Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
More than a year back I tried this series but it kind of fell to the side for me. Now that I've been more active on the forums, I've decided to start it back up.
The basic idea is to rank the tracks off the album each week to see how each track compares to each other. It's an excuse to go back to classic albums and a way to gauge the best and worst tracks of the most acclaimed albums. Simply rank all the tracks from your favorite to your least.
I plan to go in cycles of decades with the 1950s once every other cycle. I will go with the top album of each respective decade, but I might skip questionable albums (I doubt anyone wants to rank the tracks of 69 Love Songs, no matter how great the album is). Next week will be Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.
Revolver track listing:
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said She Said
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
The basic idea is to rank the tracks off the album each week to see how each track compares to each other. It's an excuse to go back to classic albums and a way to gauge the best and worst tracks of the most acclaimed albums. Simply rank all the tracks from your favorite to your least.
I plan to go in cycles of decades with the 1950s once every other cycle. I will go with the top album of each respective decade, but I might skip questionable albums (I doubt anyone wants to rank the tracks of 69 Love Songs, no matter how great the album is). Next week will be Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.
Revolver track listing:
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
7. She Said She Said
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
I really like this idea.BleuPanda wrote:More than a year back I tried this series but it kind of fell to the side for me. Now that I've been more active on the forums, I've decided to start it back up.
2. Eleanor Rigby
1. Taxman
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
3. I'm Only Sleeping
10. For No One
6. Yellow Submarine
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
8. Good Day Sunshine
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
7. She Said She Said
4. Love You To
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
My list:
14. Tomorrow Never Knows (#114 all-time)
9. And Your Bird Can Sing (227)
3. I'm Only Sleeping (389)
7. She Said She Said (850)
2. Eleanor Rigby (982)
10. For No One (1272)
1. Taxman
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
4. Love You To
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
14. Tomorrow Never Knows (#114 all-time)
9. And Your Bird Can Sing (227)
3. I'm Only Sleeping (389)
7. She Said She Said (850)
2. Eleanor Rigby (982)
10. For No One (1272)
1. Taxman
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
4. Love You To
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
My list:
Tomorrow Never Knows
Eleanor Rigby
For No One
I'm Only Sleeping
She Said, She Said
Here, There, and Everywhere
Got to Get You Into My Life
And Your Bird Can Sing
Taxman
Doctor Robert
Good Day, Sunshine
Love You To
I Want to Tell You
Yellow Submarine
Tomorrow Never Knows
Eleanor Rigby
For No One
I'm Only Sleeping
She Said, She Said
Here, There, and Everywhere
Got to Get You Into My Life
And Your Bird Can Sing
Taxman
Doctor Robert
Good Day, Sunshine
Love You To
I Want to Tell You
Yellow Submarine
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
10. For No One
2. Eleanor Rigby
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
6. Yellow Submarine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
3. I'm Only Sleeping
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
8. Good Day Sunshine
1. Taxman
7. She Said She Said
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
4. Love You To
It's pretty obvious that I'm a Paul fan.
10. For No One
2. Eleanor Rigby
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
6. Yellow Submarine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
3. I'm Only Sleeping
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
8. Good Day Sunshine
1. Taxman
7. She Said She Said
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
4. Love You To
It's pretty obvious that I'm a Paul fan.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
I have ranked the tracks and indicated where they place all-time for me.
01. Eleanor Rigby (Top 100)
02. Tomorrow Never Knows (Top 100)
03. And Your Bird Can Sing (Top 200)
04. For No One (Top 200)
05. Here, There, and Everywhere (Top 300)
06. She Said She Said (Top 300)
07. Good Day Sunshine (Top 400)
08. I'm Only Sleeping (Top 1000)
09. Got to Get You Into My Life (Top 1000)
10. Yellow Submarine (Top 1000)
11. Taxman (Top 1500)
12. I Want to Tell You (Top 3000)
13. Doctor Robert (Top 3000)
14. Love You To (The only track not in my all-time top 3000)
01. Eleanor Rigby (Top 100)
02. Tomorrow Never Knows (Top 100)
03. And Your Bird Can Sing (Top 200)
04. For No One (Top 200)
05. Here, There, and Everywhere (Top 300)
06. She Said She Said (Top 300)
07. Good Day Sunshine (Top 400)
08. I'm Only Sleeping (Top 1000)
09. Got to Get You Into My Life (Top 1000)
10. Yellow Submarine (Top 1000)
11. Taxman (Top 1500)
12. I Want to Tell You (Top 3000)
13. Doctor Robert (Top 3000)
14. Love You To (The only track not in my all-time top 3000)
Last edited by stone37 on Sat Aug 23, 2014 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Here, There, and Everywhere
And Your Bird Can Sing
Got to Get You Into My Life
Good Day, Sunshine
Taxman
Doctor Robert
I Want to Tell You
I'm Only Sleeping
Eleanor Rigby
For No One
She Said, She Said
Love You To
Yellow Submarine
Tomorrow Never Knows
And Your Bird Can Sing
Got to Get You Into My Life
Good Day, Sunshine
Taxman
Doctor Robert
I Want to Tell You
I'm Only Sleeping
Eleanor Rigby
For No One
She Said, She Said
Love You To
Yellow Submarine
Tomorrow Never Knows
- GucciLittlePiggy
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Fun fun fun series. I can't wait for next week.
14. Tomorrow Never Knows (I can't imagine what it was like to hear this song back in 1966)
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
3. I'm Only Sleeping
7. She Said She Said
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Yellow Submarine
11. Doctor Robert
10. For No One
8. Good Day Sunshine
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
12. I Want to Tell You
4. Love You To
14. Tomorrow Never Knows (I can't imagine what it was like to hear this song back in 1966)
1. Taxman
2. Eleanor Rigby
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
3. I'm Only Sleeping
7. She Said She Said
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Yellow Submarine
11. Doctor Robert
10. For No One
8. Good Day Sunshine
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
12. I Want to Tell You
4. Love You To
I just wanted to be one of those ghosts
You thought that you could forget
And then I haunt you via the rear view mirror
On a long drive from the back seat...
You thought that you could forget
And then I haunt you via the rear view mirror
On a long drive from the back seat...
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1- Tomorrow Never Knows
2- Eleanor Rigby
3- For No One
4- Love You To
5- I'm Only Sleeping
6- Here, There, and Everywhere
7- Taxman
8- She Said She Said
9- Good Day Sunshine
10- And Your Bird Can Sing
11- Got to Get You Into My Life
12- Yellow Submarine
13- I Want To Tell You
14- Doctor Robert
Last four are interchangeable.
2- Eleanor Rigby
3- For No One
4- Love You To
5- I'm Only Sleeping
6- Here, There, and Everywhere
7- Taxman
8- She Said She Said
9- Good Day Sunshine
10- And Your Bird Can Sing
11- Got to Get You Into My Life
12- Yellow Submarine
13- I Want To Tell You
14- Doctor Robert
Last four are interchangeable.
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Speaking of series that fell off to the side for you... remember this? I'd be willing to start this up again if you could tell me how it works beyond Round 1.
Splish splash, I was raking in the cash
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Did I do that? Jesus, talk about a disappointing intro to this site. Couldn't actual stick around for anything.Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Speaking of series that fell off to the side for you... remember this? I'd be willing to start this up again if you could tell me how it works beyond Round 1.
Well, there would only be two rounds. The first round is the top 100 albums, with 1 moving on from each group. Then you have one final group of 10 with the same rules. The rules I created are a good way of getting through a big tournament without too many matches.
I'd love to do a massive one with the top 1000 songs sometime. 100 matches in round 1, 10 in round 2, 1 in round 3. I wonder if that would interest people?
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
I'd definitely be up for that, but it probably shouldn't happen until the current Bracketology is finished. Then again, that might mean the next AM update would occur before the new game is finished.BleuPanda wrote:Did I do that? Jesus, talk about a disappointing intro to this site. Couldn't actual stick around for anything.Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Speaking of series that fell off to the side for you... remember this? I'd be willing to start this up again if you could tell me how it works beyond Round 1.
Well, there would only be two rounds. The first round is the top 100 albums, with 1 moving on from each group. Then you have one final group of 10 with the same rules. The rules I created are a good way of getting through a big tournament without too many matches.
I'd love to do a massive one with the top 1000 songs sometime. 100 matches in round 1, 10 in round 2, 1 in round 3. I wonder if that would interest people?
Splish splash, I was raking in the cash
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
It would indeed. Hm. The top 100 of both categories would still be interesting right now since the 1000 would probably run too long.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
It will be fun to rank the songs from all these acclaimed albums. Hope this lasts for long.
1) Here, There and Everywhere
2) And Your Bird Can Sing
3) Taxman
4) I'm Only Sleeping
5) She Said She Said
6) I Want to Tell You
7) Love You To
8) Yellow Submarine
9) Eleanor Rigby
10) Good Day Sunshine
11) Tomorrow Never Knows
12) Doctor Robert
13) For No One
14) Got to Get You Into My Life
Think it's easy to realize which are my favorite Beatles with this list...
1) Here, There and Everywhere
2) And Your Bird Can Sing
3) Taxman
4) I'm Only Sleeping
5) She Said She Said
6) I Want to Tell You
7) Love You To
8) Yellow Submarine
9) Eleanor Rigby
10) Good Day Sunshine
11) Tomorrow Never Knows
12) Doctor Robert
13) For No One
14) Got to Get You Into My Life
Think it's easy to realize which are my favorite Beatles with this list...
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Fun game.
2. Eleanor Rigby
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
10. For No One
3. I'm Only Sleeping
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
7. She Said She Said
11. Doctor Robert
1. Taxman
4. Love You To
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
12. I Want to Tell You
Paul is my fav Beatle, and he was the all-star of this album.
2. Eleanor Rigby
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
10. For No One
3. I'm Only Sleeping
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
7. She Said She Said
11. Doctor Robert
1. Taxman
4. Love You To
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
12. I Want to Tell You
Paul is my fav Beatle, and he was the all-star of this album.
I feel like that
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
2. Eleanor Rigby
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. I'm Only Sleeping
10. For No One
1. Taxman
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
7. She Said She Said
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
4. Love You To
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
11. Doctor Robert
12. I Want to Tell You
Excellent idea but why not simply go through the AM top 100? Just a suggestion, you invented the game, you make the rules, of course...BleuPanda wrote:I plan to go in cycles of decades with the 1950s once every other cycle. I will go with the top album of each respective decade, but I might skip questionable albums (I doubt anyone wants to rank the tracks of 69 Love Songs, no matter how great the album is). Next week will be Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Perhaps Bruce can tell you.GucciLittlePiggy wrote:Fun fun fun series. I can't wait for next week.
14. Tomorrow Never Knows (I can't imagine what it was like to hear this song back in 1966)
I heard the song a year or so later (1967-68) and was not particularly keen. To this day, I am still not that thrilled with Tomorrow Never Knows or Strawberry Fields Forever.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
I'd like to get more variety. I'd get bored greatly going straight through. We might actually get to do this with some rap and electronic albums with my method.Honorio wrote:Excellent idea but why not simply go through the AM top 100? Just a suggestion, you invented the game, you make the rules, of course...BleuPanda wrote:I plan to go in cycles of decades with the 1950s once every other cycle. I will go with the top album of each respective decade, but I might skip questionable albums (I doubt anyone wants to rank the tracks of 69 Love Songs, no matter how great the album is). Next week will be Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
It just sounds so ahead of its time. Personally, as good as a lot of 60s music is, it often sounds dated. This song, however, seems like it could be released today and it would still kick ass!Henry wrote:Perhaps Bruce can tell you.GucciLittlePiggy wrote:Fun fun fun series. I can't wait for next week.
14. Tomorrow Never Knows (I can't imagine what it was like to hear this song back in 1966)
I heard the song a year or so later (1967-68) and was not particularly keen. To this day, I am still not that thrilled with Tomorrow Never Knows or Strawberry Fields Forever.
I just wanted to be one of those ghosts
You thought that you could forget
And then I haunt you via the rear view mirror
On a long drive from the back seat...
You thought that you could forget
And then I haunt you via the rear view mirror
On a long drive from the back seat...
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
This album needs a re-review for my books, but it is currently siting at all time #32 (tied with Pet Sounds heh). I wouldn't surprise if it cracked well into the top 20 when this happens. The first 4 are in my top 500 currently.
1- Tomorrow Never Knows (This has to be in my Top 10 songs)
2- Eleanor Rigby
3- Got to Get You Into My Life
4- Taxman
5- And Your Bird Can Sing
6- I'm Only Sleeping
7- Yellow Submarine
8- Love You To
9- Doctor Robert
10- I Want To Tell You
11- Good Day Sunshine
12- For No One
13- She Said She Said
14- Here, There, and Everywhere
1- Tomorrow Never Knows (This has to be in my Top 10 songs)
2- Eleanor Rigby
3- Got to Get You Into My Life
4- Taxman
5- And Your Bird Can Sing
6- I'm Only Sleeping
7- Yellow Submarine
8- Love You To
9- Doctor Robert
10- I Want To Tell You
11- Good Day Sunshine
12- For No One
13- She Said She Said
14- Here, There, and Everywhere
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Not a fan of this album - although Eleanor Rigby is my favourite Beatles song and among my all-time favourites.
2. Eleanor Rigby
10. For No One
6. Yellow Submarine
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
8. Good Day Sunshine
3. I'm Only Sleeping
12. I Want to Tell You
7. She Said She Said
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
11. Doctor Robert
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
2. Eleanor Rigby
10. For No One
6. Yellow Submarine
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
8. Good Day Sunshine
3. I'm Only Sleeping
12. I Want to Tell You
7. She Said She Said
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
11. Doctor Robert
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Hopefully a better reaction than this:GucciLittlePiggy wrote: 14. Tomorrow Never Knows (I can't imagine what it was like to hear this song back in 1966)
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
There are so many games going on right now that I'm having trouble remembering which ones I've already participated in. Not a bad thing...
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
2. Eleanor Rigby
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
10. For No One
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
7. She Said She Said
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
1. Taxman
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
2. Eleanor Rigby
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
10. For No One
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
7. She Said She Said
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
1. Taxman
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
There's currently a three way tie for second between I'm Only Sleeping, Here There and Everywhere, and Tomorrow Never Knows. I was expecting Tomorrow Never Knows to be battling for first, but Eleanor Rigby has a strong lead.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
My own list:
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
10. For No One
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
7. She Said She Said
12. I Want to Tell You
3. I'm Only Sleeping
2. Eleanor Rigby
11. Doctor Robert
1. Taxman
5. Here, There and Everywhere
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
4. Love You To
The result is probably imperfect, apart from my number 1 the first 8 songs can move up and down easily. However, the fact that the only McCartney song about a girl that does something for me is "For No One" tells a lot about me, I guess.
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
10. For No One
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
7. She Said She Said
12. I Want to Tell You
3. I'm Only Sleeping
2. Eleanor Rigby
11. Doctor Robert
1. Taxman
5. Here, There and Everywhere
8. Good Day Sunshine
6. Yellow Submarine
4. Love You To
The result is probably imperfect, apart from my number 1 the first 8 songs can move up and down easily. However, the fact that the only McCartney song about a girl that does something for me is "For No One" tells a lot about me, I guess.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1. For No One
2. And Your Bird Can Sing
3. Got to Get You Into My Life
4. Tomorrow Never Knows
5. Taxman
6. She Said, She Said
7. Eleanor Rigby
8. Here, There and Everywhere
9. Doctor Robert
10. Love You To
11. I'm Only Sleeping
12. Yellow Submarine
13. Good Day Sunshine
14. I Want to Tell You
Tomorrow Never Knows gets mad points for being about 30 years ahead of its time. Although that said, For No One was probably just as influential for a wave of singer-songwriters like Rufus Wainwright. Plus I feel my top 3 tracks are much more rewarding compositionally.
Btw I'd love to do this kind of thing with the White Album, or some other longer album (Exile on Main St. or London Calling would be good). Although, there is a limit; doing it with 69 Love Songs or Speakerboxxx/The Love Below might exhaust everyone!
2. And Your Bird Can Sing
3. Got to Get You Into My Life
4. Tomorrow Never Knows
5. Taxman
6. She Said, She Said
7. Eleanor Rigby
8. Here, There and Everywhere
9. Doctor Robert
10. Love You To
11. I'm Only Sleeping
12. Yellow Submarine
13. Good Day Sunshine
14. I Want to Tell You
Tomorrow Never Knows gets mad points for being about 30 years ahead of its time. Although that said, For No One was probably just as influential for a wave of singer-songwriters like Rufus Wainwright. Plus I feel my top 3 tracks are much more rewarding compositionally.
Btw I'd love to do this kind of thing with the White Album, or some other longer album (Exile on Main St. or London Calling would be good). Although, there is a limit; doing it with 69 Love Songs or Speakerboxxx/The Love Below might exhaust everyone!
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
I was just thinking that for some reason I would not want to do this with Trout Mask ReplicaTimmyWing wrote:Btw I'd love to do this kind of thing with the White Album, or some other longer album (Exile on Main St. or London Calling would be good). Although, there is a limit; doing it with 69 Love Songs or Speakerboxxx/The Love Below might exhaust everyone!
(Though it is one of my favorites as an album.)
I feel like that
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
I feel Trout Mask Replica works better as a grand experience than any individual part. I'm not sure if I would like any individual moment on the album as a standalone piece, which would make it impossible for me to deal with in this format.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1. Got To Get You Into My Life
2. For No One
3. Good Day Sunshine
4. And Your Bird Can Sing
5. Yellow Submarine
6. Eleanor Rigby
7. Here, There and Everywhere
8. Taxman
9. I Want to Tell You
10. She Said She Said
11. I'm Only Sleeping
12. Tomorrow Never Knows
13. Love To You
14. Doctor Robert
2. For No One
3. Good Day Sunshine
4. And Your Bird Can Sing
5. Yellow Submarine
6. Eleanor Rigby
7. Here, There and Everywhere
8. Taxman
9. I Want to Tell You
10. She Said She Said
11. I'm Only Sleeping
12. Tomorrow Never Knows
13. Love To You
14. Doctor Robert
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1. Yellow Submarine
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. For No One
4. I'm Only Sleeping
5. Love You To
6. Taxman
7. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Got to Get You Into My Life
10. Here, There, and Everywhere
11. She Said She Said
12. Doctor Robert
13. I Want to Tell You
14. Good Day Sunshine
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. For No One
4. I'm Only Sleeping
5. Love You To
6. Taxman
7. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Got to Get You Into My Life
10. Here, There, and Everywhere
11. She Said She Said
12. Doctor Robert
13. I Want to Tell You
14. Good Day Sunshine
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
10. For No One
2. Eleanor Rigby
7. She Said She Said
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
3. I'm Only Sleeping
8. Good Day Sunshine
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
6. Yellow Submarine
The trouble with going outside the AM top 100 in this game is that you'll quickly find it harder to pick albums that a majority of the forum is intimately familiar with every track on the album.
10. For No One
2. Eleanor Rigby
7. She Said She Said
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
3. I'm Only Sleeping
8. Good Day Sunshine
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
6. Yellow Submarine
The trouble with going outside the AM top 100 in this game is that you'll quickly find it harder to pick albums that a majority of the forum is intimately familiar with every track on the album.
-
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
1. Taxman
3. I'm Only Sleeping
2. Eleanor Rigby
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
4. Love You To
12. I Want to Tell You
7. She Said She Said
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
8. Good Day Sunshine
11. Doctor Robert
Revolver is often trotted out as the best album of all time. It's definitely a great album, but I have trouble with an album that includes mediocrities such as "Doctor Robert" and the incredibly-grating "Good Day Sunshine" as the best of all time. (That being said, there are 10 songs or so here that are just about perfect, so maybe I'm being too curmudgeonly).
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
1. Taxman
3. I'm Only Sleeping
2. Eleanor Rigby
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
10. For No One
4. Love You To
12. I Want to Tell You
7. She Said She Said
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
6. Yellow Submarine
8. Good Day Sunshine
11. Doctor Robert
Revolver is often trotted out as the best album of all time. It's definitely a great album, but I have trouble with an album that includes mediocrities such as "Doctor Robert" and the incredibly-grating "Good Day Sunshine" as the best of all time. (That being said, there are 10 songs or so here that are just about perfect, so maybe I'm being too curmudgeonly).
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
To each his own. I find Good Day Sunshine to be thoroughly enjoyable.Kingoftonga wrote: the incredibly-grating "Good Day Sunshine" as the best of all time. (That being said, there are 10 songs or so here that are just about perfect, so maybe I'm being too curmudgeonly).
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
That is one sign of a great album - when there's no consensus on a favorite track!Henry wrote:
To each his own. I find Good Day Sunshine to be thoroughly enjoyable.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1. Tomorrow Never Knows
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. Here, There & Everywhere
4. I'm Only Sleeping
5. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Tax Man
7. She Said, She Said
8. Got to Get You Into My Life
9. For No One
10. Yellow Submarine
11. Good Day Sunshine
12. I Want to Tell You
13. Doctor Robert
14. Love You To
2. Eleanor Rigby
3. Here, There & Everywhere
4. I'm Only Sleeping
5. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Tax Man
7. She Said, She Said
8. Got to Get You Into My Life
9. For No One
10. Yellow Submarine
11. Good Day Sunshine
12. I Want to Tell You
13. Doctor Robert
14. Love You To
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Two comments about it:GucciLittlePiggy wrote:14. Tomorrow Never Knows (I can't imagine what it was like to hear this song back in 1966)
1. I couldn't find it for free on the net but I strongly recommend to all of you to read the first chapter on the Geoff Emerick biography: "Here, There and Everywhere" (2006) that Nicolas lend me (I will return it to you the next time we met, buddy). Geoff Emerick was promoted to first engineer for the Beatles in Abbey Road Studios after Norman Smith left and his first day of work (on April 6, 1966) was on the first session for the next Beatles album. Emerick was, in his own words, "terrified" and the song that we were going to record was a song temporarily called "Mark 1" that ended being "Tomorrow Never Knows." He had to face the recording of the most innovative (so far) song by The Beatles, having to deal with backwards tapes (as suggested by McCartney), exotic instruments like a tamboura (played by Harrison) and strange requests from Lennon like "I want to sound like the Dalai Lama singing from the highest mountain top, far away." Geoff came up with the idea of having Lennon's voice pass through a Leslie system (a set of revolving speakers that gave the impression of a spinning sound). But the main innovation on the session was the Starr's fractured drum pattern and the way Geoff Emerick equalized the drums. Quoting his book: "Without saying a word, I quietly slipped out to the studio and moved both the snare drum mic and the single overhead mic in close. But before I also moved the microphone that was aimed at Ringo’s bass drum, there was something else I wanted to try, because I felt that the bass drum was ringing too much…Sitting atop one of the instrument cases was an old woolen sweater – one which had been specially knitted with eight arms to promote the group’s recent film, which was originally called ‘Eight Arms To Hold You’…I removed the bass drum’s front skin – the one with the famous ‘dropped-T’ Beatles logo on it – and stuffed the sweater inside so that it was flush against the rear beater skin. Then I replaced the front skin and positioned the bass drum mic directly in front of it, angled down slightly but so close that it was almost touching." (…) George Martin waved everyone into the control room to hear the playback…’What on earth did you do to my drums?’ Ringo was asking me. ‘They sound fantastic!’." Something as usual nowadays as muffle the bass drum and mic it closely was used then for the very first time (in a recording by the most popular band of their time that could have been contented repeating again their successful formula).
2. The main merit of "Revolver" (and probably the reason of its status as #1 of all-time) is the ability of innovating inside the boundaries of pop music. Quoting my comment for Rateyourmusic (and sorry for that): "The Fab Four expanded with “Revolver” its musical palette and doing this expanded their (our) minds. With adventurous but successful forays into classical music (“Eleanor Rigby”), world music (“Love You To”) or avant-garde (“Tomorrow Never Knows”). They incorporated it to its own style (a horn solo as the one in “For No One” is now a Beatles-style solo) and, even more important, took it to massive audiences."
Having said that, I will feel quite sad if "Tomorrow Never Knows" is not the most voted song on this game (or at least the second after the wonderful "Eleanor Rigby"), it's the song the defines the album in my opinion.
You're right, even the two songs you perceive as mediocre got quite a lot of love from other voters. Hymie pointed in a recent thread that 10 of the 14 songs of "Revolver" are in the AM Top 6000 (with "Doctor Robert" bubbling under plus "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" from the same sessions also on AM Top 6000). Talk about consistency… By the way, the three songs out were "Love You To," "Good Day Sunshine" and "I Want to Tell You." It could be interesting to see how the final position of the songs in this game relates with the critics' one, that is:Kingoftonga wrote:Revolver is often trotted out as the best album of all time. It's definitely a great album, but I have trouble with an album that includes mediocrities such as "Doctor Robert" and the incredibly-grating "Good Day Sunshine" as the best of all time. (That being said, there are 10 songs or so here that are just about perfect, so maybe I'm being too curmudgeonly).
(…)
That is one sign of a great album - when there's no consensus on a favorite track!
2. Eleanor Rigby
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
1. Taxman
7. She Said She Said
3. I'm Only Sleeping
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
10. For No One
6. Yellow Submarine
11. Doctor Robert
I also checked the positions in our 1966 poll that I hosted in 2007. We voted for 11 of the 14 songs, the ones that didn't receive any vote (on our Top 20s) were: "Yellow Submarine," "Love You To" and… "Taxman"!!! Those were then the results:
2. Eleanor Rigby
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
10. For No One
7. She Said She Said
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
12. I Want to Tell You
3. I'm Only Sleeping
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
8. Good Day Sunshine
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
11. Doctor Robert
Out of curiosity I also checked the number of songs from every album of AM Top 10 on our previous polls and there was a particular album that got more songs on our songs list of that particular year than "Revolver." And the winner is… "Nevermind" by Nirvana!
The positions:
1. "Nevermind" (12/13 songs, 92%, even "Endless, Nameless…" -the hidden track- received votes).
2. "Revolver" (11/14 songs, 78%).
3. "The Velvet Underground & Nico" (7/11, 63%).
4. "Pet Sounds" (8/13 songs, 61%).
5. "Blonde on Blonde" (8/14 songs, 57%).
6. "What's Going On" (5/9, 55%, but two songs only were included in nicolas ballot, all the other voters included votes for only three songs).
7. "London Calling" (9/19, 47%).
8. "Exile on Main St." (8/18, 44%, oddly in our previous 70s poll in 2006 the percentage was much higher, 13/18, 72%).
9. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (5/13, 38%).
10. "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" (4/12 songs, 33%).
Oops, I wrote too much…
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
And no, you never wrote too much. I learned a lot of things.Honorio wrote:excellent post…
Thanks.
(and I have to say I don't really understand why this song is so liked here.... can you explain what are you find in the song so "good" ?!)
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1 She Said She Said
2 For No One
3 Here, There, and Everywhere
4 And Your Bird Can Sing
5 Eleanor Rigby
6 Tomorrow Never Knows
7 Got to Get You Into My Life
8 I'm Only Sleeping
9 Good Day Sunshine
10 Taxman
11 Love You To
12 Yellow Submarine
13 I Want to Tell You
14 Doctor Robert
Regarding longer albums, I just revisited Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and that could be a worthy candidate. (Among other things, I'm firmly convinced that "Galapogos" into "Muzzle" into "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" on disc 1 deserves consideration among the all-time great three-track stretches. And I still think, as I always have, that "xyz" is one of the worst tracks on a great album, complete with what I once dubbed The Single Silliest Moment in the History of Recorded Music: "AND IN THE EYES OF THE JACKYL I SAY KAAAA-BOOM!" Conversely, everything after that on disc 2 - except maybe "Lily" - is severely underrated.)
2 For No One
3 Here, There, and Everywhere
4 And Your Bird Can Sing
5 Eleanor Rigby
6 Tomorrow Never Knows
7 Got to Get You Into My Life
8 I'm Only Sleeping
9 Good Day Sunshine
10 Taxman
11 Love You To
12 Yellow Submarine
13 I Want to Tell You
14 Doctor Robert
Regarding longer albums, I just revisited Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and that could be a worthy candidate. (Among other things, I'm firmly convinced that "Galapogos" into "Muzzle" into "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" on disc 1 deserves consideration among the all-time great three-track stretches. And I still think, as I always have, that "xyz" is one of the worst tracks on a great album, complete with what I once dubbed The Single Silliest Moment in the History of Recorded Music: "AND IN THE EYES OF THE JACKYL I SAY KAAAA-BOOM!" Conversely, everything after that on disc 2 - except maybe "Lily" - is severely underrated.)
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
To me the best candidates for this game are the iconic ones where all the individual songs are recognizable by name. It's harder to participate in one for an album like Mellon Collie where you probably have to play through it to remember the non-singles.
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Yellow Submarine
12. I Want to Tell You
7. She Said She Said
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
2. Eleanor Rigby
8. Good Day Sunshine
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
6. Yellow Submarine
12. I Want to Tell You
7. She Said She Said
10. For No One
11. Doctor Robert
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
2. Eleanor Rigby
8. Good Day Sunshine
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Thanks for the very informative post, Honorio!
I just wanted to be one of those ghosts
You thought that you could forget
And then I haunt you via the rear view mirror
On a long drive from the back seat...
You thought that you could forget
And then I haunt you via the rear view mirror
On a long drive from the back seat...
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Interesting that through these lists you can easily differentiate the Paul fans from the John & George fans. Many lists (including mine) putting all Paul's tracks at its bottom, while some others do the exact opposite.
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
1. Got to Get You Into My Life
2. Taxman
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Here, There, and Everywhere
5. Eleanor Rigby
6. I Want To Tell You
7. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. She Said She Said
9. Tomorrow Never Knows
10. Love You To
11. For No One
12. Good Day Sunshine
13. Doctor Robert
14. Yellow Submarine
2. Taxman
3. I'm Only Sleeping
4. Here, There, and Everywhere
5. Eleanor Rigby
6. I Want To Tell You
7. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. She Said She Said
9. Tomorrow Never Knows
10. Love You To
11. For No One
12. Good Day Sunshine
13. Doctor Robert
14. Yellow Submarine
Splish splash, I was raking in the cash
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Voting ends tomorrow, though I think I'll give people the option to vote for a single previously done album each week in case they missed voting. I'm going to keep the results all saved in an excel file.
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Thanks Romain, thanks GucciLittlePiggy
a) The Power Chord: quoting the Geoff Emerick book, Lennon said to George Martin before recording the song: "This one's completely different than anything we've ever done before, it's only got the one chord, and the whole thing is meant to be like a drone." So Lennon intentionally created the first Beatles song with an only chord with a psychedelic effect in mind inspired by Indian music (1), after previous (incomplete) attempts like "The Word" on "Rubber Soul." But the myth of the only-chord is not completely true because, although the bass and the tamboura play only the C note throughout the whole song, there is a loop fragment during some verses (like the first "it is not dying") that take the song briefly to B flat (2). Probably the use of an only chord is the main feature that makes the song sounding so ahead of its times. Nowadays a lot of music is based in samples and it's very difficult to introduce chord changes without changing the speed or the pitch of the sample. Many hip hop and electronica albums of today are almost filled by one-chord songs.
b) The Book of Dead: it was Dylan and not The Beatles who really broke the mold concerning the pop lyrics but of course the lyrics of "Tomorrow Never Knows" supposed a big leap forward for The Beatles (and pop music in general), abandoning the love thematic for surrealistic verses trying to depict the psychedelic experience. In fact most verses were taken from "The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead," (3) a book written by Timothy Leary "as a guidebook for those seeking spiritual enlightenment through the use of psychedelic drugs." Harrison later stated that "the song is really about transcending and about the quality of the transcendent" ("you may see the meaning of within - it is being") and he was "not too sure if John actually fully understood what he was saying." (4)
c) The Dalai Lennon (or a Lama called Leslie): Lennon wanted "to sound like the Dalai Lama singing from the highest mountain top, far away" and Geoff came up with the idea of having Lennon's voice pass through a Leslie system, a set of revolving speakers that gave the impression of a spinning sound (5). Surely it was not the first time that a recording engineer added intentionally distortion in an artist voice but probably it was the first time for a mainstream act.
d) The Fractured Drum Pattern: another aspect that sound ahead of its time are the drums played by Starr, a syncopated pattern that is repeated throughout the song without drum fills or changes, just like a (still not invented) rhythm box (in fact I'm not sure if it was recorded like that or it's a loop of 3 seconds repeated for 3 minutes). Followed closely by McCartney bass that plays only C in quavers also throughout the song, predating in a decade the bass arrangements made famous by Dee Dee Ramone. An innovative backing track that was enhanced by some equalization tricks by Geoff Emerick (6). And this drum pattern was created that day, because Take 1 and Take 2 did not include it (Take 1 was in fact an effects-laden guitar loop that was later replaced by a single-note played with a tamboura by Harrison). Take 3 already included the syncopated drums and the final vocal take (with Leslie entering on verse 3).
e) The Loops: after recording this gorgeous take 3 they went home with some homework to do (as suggested by Paul McCartney), recording some homemade tape loops to overdub unto the song (7). It was McCartney who contributed most of the loops (especially one that sounded like seagulls but it was his laughter speeded-up and reproduced backwards). The following day (April 7, 1966) the loops were selected and added to Take 3 in a manual way, using pencils to spool them (8).
An additional final recording session (April 22, 1966) was used for overdubs, recording the tamboura (Harrison), a guitar solo reproduced backwards (McCartney), a tambourine (Starr), an organ (playing the B-flat chord) and a ADT double-tracked vocals (Lennon) plus a tack piano (played by George Martin) used at the coda.
As a summary I recommend strongly to see this video and I'll finish quoting a sentence from it: "'Tomorrow Never Knows', with its use of loops and several new studio techniques was a landmark recording." Innovation is the key word for this song. That's what makes it so… good.
Quotes:
(1) "John got his guitar out and started doing 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and it was all on one chord. This was because of our interest in Indian music. We would be sitting around and at the end of an Indian album we'd go, 'Did anyone realise they didn't change chords?' It would be like 'Shit, it was all in E! Wow, man, that is pretty far out.' So we began to sponge up a few of these nice ideas." Paul McCartney, Anthology
(2) "Indian music doesn't modulate; it just stays. You pick what key you're in, and it stays in that key. I think 'Tomorrow never Knows' was the first one that stayed there; the whole song was on one chord. But there is a chord that is superimposed on top that does change: if it was in C, it changes down to B flat. That was like an overdub, but the basic sound all hangs on the one drone." George Harrison, Anthology
(3) "John began to scan the shelves. His eyes soon alighted upon a copy of The Psychedelic Experience, Dr Timothy Leary's psychedelic version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. John was delighted and settled down on the settee with the book. Right away, on page 14 in Leary's introduction, he read, 'Whenever in doubt, turn off your mind, relax, float downstream.' He had found the first line of 'Tomorrow Never Knows', one of the Beatles' most innovative songs.", Barry Miles (co-owner of the Indica bookshop where Lennon bought Leary's book), Many Year From Now
(4) "You can hear (and I am sure most Beatles fans have) Tomorrow Never Knows a lot and not know really what it is about. Basically it is saying what meditation is all about. The goal of meditation is to go beyond (that is, transcend) waking, sleeping and dreaming. So the song starts out by saying, 'Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream, it is not dying.' Then it says, 'Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void - it is shining. That you may see the meaning of within - it is being.' From birth to death all we ever do is think: we have one thought, we have another thought, another thought, another thought. Even when you are asleep you are having dreams, so there is never a time from birth to death when the mind isn't always active with thoughts. But you can turn off your mind, and go to the part which Maharishi described as: 'Where was your last thought before you thought it?' The whole point is that we are the song. The self is coming from a state of pure awareness, from the state of being. All the rest that comes about in the outward manifestation of the physical world (including all the fluctuations which end up as thoughts and actions) is just clutter. The true nature of each soul is pure consciousness. So the song is really about transcending and about the quality of the transcendent. I am not too sure if John actually fully understood what he was saying. He knew he was onto something when he saw those words and turned them into a song. But to have experienced what the lyrics in that song are actually about? I don't know if he fully understood it." George Harrison, Anthology
(5) "I did my best to explain what I had done and how a Leslie worked, but most of it seemed to go over John's head; all he really got out of it was the concept of a rotating speaker. (…) 'Couldn't we get the same effect by dangling me from a rope and swinging me around the microphone instead?' he asked innocently, throwing the others into paroxysms of laughter." Geoff Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere, My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
(6) "Without saying a word, I quietly slipped out to the studio and moved both the snare drum mic and the single overhead mic in close. But before I also moved the microphone that was aimed at Ringo’s bass drum, there was something else I wanted to try, because I felt that the bass drum was ringing too much…Sitting atop one of the instrument cases was an old woolen sweater – one which had been specially knitted with eight arms to promote the group’s recent film, which was originally called ‘Eight Arms To Hold You’…I removed the bass drum’s front skin – the one with the famous ‘dropped-T’ Beatles logo on it – and stuffed the sweater inside so that it was flush against the rear beater skin. Then I replaced the front skin and positioned the bass drum mic directly in front of it, angled down slightly but so close that it was almost touching." (…) George Martin waved everyone into the control room to hear the playback…’What on earth did you do to my drums?’ Ringo was asking me. ‘They sound fantastic!’." Geoff Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere, My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
(7) "The five loops, numbered according to their first appearance in the song, can be identified as follows: (1) a 'seagull'/'Red Indian' effect (actually McCartney laughing) made, like most of the other loops, by superimposition and acceleration (0:07); (2) an orchestral chord of B flat major (0:19); (3) a Mellotron played on its flute setting (0:22); (4) another Mellotron oscillating in 6/8 from B flat to C on its string setting (0:38) and (5) a rising scalar phrase on a sitar, recorded with heavy saturation and acceleration (0:56)." Ian McDonald, Revolution In The Head
(8) "We did a live mix of all the loops. All over the studios we had people spooling them onto machines with pencils while Geoff did the balancing. There were many other hands controlling the panning. It is the one track, of all the songs The Beatles did, that could never be reproduced: it would be impossible to go back now and mix exactly the same thing: the 'happening' of the tape loops, inserted as we all swung off the levers on the faders willy-nilly, was a random event." George Martin , Anthology
If you want more information you can go to:
The Beatles Bible 1, Bible 2, Bible 3 and Bible 4 but especially to Beatles Books
PS: the sentence Tomorrow Never Knows does not appear on the song lyrics. Lennon: "I took one of Ringo's malapropisms as the title, to sort of take the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics."
Mmm, Romain, this is not an easy thing to do. But I'll give a shot to it. First of all, I won't use the word "good" (in fact you used the quote marks for that word in first place). Many times before we talked and talked here about the fact that there is no objective measure of greatness in music. But I will point to five aspects that make in my opinion that song so appealing, so ground-breaking and so… ahem, good. Those five points surely helped to construct the main feature of "Tomorrow Never Knows," the way it defined its era (the psychedelic era) yet sounding "ahead of its time" (as both GucciLittlePiggy and TimmyWing accurately pointed):Romain wrote:(and I have to say I don't really understand why this song is so liked here.... can you explain what are you find in the song so "good" ?!)
a) The Power Chord: quoting the Geoff Emerick book, Lennon said to George Martin before recording the song: "This one's completely different than anything we've ever done before, it's only got the one chord, and the whole thing is meant to be like a drone." So Lennon intentionally created the first Beatles song with an only chord with a psychedelic effect in mind inspired by Indian music (1), after previous (incomplete) attempts like "The Word" on "Rubber Soul." But the myth of the only-chord is not completely true because, although the bass and the tamboura play only the C note throughout the whole song, there is a loop fragment during some verses (like the first "it is not dying") that take the song briefly to B flat (2). Probably the use of an only chord is the main feature that makes the song sounding so ahead of its times. Nowadays a lot of music is based in samples and it's very difficult to introduce chord changes without changing the speed or the pitch of the sample. Many hip hop and electronica albums of today are almost filled by one-chord songs.
b) The Book of Dead: it was Dylan and not The Beatles who really broke the mold concerning the pop lyrics but of course the lyrics of "Tomorrow Never Knows" supposed a big leap forward for The Beatles (and pop music in general), abandoning the love thematic for surrealistic verses trying to depict the psychedelic experience. In fact most verses were taken from "The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead," (3) a book written by Timothy Leary "as a guidebook for those seeking spiritual enlightenment through the use of psychedelic drugs." Harrison later stated that "the song is really about transcending and about the quality of the transcendent" ("you may see the meaning of within - it is being") and he was "not too sure if John actually fully understood what he was saying." (4)
c) The Dalai Lennon (or a Lama called Leslie): Lennon wanted "to sound like the Dalai Lama singing from the highest mountain top, far away" and Geoff came up with the idea of having Lennon's voice pass through a Leslie system, a set of revolving speakers that gave the impression of a spinning sound (5). Surely it was not the first time that a recording engineer added intentionally distortion in an artist voice but probably it was the first time for a mainstream act.
d) The Fractured Drum Pattern: another aspect that sound ahead of its time are the drums played by Starr, a syncopated pattern that is repeated throughout the song without drum fills or changes, just like a (still not invented) rhythm box (in fact I'm not sure if it was recorded like that or it's a loop of 3 seconds repeated for 3 minutes). Followed closely by McCartney bass that plays only C in quavers also throughout the song, predating in a decade the bass arrangements made famous by Dee Dee Ramone. An innovative backing track that was enhanced by some equalization tricks by Geoff Emerick (6). And this drum pattern was created that day, because Take 1 and Take 2 did not include it (Take 1 was in fact an effects-laden guitar loop that was later replaced by a single-note played with a tamboura by Harrison). Take 3 already included the syncopated drums and the final vocal take (with Leslie entering on verse 3).
e) The Loops: after recording this gorgeous take 3 they went home with some homework to do (as suggested by Paul McCartney), recording some homemade tape loops to overdub unto the song (7). It was McCartney who contributed most of the loops (especially one that sounded like seagulls but it was his laughter speeded-up and reproduced backwards). The following day (April 7, 1966) the loops were selected and added to Take 3 in a manual way, using pencils to spool them (8).
An additional final recording session (April 22, 1966) was used for overdubs, recording the tamboura (Harrison), a guitar solo reproduced backwards (McCartney), a tambourine (Starr), an organ (playing the B-flat chord) and a ADT double-tracked vocals (Lennon) plus a tack piano (played by George Martin) used at the coda.
As a summary I recommend strongly to see this video and I'll finish quoting a sentence from it: "'Tomorrow Never Knows', with its use of loops and several new studio techniques was a landmark recording." Innovation is the key word for this song. That's what makes it so… good.
Quotes:
(1) "John got his guitar out and started doing 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and it was all on one chord. This was because of our interest in Indian music. We would be sitting around and at the end of an Indian album we'd go, 'Did anyone realise they didn't change chords?' It would be like 'Shit, it was all in E! Wow, man, that is pretty far out.' So we began to sponge up a few of these nice ideas." Paul McCartney, Anthology
(2) "Indian music doesn't modulate; it just stays. You pick what key you're in, and it stays in that key. I think 'Tomorrow never Knows' was the first one that stayed there; the whole song was on one chord. But there is a chord that is superimposed on top that does change: if it was in C, it changes down to B flat. That was like an overdub, but the basic sound all hangs on the one drone." George Harrison, Anthology
(3) "John began to scan the shelves. His eyes soon alighted upon a copy of The Psychedelic Experience, Dr Timothy Leary's psychedelic version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. John was delighted and settled down on the settee with the book. Right away, on page 14 in Leary's introduction, he read, 'Whenever in doubt, turn off your mind, relax, float downstream.' He had found the first line of 'Tomorrow Never Knows', one of the Beatles' most innovative songs.", Barry Miles (co-owner of the Indica bookshop where Lennon bought Leary's book), Many Year From Now
(4) "You can hear (and I am sure most Beatles fans have) Tomorrow Never Knows a lot and not know really what it is about. Basically it is saying what meditation is all about. The goal of meditation is to go beyond (that is, transcend) waking, sleeping and dreaming. So the song starts out by saying, 'Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream, it is not dying.' Then it says, 'Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void - it is shining. That you may see the meaning of within - it is being.' From birth to death all we ever do is think: we have one thought, we have another thought, another thought, another thought. Even when you are asleep you are having dreams, so there is never a time from birth to death when the mind isn't always active with thoughts. But you can turn off your mind, and go to the part which Maharishi described as: 'Where was your last thought before you thought it?' The whole point is that we are the song. The self is coming from a state of pure awareness, from the state of being. All the rest that comes about in the outward manifestation of the physical world (including all the fluctuations which end up as thoughts and actions) is just clutter. The true nature of each soul is pure consciousness. So the song is really about transcending and about the quality of the transcendent. I am not too sure if John actually fully understood what he was saying. He knew he was onto something when he saw those words and turned them into a song. But to have experienced what the lyrics in that song are actually about? I don't know if he fully understood it." George Harrison, Anthology
(5) "I did my best to explain what I had done and how a Leslie worked, but most of it seemed to go over John's head; all he really got out of it was the concept of a rotating speaker. (…) 'Couldn't we get the same effect by dangling me from a rope and swinging me around the microphone instead?' he asked innocently, throwing the others into paroxysms of laughter." Geoff Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere, My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
(6) "Without saying a word, I quietly slipped out to the studio and moved both the snare drum mic and the single overhead mic in close. But before I also moved the microphone that was aimed at Ringo’s bass drum, there was something else I wanted to try, because I felt that the bass drum was ringing too much…Sitting atop one of the instrument cases was an old woolen sweater – one which had been specially knitted with eight arms to promote the group’s recent film, which was originally called ‘Eight Arms To Hold You’…I removed the bass drum’s front skin – the one with the famous ‘dropped-T’ Beatles logo on it – and stuffed the sweater inside so that it was flush against the rear beater skin. Then I replaced the front skin and positioned the bass drum mic directly in front of it, angled down slightly but so close that it was almost touching." (…) George Martin waved everyone into the control room to hear the playback…’What on earth did you do to my drums?’ Ringo was asking me. ‘They sound fantastic!’." Geoff Emerick, Here, There and Everywhere, My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
(7) "The five loops, numbered according to their first appearance in the song, can be identified as follows: (1) a 'seagull'/'Red Indian' effect (actually McCartney laughing) made, like most of the other loops, by superimposition and acceleration (0:07); (2) an orchestral chord of B flat major (0:19); (3) a Mellotron played on its flute setting (0:22); (4) another Mellotron oscillating in 6/8 from B flat to C on its string setting (0:38) and (5) a rising scalar phrase on a sitar, recorded with heavy saturation and acceleration (0:56)." Ian McDonald, Revolution In The Head
(8) "We did a live mix of all the loops. All over the studios we had people spooling them onto machines with pencils while Geoff did the balancing. There were many other hands controlling the panning. It is the one track, of all the songs The Beatles did, that could never be reproduced: it would be impossible to go back now and mix exactly the same thing: the 'happening' of the tape loops, inserted as we all swung off the levers on the faders willy-nilly, was a random event." George Martin , Anthology
If you want more information you can go to:
The Beatles Bible 1, Bible 2, Bible 3 and Bible 4 but especially to Beatles Books
PS: the sentence Tomorrow Never Knows does not appear on the song lyrics. Lennon: "I took one of Ringo's malapropisms as the title, to sort of take the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics."
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Wow... You really are awe-inspiring Honorio, that was some incredible analysis
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Finaly, listen to music can be reach by several way.
The easy way : I love this melody, theses lyrics are cool, etc, and the Honorio way, where you enter in a museum and a friendly guide explain the song and open to you "the doors of perception".
I listened to the song in loop while reading your post and, for the first time, seeing a lot of things totally invisibles before in the song. Until now, it was nothing more than "Love You To" in "Tomorrow Never Knows", I put the songs almost at the same level.
Very informative post again.
The easy way : I love this melody, theses lyrics are cool, etc, and the Honorio way, where you enter in a museum and a friendly guide explain the song and open to you "the doors of perception".
I listened to the song in loop while reading your post and, for the first time, seeing a lot of things totally invisibles before in the song. Until now, it was nothing more than "Love You To" in "Tomorrow Never Knows", I put the songs almost at the same level.
Very informative post again.
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
2. Eleanor Rigby
1. Taxman
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. I'm Only Sleeping
10. For No One
7. She Said She Said
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
6. Yellow Submarine
4. Love You To
1. Taxman
8. Good Day Sunshine
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
13. Got to Get You Into My Life
5. Here, There, and Everywhere
14. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. I'm Only Sleeping
10. For No One
7. She Said She Said
12. I Want to Tell You
11. Doctor Robert
6. Yellow Submarine
4. Love You To
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Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Many thanks, Luke JR68 and Romain
Very appropriate, isn't it?Romain wrote:I listened to the song in loop while reading your post
Re: Rank the Tracks: The Beatles' Revolver
Wow - great post Honorio!