What is it making the Beatles’ music so distinctive and worthy of emulation after nearly 50 years?  I asked myself this question merely from the perspective of an assignment and realized I couldn’t answer it from the perspective of an assignment.  Listening to and studying a particular music artist are two different things.  I visited a website of Beatles fans (The Beatles Bible, 2013), and quickly became aware; a week of intense research and study would not do justice to true Beatles fans.

When I was young and first discovered vinyl LPs, Abbey Road was the record I pulled from the sleeve.  When I became old enough to buy my own music, I owned the Red album and the Blue album.  Looking at the discography of these two compilations (Discogs, 2013), one can see the line between Beatlemania and the Beatles cult drawn between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Although there were only two songs from Revolver in the entire content of both the red and blue collections (three if we include Paperback Writer from the recording session), this is where my experience draws the line also, including Revolver with the earlier collection.

The Beatles’ music before the Revolver album was, in many aspects, sticky sweet and seemingly meant for a juvenile audience.  The Beatles’ image before the Revolver album was of a fun-loving, mischievous group of young boys.  They were considered “clean cut” by most, though giving a slight hint of rebellion with the mop top haircuts, which were not the accepted style of the time (as though June Cleaver would say, “Oh, you boys” and young girls would automatically be drawn to the allure).

Revolver marked a graduation to a worldlier, somewhat jaded, dismissal of naiveté, at least in outward appearance.   Many would argue the exact line of transition was not so clear and the Revolver album had some help at both ends from the Rubber Soul and Sgt. Peppers albums.  Perhaps we could view Rubber Soul as leaning toward experimentation and Revolver as a purposeful transition into the unknown future of music.

The Beatles had many non-musical influences, marked not only by mutual experience, but also by distinct individual paths.  George Martin and Geoff Emerick, both every bit as inventive as the Beatles themselves, influenced the Beatles in their mutual experience.  Martin and Emerick created new methods of processing and presenting the music, some of which last to this day.

Hallucinogenic drugs and the religious practices of the world influenced the Beatles.  John Lennon seemed to have a more distinct individual path with drugs and George Harrison with Indian religion.  Paul McCartney dabbled or observed the other Beatles behavior in both drugs and world religion, but became more interested in technology as applied to music. (Newman, 2006) Ringo Starr doesn’t get much coverage for a distinct individual path of influence, but is whole-heartedly in the mutual experience of the Beatles.  Could it be he was just busy drumming?  It’s obvious he was paying attention to the other Beatles’ adventures when we hear evidence of Indian rhythms and experimental polyrhythms in the music.

The studio became an instrument to the Beatles.  Tapes decks capable of slowing down, speeding up, and reversing their material became instruments.  Tempo and key could be manipulated by tape speed.  Normal material became otherworldly when played backwards.

The REX™ file (Propellerhead Software AB., 2013) and similar technology is the modern-day answer to one innovation used on the album Revolver.  We are spoiled with the ability to “slice” any audio and process each individual slice any way we choose, including randomization.  George Martin and Geoff Emerick had to record from vinyl to tape, analyze the tape for appropriate key and split points, cut the tape, and then to randomize, threw the chopped tape pieces in the air and physically spliced them back together.  Did Martin and Emerick invent the hardware version of the REX file?

Another innovation used on the Revolver album is the bass guitar part, recorded using a matching loudspeaker placed directly in front of the amplifying bass loudspeaker as a microphone.

My impression of Revolver as a student is blurred by my own experience as a music listener.  I don’t consider it the Beatles best work as a listener. Having done some research on the album and having gained some historical perspective on the Beatles, I can see the significance it holds as a turning point in both their lives and music.  I was born the day Paperback Writer was released in the UK; so don’t have the same perspective as a person present for the Beatles happening.  I’m curious to hear the opinion of a person from the millennial generation, performing this same research on Revolver, independently.

My professional impression of Revolver reflects a more proper awe in the accomplishments of the band and their supporting cast, especially given the technology of the period.  Much of what the Beatles accomplished on Revolver has been used over and over and has also been built upon by many, hoping to replicate or achieve at least a small percentage of the same result.