5 Fascinating Facts About ‘Revolver’ by The Beatles

The Beatles turned the studio into a lethal weapon on their 1966 album Revolver. Producer George Martin and the four men in the group went to great lengths to create sounds that broke down the boundaries of pop music.

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The music from Revolver is endlessly surprising and compelling. So too are some of the stories behind the making of this legendary LP by the Fab Four.

John Lennon’s Laziness Came in Handy

John Lennon gained a reputation as someone who loved his shuteye. He wrote about it on Revolver in the song “I’m Only Sleeping”, which defended his right to sleep away even his waking hours. His penchant for sawing logs also inadvertently led to one of the most momentous songs on the record. Paul McCartney arrived at Lennon’s abode one day to start a writing session. But he had to wait a bit for his pal, because Lennon was still sleeping in when Paul arrived. To make the most of the time, McCartney settled out near the swimming pool. By the time Lennon awoke, Macca had pretty much written the gorgeous ballad “Here, There And Everywhere” while waiting.

The Kids’ Song Started Pretty Dark

We tend to think of “Yellow Submarine” as the ultimate kids’ song. The fact that it was turned into a well-regarded animated movie certainly plays into that notion. But when it began, it was something much different. A recent reissue of Revolver included some of the working tapes for the various songs on the album. On that release, you can hear John Lennon singing these downcast lyrics to the main melody of the verses: “In the place where I was born / No one cared, no one cared.” That’s a far cry from the finished version, one where Ringo Starr sings of the wonders of the ocean blue while Lennon and Paul McCartney make crazed aquatic noises.

A Bad Trip and an Easy Rider

Whenever The Beatles came to America, everybody wanted to have an audience with them. That included other rock stars and Hollywood celebrities. At one point, while taking a little breather in California during a tour break in 1965, the band threw a party at the house where they were staying. During that party, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr all took LSD. Harrison had a somewhat adverse reaction during his trip, believing at one point that he was dead. Actor Peter Fonda, who attended the party, tried to comfort Harrison by telling him how he had lived through a near-death experience as a child. Lennon made the incident the basis of the lyrics to “She Said She Said”.

Ode to Pot

During the Hollywood party that inspired “She Said She Said”, all The Beatles took LSD, save Paul McCartney. He was the last holdout, worrying that the drug might somehow alter his perception to the point that it would negatively affect his songwriting. (He’d eventually relent.) But McCartney was no such holdout when it came to marijuana. On the surface, “Got To Get You Into My Life” seems like an homage to a special girl. But McCartney admitted after the fact that he was actually singing the praises of pot in the song. Knowing that, lines like “Another road where maybe I / Could see another kind of mind there” suddenly make a lot of sense.

Lennon as the Lama

George Martin had a prime gig in one sense. He was on hand to produce some of the most perfectly constructed pop songs in history. But you also have to consider the pressure that he faced. After all, Martin was expected to translate The Beatles’ various musical requests, some of which pushed the realms of possibility. In the case of “Tomorrow Never Knows”, John Lennon believed that his lyrics should sound like they were being chanted from a mountain by none other than the Dalai Lama. Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick helped make this happen by running through his vocals through a Leslie Speaker.

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