Revolution 1
From BeatlesWiki
Revolution 1 is a song off The Beatles' 1968 album The Beatles. It was written by John Lennon.
Contents |
[edit] AKA and Working Titles
- Revolution - Working Title.
[edit] Writing
Revolution 1 was the first song to be recorded for the album The Beatles. John Lennon wrote it in India in early 1968. He had written it about a student uprising in Paris, the Vietnam War, and Martin Luther King's assassination. This would be the first political song that John wrote. He would later make several more during the beginning of his solo career. John told Rolling Stone in 1970, "I wanted to put out what I felt about revolution. I thought it was time we fucking spoke about it, the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war when we were on tour with Brian Epstein and had to tell him, 'We're going to talk about the war this time, and we're not going to just waffle.' I wanted to say what I thought about revolution. I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India. I still had this 'God will save us' feeling about it, that it's going to be all right. That's why I did it: I wanted to talk, I wanted to say my piece about revolution. I wanted to tell you, or whoever listens, to communicate, to say 'What do you say? This is what I say.'" When the song was originally recorded, it was called Revolution,as The Beatles were not expecting to record it more than once. John wanted this song released as a single, although the other members declined. Because of this, they recorded a faster electric version known simply as Revolution, which became the B-Side of Hey Jude. John told Rolling Stone in 1970, "When George and Paul and all of them were on holiday, I made Revolution [1], which is on the LP and Revolution 9. I wanted to put it out as a single, I had it all prepared, but they came by, and said it wasn't good enough. And we put out what? Hello, Goodbye or some shit like that? No, we put out Hey Jude, which was worth it - I'm sorry - but we could have had both." Even though it was recorded earlier, Revolution 1 was released after Revolution. Paul McCartney and George Harrison were worried about the song's political nature, another reason why it was released as a single. John recalled, "George and Paul were resentful and said it wasn't fast enough. Now, if you go into the details of what a hit record is and isn't, maybe. But The Beatles could have afforded to put out the slow, understandable version of Revolution as a single, whether it was a gold record or a wooden record. But, because they were so upset over the Yoko thing and the fact that I was again become as creative and dominating as I was in the early days, after lying fallow for a couple of years, it upset the applecart. I was awake again and they weren't used to it."
[edit] Recording
The first sixteen takes of Revolution 1 (then titled Revolution) were recorded on May 30, 1968. Take 16 was the album version. For the album version, however, it was shortened. The full take is 10:17 in length and features Lennon shouting "OK, I've had enough!" The last six minutes were a discordant jam, featuring feedback, Lennon screaming "All Right," and moaning from John and Yoko. Some of these sounds were later incorporated into Revolution 9. On May 31, two vocals by Lennon and bass McCartney were recorded. In a seperate overdub done on this day, George and Ringo did their backing vocal overdubs. John rerecorded his vocals on June 4. He decided to record them while lying on the floor, in an attempt to get a different sound. Engineer Brian Gibson recalls, "John decided he would feel more comfortable on the floor so I had to rig up a microphone which would be suspended on a boom above his mouth. It struck me as somewhat odd, a little eccentric, but they were always looking for a different sound; something new." Also recorded on this day were some backing vocal overdubs of George Harrison singing "Mama, Dada" during the jam section. Also overdubbed were more drums and percussion from Ringo Starr, lead guitar played through a volume pedal by John Lennon, and organ by Paul McCartney. In addition to this, two unused tape loops were made. One was of all four Beatles singing "Ahhhh." The other was described by Mark Lewisohn as ""a rather manic guitar phrase, played high up the fretboard". In February 2009, the 11-minute RM1 was leaked online. This included the jamming and tape loops cut out of the final version. It begins wit John announcing, "Take your knickers off and let's go". On June 21, 1968, two trumpets, four trombones, and a lead guitar part from George were overdubbed.
[edit] Personnel
[edit] The Beatles
- Lead Vocals: John Lennon
- Rythm Guitar: John Lennon
- Lead Guitar: John Lennon
- Backing Vocals: Paul McCartney
- Piano: Paul McCartney
- Organ: Paul McCartney
- Bass: Paul McCartney
- Backing Vocals: George Harrison
- Lead Guitar: George Harrison
- Drums: Ringo Starr
[edit] Guest Musicians
- Backing Vocals: Francie Schwartz
- Trumpet: Derek Watkins
- Trumpet: Freddy Clayton
- Trombone: Don Lang
- Trombone: Rex Morris
- Trombone: J Power
- Trombone: Bill Povey
[edit] Production
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineer: Geoff Emerick
- Engineer: Peter Brown
[edit] Available Versions
- Kinfauns Demo, May 1968, (Bootlegs)
- Take 20 RM1, June 4, 1968, (Bootlegs)
- Overdub Monitor Mixes, June 4, 1968, (Bootlegs)
- Take 17 plus overdubs, May 30/May 31/June 4, 1968, (The Beatles)
[edit] Available On
- The Beatles, 1968.
