[Music] The Beatles: General

[Tom Paine]

Author: Final Frontier
Original Thread: The Beatles: General

The Beatles: General

Revolver, in color, too!

That’s right, I have unexpectedly decided to examine a few songs from the Beatles’ Revolver, as well as the year 1966 for them. Why? Boredom mostly, though I’d also like to share a few facts about their only album of 1966. (The Beatles’ Oldies doesn’t count as it wasn’t composed by them, it was simply a compilation)

To start things off, let’s take a look at the year 1966.


George and Pattie Boyd, newlyweds on January 21, 1966.

LSD had already been an influence for John, George, and Ringo since 1965. Paul was the only Beatle who had not yet taken it, but he would follow suit in either late ‘66 or March ‘67. (Penny Lane may have been influenced, which is why ’66 is a valid guess) Their first song that was about this substance was none other than Day Tripper, which Paul admitted was about acid in an interview in 2005. (Is it ironic that he has the lead role? John liked to tease him about not taking it)

A major highlight was their use of the ‘butcher’ photos with the baby dolls and limbs all over them. This was one of the things that caused an outrage that year, but there was also John’s comment about the group being “bigger than Jesus,” which sparked even more controversy. Even after he had apologized, a radio station named KLUE was about to arrange a ‘Beatles bonfire,’ but lightning had taken out the station’s tower and prevented that from happening.



Moving on, 1966 was a rough year for the Beatles, especially during what would be one of their last tours, the trip around the world to Germany, Japan, and the Philippines. Although Germany was relatively normal, (screaming fans, sound impossible to hear, the usual) Japan was bad in that the audience was forced to stay quiet while under the watchful eye of the police, who were there to prevent a riot. This allowed the Beatles to hear their screw ups because they were not as well of on stage as in 1964. If they thought Japan was bad, the Philippines must’ve been a journey through hell. When they got off their plane, they were immediately taken into custody for “protective measures” and forced to stay in their hotels. When they missed a trip to perform a show for Ferdinand Marcos’ wife Imelda, he took offence and had the country view the Beatles as villains. They were faced with unrest and growing discontent before they finally managed to get onto a plane and fly back home.

The rest of 1966 consisted of them playing for the last time in the U.S.A., (their last true concert for the U.K. was at Empire Pool on May 1st) as well as John’s filming of How I Won The War and his meeting of Yoko Ono, who would play a bigger part in the group a bit later.



---

Now that you’ve gotten a general idea of that rough year, it’s time for me to give my opinions and a few facts about three songs on Revolver.

Taxman- And you're working for no one but me…First, the facts. It was written by George, who was inspired by the theme of the show Batman. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath were the British Prime ministers who contributed to the tax laws. Also, you may notice the real count down at the beginning covered up by the one that has been edited in. I think that it’s a great song with a catchy beat, (I also enjoy the bass) though it seems a bit short.

Eleanor Rigby- All the lonely people, where do they all come from?…The title of this some comes from a store called ‘Rigby’ and an actress named ‘Eleanor Bron,’ and it is about the troubles of old age. Something interesting I just learned, Bill Clinton called this his favorite Beatle song. I feel that this song really distinguishes who the Beatles are because of its incorporation of instruments.

Here, There, And Everywhere- I want her everywhere, and if she’s besides me I know I need never care…The Beach Boy’s song “God Only Knows” inspired this, and both Lennon and McCartney thought that this was an underrated song. (I agree with them ) Paul even stated that this was his favorite song in an interview in 2005!

---

Releases of 1966:

Februray 21: Nowhere Man/What Goes On (US)
March 4: The EP Yesterday (UK)
May 30: Paperback Writer/Rain (US)
June 10: Paperback Writer/Rain (UK)
June 20: The LP Yesterday…and Today (US)
July 8: The EP Nowhere Man
August 5: Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine (US); The LP Revolver (US)
August 8: Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine (UK); The LP Revolver (UK)
December 9: The LP A Collection of Beatles Oldies (UK)

---
Sources:
www.songfacts.com
The Beatles Unseen Archives by Tim Hill and Marie Clayton


(Yes, that’s from 1967, but it works well )