I think even though not apparent, #9 is an apt Beatle track. The Beatles always had their ears open to what was around them.

Right out of the gate The Beatles recorded cover-songs by Rockabilly, Country, Show Tunes, Motown, R&B artists. In contrast take the Stones, their debut album was mostly R&B, Blues and early Rock and Roll cover-songs. Slightly before The Beatles you had Cliff Richard & the Shadows, and Brian Poole & the Tremoloes. They had a signature sound and didn't venture into experimental music in the late 60s like The Beatles and Stones did - that is not saying that the Shads and the Tremeloes sound didn't in some way change either later on. But back then there was a trinity of Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Stone influencing each other to push the envelope even further. The Beatles always had their ear to the track to what other more underground groups were doing. #9 is another notch in the belt to collection of songs that imitate or approximate the type of music they heard and were turned-on to.

I am not so much of a Beatles expert to know whether or not John Lennon had any prior knowledge of Edgar Varèse - Poème électronique or was aware of Daphné Oram. It would be interesting to know what he thought about them. It wasn't a full decade since Poème électronique was released when John recorded #9. Poème électronique was recorded ten years after Pierre Schaeffer - "etude aux chemins de fer."

I heard recently came across a interview where Paul (or should I say Faul, Paul's MI5 replacement body double) lamenting that he never recorded anything slotted to be on a Beatle album. Although he was the original one among The Beatles to be interested in it and even took a master class in experimental music. (paraphrasing of course) If Paul acted on his intuition #9 could had been the second foray into Avant-gardeville.

The Beatles Revolution #9 Backwards

The neatest thing about #9 is to listen to it backwards. I remember when I was a kid, I spent a night trying to listen to the album backwards. Before I turned to messing around with my dad's stereo equipment I broke a tape recorder by tearing it apart trying to rig it so I could hear stuff played backwards. I remember being really nervous needle breaking, or having the vinyl scratched and that would be a dead give away I messing around with my dad's albums. My dad had a belt drive Technics turntable, most were, only a few were direct drive. The turntable belt was too wide to put a twist in it. So I experimented, like taking the belt off and twirling the record with my index finger. I rigged it by putting a twist in a rubber band or something. I will always vaguely remember that night.



Edgar Varèse - Poème électronique


Pierre Schaeffer - "etude aux chemins de fer"

I do think McCartney was more interested in sounds outside of the rock n roll realm than Lennon was in the early days. It was McCartney that introduced classical music to the Beatles and was obviously quite influenced by George Martin. Lennon was more of a straight rock n roll guy who could write great lyrics. His big influence before Yoko would have been Bob Dylan. I don't think either would have been familiar with Varese of Schaffer (I haven't heard of them myself to be honest), I think Revolution 9 was certainly influenced by Yoko's avant-garde leanings. At least she didn't do one of her patented screams :laughing:.

It’s an incredible song and the turn me on dead man thing is ****ing wild

True story:

I once went into a tavern near an Indian reservation so naturally it was full of drunk Indians. They had the White Album in the juke box and I stuffed it full of money and played Revolution # 9 over and over again like 15 times.

Thanks to Pet_Sounds' explanation, I heard where that little piece of classical music is, where it came from, and how it plays/cuts/repeats on #9. Thanks! Is it supposed to be a subtle reference to how The Beatles had already used La Marseillaise on Hey Jude I wonder?

I read with great interest your informed comments, Neapolitan. I especially liked that little vignette of you as a child playing around with your dad's stereo. :laughing: Probably at a similar age, my experiments were confined to slowing music down with a little pressure of the finger as the disc spun around. :rolleyes:

Even so, I'm not really sure that I'd agree with your opening remark:-

^ I'm going to blame my refutation on the innocent rubber soul, who speculates about Yoko Ono turning up on #9. That led me to wonder about who contributed to the track; I don't know the backstory, but if there's no other Beatle involved, which I suspect, how is it a Beatles song? Where is the Harrison guitar break or the poppy McCartney middle eight?

^ Yeah, that Revolution backwards thing is so weird. I'm surprised Neapolitan didn't choose a Youtube clip that includes the full "lyrics," about calling up Satan and declaring that Paul is dead. I'd love for [MERIT] to comment on that ;)

^ Boy! I bet they were glad when you left! ;)


Finally, I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the irony of #9 turning up in our Avant Garde section. Something like 5 years before it was recorded, JL had famously quipped in an interview, "Avant Garde is French for bullsh*t." Everyone is entitled to change their mind, but on the basis of #9, I have more sympathy with the down-to-earth early Lennon than with the later Ono/Lennon tbh.

Actually according to Wiki, George supposedly helped out on #9 though I don't buy it.. As for Yoko, she's all over it. It is she who makes the when you're naked comment at the end.

Revolution 9 appears on The Beatles (the White album) where the album is a collection of individual and group efforts. I am not too bothered to the point where I wouldn't considered it a Beatle song because it is mainly a John Lennon track. Yesterday was the first solo effort that made it onto a Beatles album. It is basically Paul McCartney and his Epiphone Texan folk guitar back by a string quartet. Compare it to Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones where members of the band played the instruments: double bass, piano and recorder. Yesterday is not a band effort yet it is still one of the most quintessential Beatles songs. It's one of their most cover songs.

As a band they were always pushing the envelope. The Beatles played a variety of music, even starting when they were a cover bar band. They covered a show tune "Till There Was You". I don't think they deliberately picked it because it was from a Broadway musical number. It was a song Paul like. It was a song they did back in their Hamburg days, even before they were recording albums. It's not the typical Rock song with a I-IV-V chord progression, it's chock full of Jazzy chords. They set to the tune to a Latin rhythm. They did stuff like that because they were fans of music.

I think it would enviable that they eventually get into something like Musique concrète. I know it's a one-off, but that doesn't bother me I didn't see them as a band that really dwell on anything for long. The Beatles didn't stay together for long compared to other bands. When you think of their discography you can't but notice how their music evolved (along with the whole the decade of the 60s).

Tomorrow Never Knows- tape loop for the drum track
Recorded: 6, 7 and 22 April 1966
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! - cut-up samples randomly spliced together
Recorded: 17 and 20 February and 28, 29, 31 March 1967
Revolution 9 - sound collage
Recorded: May–June 1968

^ Well, you make a very good case for considering #9 to be a Beatle song, and you taught me something about Til There Was You, which was an early fave of mine.

I'm going to start considering #9 as a Beatles song, which makes me regret that there aren't more examples of them exploring that experimental style. I think it might've brought some much-needed grit to the overly-smooth Abbey Road: they could've chucked out Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus's Garden and got musically serious instead....

Well, to be fair, the White Album also had its share of schmaltz mostly courtesy of McCartney (Ob La Di, Ob La Da, Martha My Dear, Honey Pie). Ringo's contribution, Don't Pass Me By, wouldn't win too many awards either and he also sang my least favorite Beatles' song, Goodnight (which I think was actually written by Lennon though I'm not sure). Anyhow, Octopus' Garden isn't all that bad, but Maxwell, yeah, we didn't need that (and neither did Ringo and George- McCartney made them go through about five hundred takes doing Bang, Bang, Maxwell's Silver Hammer... )

The bolded features this immortal couplet:

This discussion makes me want to revisit my unfinished Beatles song countdown from years ago. I think I still have the list.

Troll wanted me to contact you actually about that. I'm thinking about doing a countdown myself. It would be interesting to compare lists.