Revolver (Stereo - 2009 remaster)

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Disc 1

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About

From the liner notes:

Historical Notes

Released in the UK on 5th August, 1966, Revolver was The Beatles’ seventh album. It arrived in the shops eight months after Rubber Soul, the longest gap between LPs so far. On the day the previous album was released, the group had begun a series of British concerts with two shows on each of the nine dates in December, 1965. After what turned out to be their last tour of the UK, The Beatles took an extended break from performing and recording.

They returned to Abbey Road studios in April, 1966 and recorded continually for three months. ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain’ were the first songs to be heard from the sessions when their twelfth Parlophone single was issued in June. There had been an unusually long wait of six months for this new record. Furthermore, the sixteen songs completed between April and June would be the only new Beatles tracks in 1966 – compared to 33 released during the preceding year. However, the sessions saw The Beatles reach a peak of creativity on all levels. In addition to the songwriting brilliance displayed by John and Paul, Revolver contained the biggest contribution to date from George with three songs.

The inspired experimentation heard on the disc was mirrored by the album’s sleeve. An art student friend during their pre-fame days in Hamburg, Klaus Voormann intertwined his own line drawings of The Beatles with a collage of photographs. His design marked another startling step forward in the evolution of LP artwork.

The album entered the UK chart at number one and stayed on top for seven of its 34 weeks in the list. Released a few days later in the States, Revolver was number one for six of its 77 weeks in the Top LPs chart. Although the sleeve was identical, the American album contained only eleven songs. The three that were missing – ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’, ‘Doctor Robert’ and ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ – had already been issued in the States in June on the Capitol Records collection “Yesterday” … And Today.

The Beatles had dominated the British Christmas market for the last three years but, in 1966, there was no single or album with new material. The hits compilation A Collection Of Beatles Oldies was released in the UK in December but the expectant wait for a new LP continued until the arrival in June, 1967 of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band …

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RECORDING NOTES

PRODUCED BY GEORGE MARTIN

PRINCIPAL ENGINEER: GEOFF EMERICK

From the album’s very first session, it was clear that revolutionary advances in recording were being made in the studio. In the three years since their first LP, The Beatles and George Martin had progressed from the limitations of recording on twin-track machines to the greater opportunities allowed by four track tape throughout 1964 and 1965. The constant quest for innovation led in 1966 to the unique sounds heard on Revolver.

On 6th April, 1966 The Beatles began recording their new album with ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, which introduced many of the new studio developments that were used throughout Revolver. These included innovative techniques to record the drums, the sound of backwards guitar and a special vocal effect. This vocal treatment was used for the second half of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and was achieved by recording John’s voice coming out of a Leslie speaker cabinet. Usually connected to a Hammond or Lowrey keyboard, the revolving speaker created a distinctive vibrato effect. No one had put a voice through it before.

While recording the two previous albums, one song on each had demanded more than four tracks to accommodate the musical arrangement. The solution was to ‘bounce down’ tracks while mixing and copying to another four-track tape. However on Revolver, this process was needed for all but three of the fourteen songs. For example, the double string quartet scored by George Martin for ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was recorded onto all four tracks and then while being copied to another tape, the instruments were mixed to one track. This left three tracks available on the second tape for vocal overdubs. Surprisingly, the intricate sounding ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ was confined to one four-track tape. Drums, bass and guitar were sent to track one; the sounds of tape loops were on two; a double-track vocal, tambourine, organ and backwards guitar were on three; and four had the lead vocal and a sitar. But the evolution of the recording was made more complex by the fact that the loops on track two were being sent from numerous tape machines in various rooms around Abbey Road studios. These were linked to different channels on the mixing desk and faded in and out throughout the song.

Many of the songs on Revolver were treated with another new studio effect Artificial/Automatic Double Tracking. Technical engineer Ken Townsend had invented a way to artificially reproduce the sound of double-tracking. By running an additional tape machine it was possible to duplicate a vocal or instrument from the master tape and, at the same time, delay it by just a fraction of a second from the original. This gave the impression of hearing two voices or instruments from just one recording. ADT saved the Beatles time and meant that it was no longer necessary to use another track on the tape to create the sound of double-tracking.

Revolver was the first Beatles LP recorded by engineer Geoff Emerick.

He was twenty years old at the time and quickly embraced the spirit of experimentation that characterised the sessions. Completed on 22nd June, 1966, the album took an unprecedented 300 hours to record and mix.

This remastered album has been created from the original stereo analogue master tapes.

Remastered by Guy Massey and Steve Rooke

Project Co-ordinator: Allan Rouse

Thanks to Simon Gibson

Historical Notes: Kevin Howlett and Mike Heatley

Recording Notes: Allan Rouse and Kevin Howlett

Project management for EMI Records Ltd: Wendy Day and Guy Hayden

All songs published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. Digital Remaster ® 2009 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd. ©2009 EMI Records Ltd. This label copy information is the subject of copyright protection. All rights reserved.

Artwork © 2009 Apple Corps Ltd.

All photographs © Apple Corps Ltd.

Album Redesign: Drew Lorimer

Photo Retouching: Gavin O’Neill

Photo editing and research: Aaron Bremner and Dorcas Lynn