FOR MANY BEATLES FANS, Revolver is their favorite album. A balance of great songwriting and first dips into experimentation and change even place the group’s 1966 LP above Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road for some. Revolver was a clear step forward into new kinds of music and new kinds of recording.
Following in line with Special Edition packages of Pepper, Abbey Road, The Beatles (aka The White Album) and Let It Be, Apple Corps, Ltd./Capitol Records/UMe on October 28, 2022, issued Revolver with a new stereo remix by engineer Sam Okell and Giles Martin, son of original producer Sir George Martin. The Super Deluxe Special Edition sets also include two discs full of studio outtakes, an EP featuring the singles “Paperback Writer” and ”Rain”—which were recorded during the sessions—and a hardcover book with historical notes and session details by renowned Beatles historian Kevin Howlett, who, with longtime colleague Mike Heatley, researched the recordings. Martin has also prepared a Dolby Atmos mix of the album, available via streaming.
Revolver’s predecessor, Rubber Soul, was released in early December 1965. Several months had been blocked out at the beginning of 1966 for the production of The Beatles’ third movie for United Artists, but the project was put on hold, giving the band time to themselves. They suddenly had time to explore and grow, both musically and personally. Paul began discovering avant-garde music and art; George continued delving into Indian music.
Both their songwriting and musicianship began to advance, too, as the music around them began to evolve. “I think the biggest change in their writing was probably rhythmically,” notes Giles Martin. “Their rhythm texture—they change gears” from more basic song rhythms, like “The Word” (released the year before), to “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Taxman.” “They truly left Merseybeat behind them.”
The band’s abilities as musicians also grew and changed—all the more remarkable, given the fact that, during this period, they were not playing with anyone, not even themselves. “Listen to Paul’s guitar playing on ‘And Your Bird Can Sing,’” points out Beatles recording historian Brian Kehew, co-author of the 500-page Recording The Beatles. “They had grown and exceeded what they’d been capable of before.”
New Fab Gear
The Beatles’ musical and recording toolboxes also expanded around this time, giving them more ways to create new sounds.
Especially evident is the presence of a new electric guitar, the Epiphone Casino. Paul made particularly strident use of it on a number of tracks, using one he had gotten at the end of 1964, which is first heard on his solo for “Ticket to Ride” a few months later. John and George would follow, acquiring theirs around the time of Revolver.
George picked up a Gibson SG around this time, as well, having seen musicians in the States playing Gibson hollow bodies while on tour, and liking the thicker guitar tone they produced.
Paul began using his Rickenbacker 4001S bass more on Revolver, along with his trademark Hofner. According to Andy Babiuk, author of Beatles Gear, the company first tried to present it in February 1964, but the band thought they were being pitched a sale and passed! McCartney later accepted it on a return trip to the United States, in August 1965.
On the amplifier side, Vox crafted a new guitar amp, the model 7120, with 120 watts and four 12-inch speakers. The system featured a solid-state preamplifier circuit, with a traditional tube circuit for output. “When the company made a brand new amp,” says Babiuk, “the first people who would get it, at that point, were The Beatles—period.” They also received a model 4120, which had a pair of 15-inch speakers. It was built to give to Paul as a bass amp, but it appears he more likely used the 7120 for that purpose.
The Beatles can also be seen with Fender Dual Showman guitar amps, which offered a truly clean sound, though it is unknown when (or even if) they were used on the recordings.
A key element to the sound of Revolver also emerged during the sessions—guitar distortion. Though the group had experimented with a WEM Rush Pep distortion box as, The Fabs began using the WEM box, along with other boxes like the Tone Bender or Maestro, though it is unclear what exactly is the source of the signature distortion heard on so many tracks, including “She Said She Said,” “And Your Bird Can Sing,” and others. Manufacturers like Vox did begin including distortion/fuzz circuits in their amps, as well.
