Without This Beatles B-Side, ‘Revolver’ Might Have Never Been the Same

When it comes to creative pursuits, the question of “which idea came first” often delves into a “chicken or the egg” argument—but one could argue that the foreshadowing of one Beatles B-side of the recording techniques to come on Revolver is an exception to this rule. In this case, the line of inspiration seems clearer.

Indeed, if John Lennon hadn’t been “stoned out of his mind” (or, depending on which version you believe, if producer George Martin hadn’t decided to mess around in the studio after hours), the Fab Four might not have turned their 1966 album Revolver into what it became.

The Beatles B-Side That Foreshadowed ‘Revolver’

In the late spring of 1966, the Beatles released their popular single “Paperback Writer” along with the track’s B-side, “Rain.” The A-side dominated the B-side on the charts, reaching a No. 1 position compared to No. 23. Consequently, “Rain” is an oft-forgotten addition to the Fab Four’s lengthy catalog. However, if one were to look closely, one could draw a clear line of creative connectivity between this Beatles B-side and the full-length album they released three months later.

Many critics and historians consider Revolver to mark the beginning of the Beatles’ psychedelic era, and it’s easy to see why. The band manipulated their sound in post more than they had on any previous release, creating backward vocals, slowed-down or sped-up instruments, tape loops, and other experimental tricks. “Rain” included this same type of post-production, reversing John Lennon’s vocals at the end of the song.

In one of his final interviews before his death, Lennon touted “Rain” as “the first backwards tape on any record anywhere. Before Hendrix, before The Who, before any f*****. Maybe there was that record about, ‘They’re coming to take me away, ha-ha,’ maybe that came out before “Rain.” But it’s not the same thing.” (For the record, “They’re Coming To Take Me Away” came out one month after the Beatles B-side.)

Lennon said he came up with the idea to reverse his vocals when he came home from the studio “stoned out of my mind on marijuana” and accidentally loaded the tape into his reel-to-reel backward. “I sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on,” he said. “That one was the gift of God, of Ja, actually, the god of marijuana, right? So, Ja gave me that one.”

The Making Of It Was More Notable Than The Material

At face value, the Beatles B-side “Rain” is a straightforward song about turning around people’s negative connotations with rain. In a later interview with Barry Miles, Paul McCartney questioned whether the song was actually John Lennon’s or both of their ideas. McCartney admitted the song was “tilted 70-30 to John,” but “I don’t think he brought the original idea. Just when we sat down to write, he kicked it off.”

In any case, McCartney said the most interesting part about the song was the recording process—most notably, those backward Lennon vocals and their method for tracking Ringo Starr’s drum parts. “The drums became a giant drum kit,” McCartney explained in Miles’ Many Years From Now. “We got a big, ponderous, thunderous backing, and then we worked on top of that as normal so that it didn’t sound like a slowed-down thing. It just had a big ominous noise to it. It was nice. I really enjoyed that one.”

Ringo Starr added, “I think I just played amazing.”

Photo by Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns