “long and winding” blog series of blogs without the scholarly work of authors who for five decades have poured over Rubber Soul and lauded it for its creativity, style, and content. So, sincere “thank you’s” are definitely in order to these distinguished historians, Beatles music experts, and biographers for their exemplary work:
The Beatles, The Anthology
Paul McCartney, The Lyrics
Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions
Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle
Bill Harry, The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia
Bill Harry, The John Lennon Encyclopedia
Kenneth Womack, Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles
Kenneth Womack, Maximum Volume, The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin
Kenneth Womack, The Beatles Encyclopedia
Bruce Spizer, Beatles for Sale on Parlophone Records
Bruce Spizer, The Beatles Rubber Soul to Revolver
John C. Winn, Way Beyond Compare: The Beatles Recorded Legacy, Vol. 1
Phillipe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, The Beatles, All the Songs
Jerry Hammack, The Beatles Recording Reference Manual
Steve Turner, A Hard Day’s Write
Stephan J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis, 100 Greatest Beatles Songs
Andy Babiuk, Beatles Gear
Ray Coleman, Lennon
Tim Riley, Tell Me Why
Tim Riley, Lennon
Barry Miles, The Beatles Diary, Vol. 1
Barry Miles, Paul McCartney, Many Years from Now
Keith Badman, The Beatles: Off the Record
Philip Norman, Shout!
Philip Norman, John Lennon: the Life
Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head, The Beatles Records and The Sixties
Chuck Gunderson, Some Fun Tonight: The Backstage Story of How The Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966
David Sheff, The Playboy Interviews with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Walter Everett, The Beatles as Musicians, The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul
Wilfrid Mellers, Twilight of the Gods: The Music of The Beatles
Thank you, as well, to Nicole Michael of 910 Public Relations and Rande Kessler for carefully editing each blog before it went to press. And huge thanks to Danny Abriano of The Fest For Beatles Fans for posting each blog with rare and interesting photos that brought the subject to life!
Most of all, my deepest thanks to Mark, Carol, Michelle Joni, and Tilly Lapidos for permitting us to study this ever-evolving record with such intensity for so many months. It was a joy to bring our Fest Family of noted authors together for a project of this magnitude. You believed in us and gave us a great forum. We so appreciate it!
I hope you all have enjoyed reading this as much as we, the authors, have enjoyed compiling it. Stay tuned to our Fest For Beatles Fans website, Facebook page, and Instagram page as we will continue to keep you on the cusp of Beatles scholarship.
Shine On!
Jude Southerland Kessler
Author, The John Lennon Series
An ode to remarkable Beatles manager Brian Epstein
“It’s Not Personal, It’s Strictly Business”
by Jude Southerland Kessler,
author of The John Lennon Series
With the unveiling of the beautiful tribute statue to Brian Epstein in Liverpool just a few days ago, The Fest for Beatles Fans pauses to commemorate the remarkable man who brought our lads into the bright lights. We love you, Brian. You were “a class act” in every way.
Frequently these days, I hear people espousing the maxim, “It’s not personal, it’s strictly business” as if it were a yardstick of excellent business practice…the benchmark of what is equitable in one’s professional relationships. And I wince, knowing that this quote originated not in Shakespeare or Ben Franklin or The Bible, but came straight from the lips of Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Here’s the movie clip.
If one examines outstanding leaders throughout history, one will rarely find this “It’s just business” rule-of-thumb to be his/her guideline. Brian Epstein, The Beatles legendary manager, is one of those who prized his personal reputation more than money. He sincerely believed that honesty and a bargain well-kept championed all else in the “dog-eat-dog” world of entertainment. In fact, promoter Sid Bernstein (who booked The Beatles at Carnegie Hall in 1964 and Shea Stadium in 1965) said, “Once [Epstein] gave his word, he never changed terms or renegotiated. He had that kind of quality; you believed him; you trusted him. That isn’t true of very many people.”
Let me give you a just few examples of Epstein’s policy of personal integrity over profit:
- Epstein honored his agreements
Epstein became The Beatles’ manager in December of 1961, and at that time they were quite popular around Merseyside and in Hamburg. However, they weren’t well-known outside those realms. In London, The Beatles were virtual unknowns. So, as we all know, Brian set about getting the boys gigs anywhere that he could, often at unflattering rates. Exposure and publicity were Epstein’s primary goals.
You know the rest of the story. Quite rapidly, The Beatles began to capture the attention of the masses and press. Everywhere they traveled they were an astounding hit, and people started flocking to their performances – filling town halls, theaters, dance clubs and cellars. So, not surprisingly, the asking price for upcoming Beatles gigs quickly flew up, up, up. In fact, in Craig Brown’s book 100 Glimpses of The Beatles, one Merseyside promoter, Peter Stringfellow, tells the story of how he delayed booking the four boys for several days. And while he hemmed and hawed over the decision, the asking price soared from £50 to £65 to £100. He who hesitated was lost.
However, Epstein firmly believed that a promise made was a promise kept. And he refused to renegotiate contracts signed months earlier. He refused to charge club owners more than he had initially agreed upon. And many of those bargains were word-of-mouth only! You see, Epstein didn’t require a written contract to do what was right. Integrity was ingrained in him.
- Epstein kept ticket prices affordable
In June of 1965, when the highly successful Beatles toured France, Italy, and Spain, Brian noticed that the crowds weren’t as large as they’d been on the 1964 tours; so, he asked Neil Aspinall to explain the drop in numbers. At first Barrow pointed out that the unusually high temperatures that summer had somewhat diminished the crowds for afternoon shows. But Epstein instinctively knew that heat alone couldn’t be the sole reason that the fans had decided to stay home. So, he pressed Barrow for the bottom line. Finally, Barrow muttered, “It’s the ticket prices, Brian. They’re more than the average fan can afford.” Epstein was heartbroken. The young manager cared about the fans. And he had always striven to keep ticket prices at fair rates – to make it possible for anyone who loved The Beatles to be able to see them in person. He had no idea that tickets had climbed out of reach, and the moment Epstein heard this frank explanation, he made adjustments. (For the full story, see Shades of Life, Part 1, p. 638-640)
A month and a half later, when The Beatles played the mega-concert in Shea Stadium, the best ticket available – for a field-level box seat – was rigidly set at $5.65. And, of course, for that price, fans got to see the King Curtis All-Stars, the Discotheque Dancers, Cannibal and the Headhunters (“Land of 1000 Dances”), Brenda Holloway (“Every Little Bit Hurts”), the vivacious Sounds Incorporated, and yeah, yeah, yeah, The Beatles. It wasn’t just a “fair price.” It was a bargain!! Throughout the summer of 1965, The Beatles (and their opening bands) filled one stadium after another with fans, fans, and more fans! Lest we forget, in Chicago, the boys gave two performances in front of 50,000 fans total. They played the Hollywood Bowl in front of a sold-out audience. And in Shea Stadium, The Beatles gave the performance of a lifetime to 55,600 awed Beatlemaniacs.
Brian could have charged a great deal more for those tickets and made more profit. In fact, you’ll recall that promoter Sid Bernstein was willing to pay $10 a seat for any unsold Shea Stadium tickets. (However, there were none.) Bernstein thought the ticket to see The Beatles worth at least that price! But Brian Epstein valued what was right, what was just, and what was fair. He wanted everything associated with The Beatles to be completely above-board.
3) Epstein never dealt underhandedly with business associates
In The Man Who Made The Beatles, famous journalist and Beatles friend Ray Coleman stated, “Brian’s name was a byword for class and integrity – and he cherished his reputation.” (p. 218) Coleman goes on to say that Epstein had “a central core of integrity.” And when asked to give “a certain person [in the United States] a thousand dollars to oil the wheels” so that Epstein’s rising folk group, Silkie, could obtain a work permit for nine television shows in America, “Brian flatly refused.” (p. 303) Coleman explains, “He said he had never bought his artists into anything with cash and did not intend to start.” (p.303)
Honesty was the yardstick of Epstein’s success. As Coleman says in the touching conclusion of The Man Who Made The Beatles, “…Brian died with a golden reputation for integrity and charm intact.” His artists – Gerry and the Pacemakers, Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas and so many more including that group called The Beatles – were the bright lights of the 1960s. But their fame and his wealth were not amassed at the cost of Brian’s soul. Epstein wheeled and dealed with “the big cigars” of the entertainment industry and yet, remained unsullied.
In the 1960s, Brian Epstein was regarded as “naïve.” No doubt, he would be ridiculed in our cutthroat world of today. But in August of 1967, Epstein left this world with his honor intact. And his high standards of business behavior contributed much to the outstanding quality that shown through John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Brian expected “his boys” to be “better,” to be special. And they were. To Brian Epstein, everything was personal, especially business.
