Revolver

Timeline More from year 1966
UK release date:
Aug 05, 1966

About

From The Beatles:

The Beatles’ seventh album was released in early August 1966. Following the release of Rubber Soul the group had embarked on what was to be their final UK concert tour and following a lengthy break, they returned to Abbey Road to record continually for three months. The first recordings released from these sessions, engineered by Geoff Emerick, was the single “Paperback Writer” and “Rain” and those tracks gave an indication of what was to come.

Having longer in the studio had paid off with greater creativity and experimentation and with John and Paul in fine form as writers. George also made his mark with three of his compositions appearing on a Beatles album for the first time.

Prior to the album’s release, the band had set off on a short tour of Western Germany, prior to flying to Japan then the Philippines and finally to the USA for what turned out to be their final gigs, the last of which took place on 29thAugust 1966 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

The distinctive album sleeve design was the work of Klaus Voormann, an old friend from their Hamburg Days.

The album entered the UK chart at no. 1 where it enjoyed seven weeks in that spot out of an impressive overall run of 34 weeks.

The album released in the US was almost identical – The sleeve looked the same but the album only included 11 tracks. The reason for this was that Capitol had already released three of the songs on a collection issued in June titled “Yesterday…And Today”. Following a five week stay at # 1, this album was knocked off the top spot by “Revolver” which then spent six of its 77 week chart life in that position.

We suddenly thought, ‘Hey, what does a record do? It revolves. Great!’. You know – and so it was a Revolver.

Paul McCartney – From The Beatles

It will be the best we’ve done. We’ll lose some fans with it, but we’ll also gain some. The fans we’ll probably lose will be the ones who don’t like the things about us that we never liked anyway, and those we’ll gain are the ones who want to hear us breaking into new things. Every track on the LP has something special. I’m not saying they’re all good, but this rest period of the last few months gave us all a chance to think. George wanted to get his Indian stuff on the record, I wanted to do some new electronic things, and John even had a song in which his inspiration was The Tibetan Book Of The Dead.

Paul McCartney – Early June 1966 – From “The Beatles: Off The Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

The group encouraged us to break the rules. […] It was implanted when we started ‘Revolver’ that every instrument should sound unlike itself: a piano shouldn’t sound like a piano, a guitar shouldn’t sound like a guitar. There were lots of things I wanted to try, we were listening to American records and they sounded so different, the engineers [at Abbey Road] had been using the same [methods] for years and years.

Geoff Emerick, The Beatles: 10 Years That Shook The WorldMojo , 2004

It was four guys who were red hot at exactly the right point in their lives, feeding off each other, and coming up with something that we insisted on being something that we’d never done before.

Paul McCartney – From interview with MOJO, 2006
From Melody Maker – May 14, 1966
From Melody Maker – July 9, 1966

Last updated on August 2, 2023

Related bootlegs


Revolver Sessions

By The Beatles • Unofficial album

Related films


Paperback Writer (Version 1)

1966 • For The Beatles • Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg


Paperback Writer (Version 4)

1966 • For The Beatles • Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg


Rain

1966 • For The Beatles • Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg


And Your Bird Can Sing

2022 • For The Beatles


Doctor Robert

2022 • For The Beatles


Eleanor Rigby

2022 • For The Beatles


For No One

2022 • For The Beatles


Good Day Sunshine

2022 • For The Beatles


Got To Get You Into My Life

2022 • For The Beatles


Here, There And Everywhere

2022 • For The Beatles


Here, There and Everywhere

2022 • For The Beatles • Directed by Rok Predin


I'm Only Sleeping

2022 • For The Beatles


I'm Only Sleeping

2022 • For The Beatles • Directed by Em Cooper


Love You To

2022 • For The Beatles


She Said She Said

2022 • For The Beatles


Taxman

2022 • For The Beatles • Directed by Danny Sangra


Tomorrow Never Knows

2022 • For The Beatles


Yellow Submarine

2022 • For The Beatles

Related sessions


Recording "Tomorrow Never Knows"

Apr 06, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Revolver"

April 6 - June 22, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Got To Get You Into My Life"

Apr 07, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Got To Get You Into My Life"

Apr 08, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Got To Get You Into My Life", "Love You To"

Apr 11, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Love You To", "Paperback Writer"

Apr 13, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Doctor Robert"

Apr 17, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Doctor Robert"

Apr 19, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Taxman"

Apr 20, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Taxman"

Apr 21, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Taxman", "Tomorrow Never Knows"

Apr 22, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "And Your Bird Can Sing"

Apr 26, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "I'm Only Sleeping" and mixing "And Your Bird Can Sing", "Taxman"...

Apr 27, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Eleanor Rigby"

Apr 28, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Eleanor Rigby", "I'm Only Sleeping"

Apr 29, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "For No One"

May 09, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording and mixing "Taxman", recording "For No One"

May 16, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "For No One"

May 19, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Yellow Submarine"

May 26, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Yellow Submarine"

Jun 01, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "I Want To Tell You", mixing "Yellow Submarine"

Jun 02, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording and mixing "I Want To Tell You", mixing "Yellow Submarine"

Jun 03, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)



Recording "Good Day Sunshine", editing "And Your Bird Can Sing"

Jun 08, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording and mixing "Good Day Sunshine"

Jun 09, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Here, There And Everywhere"

Jun 14, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Recording "Here, There And Everywhere"

Jun 16, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)



Recording "She Said She Said", mixing session for "Revolver"

Jun 21, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Mixing session for "Revolver"

Jun 22, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (UK Mono)


Mixing "Paperback Writer"

Oct 31, 1966 • Songs recorded during this session appear on A Collection of Beatles Oldies (Stereo)


Remixing "Revolver"

2022 ? • Songs recorded during this session appear on Revolver (2022)

Related interviews



Painted from memory

July 2006 • From MOJO



My Broken Tooth - by Paul McCartney

Jun 24, 1966 • From New Musical Express


Paul - on the new Beatles LP

Jun 18, 1966 • From Melody Maker


Ringo played cards as others sang "Paperback"

Jun 17, 1966 • From New Musical Express

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