Revolver (Beatles album)

Revolver is a 1966 album by British rock band The Beatles. It was their 7th album. Its front cover is a , designed by Klaus Voormann, an artist friend of the Beatles from Germany.

The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. While most of the Beatles's records were made in Studio Two, it was being used for another project, so much of Revolver was made in Studio Three, which was much smaller and meant for use by soloists. Space was cramped, and the sound of the record was different from their earlier ones.

The album also got a different  from earlier Beatles albums. The band felt free to "branch out" into new themes and ideas, that nobody had tried in a pop music recording before. "Taxman" commented on the tax system in England. "Eleanor Rigby" was about . "Yellow Submarine" became a hit with children. "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got to Get You Into My Life" were covered by other bands.

A few of the songs made references to drugs, particularly John Lennon's songs. "She Said She Said" was about a party in Los Angeles the Beatles had gone to, and had taken LSD. "Doctor Robert" was about a New York doctor (Charles Roberts) who  sedatives and "feel-good" drugs for his patients. "Tomorrow Never Knows" came from Lennon's reading The Psychedelic Experience, which adapted the Tibetan Book of the Dead as a drug-user's guide.

Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison was pleased to have three of his own songs included on Revolver, "Taxman", "Love You To", and "I Want to Tell You". Most Beatles albums only had one or two Harrison songs. "Love You To" did not feature guitars, but Harrison instead played a sitar. World-famous sitarist Ravi Shankar heard the song, but did not like it, and offered to teach Harrison to play sitar properly. Shankar and Harrison went on to become lifelong friends.

Three songs from the album were "borrowed" by Capitol Records in the United States, and used on a compilation album, Yesterday... and Today, which came out before Revolver. The songs were "I'm Only Sleeping", "Doctor Robert", and "And Your Bird Can Sing". Capitol Records then released Revolver in a shortened version. The compact disc edition for sale today follows the original British version.

Revolver came out while the Beatles were on a concert tour. Bands normally perform songs from their latest album as a  part of a concert. Strangely, the Beatles did not perform any Revolver songs on tour, but instead played the same music as on earlier tours. This got them criticism from some listeners. The tour also turned out to be the band's last. They played their final public concert in San Francisco, California on August 29, 1966.

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Sources

Category:The Beatles albums
Category:1966 albums
Category:Pop rock albums