I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

Love this version. Man oh man.

Ray Davies reviews "Revolver" in Disc & Music Echo, July 30, 1966. pic.twitter.com/wsJQsBFRhG

— The Paul McCartney Project (@mccartneyproj) October 23, 2022

I love stuff from the time like this, especially if it's from someone like Ray Davies.

Of course he likes I'm Only Sleeping and Good Day Sunshine - they both sound like songs he might have written himself. Funny how wrong he gets George Martin in the Tomorrow Never Knows bit. And when he said he didn't think the fans liked the "newer electronic stuff" what do you think he's referring to? Interested what "electronic" meant to someone like him in July 1966.

Ray was never particularly interested in "electronic stuff," nor seemingly the least bit curious about it. While McCartney was digging Stockhausen, and while Townshend was giving lectures at art colleges about tape manipulation (a young Brian Eno attended one and decided, "That's just crazy enough to work!"), Davies really couldn't be bothered. The backwards piano at the end of "Autumn Almanac" (a year after Revolver) and the sped-up voices on "Wonderboy" (supposedly a favorite of Lennon's) and "Phenomenal Cat" are the extent of anything remotely approaching any kind of sonic experimentation or risk-taking of that sort in the Kinks' katalog.

But what do you think the Beatles’ “electronic stuff” was for him at this stage?

Tomorrow Never Knows iirc

And the backwards tapes on "Rain" and "I'm Only Sleeping," and bits like the vaguely musique-concrete intro to "Taxman."

Also, Davies owns the "Carnival of Light" acetate.

What is going on in the Kinks’ “Lazy Old Sun”? Something feels “electronic” about that.

Sounds like a Mellotron with the pitch knob being turned. Though I don't think I've heard a Mellotron in such a low register anywhere else.

Funny how wrong he gets George Martin in the Tomorrow Never Knows bit.

but he gets the 1990s dead right with "It’ll be popular in discotheques"

man "Got to Get You Into My Life" is probably my favorite song of theirs & that take is good stuff.

also strongly prefigures Getting Better, with that chop-chop-chop-chop guitar riff that pops up periodically. almost like they found another direction for this song, but were still looking for a venue for that arrangement.

yeah that hammering guitar mantra is one of my favourite Beatles riffs ever

love this

The new stereo mix is pretty great. I just read a BBC interview with Giles where they mention "that the idea is to preserve their songs for a new generation who primarily listen on headphones, where the original hard-panned version of 'Taxman' is awkward and disorientating." Go back and forth between the original stereo mix and the new mix, and the new mixes definitely sound like they're a thousand times more thought-out.

Looking forward to Rubber Soul which should be inevitable. Both the stereo mix and the 1987 remix are virtually twin-track style mixes - would be great to finally hear a complete set of proper stereo mixes for that album (as well anything they released in 1963).

always listen to beatles in mono, good news if there's finally a decent stereo mix!

yeah I didn't know how, in 45 odd years, I never noticed that guitar riff in GTGYIML is straight from Paperback Writer; I guess because it's only played once in the final released version, it's more overt when you hear it over and over.

Had the same thought. Agreed, it just feels like a little bit of improvised texture in the released version.

Ray was never particularly interested in "electronic stuff"

Though he did get inspiration for new melodies by playing tapes of some of his old songs backwards.

yeah I didn't know how, in 45 odd years, I never noticed that guitar riff in GTGYIML is straight from Paperback Writer; I guess because it's only played once in the final released version, it's more overt when you hear it over and over.

I thought the finished track was a great example of George's impeccable taste - i.e. how to serve the songs - but now that we know the riff was played/recorded through the whole thing, I wonder how the decision was made to limit that part to only the end?

Though he did get inspiration for new melodies by playing tapes of some of his old songs backwards.

Eventually even that became too much work, and he just played the tapes forwards.

was paperback writer written and recorded prior to this song? or were they roughly the same time? possibly they just had that riff and it went into whichever song got 'finished' first

GTGYIML was started on April 7, but it was that meh version with the organ on Anthology 2, devoid of riffage. "Paperback Writer" was recorded a week later, April 13 and 14. Presumably between April 7 and April 13 the riff was tried for "Got," then because they needed a single right away, repurposed for "Paperback."

I totally forgot that three Revolver tracks were actually released early in the U.S. - I think the only time that happened with any album tracks from the Beatles' UK albums? - because Capitol needed more material to fill out one of their butchered releases. I guess they rush mixed those songs due to Capitol's deadline, then mixed them better and properly for the UK version of Revolver.

I completely love the organ version on Anth 2 so so so much

I love that that GTGYIML is about THE SKANK

Listened to the new remix of Taxman vs the original mix, and the new one absolutely slays. I guess I’m going to have to get this one, after successfully resisting the Sgt Pepper to Abbey Road run.

Of all the interviews he's been doing for this set, I kind of like Giles's answers here the best:

Q: Do you know if there was any concern from the record label, from management, whatever, that the Beatles might be committing career suicide putting out a record like Revolver in 1966?

Giles Martin: Well, I think the Beatles had a couple of advantages. First of all, they were the Beatles! (laughs) And second, their singles weren't on their albums. So, their albums were kind of treated like different things. People have this idea that the Beatles sort of turned their backs on wanting to be successful. Of course, that's not the case. They continued to be successful, but they pushed their albums harder, and then they would go, “OK, ‘Paperback Writer’ is the single.” That was the way they did things. They had the buffer of having these really successful songs that weren't on the albums, and then thought, “We can do whatever the hell we want on our albums. And this is what we're going to do.”

I mean, the Beatles didn't happen by accident. If you get to know Paul McCartney, he is a really intelligent man. These guys were all super-bright and knew what they were doing. They know what their market is, if you can be so crass say that. And I think that they went, “OK, we've been the best pop band, we've been the toppermost of the poppermost, and we've been the most successful live band” — which they were, the first stadium band — “and now we're going to be the biggest recording band in the world.” And Revolver is what they did in order to achieve that and push boundaries. As my dad used to say, they never made Jaws 2. If they’d done it once, they didn’t have to do it again. And Revolver is the ultimate example of that, in that it sounds like seven or eight different bands.

That’s a great interview, and all the interviews I’ve read with Giles show that he’s the perfect person for the job: an insider from the beginning who is nonetheless a massive fan, but not obsessive in a way that might cloud his judgment.

Except

When my dad signed the Beatles,

George not up to speed with the film world either, it seems.

I think the quote means, "the Beatles never made the album equivalent of Jaws 2".

I think Giles is great - the LOVE album is absolutely incredible - and he's a great face for the Beatles, but there have been times when I wish he, or someone on his team, had been a bit more "obsessive". This *will* sound silly, but the removal of the "pleh" at the end of I'm So Tired for example. I know it's nothing new for Apple to remove little noises (John chewing gum), repair drop-outs (Day Tripper) or smooth out edits (She Loves You), but to actually shave off an ending of a song and remove something nice and weird - something Paul or Ringo won't notice when approving the mix, but fans will - is a shame. I don't think cutting an element out of Beatles track is decision anyone has the authority to make, even if it is about half a second long.

*I also don't think he's right about A Day in the Life's "AAAH" being John. I feel strongly that it is most likely Paul. It makes me sound pompous - why wouldn't he know - but then, how would he know for sure?*

The removal of pleh was stupid. Best ambiguous sound on any album ever (I like the theory it was Julian)

No. 2 wtf sound on a Beatles track - the shrill trombone (?) note at about 1:51 into Do You Want To Know a Secret?, during the fade out. Where'd that come from? Someone's arse?

Welp, I’ve been listening to the white album for about 47 years and never heard, nor knew about, the “pleh” until just now. And now that I’ve heard it, yeah, what a weird decision to cut that out.

I also didn’t like how they cut the little pickup-switching click on “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” for the 2009 remaster.

My fave wtf is the little voice on "Good Day Sunshine" just after "She feels good...". Sounds like someone responding "She do". ?!?

I've always noticed the "trombone" parp in Do You Want to Know a Secret?.
I think it's guitar; George's amp was playing up at that session (most noticable on Chains, where it sounds beautifully crunchy at times).

I've always thought the voice on "Good Day Sunshine" was "she f***in' does".

she fookin' does

Ha! So this has been discussed! Would like to read up on that.

1:26
Someone (John? Ringo?) quietly repeats "She feels good" This appears to trigger something closely approximating a chuckle from Paul in the next line.

Listening closely on the CD, it sounds like Ringo or John saying "She f**ing does" or "She feels nice". The last word is definitely not "good", it ends in an "esss" sound. Also heard by David Gulczynski.

John Sinclair refers to the version on "Give My Regards To Broad Street" and says "that it is 'she feels good' repeated."

On Paul McCartney's Get Back video (1990 tour), a live version is performed, where he sings the second "she feels good" very clearly, showing the intention to repeat the line.

So maybe he laughed because the line was meant to be repeated, but in fact on this recording, it became twisted into something new?

http://wgo.signal11.org.uk/html/content/g.htm#gds

In "Do You Want To Know a Secret" Paul's bass wanders off at the end of the last chorus and George, possibly unsure if they're going to end the take, plays a clam on the guitar.

they've been a bit cagey about pre-release songs from this set this time around; I feel like the earlier ones we got more tracks in advance.

George Martin only wishes he could've scored pieces like "Attack on the Water Skier" and "Attack on the Helicopter".

And our friends are all aboard
Many more of them bit by Jaws
And the band begins to scream

Lol

You're gonna need a bigger submarine

I'm noticing loads of new little guitar parts in She Said She Said on this new mix.

actual speed Rain is so weird

new mix is already the definitive version to me, as heretical as that is. there are times when parts in the background feel a little bit hollow, no doubt as a result of being reconstructed from the existing mixdown, but it's not a big deal