What
may perhaps be the Beatles’ most criticized and loathed track to date, "Revolution
9," was the brainchild of John Lennon and his soon-to-be-wife, Japanese
conceptual artist, Yoko Ono.
This sound collage was very different from the majority of original Beatles
tracks. At the time of its release, the Beatles Apple was going very
sour. With the exception of Paul McCartney, who was steadily dating his future
wife, Linda Eastman, the Beatles were now all married men. As their personal lives grew in different directions, the
Beatles were also growing apart musically. A style of avant-garde music, popular with Paul in 1965-66, was now favored by John. There
are clear similarities between “Revolution 9” and “Tomorrow Never
Knows”, the latter to be found on the Revolver album and was
released several years hence.
Revolution 9 was made on
and off between the 6th June to 21st June 1968 (read Ian McDonald's Revolution
in the Head, The Beatles' Records and the Sixties for more
background on the recording sessions). It was truly a
joint creation by John and Yoko. The only other Beatle to lend his voice was
George Harrison, who contributed several vocal overdubs.
The foundation upon which the track was
built was the last six minutes of the album version of “Revolution
1”. Unfortunately, for historical purposes, very little of the
original track made it through the wall of sound into the final mix.
The influence of the avant-garde scene
on Revolution 9 may have come through Yoko. However, Paul's influence
was there, too. The main difference between “Tomorrow Never Knows”
and “Revolution 9” is that there are no formal lyrics to the latter
and, unlike "Tomorrow Never Knows", the "Revolution
9" track is tinged with “cynical darkness”. This is why Paul
wanted the track to be removed from the album. Perhaps this also
explains why “What’s the New Mary Jane” didn’t see the light of
day until 1995.
The often manic "Revolution
9" was the result of many hours spent creating tape loops, trying
out different mixes and recording fresh material. Many hours were also
spent rummaging in EMI’s vast sound archives. John, Yoko and George
read and recorded several adlibs and excerpts from poems that were to be
added to the mix. Among the few of George's contributions that can be
picked out are phrases like “upon a telegram” and “who’s to
know?”
The voice that appears randomly
throughout the track uttering the words “number 9…number 9”
has a somewhat confused origin. Official sources say that the voice was
“lifted off an old examination recording for the Royal Academy of
Music then kept in the library at Abbey Road”. However, other sources
believe that it was The Beatles roadie, Mal Evans’, voice. Others
believe it to be an unknown engineer that just happened to be the studio
when John and Yoko were experimenting with different ideas.
The track contains many gigantic
sounds. Most noticeable are the orchestral bursts. According to Mark
Lewishon, who examined the original four track tapes from which the
track was created, there is even an excerpt from the overdub prepared
for “A Day In The Life”.
At the end of the track protestors can
be heard shouting “lock that gate, lock that gate”. Could John have
been trying to distance himself from The Beatles and the increasingly
painful situation at Apple?
This type of art was designed to
change the way its beholders experienced reality. John and Yoko were
attempting to create something that would allow people to experience
something more than pure pop music. Whether they succeeded is difficult
to know. However, the use of samples from previous songs and other
sound sources may well be the inspiration behind the use of sampling
prominent within Dance and Hip Hop music today.
A year after The Beatles officially
separated in 1971 John recalled his aims when creating the track. “I
thought I was painting in sound a picture of revolution - but I made a
mistake. The mistake was that it was anti-revolution”.
Many reviewers find this track
incredibly irritating and believe that few people ever listened to it
more than once.
It appears to be a commercial version of the works John and Yoko
released on their first three solo albums. There are clear links between
it and “Unfinished Music 2: - Life With The Lions”. It has the
repetition of “Cambridge 1969”. However, there is more variation,
which allows it to be more
accessible to the more blinkered listener. Perhaps the only difference
between the two tracks is that one says “The Beatles” and the
other doesn’t. Far from being a disaster, it is one of the most
significant acts The Beatles ever perpetuated? And it is worth
sitting through, more than once, even if it is not easy listening.
[The left stereo track on Revolution
9 contains what has been purported to be the actual recorded sounds
of Paul McCartney's fatal 1966 motorway accident—“He hit a
lightpole and we better take him to see a surgeon...” —Ed]
