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this is where George Martin truly becomes the "fifth Beatle"
Yesterday
soft, lyrical voice (w/ string quartet)
Why Don't We Do It in the Road
"shouting" style of the old R&B tradition
Oh! Darling
also, shouting style vocal
Golden Slumbers
starts as crooning style, moves to more harsh (0:43)
Honey Pie
voice filtered (i.e., electronically modified) on "Now she's hit the big time ..."
I'm Only Sleeping
Listen carefully to the guitar solo (1:32) ... electronically filtered & backward
Eleanor Rigby
string ensemble (similar instrumentation was also used on "Yesterday" & "She's Leaving Home")
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
flutes (1:47)
Because
harpsichord (intro)
Penny Lane
flute (during verse) & brass (during chorus)
piccolo trumpet - playing a countermelody between phrases of the vocal melody (2:33)Got to Get You Into My Live
brass & saxes
Norwegian Wood
sitar - G. Harrison heard the name "Ravi Shankar" then went out and bought an album ... wanted to learn to play the instrument
Yellow Submarine
brass band (1:00)
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
organ & bass harmonica
Honey Pie
clarinets (0:49 to end)
A Day in the Life
full orchestra (1:39)
Within You Without You
tabla (drum) & dilruba (long-necked Indian lute)
In My Life
tape effects (1:28) - speeded up piano solo (sounds like harpsichord)
Strawberry Fields Forever
"Strawberry Fields" - recorded two takes, because John didn't like the first; asked Martin to come up with string arr. for the 2nd; liked the 1st half of the first recording & 2nd half of the second; asked Martin to edit them together even though they were in different keys; succeeded by speeding up the 2nd recording by 5%
Strawberry Fields: Take 1, then Take 7
- Take 7 at beginning
- intro is played on the Mellotron (flute setting) [more about this in the Art Rock chapter; see Moody Blues]
- 0:59 edit: "Let me take you down, 'cause I'm" /edit/ "going to Strawberry Fields"
- Take 1 from that point
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
spliced-together & overdubbed fragments at conclusion (1:51)
Tomorrow Never Knows
tape-generated & manipulated sounds (explain)
- filtered voice
- tape effects (0:56)
- backward guitar (1:07)
text based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
A Day in the Life
fading reverb vocal gradually buried by strings & brass (1:39)
Revolution 9
tape montage (similar to much "electronic music" recorded 50s & 60s)
Select almost any song from Revolver on and you will undoubtedly hear:
- uncommon use of a common instrument
- addition of uncommon instrument
- extramusical sounds (rooster crowing, alarm clock, etc.)
- electronic manipulation of sounds
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