How on Earth do you only have 6K subscribers?! This is by far the best breakdown and analysis I have ever heard of this masterpiece. Your videos are brilliant.
You are a great joy to watch and listen to. The God of Music sent you to us! What a wonderful mind you have! I will watch every video you make. Thank you!
Absolutely Brilliant. I love your enthusiasm and in depth analysis. I even got slightly emotional listening to you today. You nailed it! Anyone who says they hate the Beatles don’t have a clue what they’re talking about!
I'm one of those people who encountered "Revolver" upon its release, and you;re right, none of us had any idea how those soundscapes were generated. But it's worth mentioning that despite the music's challenging nature, the masses embraced it instantly. An important aspect of the Beatles' genius is that however bold their experimentation, they never left their audience behind. Either they knew just how far to push things, or they knew to include elements that anchored the listener.
I love the scene from Mad Men when Don Draper listens to Tomorrow Never Knows. It changed the world he thought he knew. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to hear this revolutionary song for the first time back in 1966. It is in my Top 5 list of favorite Beatles songs. I love listening to it at night, when it is nice and dark, through headphones. It is a trip with having to drop acid. You brilliantly take us through this wonderland with your insight and humor. You are a national treasure!
@nolarobert Good call on the Mad Men scene! The fact John had this and Strawberry Fields Forever in the same year is mind blowing(amongst all the others) Would you give my album Separate Checks by A Keithing a listen? I swear you'll love it!
@nolarobert I was 15 when I heard this track for the first time in 1966. It was like entering another universe. Never heard anything remotely like it before and I must have played it over and over thousands of times. Even now at 73, when I listen to it, I get goose bumps just like the first time I played it. It's truly timeless.
Isn't it amazing that at the time where most, if not all, other producers would have shot down an idea like this, they had stumbled on probably the... only? person in the world to not only accept but actively help them with this - as we've seen, with experience both with tape loops and electronic music. And to boot, he'd gone independent just a few months earlier so he was both intimately familiar with the EMI studio and now also free from any responsibility other than keeping the Beatles as clients to his new company (AIR).
11:30 mention of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, vs 33:53 "It established a precedent for the kind of experiment that, up until this point, was unique to these very specific circles of artsy people, to go mainstream". For British audiences, the Radiophonic Workshop had done quite a lot to bring experimental musical techniques into the mainstream, because its sole function was to provide unusual sound, including music, to be broadcast on the BBC. The _Doctor Who_ theme tune from 1963 is the most internationally famous (along with the musique concrète sound of the TARDIS), but the Workshop provided huge numbers of little pieces which featured on both TV and radio, some sounding deceptively conventional, others truly weird.
Yeah, Revolver. It was for years my favourite Beatles album...then for a while maybe not...but now (again) it's just so clearly their absolutely giant creative step. This track never dates, and what I especially love about it (combined with all the amazingly fresh and original sounds and the driving beat) is how 'melodic' it still is. All those random / backwards / processed sounds are incredibly...tuneful? Who but The Beatles (and George Martin) could do that? I am one of those who heard this with no 'modern' experience (I was 16 when it was released), and while this track was puzzling, it was also accessible - maybe because it was The Beatles and you trusted them? The whole album was an electric trip of different sounds, rhythms, images, with a sound quality/character/texture like nothing we had heard before. Even then, though I had no idea what 'production' was, the production was astounding, mesmerizing - maybe the most noticeable aspect of the album. You could say we didn’t know what we were listening to, but we knew it was something new and important. I still feel that way about it. To me there was 'before Revolver', then 'Revolver - Pepper - White', and finally 'Abbey Road'. Yeah, Revolver. Thanks so much for this - a really absorbing analysis and summary!
Your work on this album has been brilliant and insightful, entertaining and fun, so it’s a big thank you from me. Over-familiarity with something (or someone!) can often mean you take it for granted and become complacent about what made it so great in the first place. As a musician myself, it was like listening to the album with a fresh pair of ears - you made me think about things I’d not given much thought to for a long time, if ever. Thank you and keep going!
A fantastic video as always. And I love your jacket. It's almost worth it just for the jacket. Also, I had no idea there was actual film of Ringo saying "Tomorrow never knows!"
Wow!! This has been by far the most in depth analysis I have ever experienced around any Beatles record and it has been a fantastic experience. THANK YOU!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I have looked forward to each song/episode with great anticipation. This series of video's deserves to be put out in a box set just like Apple keeps doing with all of The Beatles albums. This must have been a labor of love for you, because it is so elaborate. You turned over every stone from the Sitar player to your unbelievable plastic horn section on "Got To Get You Into". I don't know how you managed to figure out the harmony parts to that, but it sounds to this musicians ear that you did it beautifully. I got this album when it came out in 1966 for my 9th birthday. As a 9 year old, I wasn't ready for "Tomorrow Never Knows". It sounded quite radical to a kid that was used to the songs I had been hearing them come out with since they first hit my country (the US) in early 1964 and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" I had to grow into that one. Today it is my favorite Beatles track and although it has fluctuated over the years, Revolver has been my favorite album of theirs for quite a long time now. At different times it was St. Pepper, later it was Abbey Road.....except for that damn "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" that album is a masterpiece as well as a masterclass in arranging and production. But yes, the Paperback Writer/Rain single would be a nice epilogue to this series since those two songs were part of these sessions if you are not to burned out at this point. Thank you so very much again. And yes, from the moment I saw them on television that first time, I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life....and have done so.
I will never understand how a big Beatles fan can dislike "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". It may be the best comedic song ever made. It's beautifully crafted and perfectly executed.
Be grateful we got to experience all that Nancy gave us with her "Revolver" coverage. Don't be sad... be glad. There will be more Beatles from Nancy. The girl can't help it. ; )
What a brilliant finish to a brilliant series. Thank you. As a new Beatles fan in the mid '70s I was frustrated that Revolver wasn't in the shops. It took on a kind of spectral status for me. I knew the famous songs from it but nothing else. A friend of my sister had an original UK mono pressing and borrowed it for me to tape. The whole thing was a stunning thrill and then there was this song. I just had no idea what I was listening to; weird sounds, more backwards instruments, instrumental breaks that didn't sound like instruments and a strange vocal that talked about being dead (but not like She Said She Said) and then it ends with this overheard tack piano and silence. Silence was all I could manage ... until I got up, turned the disc back over and listened to the whole thing again. So, again, many thanks for a great scholarly and celebratory journey through this giant of a record.
Thankyou for a brilliant analysis, illustration, creative endeavor and expert musical understanding and appreciation! Wonderfully put together and explained - this is quality fine art in itself. Congratulations on presenting what many (ie I) consider to be the greatest album ever produced by anyone ever!
Marvellous! You saved the best for last -- the best song from Revolver, and your best breakdown. I hadn't known about Ray Cathode: that was a revelation. As was the absolutely inspired mash-up of Got To Get You Into My Life and Tomorrow Never Knows. What a gift to the world this song has been, and what a gift your series is.
Such excellent analysis and commentary on the Beatles. I'm almost jealous of your intellectual power in discussing these songs. Look forward to your next Beatles video! Also love the ones with your sister! Just a side note, your jacket is awesome!
One more comment... The Beatles recorded "Love Me Do" in early September of 1962. They recorded "Tomorrow Never Knows " in early April of 1966. That was just 3 years and 7 months later. Probably the greatest development by any band ever in such a short period of time from the beginning of their recording career. An astonishing achievement by these 4 lads - with a little help from their friends.
This is the best, most thorough breakdown of this song I've yet to hear. Thank you. It's still one of the single most brilliant, innovative, groundbreaking tracks I've ever heard. That stretch of '66-'69 was insanely productive with some of the most imaginative, innovative studio work ever. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Mothers of Invention, Brian Wilson, Traffic, Crimson, Hendrix Experience.
Forty one minutes.... Woo Hoo! Btw... Love your outfit, Nancy. 5:48 Jane Asher's mom cannot be happy with that picture. There has to be a better picture of her out there... 20:56 I'm so glad you featured this clip of John praising George Martin - because there were other times when he put him down. This track was originally listed as "Mark I" on the early takes. "The way it sneaks up on you." Well said. "An unfamiliar... even slightly ominous sound." For me - it wasn't ominous - it was "Hmmm... what's this sound - and where is this going?" (unfamiliar - is right for me). "And then, BAM!, the drums and the bass come in. And they're so powerful; they just completely knock you sideways." Excellent description. I like your description of John's vocal as "very liquid... very malleable" The lyrics are great... but John took a lot of them pretty much directly from the book ("The Psychedelic Experience") which took them from the "Tibetan Book of the Dead". 28:40 Great job of blending the two songs together. Nice work, editor Nancy. This could have been in the "Love" production. This track is a piece of art. It all works so great... every part of it. "Rev-9" comes off as amateurish nonsense - like something a high school kid could have put together. Nice job showing that the guitar in this track - is not the same one from "Taxman" played backwards. Agree totally with your take on the way they start with John's basic vocal - and then change it to the "Leslied" John vocal mid way through the track - and how that works so well. "It feels like it could have come out any time between 1966 and now." Yes... that has been true all during that entire period. It holds up perfectly. "John feels kind of under represented in that respect on the album... but I love that he gets the big finish." This track definitely deserved "the big finish". Talking about John being under represented... on the 1966 U.S. version of the "Revolver" album - we got just TWO of John's songs ("She Said She Said" and "Tomorrow Never Knows"). He got just the last song on each side. Here is the track listing of that 1966 U.S. "Revolver" album... Side One: 1. Taxman 2. Eleanor Rigby 3. Love You To 4. Here, There And Everywhere 4. Yellow Submarine 5. She Said She Said Side Two: 1. Good Day Sunshine 2. For No One 3. I Want To Tell You 4. Got To Get You Into My Life 5. Tomorrow Never Knows. Three of John's songs had been placed on the previous U.S. Beatles album (titled "Yesterday... and Today") that was released in the U.S. on June 15th, 1966. "I'm Only Sleeping", "Dr. Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" were on this LP in the U.S and not on the "Revolver" LP. The U.S. "Revolver" LP came out just 55 days after the "Yesterday... and Today" LP came out (on August 9th, 1966). "It gave artists license to be weird." Yes... vert well said. And experimental. They did play one track live in 1966 that was recorded from this "Revolver" recording sessions period... "Paperback Writer". You definitely should be proud of what you have done with each one of these tracks - and this entire album. It is high level work you have done. Very creative, fun, fine tuned, in depth looks at every aspect of every song. Bravo... bravo... bravo! A standing ovation for all you have done. Personally... I think you should always include the singles from each album recording period. I have always placed the single directly in front of the LP on compilations tapes or CDs. They are part of that same project - for me... that definitely belong together. Maybe the possums were just big Beatles fans - and couldn't help but dance to the music. (btw... it sounded like thunder way of in the distance.) Was your grandfather Yogi Berra... by any chance..? I love that bit of piano at the end. I always saw it as a very nice little bite of desert right at the end of such a great meal. Didn't think of it as levity... it just sounded great as the track played out. Made me wonder where it might have developed into if it had continued on...
You're a brilliant content creator and presenter. That you have so relatively few subscribers baffles me. Well researched and cleverly written, your vids not only scratch the itch for celebrity revelations, but also provide innovative connections and insights that don't appear elsewhere. Well done you. Carry on creating.
As somebody who is 75 and experienced the Beatle albums as each was released. One of the effects that it had on me was the acceptance of Indian music and learn to love Ravi Shankar. You are brilliant please come to Cornwall in the UK you would be very welcomed.
I was eleven years old when my parents gave me my first Walkman...tape, no CDs yet. I listened to The Beatles for hours, and I learned a lot of English by listening to them. One day, I heard that track and, as you said, my mind was blown. I am pretty sure that Revolver as a whole influenced my taste in music. From that day on, The Beatles were the bar that very few other musicians could get close to, let alone reach. Even now, I think they are underrated because so many people are unaware of how truly influential they have been since then.
Brilliant! Thankyou! I was so lucky to be 13 in 1963. My gardening jobs paid for all the Beatles,Stones,Dylan albums as soon as they came out. And then Jimi,the Dead,Velvets,Beefheart,Zappa,till I arrived at Uni with a killer collection. Bach,Flamenco,BluesJazz, Motown.Music,and playing amateur guitar,has been central to my life. Life without music is unimaginable. But after age 30(1980) I didn't like much new stuff at all, especially Rap. Now the top ten on Spottify is just corporate junk. So now it's Bach,Jazz,World Music, And rarely,because the nostalgia is so bitter sweet, the old favourites like Revolver or Blonde on Blonde,that have stood the test of time,may get played Hope you are interested to know what kind of people are your fans. I'm a retired archaeologist and socialist from Norwich,England. Keep up the good work!
Wow. Thank you. Revolver, over time, had already become my favorite in the catalogue. This in-depth journey deepened my appreciation and understanding of it far beyond what I had ever thought possible. SO cool. So thank you. ❤
"Avant-garde a clue" either. 😅 Also: I'm glad you listened to the British version, a complete version; yet you feel Lennon is underrepresented, when the American release omitted 3 John songs, as I'm sure you're aware: 'Dr. Robert', 'I'm Only Sleeping' and '...Bird Can Sing', which I first heard as the new opening track for season 2 or 3 of the Saturday morning Beatles cartoon show. Played it for Mum, who said, "George is a really good guitarist", a novel notion to my 10-11 year old mind. Loved playing it with either of two bands I had a dozen years apart or acoustic solo, in bars or busking. Cheers 🍻 👏🏼 ✌🏼😊🎶❤️🍁❤️✨️🕊
that mashup was incredible! thank you for this incredible series - i've learned so much about my all-time favourite album and i'm blown away by your dedication to demonstrating and explaining the theory and production of these tracks. some of the best videos i've ever seen on youtube!
Why are you so perfect in your presentation..l love it..a huge Beatles Fan from Australia 🇦🇺 ♥️ you are great as a presenter..and your musicianship is wow 👌 thank you for being you for enthusiasm..perfect
Great presentation! I consider myself fortunate that I grew up experiencing The Beatles in real time. As you said, it must have been incredible hearing their music when it was new. It was. I bought each album when it came out from the first one to the last. I bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" when it first was released. It was something very different from anythng I'd heard before. They were so different they might as well have been from another planet, their sound, hair, clothes, accent, and the fact they were English. There had never been an English rock band or singer that had success in America. A lot of young people don't realize that even the early Beatles records were revolutionary. From the beginning their sound was different, their vocal harmonies, the sound of their guitars and amps, the chord progressions, and the joy and intensity that came off the grooves. I remember being floored the first time I heard "I Feel Fine," "Ticket To Ride," "Rain," etc. When "Rubber Soul" came out it was the first big leap to more serious and adult music and lyrics. It was when their music became art. I'm grateful I took the ride with them through all their records and their life journey, the LSD, meditation, Indian and avant garde music. I'm a musician who actually had a band before The Beatles came out in the U.S. We played Beatle songs along with our other music all throughout the 60s. I went on to record for Capitol Records, The Beatles U.S. label, and other labels in the early 70s. I've also taught classes on the history of The Beatles for the OSHER program at a couple of universities in California. Their music inspires me to this day. I've seen some of your other videos about The Beatles and have enjoyed them. I appreciate your enthusiasm, insight, intelligence, talent, and personality. Keep up the great work! p.s. I'm still performing, recording, and rocking at my advanced age. I just got back from Liverpool where I did three shows.
You never let us down ! What energy ! How fun it is to watch and hear you and it gets better all the time. I feel so lucky to have stumbled on your site !!
Absolutely on target! I was entering college in '66 and had never been terribly interested in the Beatles---although you couldn't avoid hearing them or their songs by some old-style crooner. Revolver was an album without any "dating" songs on it. At the time I thought they were going to lose their fans, but I (and millions of others) started paying more attention. The Beatles had already broken norms of musical form, but this album got rid of the "formula" for lyrical content. A pop song had, up to that time, always been intended as entertainment. But the Beatles 'Part Two' weren't pop stars anymore---they were artists with a following around the world, and they redefined a song as a blank canvas.
Interesting comment.... But I'd disagree and say that there are 3 tracks that could qualify as "dating" songs: "Here, There and Everywhere", "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got To Get You Into My Life". Those 3 songs also played a huge roll in keeping all the original Beatles fans happy with the album... while they may have needed some time to catch up to what was happening with most of the other tracks. I think they always did a great job of finding a way to keep their old fans... while moving forward and creating new sounds that could capture the hearts of new fans.
10:57 In many other universes in the multiverse, that universe's Dick Rowe of Decca turns down the Tremeloes in favour of the Beatles in 1962 and they never meet George Martin. Let us give thanks for living in this universe where they did.
The drum pattern in Tomorrow Never Knows has a few near-precedents in (the chorus of) She Loves You, the start of What You're Doing, and especially Ticket To Ride
Marvellous series. Congrats! For me "Revolver" is the best album The Beatles recorded. "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" would be great, but then you could analyse in depth the most unknown period in their career: the months after they stopped touring and the "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" sessions. Yes, John filmed "How I won the war", Paul travelled to France and Spain and wrote "The Family Way", George travelled to India, but there are only a handful of photographs , and none from the early Pepper sessions, and virtually no public appearances together. Autumn 1966 was key for the band.
What a pleasure your deep dives are! Just a joy from start to finish as is witnessing your soul-deep love of this band - a feeling I share. I had no idea even as a lifelong Beatles (and John) fan about many of the things mentioned. I had assumed the sound was indeed seagulls, and not Paul laughing. I had no idea the title was a Ringo quote, let alone that it was caught on film- and what a great clip. Surprising John remembered that from 2 years earlier given how many inane press conferences the band gave. I could go on and on here about how wonderful your videos are. Thank you thank you thank you.
Bravo! This was so fascinating. I'm a Beatlemaniac and thought I knew everything there is to know about The Fabs, but I learned new facts from this video.
Can I give you a massive thank you for this series of videos. I've known Revolver since I was a tiny child and have loved it throughout (I'm now 47), collecting books and watching whatever I could about it and trying to subtly rip it off on numerous occasions. I thought I'd seen all I needed to on it and there was nothing more to be said but your series proved me wrong. Even though I've read 'the good book', Mr Emerick's tome and many others, your analysis and sheer unbridled joy at all the songs on it over the past months have made it feel as fresh as the first time I remember giving it the full focus of my concentration. Specifically the skill with you dissected the arrangements and chords and presented them in easy to understand ways is deeply fascinating and gave me a warm glow inside. So once again thank you so much, and I will be recommending the series to all the other Beatle people I know. Looking forward to the next series of videos!
"... insecure, too-cool-for-school nonsense..." LOL!!! You are an absolute TREASURE! All of your videos are great, but your Beatles videos are nothing short of revelatory. Please don't stop!
Wow, thankyou so much. My mother went and saw the Beatles when they came to Brisbane and I grew up loving them , still do. That is by far the best video I've seen about them. Radical song? The first one that popped into my mind was Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes which I heard as a kid on the Dr, Demento Show. Thanks again, you are wonderful.
I like Revolution 9, but I have been hearing it since I was born. My dad didn't have Revolver though, so I don't think I heard Tomorrow Never Knows until I was young teen ravenously searching for Beatles songs I had not yet heard. I took a series of Electronic Music Classes in college and love using some of the musique concrète ideas in my music, or just messing with sounds until I come up with something interesting on it's own as a piece.
I've been waiting for this particular video ever since you started your journey on the Revolver Album. Your work is above and beyond any and whatever one could think or expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel. Thank you for the journey. As for your next project ... who are we kidding? There's no way you're going to stop before doing the whole journey from Tomorrow never knows until Her Majesty.
Love your description of what Nancy has been doing as a UA-camr ("above and beyond any and whatever one could expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel.") Very well said. I agree completely.
I remember listening my dads albums from the beatles.abbey road and white album as a kid.and thinking the music was just made then (1980s) .when I dive into their music in my teens I was so surprised the music was already 30 years old!!! A kid now can listen tomorrow never knows and will still fresh and new!! Amazing
Incisive analysis, but with feeling too! 73 year old here, born in Liverpool who began his musical journey aged 11 with The Beatles. And, the thing is, that from their first hit single, throughout their relatively short time together as a group, everything they did was, in some way new. You have to remember the popular music context that they were operating in. Look at what was aired on the radio and TV of the early sixties and you will see how little innovation there was and how the whole scene was jaded and, quite simply, tired and, to the 11 year old that was me, just plain boring. I was 15 when Revolver was issued and listened to it a million times. I still listen to it now and it is still as fresh as ever and I keep finding things in the music that I never remember hearing and appreciating before. Exactly how I feel when I listen to Bach, Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart (and many other 'classical' composers). Their music is transformative, freeing the mind and heightening the senses. The genre doesn't matter. It's simply what the best music does.
Slightly slow start but a tremendous historical analysis of this MONUMENTAL track. The extract of all of the constituent tape loops at 20:00 was amazing to hear. One of the most astounding live performances I ever saw was Los Lobos playing this song live on a TV tribute to The Beatles that aired around 1993. They nailed the vibe perfectly. I loved your insight on whether the Beatles were consciously or inadvertently sampling themselves from prior work. Very cool jacket, by the way.
Excellent comment. I agree whole heartedly about the tape loops portion. She putted that in from about 66 feet away. And that live cover by Los Lobos was very good. I remember it well.
Thanks Fathom. You have produced something extraordinary in this series which ought to be widely (very much more widely) acknowledged and appreciated. But the end of this one thing must be a step toward a new beginning. It is not dying. X ✌️
the applause won't die down for a while nancy. if we consider this as a series it's a flabbergasting amount of work. alongside abby's ABH, and i'll throw in larsland's deeply researched episodes, it's three people tearing up the rule book on what is possible on this platform. if i remain unconvinced R is their greatest ( boo, i know, just after you've crossed the finish line) you have made a convincing argument that this is THE band ( making the band imposters LoL). love you to ( just realized the cleverness of that title: to as opposed to er too) a brilliant video. GTGYIML my fav in the series. there was an eruption in 1969 and it was the radical boom of 21st century schizoid man. free form heavy poetic proggie. imo revolution 9 is part of the monumental structure that is the WA. take out anything away from that building and it falls down. yes i know i'm going on a bit, look i'm going: gone.
Love your take on most everything, Alan... but I can't tell if you were joking on that sentence about "Rev-9" or not. For me... "Rev-9" is the one thing that actually nearly makes the WA building fall down.
@@aBeatleFan4ever i lost my reply to you, had to start again! i know that my position on 9 could be considered idiosyncratic but the labyrinthian strangeness of the white album is one of its prime qualities for me. it doesn't mean i like that track, there are one or two others, but i never skip any of them . the fact that it is hard to get a handle on that album is the charm for me. i mean 9 before goodnight is crazy. always aware of your intelligent appreciation of their music so i know that the point you make is important to you.
@@alanclayton9277 - Alan, I make it a point to listen to the full White Album once a year (on its anniversary)... so I suffer through "Rev-9" once a year. I skip it on any other occasion. It just comes across as a cut and paste project that any high school kid could have stuck together (rather than something worthy of someone as talented as John). I've never understood how John could have ever thought it was so great (drugs?). The rest of the album is the definition of eclectic brilliance.
@@alanclayton9277 I really like Revolution 9. I think it works really well as a sound collage, and it's surprisingly listenable and accessible. I do agree with Nancy that TNK is more original, but until she put forward that argument, I hadn't really considered it. I can still appreciate R9 for what it is. I think it's amazingly subversive that the Beatles just snuck an avant-garde piece into almost every mainstream 60s home. Cheeky.
@@Kieop i probably admire it a little less but i like your response to it, especially the recognition that they were subverting the mainstream. i think the beatles were positioned within popular culture but continually produced 'art' that challenged those restrictions.
Dear Nancy/Fathom, Thanks for all the Beatles analysis, it was GREAT! In the future PLEASE do: Paperback Writer & Rain, Sgt. Pepper & its singles, Magical Mystery Tour & the Yellow Sub. lp (the 4 new tracks), The White Album & the singles of '68 (34 songs!) Get Back/Let It Be with Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of JOhn & Yoko & Old Brown Shoe, and finally Abbey Road! Then start at the beginning and do all the early LPs/singles from Please Please Me to Rubber Soul! That oughta' keep you busy! (You could even ask listeners to give $ and after you get to a certain level you'll do a new Beatles project! See? I'm looking out for 'ya; FATHOMs CATS GOTTA EAT! Love & Best Wishes, Paul
Yes, it's sad that your Revolver video tour has reached its destination. But just like the album itself, you (and we) can pull out those previous videos on UA-cam whenever the craving strikes! This was a great album to scrutinize, and I love the detail--musical and otherwise--that you shared so eloquently. Really: GREAT JOB!
Tomorrow Never Knows is the Beatles most revolutionary song - which is saying a LOT, considering this same band also made Strawberry Fields Forever, and A Day in the Life, and I Want You / She's So Heavy, and the Abbey Road medley, and etc. etc. - but TNN is a song that *still* to this day sounds like it's coming to us from the future.
It certainly was up through 1966... and it may still be. But I have to go with their single... "Revolution" as their most "revolutionary" song. Just me being punny ; )
Another nail on the head. I bought this album when it was released and almost cried after the first listen. It wasn't anything like Rubber Soul. But it did become my favorite album, which I believe is their best. And for giggles, let's through in Paperback Writer and Rain.
Your groovy outfit has forced me to provide u with some moral&emotional support Nancy! And thanx so much for giving us almost 41 min of explanation/analysis/history of my absolute fav Beatles tune!!! btw, at age 15 (1968) I became a muling-member of the BrotherhoodOfTheSun, a TimLeary smuggling/manufacturing/distributing afghani hashish/lsd cult in OrangeCo, Cali... So I KNOW what "groovy" is.
I just saw from the bank that it's a grand tot of 64 cents, USA,@@fathommusicnz, so I'm not sure generosity is the word... Your worth much more than that! (Loved that you had wanted to drop it to ZERO $$$... ☮
In thinking about how to describe your commentaries regarding your reactions to "Tomorrow Never Knows" as well as other "Revolver" tracks, I am struck with a considerable degree of anticapatory anxiety. I am so blown away by every aspect of your presentation that I'm nervous about exhausting my vocabulary of known "superlatives." EVERYTHING---your engaging personality, the scope and depth of your musical, historical, and sociological knowledge, your palpable and visceral appreciation of the greatness of this music, and the uniquely magical era in which it was created---is, in itself, very special and deserving of great appreciation. As someone who is about two generations older than you (I was 7 years old when "Revolver" was released, for example), it amazes me how thoroughly knowledgeable you are about the specifics surrounding the music made DECADES before you were born. I must be honest and acknowledge that I lack the knowledgeable to credibly comment about YOUR knowledge because I have zero musical training. Nevertheless, however, I knew instinctively from a very young age how magical so much of the music of that era really was. When I heard The Beatles on the radio or on records or TV appearances, I literally would often feel shivers running up and down my spine because I felt the magic even well before I could articulate why I felt what I felt. Another thing that I love is how you're able to convey so much knowledge while still being down-to-Earth and unpretentious. I am grateful to have found your channel and am looking forward to your next listening adventures.
What's the most radical song you know?
It’s probably not the most radical, but as far as songs I like a lot, probably the original Vega-Tables by Brian Wilson from SMiLE
Tomorrow Never Knows is the most unprecedented song. They were 23-25 years old and it was 1966. Still insane to consider that
Either IAmTheWalrun or the Doors' TheEnd.
Or, maybe it's Bach's ArtOfTheFugue, or various things by BrianEno?
"I Wanna Rule the World" by 10cc.
4'33
How on Earth do you only have 6K subscribers?! This is by far the best breakdown and analysis I have ever heard of this masterpiece. Your videos are brilliant.
One of the bigger music education/reactors UA-camrs must be introduced to this girl. She is phenomenal!
I was about to say the same thing…..the absolute best Beatles related youtube video I have seen.
Agreed. Drives me nuts that those who really deserve the attention aren’t getting it. This channel rules.
I love your channel because I learn things I've never thought of and because you are a great, great, story teller.
You are so right. The videos are equally fun and educational.
You are a great joy to watch and listen to. The God of Music sent you to us! What a wonderful mind you have! I will watch every video you make. Thank you!
Lovely comment
Best video retro/perspective on Tomorrow Never Knows I’ve seen or read.
Yes
Absolutely Brilliant. I love your enthusiasm and in depth analysis. I even got slightly emotional listening to you today. You nailed it! Anyone who says they hate the Beatles don’t have a clue what they’re talking about!
Nice comment.
Can't wait to hear you talk about "Rain"! (The Beatles song)
I'd even look forward to hearing Nancy talk about rain (the weather).
I'm one of those people who encountered "Revolver" upon its release, and you;re right, none of us had any idea how those soundscapes were generated. But it's worth mentioning that despite the music's challenging nature, the masses embraced it instantly. An important aspect of the Beatles' genius is that however bold their experimentation, they never left their audience behind. Either they knew just how far to push things, or they knew to include elements that anchored the listener.
PLEASE do more Beatles! PLEASE do more Beatles! The band and your love for them lift my spirits!
Me too.
I love the scene from Mad Men when Don Draper listens to Tomorrow Never Knows. It changed the world he thought he knew. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to hear this revolutionary song for the first time back in 1966. It is in my Top 5 list of favorite Beatles songs. I love listening to it at night, when it is nice and dark, through headphones. It is a trip with having to drop acid. You brilliantly take us through this wonderland with your insight and humor. You are a national treasure!
@nolarobert Good call on the Mad Men scene! The fact John had this and Strawberry Fields Forever in the same year is mind blowing(amongst all the others) Would you give my album Separate Checks by A Keithing a listen? I swear you'll love it!
@nolarobert I was 15 when I heard this track for the first time in 1966. It was like entering another universe. Never heard anything remotely like it before and I must have played it over and over thousands of times. Even now at 73, when I listen to it, I get goose bumps just like the first time I played it. It's truly timeless.
Did you mean to write... "It is a trip without having to drop acid." You left out the "out" in "without". Or am I misreading what you meant..?
@@robinholland1136 I first heard it in 1996 when I was 15 and did the same for me!
Isn't it amazing that at the time where most, if not all, other producers would have shot down an idea like this, they had stumbled on probably the... only? person in the world to not only accept but actively help them with this - as we've seen, with experience both with tape loops and electronic music. And to boot, he'd gone independent just a few months earlier so he was both intimately familiar with the EMI studio and now also free from any responsibility other than keeping the Beatles as clients to his new company (AIR).
Great comment.
11:30 mention of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, vs 33:53 "It established a precedent for the kind of experiment that, up until this point, was unique to these very specific circles of artsy people, to go mainstream".
For British audiences, the Radiophonic Workshop had done quite a lot to bring experimental musical techniques into the mainstream, because its sole function was to provide unusual sound, including music, to be broadcast on the BBC. The _Doctor Who_ theme tune from 1963 is the most internationally famous (along with the musique concrète sound of the TARDIS), but the Workshop provided huge numbers of little pieces which featured on both TV and radio, some sounding deceptively conventional, others truly weird.
This ties nicely with the fact that the BBC Sound Effects Archive has just been made free to access by the public in the last few days.
I've always believed "The Doctor Who" theme to be significant as it brought exposure to these wonderful sounds every week at peak viewing times.
One of the best writings about TNK. Thank you so much!
Yeah, Revolver. It was for years my favourite Beatles album...then for a while maybe not...but now (again) it's just so clearly their absolutely giant creative step. This track never dates, and what I especially love about it (combined with all the amazingly fresh and original sounds and the driving beat) is how 'melodic' it still is. All those random / backwards / processed sounds are incredibly...tuneful? Who but The Beatles (and George Martin) could do that?
I am one of those who heard this with no 'modern' experience (I was 16 when it was released), and while this track was puzzling, it was also accessible - maybe because it was The Beatles and you trusted them? The whole album was an electric trip of different sounds, rhythms, images, with a sound quality/character/texture like nothing we had heard before. Even then, though I had no idea what 'production' was, the production was astounding, mesmerizing - maybe the most noticeable aspect of the album. You could say we didn’t know what we were listening to, but we knew it was something new and important.
I still feel that way about it. To me there was 'before Revolver', then 'Revolver - Pepper - White', and finally 'Abbey Road'.
Yeah, Revolver. Thanks so much for this - a really absorbing analysis and summary!
Enjoyed your comment.
Your work on this album has been brilliant and insightful, entertaining and fun, so it’s a big thank you from me. Over-familiarity with something (or someone!) can often mean you take it for granted and become complacent about what made it so great in the first place. As a musician myself, it was like listening to the album with a fresh pair of ears - you made me think about things I’d not given much thought to for a long time, if ever. Thank you and keep going!
This is such a great comment. Well said.
You have a real genius in understanding how the music came together, thank you.
Nice comment.
A fantastic video as always. And I love your jacket. It's almost worth it just for the jacket.
Also, I had no idea there was actual film of Ringo saying "Tomorrow never knows!"
Lovely comment. Her jacket (and her whole look) is A+++.
Wow!! This has been by far the most in depth analysis I have ever experienced around any Beatles record and it has been a fantastic experience. THANK YOU!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I have looked forward to each song/episode with great anticipation. This series of video's deserves to be put out in a box set just like Apple keeps doing with all of The Beatles albums. This must have been a labor of love for you, because it is so elaborate. You turned over every stone from the Sitar player to your unbelievable plastic horn section on "Got To Get You Into". I don't know how you managed to figure out the harmony parts to that, but it sounds to this musicians ear that you did it beautifully. I got this album when it came out in 1966 for my 9th birthday. As a 9 year old, I wasn't ready for "Tomorrow Never Knows". It sounded quite radical to a kid that was used to the songs I had been hearing them come out with since they first hit my country (the US) in early 1964 and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" I had to grow into that one. Today it is my favorite Beatles track and although it has fluctuated over the years, Revolver has been my favorite album of theirs for quite a long time now. At different times it was St. Pepper, later it was Abbey Road.....except for that damn "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" that album is a masterpiece as well as a masterclass in arranging and production. But yes, the Paperback Writer/Rain single would be a nice epilogue to this series since those two songs were part of these sessions if you are not to burned out at this point. Thank you so very much again. And yes, from the moment I saw them on television that first time, I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life....and have done so.
Agreed! I didn't begin to grok this song until 1968, when age 14 I began eating acid.
I will never understand how a big Beatles fan can dislike "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". It may be the best comedic song ever made. It's beautifully crafted and perfectly executed.
Well, if you don't want it to end just yet... The Beatles recorded two more tracks during the sessions - Paperback Writer and Rain.
Yes
That fact would be outstanding, but hey, they did it again and again and again. Genius es!
I'm sad your Revolver phase is over, too--though deeply grateful for all your insights. I'd love to see what you'd do with any other Beatle album.
Be grateful we got to experience all that Nancy gave us with her "Revolver" coverage. Don't be sad... be glad.
There will be more Beatles from Nancy. The girl can't help it. ; )
What a brilliant finish to a brilliant series. Thank you. As a new Beatles fan in the mid '70s I was frustrated that Revolver wasn't in the shops. It took on a kind of spectral status for me. I knew the famous songs from it but nothing else. A friend of my sister had an original UK mono pressing and borrowed it for me to tape. The whole thing was a stunning thrill and then there was this song. I just had no idea what I was listening to; weird sounds, more backwards instruments, instrumental breaks that didn't sound like instruments and a strange vocal that talked about being dead (but not like She Said She Said) and then it ends with this overheard tack piano and silence. Silence was all I could manage ... until I got up, turned the disc back over and listened to the whole thing again. So, again, many thanks for a great scholarly and celebratory journey through this giant of a record.
Thankyou for a brilliant analysis, illustration, creative endeavor and expert musical understanding and appreciation! Wonderfully put together and explained - this is quality fine art in itself. Congratulations on presenting what many (ie I) consider to be the greatest album ever produced by anyone ever!
Lovely comment.
Brava! This entire project was awesome. Keep going! Keep going!
Yes
Marvellous! You saved the best for last -- the best song from Revolver, and your best breakdown. I hadn't known about Ray Cathode: that was a revelation. As was the absolutely inspired mash-up of Got To Get You Into My Life and Tomorrow Never Knows. What a gift to the world this song has been, and what a gift your series is.
Great comment. Love that last line.
I can turn off my mind relax and float downstream listening to your brilliant analysis. Merci Beauchamp. ❤
Nicely said.
Such excellent analysis and commentary on the Beatles. I'm almost jealous of your intellectual power in discussing these songs. Look forward to your next Beatles video! Also love the ones with your sister! Just a side note, your jacket is awesome!
Second all of THIS!
Thank you! Very easy to make: just upend a bunch of test pots of house paint on it.
Completely agree.
BTW Full Front Noodle would be an EXCELLENT band name!
Funny stuff.
One more comment... The Beatles recorded "Love Me Do" in early September of 1962. They recorded "Tomorrow Never Knows " in early April of 1966.
That was just 3 years and 7 months later. Probably the greatest development by any band ever in such a short period of time from the beginning of their recording career.
An astonishing achievement by these 4 lads - with a little help from their friends.
I am also sad. What a great series. And you saved the best part for the end. Loved it, thank you.
Nice comment.
This is the best, most thorough breakdown of this song I've yet to hear. Thank you. It's still one of the single most brilliant, innovative, groundbreaking tracks I've ever heard. That stretch of '66-'69 was insanely productive with some of the most imaginative, innovative studio work ever. The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Mothers of Invention, Brian Wilson, Traffic, Crimson, Hendrix Experience.
Forty one minutes.... Woo Hoo! Btw... Love your outfit, Nancy.
5:48 Jane Asher's mom cannot be happy with that picture. There has to be a better picture of her out there...
20:56 I'm so glad you featured this clip of John praising George Martin - because there were other times when he put him down.
This track was originally listed as "Mark I" on the early takes.
"The way it sneaks up on you." Well said.
"An unfamiliar... even slightly ominous sound." For me - it wasn't ominous - it was "Hmmm... what's this sound - and where is this going?" (unfamiliar - is right for me).
"And then, BAM!, the drums and the bass come in. And they're so powerful; they just completely knock you sideways." Excellent description.
I like your description of John's vocal as "very liquid... very malleable"
The lyrics are great... but John took a lot of them pretty much directly from the book ("The Psychedelic Experience") which took them from the "Tibetan Book of the Dead".
28:40 Great job of blending the two songs together. Nice work, editor Nancy. This could have been in the "Love" production.
This track is a piece of art. It all works so great... every part of it. "Rev-9" comes off as amateurish nonsense - like something a high school kid could have put together.
Nice job showing that the guitar in this track - is not the same one from "Taxman" played backwards.
Agree totally with your take on the way they start with John's basic vocal - and then change it to the "Leslied" John vocal mid way through the track - and how that works so well.
"It feels like it could have come out any time between 1966 and now." Yes... that has been true all during that entire period. It holds up perfectly.
"John feels kind of under represented in that respect on the album... but I love that he gets the big finish." This track definitely deserved "the big finish". Talking about John being under represented... on the 1966 U.S. version of the "Revolver" album - we got just TWO of John's songs ("She Said She Said" and "Tomorrow Never Knows"). He got just the last song on each side. Here is the track listing of that 1966 U.S. "Revolver" album... Side One: 1. Taxman 2. Eleanor Rigby 3. Love You To 4. Here, There And Everywhere 4. Yellow Submarine 5. She Said She Said Side Two: 1. Good Day Sunshine 2. For No One 3. I Want To Tell You 4. Got To Get You Into My Life 5. Tomorrow Never Knows. Three of John's songs had been placed on the previous U.S. Beatles album (titled "Yesterday... and Today") that was released in the U.S. on June 15th, 1966. "I'm Only Sleeping", "Dr. Robert" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" were on this LP in the U.S and not on the "Revolver" LP. The U.S. "Revolver" LP came out just 55 days after the "Yesterday... and Today" LP came out (on August 9th, 1966).
"It gave artists license to be weird." Yes... vert well said. And experimental.
They did play one track live in 1966 that was recorded from this "Revolver" recording sessions period... "Paperback Writer".
You definitely should be proud of what you have done with each one of these tracks - and this entire album. It is high level work you have done. Very creative, fun, fine tuned, in depth looks at every aspect of every song. Bravo... bravo... bravo! A standing ovation for all you have done.
Personally... I think you should always include the singles from each album recording period. I have always placed the single directly in front of the LP on compilations tapes or CDs. They are part of that same project - for me... that definitely belong together.
Maybe the possums were just big Beatles fans - and couldn't help but dance to the music. (btw... it sounded like thunder way of in the distance.)
Was your grandfather Yogi Berra... by any chance..?
I love that bit of piano at the end. I always saw it as a very nice little bite of desert right at the end of such a great meal. Didn't think of it as levity... it just sounded great as the track played out. Made me wonder where it might have developed into if it had continued on...
You're a brilliant content creator and presenter. That you have so relatively few subscribers baffles me. Well researched and cleverly written, your vids not only scratch the itch for celebrity revelations, but also provide innovative connections and insights that don't appear elsewhere. Well done you. Carry on creating.
Lovely comment. Nicely stated.
As somebody who is 75 and experienced the Beatle albums as each was released. One of the effects that it had on me was the acceptance of Indian music and learn to love Ravi Shankar. You are brilliant please come to Cornwall in the UK you would be very welcomed.
I believe Nancy would be very welcome... everywhere in the Beatle universe.
I was eleven years old when my parents gave me my first Walkman...tape, no CDs yet. I listened to The Beatles for hours, and I learned a lot of English by listening to them. One day, I heard that track and, as you said, my mind was blown. I am pretty sure that Revolver as a whole influenced my taste in music. From that day on, The Beatles were the bar that very few other musicians could get close to, let alone reach. Even now, I think they are underrated because so many people are unaware of how truly influential they have been since then.
Excellent comment. Love that last sentence especially.
Brilliant! Thankyou! I was so lucky to be 13 in 1963. My gardening jobs paid for all the Beatles,Stones,Dylan albums as soon as they came out. And then Jimi,the Dead,Velvets,Beefheart,Zappa,till I arrived at Uni with a killer collection. Bach,Flamenco,BluesJazz, Motown.Music,and playing amateur guitar,has been central to my life.
Life without music is unimaginable.
But after age 30(1980) I didn't like much new stuff at all, especially Rap. Now the top ten on Spottify is just corporate junk.
So now it's Bach,Jazz,World Music,
And rarely,because the nostalgia is so bitter sweet, the old favourites like Revolver or Blonde on Blonde,that have stood the test of time,may get played
Hope you are interested to know what kind of people are your fans. I'm a retired archaeologist and socialist from Norwich,England.
Keep up the good work!
Always love to hear from retired socialist archaeologists from Norwich! Thanks for watching. :)
Brilliant is probably the best one word description - for what Nancy is doing.
@@fathommusicnz - Me too. Probably my favorite group of UA-cam commentors.
That Tomorrow Never Get You Into My Life song sounds pretty cool.
Yes it did!
Thank you for another great video!! Excellent!!👏👏👏
omg that mashup sounded so fucking sick PLEASE upload it on its own, Miss Fathom!
Yes it was so good. And I love that you called her... "Miss Fathom". ; )
Wow.
Thank you.
Revolver, over time, had already become my favorite in the catalogue. This in-depth journey deepened my appreciation and understanding of it far beyond what I had ever thought possible. SO cool.
So thank you. ❤
I love your passion but I’m amazed at the quality and insight of your analysis of the Beatles music.
love your work
Nice comment.
"Avant-garde a clue" either. 😅
Also: I'm glad you listened to the British version, a complete version; yet you feel Lennon is underrepresented, when the American release omitted 3 John songs, as I'm sure you're aware: 'Dr. Robert', 'I'm Only Sleeping' and '...Bird Can Sing', which I first heard as the new opening track for season 2 or 3 of the Saturday morning Beatles cartoon show. Played it for Mum, who said, "George is a really good guitarist", a novel notion to my 10-11 year old mind. Loved playing it with either of two bands I had a dozen years apart or acoustic solo, in bars or busking. Cheers 🍻 👏🏼
✌🏼😊🎶❤️🍁❤️✨️🕊
that mashup was incredible! thank you for this incredible series - i've learned so much about my all-time favourite album and i'm blown away by your dedication to demonstrating and explaining the theory and production of these tracks. some of the best videos i've ever seen on youtube!
Yes. I agree with every word.
Why are you so perfect in your presentation..l love it..a huge Beatles Fan from Australia 🇦🇺 ♥️ you are great as a presenter..and your musicianship is wow 👌 thank you for being you for enthusiasm..perfect
Great presentation! I consider myself fortunate that I grew up experiencing The Beatles in real time. As you said, it must have been incredible hearing their music when it was new. It was. I bought each album when it came out from the first one to the last. I bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" when it first was released. It was something very different from anythng I'd heard before. They were so different they might as well have been from another planet, their sound, hair, clothes, accent, and the fact they were English. There had never been an English rock band or singer that had success in America. A lot of young people don't realize that even the early Beatles records were revolutionary. From the beginning their sound was different, their vocal harmonies, the sound of their guitars and amps, the chord progressions, and the joy and intensity that came off the grooves. I remember being floored the first time I heard "I Feel Fine," "Ticket To Ride," "Rain," etc. When "Rubber Soul" came out it was the first big leap to more serious and adult music and lyrics. It was when their music became art. I'm grateful I took the ride with them through all their records and their life journey, the LSD, meditation, Indian and avant garde music. I'm a musician who actually had a band before The Beatles came out in the U.S. We played Beatle songs along with our other music all throughout the 60s. I went on to record for Capitol Records, The Beatles U.S. label, and other labels in the early 70s. I've also taught classes on the history of The Beatles for the OSHER program at a couple of universities in California. Their music inspires me to this day. I've seen some of your other videos about The Beatles and have enjoyed them. I appreciate your enthusiasm, insight, intelligence, talent, and personality. Keep up the great work! p.s. I'm still performing, recording, and rocking at my advanced age. I just got back from Liverpool where I did three shows.
What an inspiration! I hope I'm still playing in bands when I'm older. What was the name of your band?
You never let us down ! What energy ! How fun it is to watch and hear you and it gets better all the time. I feel so lucky to have stumbled on your site !!
Absolutely on target! I was entering college in '66 and had never been terribly interested in the Beatles---although you couldn't avoid hearing them or their songs by some old-style crooner. Revolver was an album without any "dating" songs on it. At the time I thought they were going to lose their fans, but I (and millions of others) started paying more attention. The Beatles had already broken norms of musical form, but this album got rid of the "formula" for lyrical content. A pop song had, up to that time, always been intended as entertainment. But the Beatles 'Part Two' weren't pop stars anymore---they were artists with a following around the world, and they redefined a song as a blank canvas.
Interesting comment.... But I'd disagree and say that there are 3 tracks that could qualify as "dating" songs: "Here, There and Everywhere", "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got To Get You Into My Life". Those 3 songs also played a huge roll in keeping all the original Beatles fans happy with the album... while they may have needed some time to catch up to what was happening with most of the other tracks. I think they always did a great job of finding a way to keep their old fans... while moving forward and creating new sounds that could capture the hearts of new fans.
"insecure, too cool for school, soft boy nonsense... Process your envy elsewhere"
Awww YES. THANK YOU
YOU ARE THE BEST THING ON THE INTERNET. PERIOD!
10:57 In many other universes in the multiverse, that universe's Dick Rowe of Decca turns down the Tremeloes in favour of the Beatles in 1962 and they never meet George Martin. Let us give thanks for living in this universe where they did.
Great comment!
Yes!
So many things had to come together (pun intended) just right in their story.
BRILLIANT!!
What a great presentation!!
Deepest dive EVER into a Beatles song! Excellent insights. Subscribed.
The drum pattern in Tomorrow Never Knows has a few near-precedents in (the chorus of) She Loves You, the start of What You're Doing, and especially Ticket To Ride
Nice comment.
I love your analysis and passion, keep it up please.
Yes
Brilliant video and such an epic audio journey 😎🎶
Marvellous series. Congrats! For me "Revolver" is the best album The Beatles recorded. "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" would be great, but then you could analyse in depth the most unknown period in their career: the months after they stopped touring and the "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane" sessions. Yes, John filmed "How I won the war", Paul travelled to France and Spain and wrote "The Family Way", George travelled to India, but there are only a handful of photographs , and none from the early Pepper sessions, and virtually no public appearances together. Autumn 1966 was key for the band.
It was the overall sound we listened to and liked. We didn't try to analyse each individual sound. It was the Beatles that's all. Wonderful.❤
What a pleasure your deep dives are! Just a joy from start to finish as is witnessing your soul-deep love of this band - a feeling I share. I had no idea even as a lifelong Beatles (and John) fan about many of the things mentioned. I had assumed the sound was indeed seagulls, and not Paul laughing. I had no idea the title was a Ringo quote, let alone that it was caught on film- and what a great clip. Surprising John remembered that from 2 years earlier given how many inane press conferences the band gave. I could go on and on here about how wonderful your videos are. Thank you thank you thank you.
This was so much fun to listen to. Even having read the books, seen the videos etc., you tell this in such a compelling way. Thank you for sharing!
Fantastic. Insightful, entertaining, witty. I loved this.
What a great dissection of TNK. Lots of things I never really heard before.
Nice comment.
Yesssss to this amazing video. Gods of the UA-cam Algorithm, please start showing Fathom in a million feeds.
You are my favorite UA-cam reviewer! I'm always overjoyed to see new videos from you. I'm never disappointed either.
Joseph in Philadelphia PA USA
Me too.
This was the album that cemented the Beatles as musical GIANTS. And they never came down.
Yes.... absolutely agree.
This is a phenomenal channel. Thank you for all the analysis you put into your videos. Very entertaining.
why did i cry at the end? thanks, nancy! can't wait to see what you will get up to next.
Love this video 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Bravo! This was so fascinating. I'm a Beatlemaniac and thought I knew everything there is to know about The Fabs, but I learned new facts from this video.
Nice comment.
If I could give a standing ovation in the comments I would. Or did I?
I did.
👏👏👏👏✊🏻✊🏻
✌️
Well stated..brilliant 🎉❤
Can I give you a massive thank you for this series of videos. I've known Revolver since I was a tiny child and have loved it throughout (I'm now 47), collecting books and watching whatever I could about it and trying to subtly rip it off on numerous occasions. I thought I'd seen all I needed to on it and there was nothing more to be said but your series proved me wrong. Even though I've read 'the good book', Mr Emerick's tome and many others, your analysis and sheer unbridled joy at all the songs on it over the past months have made it feel as fresh as the first time I remember giving it the full focus of my concentration. Specifically the skill with you dissected the arrangements and chords and presented them in easy to understand ways is deeply fascinating and gave me a warm glow inside.
So once again thank you so much, and I will be recommending the series to all the other Beatle people I know. Looking forward to the next series of videos!
"... insecure, too-cool-for-school nonsense..." LOL!!! You are an absolute TREASURE! All of your videos are great, but your Beatles videos are nothing short of revelatory. Please don't stop!
Wow, thankyou so much. My mother went and saw the Beatles when they came to Brisbane and I grew up loving them , still do. That is by far the best video I've seen about them. Radical song? The first one that popped into my mind was Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes which I heard as a kid on the Dr, Demento Show. Thanks again, you are wonderful.
"Avant guard a clue" ,,, priceless
Agreed.
👏George 👏
I like Revolution 9, but I have been hearing it since I was born. My dad didn't have Revolver though, so I don't think I heard Tomorrow Never Knows until I was young teen ravenously searching for Beatles songs I had not yet heard.
I took a series of Electronic Music Classes in college and love using some of the musique concrète ideas in my music, or just messing with sounds until I come up with something interesting on it's own as a piece.
This deserves more views. Many, many more
Killer documentary on this masterpiece of a song!!
Yes
"Give him the time of day, but take it with a grain of salt" - brilliant wordsmithing, Lennonesque! (Just watching again, picking up things I missed!)
That was brilliant!
Brilliant is a fantastic one word description.
You've out done yourself again ! I think this is your Beatles analysis masterpiece.
Lovely comment.
I've been waiting for this particular video ever since you started your journey on the Revolver Album. Your work is above and beyond any and whatever one could think or expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel. Thank you for the journey. As for your next project ... who are we kidding? There's no way you're going to stop before doing the whole journey from Tomorrow never knows until Her Majesty.
Love your description of what Nancy has been doing as a UA-camr ("above and beyond any and whatever one could expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel.")
Very well said. I agree completely.
I, truly, appreciate the effort you put into your videos. Just terrific work! Thank you.
Agreed.
I remember listening my dads albums from the beatles.abbey road and white album as a kid.and thinking the music was just made then (1980s) .when I dive into their music in my teens I was so surprised the music was already 30 years old!!! A kid now can listen tomorrow never knows and will still fresh and new!! Amazing
Yes
Thanks for the absolute master class on Revolver over the last months...
Nice comment.
Incisive analysis, but with feeling too! 73 year old here, born in Liverpool who began his musical journey aged 11 with The Beatles. And, the thing is, that from their first hit single, throughout their relatively short time together as a group, everything they did was, in some way new. You have to remember the popular music context that they were operating in. Look at what was aired on the radio and TV of the early sixties and you will see how little innovation there was and how the whole scene was jaded and, quite simply, tired and, to the 11 year old that was me, just plain boring.
I was 15 when Revolver was issued and listened to it a million times. I still listen to it now and it is still as fresh as ever and I keep finding things in the music that I never remember hearing and appreciating before. Exactly how I feel when I listen to Bach, Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart (and many other 'classical' composers). Their music is transformative, freeing the mind and heightening the senses. The genre doesn't matter. It's simply what the best music does.
Super comment.
I loved this! I am going back to see the previous vids in this series. Thanks‼️
That will be time well spent. Enjoy!
I absolutely love you!!
Me too.
Slightly slow start but a tremendous historical analysis of this MONUMENTAL track. The extract of all of the constituent tape loops at 20:00 was amazing to hear. One of the most astounding live performances I ever saw was Los Lobos playing this song live on a TV tribute to The Beatles that aired around 1993. They nailed the vibe perfectly. I loved your insight on whether the Beatles were consciously or inadvertently sampling themselves from prior work. Very cool jacket, by the way.
Excellent comment. I agree whole heartedly about the tape loops portion. She putted that in from about 66 feet away.
And that live cover by Los Lobos was very good. I remember it well.
Thanks Fathom. You have produced something extraordinary in this series which ought to be widely (very much more widely) acknowledged and appreciated.
But the end of this one thing must be a step toward a new beginning. It is not dying.
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the applause won't die down for a while nancy. if we consider this as a series it's a flabbergasting amount of work. alongside abby's ABH, and i'll throw in larsland's deeply researched episodes, it's three people tearing up the rule book on what is possible on this platform.
if i remain unconvinced R is their greatest ( boo, i know, just after you've crossed the finish line) you have made a convincing argument that this is THE band ( making the band imposters LoL). love you to ( just realized the cleverness of that title: to as opposed to er too) a brilliant video. GTGYIML my fav in the series.
there was an eruption in 1969 and it was the radical boom of 21st century schizoid man. free form heavy poetic proggie.
imo revolution 9 is part of the monumental structure that is the WA. take out anything away from that building and it falls down.
yes i know i'm going on a bit, look i'm going: gone.
Love your take on most everything, Alan... but I can't tell if you were joking on that sentence about "Rev-9" or not.
For me... "Rev-9" is the one thing that actually nearly makes the WA building fall down.
@@aBeatleFan4ever i lost my reply to you, had to start again! i know that my position on 9 could be considered idiosyncratic but the labyrinthian strangeness of the white album is one of its prime qualities for me. it doesn't mean i like that track, there are one or two others, but i never skip any of them . the fact that it is hard to get a handle on that album is the charm for me. i mean 9 before goodnight is crazy.
always aware of your intelligent appreciation of their music so i know that the point you make is important to you.
@@alanclayton9277 - Alan, I make it a point to listen to the full White Album once a year (on its anniversary)... so I suffer through "Rev-9" once a year. I skip it on any other occasion. It just comes across as a cut and paste project that any high school kid could have stuck together (rather than something worthy of someone as talented as John). I've never understood how John could have ever thought it was so great (drugs?).
The rest of the album is the definition of eclectic brilliance.
@@alanclayton9277 I really like Revolution 9. I think it works really well as a sound collage, and it's surprisingly listenable and accessible. I do agree with Nancy that TNK is more original, but until she put forward that argument, I hadn't really considered it. I can still appreciate R9 for what it is. I think it's amazingly subversive that the Beatles just snuck an avant-garde piece into almost every mainstream 60s home. Cheeky.
@@Kieop i probably admire it a little less but i like your response to it, especially the recognition that they were subverting the mainstream. i think the beatles were positioned within popular culture but continually produced 'art' that challenged those restrictions.
Excvellent analysis and research. A real pleasure to listen to.
what a fantastic video, as always. i learned so much. thank you!!
Dear Nancy/Fathom,
Thanks for all the Beatles analysis, it was GREAT!
In the future PLEASE do:
Paperback Writer & Rain,
Sgt. Pepper & its singles,
Magical Mystery Tour & the Yellow Sub. lp (the 4 new tracks),
The White Album & the singles of '68 (34 songs!)
Get Back/Let It Be with Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of JOhn & Yoko & Old Brown Shoe,
and finally Abbey Road!
Then start at the beginning and do all the early LPs/singles from
Please Please Me to Rubber Soul! That oughta' keep you busy!
(You could even ask listeners to give $ and after you get to a certain level you'll do a new Beatles project! See? I'm looking out for 'ya; FATHOMs CATS GOTTA EAT!
Love & Best Wishes, Paul
Nice comment.
Yes, it's sad that your Revolver video tour has reached its destination. But just like the album itself, you (and we) can pull out those previous videos on UA-cam whenever the craving strikes! This was a great album to scrutinize, and I love the detail--musical and otherwise--that you shared so eloquently. Really: GREAT JOB!
Tomorrow Never Knows is the Beatles most revolutionary song - which is saying a LOT, considering this same band also made Strawberry Fields Forever, and A Day in the Life, and I Want You / She's So Heavy, and the Abbey Road medley, and etc. etc. - but TNN is a song that *still* to this day sounds like it's coming to us from the future.
It certainly was up through 1966... and it may still be.
But I have to go with their single... "Revolution" as their most "revolutionary" song. Just me being punny ; )
This is the first time I have seen you but not the last. Your comments are interesting and beautifully delivered.
Beautiful comment.
Great video!!! 👏👏👏
Yes
You're so good at what you do. I'm glad you're here.
Another nail on the head. I bought this album when it was released and almost cried after the first listen. It wasn't anything like Rubber Soul. But it did become my favorite album, which I believe is their best. And for giggles, let's through in Paperback Writer and Rain.
Excellent video, thank you🥂
Yes
Your groovy outfit has forced me to provide u with some moral&emotional support Nancy!
And thanx so much for giving us almost 41 min of explanation/analysis/history of my absolute fav Beatles tune!!!
btw, at age 15 (1968) I became a muling-member of the BrotherhoodOfTheSun, a TimLeary smuggling/manufacturing/distributing afghani hashish/lsd cult in OrangeCo, Cali... So I KNOW what "groovy" is.
Haha, that's a great anecdote, Fred! And thank you for your generosity. 🙏
I just saw from the bank that it's a grand tot of 64 cents, USA,@@fathommusicnz, so I'm not sure generosity is the word... Your worth much more than that! (Loved that you had wanted to drop it to ZERO $$$... ☮
Groovy comment... and thanks for supporting Nancy. She deserves it.
In thinking about how to describe your commentaries regarding your reactions to "Tomorrow Never Knows" as well as other "Revolver" tracks, I am struck with a considerable degree of anticapatory anxiety. I am so blown away by every aspect of your presentation that I'm nervous about exhausting my vocabulary of known "superlatives."
EVERYTHING---your engaging personality, the scope and depth of your musical, historical, and sociological knowledge, your palpable and visceral appreciation of the greatness of this music, and the uniquely magical era in which it was created---is, in itself, very special and deserving of great appreciation.
As someone who is about two generations older than you (I was 7 years old when "Revolver" was released, for example), it amazes me how thoroughly knowledgeable you are about the specifics surrounding the music made DECADES before you were born.
I must be honest and acknowledge that I lack the knowledgeable to credibly comment about YOUR knowledge because I have zero musical training. Nevertheless, however, I knew instinctively from a very young age how magical so much of the music of that era really was.
When I heard The Beatles on the radio or on records or TV appearances, I literally would often feel shivers running up and down my spine because I felt the magic even well before I could articulate why I felt what I felt.
Another thing that I love is how you're able to convey so much knowledge while still being down-to-Earth and unpretentious. I am grateful to have found your channel and am looking forward to your next listening adventures.