Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery, “or” Did the Rolling Stones Merely Copy A Good Thing Riding On The Coat-Tails of the Beatles?

Once Decca Records realized the huge fumble of loss revenue slithered right out of their hands by turning down the Beatles, Decca immediately followed the advice of young George Harrison and signed a recording contract with the Rolling Stones. Sure enough, and in like mind imitation, while the Beatles scored big in early April 1964, claiming the first five slots on the USA top 40 Billboard Pop Charts, the Stones released their first album on April 16, 1964, and then in America on May 30, 1964 titled, The Rolling Stones, England’s Newest Hit Makers, also posed with their five faces in half shadows just like With The Beatles album cover. UK sales lifted the Stones debut blues band to number 1, however, in America, England’s newest hit makers missed the top ten by one space peaking at number 11. Only one track from this album made the US Top 40 (Tell Me climbed to number 24) yet the opening song (Not Fade Away) reached number 3 on the UK pop charts aiding the new group with some clout. Soon, reality sunk in and the Stones grasped another good idea from John & Paul in writing original compositions that had the potential to strike fame and fortune, like the Beatles. Even harmonica bits became a common trend for both groups on their early LPs.

Enormous appeal freely oozed out of every pore attached to the ever-popular Beatles, individually and as a Fab-Four whole. Convinced without a doubt, after John, Paul, George, and Ringo performed for Ed Sullivan, Capitol Records released five more LPs before year’s end, with tremendous results as all reached number 1 except the “Something New” album, which peaked at number 2. Not a bad stunt since the lads first United Artist Movie Sound track LP shared many of the same tunes. Part of this 1964 Long Playing surge included a simple heading known as, “The Beatles Second Album.” So, in like mind imitation, Decca choose the heading, The Rolling Stones #2 as a follow-up album release. Next came “The Rolling Stones Now” as an answer to “Something New- The Beatles.

On October 25, 1964, the Stones received a guest spot on the Sullivan Show, once again riding the Beatles coat-tails appearing on many of the same BBC T.V. and radio programs the Lads of Liverpool had headlined earlier.

The following year the Beatles released “Yesterday” including a string quartet, so the Stones released “As Tears Go By” also with added string instrumentation. February 65, the Beatles released “Eight Days A Week” with a mini chorus on which the boys sing, “Love me, Hold me, Love me, Hold me. Seven months later, the Stones released, “Get Off My Cloud” backed with I’m Free” that also utilized a mini chorus in which Jagger sang, “So love me, hold me, love me, hold me. A few months later, the Beatles introduced the Indian Sitar used brilliantly on the track, “Norwegian Wood” so, in like mind imitation, the Stones featured the Sitar on their next single, “Paint It Black.” The stealing of ideas got so ridiculous, Ringo suggested they title their new LP (Revolver), “AFTERGEOGRAPHY” as an answer to the Stones newest album “AFTERMATH”  that finally included 14 songs, like the Beatles LPs,

In 1967 the whole world stood spellbound over Sgt. Pepper through fascinating music as well as visual artwork design, including the tune’s lyrics splashed all over the back cover. On the extravagant front cover sits a large doll wearing a blue and white horizontal stripe sweater that reads, “Welcome Rolling Stones” so, in answer to this, the Stones glitzy “Their Satanic Majesties Request” cover and include four faces (John, Paul, George, and Ringo) hidden among the flowers. Paul and George are near Charlie Watts then opposite, next to Bill Wyman are John and Ringo. An insert was included that contains the lyrics to every track. Oh, and notice how each Stone is dressed as a wizard, like the Beatles scene in Magical Mystery Tour released a month earlier The Stones following album, Beggars Banquet also printed the song list lyrics a top of the inside record sleeve. Incidentally, 67 and on into 1968, the Beatles set a strategy to cash in on the Christmas gift spending with late November releases of Magical Mystery Tour, then 12 months later, The White Album. So, the Rolling Stones released both Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed in early December of 68, then 69. (Let It Be commenced filming on January 2, 1969, and ended with the rooftop concert on January 30.) Exactly July 20, 1969, the Beatles were invited to view a rough cut of the movie. I wonder if Mick & Keith got to watch some of those film footage cuts, because Jagger and Richards Let It Bleed song was released December 5, 1969. Hmmm, LET IT BE, then LET IT BLEED––sure looks like coat-tail riding to me.

Let’s not forget the unique Double Album gimmick. First came The White Album and four years later, the Stones imitated it with “Exile On Main Street. And then you have a redefined artsy fartsy technic toward the greatest hits package where in November 2000, Apple offered The Beatles 1, and a few years years later, ABKCO Records offered The Rolling Stones Forty Licks.

One final note before I close, check out the album cover of Beatles For Sale released December 64 and compare it to the cover of Between The Buttons released January 67. I’m just saying!  

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

Enjoy the weekend!               

TEAM WORK BETWEEN EMI AND CAPITOL RECORDS WORKED GRAND

Today, I’d like to furnish an excellent article written by a Mr. John Montagna, inscribed last May called, STOP KNOCKING THE AMERICAN RELEASES OF THE BEATLES, ALREADY. I’ve never met John, but his story truly hit the core of my heart and entered the blood veins reaching every fiber of my being. I’m a born USA citizen, arrived into the flanks of North America in 1952, and thanks to the decisions Capitol Records unleashed upon a hurting Nation through the assassination of our beloved President in November 63, Lennon and his three cohorts did in fact, conquer me, my State, then all the other 49 States with audio ease and visual charm. And so, without further ado, I present Mr. Montagna. . .

The 2014 release of The Beatles’ The US Albums box set re-ignited a hot topic among die-hard Beatles fans: the pros and cons of Dave Dexter, the Capitol Records executive who prepared The Beatles’ LPs for the American market in the 1960s. In the decades since then, a narrative has emerged that the UK Beatles albums are actually the “correct” ones and that Capitol crassly tampered with “the creative intentions of the band.” But the fact is that Dave Dexter’s handiwork on The Beatles’ behalf has had an impact on American culture that resonates to this day. It’s high time we give him his due.

Dave Dexter Jr was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1915. He started his career as a music journalist, championing the jazz scene of the ‘30s and ‘40s. “Dex” — as he was known among jazz musicians — joined Capitol Records in 1943 and worked his way up to the A&R department where he signed such legendary artists as Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington.

Steeped in jazz as he was, Dex hated rock and roll. He also knew that pop records from the UK didn’t sell very well in America. So when he heard the first Beatles recordings in 1962, he was unimpressed and rejected the band in defiance of Capitol’s parent company (EMI). But by late 1963, The Beatles were an international phenomenon that couldn’t be ignored any longer. There are conflicting accounts about Capitol’s decision to finally release “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as a single in the US; Dex claimed he heard the record himself on a trip to England and knew “after the first four bars” that this one was a hit. But Capitol’s then-president Alan Livingston said that they simply bowed to increased pressure from EMI and Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Dex understood the American record market. He knew that the UK Beatles albums, with their subtle, artsy cover photos and astute liner notes would not grab the attention of American teenagers. He replaced them with splashy photo collages and BIG, BOLD TYPE, USUALLY IN ALL CAPS, WITH ADJECTIVES LIKE “ELECTRIFYING” AND “PHENOMENAL” AND PLENTY OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! He also tweaked the music itself, changing the EQ and adding reverb and compression to make The Beatles positively jump out of American transistor radios, car stereos, and phonographs.

Dex took even greater liberties with the track listings. In Britain, Beatles albums contained 14 songs each, and never included singles. (EMI refused to make British fans buy the same song twice.) But in America, anything above 11 songs on an LP meant higher royalty payments to the artist, and singles were used to drive album sales. So while EMI in Britain released seven Beatles albums and thirteen singles between 1962 and 1966, it only took Dex half as long (from 1964 to ‘66) to carve all that material into ten Beatles LPs for Capitol!

His motivations might have been strictly commercial, but Dex succeeded artistically as well (in this writer’s opinion). Meet The Beatles perfectly captures the initial rush of February 1964 Beatlemania. The Beatles Second Album is a 27-minute dose of kick-ass rock and roll. And 1966’s Yesterday And Today might be a mishmash of leftover tracks spanning the year between 1965 and ‘66, but every single one of them is a winner. Such was his influence on the way an entire nation heard their music, Dave Dexter was (dare I say it) the American Fifth Beatle, even if he didn’t realize it himself.

But it’s not easy pleasing the record-buying public and your corporate overlords at the same time. Dex often clashed with Capitol management over their perceived errors in his judgment. He passed on other English acts like The Animals and Manfred Mann, and despite growing protests from The Fab Four and Brian Epstein, he refused to use the UK cover art and track listings, claiming that his methods were better suited for the American market.

It wasn’t until 1967, with the release of the landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album and a re-negotiation of The Beatles’ recording contract, that the group’s albums remained intact after they crossed the Atlantic. Dex’s role at Capitol Records diminished over the years and he eventually left the company in the mid-1970s. He returned to music journalism, and was a frequent contributor to Billboard Magazine. In late December of 1980, three weeks after John Lennon’s murder, Dex wrote an infamously harsh editorial criticizing Lennon for being stubborn and difficult to work with. (Lennon apparently complained loudly and often about Capitol’s handling of the US albums.) Dave Dexter passed away himself in 1990, but his contribution to The Beatles’ legacy cannot be overstated.  

When Brian Wilson says that Rubber Soul inspired him to make Pet Sounds, he’s referring to the folkier, acoustic-heavy American version that Dex assembled. Other American artists with overt Beatles influences — from The Byrds to Tom Petty — also got their initial Fab Four fix from Dex and Capitol. Those “hodgepodge” LPs created millions of American sense memories, and they sound and feel damn good all these years later. Forget “the band’s intentions” for a moment. Dex’s job was to sell that music to the American public, and by expertly anticipating the needs of the US market he succeeded beyond all expectations. Long live Dex!

– John Montagna    

John Montagna is a bass guitarist, singer, songwriter (but not a “singer-songwriter”) and Brooklyn Native. He has toured the world and elsewhere with Alan Parsons, Todd Rundgren, The Turtles (featuring Flo & Eddie) and many other legendary hit makers, and he created the theme music for the top-rated comedy podcast “WTF With Marc Maron.” John prefers to view his all-consuming obsession with The Beatles as an asset, rather than a liability.

I do hope this piece sheds a little understanding room within the deeply rooted folded arms of purest United Kingdom Beatlemaniacs. Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

Enjoy the weekend!               

An excerpt from my novel BEATLEMANIAC.

Once inside the truck, Pete asked, “What’s that smell?” 

     “I got us each a Burger King hot apple turnover.”

     “Thanks, Dave.”

     “Welcome; buckle up and off we go.”

     Backing out of Pete’s driveway, honky-tonk piano sounds poured its ka plunks from the stereo speakers. “What the heck?” 

     “This is the Beatles White Album CD.”

     “I never heard that song before.”

     “Don’t you like the Beatles?”  

     “Sure, they were okay; I have their greatest hits Number 1. So Paul sings a song about a girl named Martha? I remember the song Michelle, but never Martha.”

     Dave laughed and offered a tweak to his mistaken identity. “Martha was Paul’s sheepdog. A cute little tune that has some pretty cord changes then takes off with a snappy feel of a German oompah band.”

     Pete listened as he enjoyed the turnover, impressed Dave knew the words to sing along with McCartney. “Not bad. I admit Paul reigns as   the greatest songwriter of the 20^th Century.”

     “I agree,” said Dave. “Now this is John’s song titled, I’m So Tired.”

     “Ah, some blues, now you’re talking.” Dave, yet again, sang the words. Pete tapped his foot to the driving beat and let his next week’s workload drift away. “Wait, wait. Did you catch that gibberish? What was it?” 

     “That was John saying, ‘Paul is dead, man. Miss him, miss him, miss him.’”

     “You figured that out from nonsense dribble?”  

     “No, Pete, you have to listen to the dribble backwards, but it’s clear that’s what he says.”

     “Why would John do that?” 

     “Ever hear the secret rumor Paul McCartney died and was replaced by a sound-alike fellow named William Shears Campbell who had plastic surgery to resemble the famous bass player as a way of keeping the group on top?”

      “No.”

     “It all started with a disc jockey given a heads-up tip by a mysterious caller who told him the Beatles had lost Paul in a car accident and all types of clues on their album covers and lyrics would one day reveal the truth. For example, in the song called, Got to Get You into My Life, Paul sings how he took a ride and didn’t know what he would find, a different road where maybe he could grasp another kind of mind. Does he sing another kind of mind as in life after death? A song called, Eleanor Rigby talks about death and no one was saved.”

     Pete interrupted, “I have that song, with Father McKenzie wiping his hands walking away from Eleanor’s grave.”

     “That’s the one. The song called, She Said She Said, the lyrics say ‘She knows what dead feels like.’ In the song, Here, There and Everywhere, Paul sings how love never dies, but in the song called, For No One, Paul changes his mind and we hear him sing about love is dead. Another song titled, I’m Only Sleeping, is similar. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul talks about those asleep, but he refers to sleep as in dead. Even Jesus told his disciples Lazarus sleeps, but to clarify His point, He says Lazarus is dead. George Harrison wrote a song called, Love You To. Some of his lyrics speak about a dead old man because a life is so short, and later he sings about people who’ll screw you in the ground. Tomorrow Never Knows by John sings about things not dying, but later he wonders if ignorance and hate may mourn the dead. Never from the time the Beatles first appeared on music albums were so many tunes sung about death. And all those songs appear on one CD.” Dave lowered the music. “Revolver.”

      “As in handgun?” said Pete.

     “Not quite, more as in circular rotation, the way an album spins on a turntable. On their next release, in the song, A Day in the Life, John sings about a lucky man who made it, and later he sings how he blew his mind out inside a car because he didn’t notice the traffic signal changed. Here, I’ll show you the CD.”

      Within the console, he thumbed until he found Sgt. Pepper. “Notice the left-handed memorial guitar made of flowers? That promoted a clue Paul died. Only Paul played left-handed. See the hand raised above Paul’s head? A direct death sign from eastern religions. Turn the cover over; notice Paul has his back to the camera? That meant he died and the plastic surgery wasn’t finished so the new guy couldn’t show his face yet. Also, the photo puts Paul’s replacement right on top of the song called, Within You Without You. Now go ahead, remove the cover from its plastic holder, and open the sleeve. See the arm patch on Paul? The letters are O.P.D., better known has Officially Pronounced Dead. You can put the sleeve back into the holder now, but notice the song called, Fixing a Hole. Paul sings about fixing a hole and filling cracks. Many guess the hole and cracks depict the loss of a Beatle and then replaced with a look-alike, boosting the band’s ability to fix the hole or loss with this new person unbeknownst to all their fans. They didn’t want the same riots to repeat themselves like when Ringo replaced their first drummer.”

     “Holy crap, Dave, I had no idea this ever took place.”

     “There’s a lot more, if you’re interested?” 

     “Yeah, I’m all ears.”

     Dave found the CD titled, Magical Mystery Tour, and passed it to Pete. “I recognize some songs listed here.”

     “Yes, this has popular ones. Take the cover out again from its holder and turn the pages. Okay, see Paul seated, dressed as a military man?” 

     “Yeah.”

      “What does his desk plate say?” 

      ‘“I was.’. Wow, you can’t get plainer.”

      “Find John’s picture with a stupid mustache and a turtleneck sweater.”

     “I found it.”

     “The sign to his left reads, ‘the best way to go is by M & D Co.’ That’s a funeral home in London. Search for the double-spread photograph with John at the white piano and the others using standard instruments outdoors.”

      “This one, with the green leaves?”

      “Yeah, that’s it. Notice Paul has removed his shoes, and you can see bloodstains on them as they lay near Ringo’s far right cymbal stand. No shoes signify a corpse ready for an autopsy.”

     “It looks like a red ink smudge printing error, though.”

     “I agree, but every time someone reprints this photograph, the same stains reappear. Turn the pages until you find all four Beatles dressed in white tuxedos.” Dave peeked as Pete flipped the pages. “Stop, see the roses pinned on each jacket? Three have red, but Paul wears a black rose, another sign for death. Now go to the last page and once again, a hand rests straight above Paul’s head. Do you know what’s spoken on the song, Strawberry Fields Forever, near the end?” 

     “Not really,” said Pete, “but I have the song.”

     “Take the CD out and let’s listen.” Dave zipped through the song quickly, and near the second fade out, he slowed the song at normal speed. They both listened as Dave lifted the volume and mouthed the words spoken by John, ‘I buried Paul.’”

“I got it,” said Pete. “He said he buried him. I’m amazed.”

     “Let me give you the CD and put the cover back into its holder, please. Now, Pete, this whole thing got started with the White Album when you heard the backward message. On the same CD, they recorded an experimental track called, Revolution No. 9, of nothing but noises with bits and pieces of dialogue. Throughout it, you hear a man say over and over, ‘Number 9.’ If you listen to it backwards, the man says, ‘Turn me on, dead man.’” 

     “How can you listen to a CD played backwards?” 

     “You have to record the CD to a reel-to-reel tape, then turn the tape over and re-run it through the player backwards. In the track’s middle, while still played backwards, it sounds like a fire burning as Paul yells, ‘Let me out, let me out.’”

     “Geez, a slick project.”

     “Before the start of Revolution Number 9, a small insignificant ditty by Paul with guitar sings about . . . Can we take him back where he came from as if to plead bring him back to life? Unwilling to let his mates out do him, the one song Ringo gets solo credit for is, Don’t Pass Me By. His lyrics talks about how he listens for footsteps. Well, Pete, he listens but, they don’t arrive. Later he sings about his friend in a car crash.’ Can you handle more or is this getting old?” 

     “I can handle more; this stuff fascinates me.”

     Looking for new clues, Dave picked up the Yellow Submarine soundtrack from the animated movie. “Tell me what you see here, Pete?” 

     “John Lennon’s character has his hand directly above Paul’s head. Unbelievable.”

     “Trade me CDs.” Dave retrieved Yellow Submarine and handed Pete Abbey Road. “Take a look at this cover picture. John dressed in white portrays the doctor, Ringo dressed as a preacher, Paul wears a suit, and again, his bare feet represent the corpse, and George dressed in blue denim represents the gravedigger. You also see everyone starts with his left foot forward, except Paul. He marches out of step while holding a cig in his right hand, not his left. A clue his substitute was right-handed. Notice the license plate on the white VW? It says 28IF. If he lived the day they posed for this photo, August 8, 1969, he would celebrate his 28^th birthday next go around. Turn the cover over. Look at those dots to the left of the word Beatles. If you connect the dots, you write the number three, and now the CD reads Three Beatles.”

     “Good god, do you think it’s true; William replaced Paul?” 

     “No, but it was a scheme to keep the newest album highest on the charts and start an onslaught demand for their older albums scooped up by the curious. And it didn’t stop with Abbey Road. Find the Let it Be CD and gaze at the cover. Only Paul sits surrounded by a blood-red background, the others in white. Then the hit title song, Let It Be, as Paul sings how Mother Mary comforts him. His mother Mary died when he turned fourteen, and now he’s comforted because they commune together again.”

     “How do you know so much about a group who bowed out more than 40 years ago?” 

     Dave grinned. “Face it, the Beatles are timeless; even you have purchased their extraordinary music. But I guess what got me hooked was Mom. She loves the Beatles. From age five, I can remember in Hawaii, night after night, we listened to different CDs, and she told stories about their rise in show business. I was so young and because of her fondness, the Beatles fueled a father figure in my mind. You could say I inherited the anger mom had toward my dad’s stupidity. To this day, I reject everything about my father. But that’s okay; the Beatles still fill the void. One day my father got me so damn mad, I wanted nothing to do with the Beatles. At eighteen, my mom told me how an insane idiot broke into George Harrison’s home, stabbed George a few times, and tried to kill him, but George wrestled the knife away, held him till police came who later took the insane wacko to jail. I liked George, he was the youngest, and his story affected me, but afterward Mom said something to annihilate the relationship with my four heroes.”

     “What did she say, Dave?” 

     “While making sure I understood George recovered and was fine, she paused and said, ‘isn’t it sad, Davy, your father loved the Beatles more than you and I?’” Dave’s hands gripped the steering wheel with double the strength. “I felt so betrayed, so violated that a man I despised would have higher regards for the men I needed to exchange him with. Once that bomb dropped into my lap, I regressed into silence for weeks, staring out windows as hate consumed me. Then, a magical moment happened as a thought plowed right through the wall I had put myself behind. If the Beatles favor peace and love, but my father favors murder and ruin, it makes sense that the Beatles hate my father as much as I do. From that instant, my heart gained even more affection.”

     Lost for words, Pete could only nod.

     Dave scoffed, “How ironic that this weekend is Father’s Day.”

     The Beatles music continued as the men rode without a word. Pete didn’t know how to respond to the Father’s Day remark and pretended to focus his interest on the mountain scenery.

Thank you, readers, for skimming through a small portion of this suspense eBook thriller. Click on the My Shop page near the top left and full descriptive details await you plus options on how to order, if I sparked your interest.

REVOLVER TURNS 51 TODAY

Good morning, and a happy Golden plus one anniversary Saturday to you all, for your enjoyment, click here and experience this fabulous LP:

https://my.mail.ru/mail/romualddd/video/4306/5933.html?related_deep=1

Released in 1966, Revolver has been prized as one of best albums our acclaimed Beatles ever made. Innovative is an understatement, so much so, the lads drifted from their fascination formula.

Example, George was blown away he had been given the green light for three tracks, Taxman, Love You Too, and I Want to Tell You, spotlighting his musical composition style. A little side note––Harrison had a different approach how he wrote his songs compared to John and Paul. John usually started on lyrics, being a witty personality having a way with words, then added music to the lines of rhymes. Paul usually started with a melody, attach the flair to complementary chords, and build lyrics around the lead vocal to fit the notes necessary syllables.  George, however, would first figure out a nice combination flow of chords patched together, then try tasteful melody patterns well-suited to circle around the triads sequence, and then integrate matching words. I use the same method as George when writing my own songs.

Another example how the fascination formula took a back-seat is Yellow Submarine. A standard policy that helped propel the Beatles sales often consisted pushing out a hot, top of the charts single, to pave the way for a new album. By tradition, John insisted their new albums should allow for all new tracks without the latest two 45rpm songs issued beforehand. He took a stand it was like charging their fans twice and whenever possible he snubbed the practice. However, no such single of totally different songs to counterpoise a scramble for Revolver existed. Unlike the last time where on a Friday, December 3rd to be exact, Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out, the first ever pronounced double A-side single, opened massive purchasing power floodgates straight to Rubber Soul, a separate Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby disk, which both were included on the new album, was pressed into a 45 single and issued alongside Revolver, also on a Friday, August 5th. . . coincidental matching this fiftieth-year anniversary by falling on a Friday.  Brian Epstein demanded the course of action to pressing the single in haste, believing it had enormous commercial appeal, and didn’t like the idea another recording artist might lift it high on the charts. In addition, Yellow Submarine positioned for the first time, Ringo to sing lead on a hit single, reaching number 1 in the UK and number 2 in the States, at which management assumed John’s remark how the Beatles were more popular than Jesus quote, must have slowed sales. But all the same, the hit single ended up on the album and that alone caused the 45 disk a road to nowhere.

Since the band no longer covered tunes by people they idolized, Paul felt pressure to whip up something for Ringo. As was the custom, his lead vocal got featured on one song per album. Paul hit it out of the park convinced a children’s song could shine a brighter star on Mr. Starr. This simple little ear-catching tune took more hours in the studio than recording the Beatles entire first album. A few of the reasons make perfect sense, in that the night they started, George Martin was home bedridden from a wicked dose of food poisoning, which was like showing up at work and finding a message from your boss saying, “Hold down the fort as best you can, I’m away on personal business.”  And of course, all those sound effects throughout the song had to be found, tested, and perfected taking lots of precious studio time. Plus, we can’t forget the chorus of people invited to sing along––you know, the friends Ringo sings about that are all aboard. For instance, that’s Pattie Harrison voicing the loudest shrill on the second verse, even though her husband George never contributed with a guitar, but instead played tambourine, sang vocals and used sound effects. Staff from the studio inner office received invites to join the choir with Mrs. Harrison, including phone calls for Donovan, Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger, and Brian Jones.  Did you know Revolver had a ridiculous working title called, Abracadabra? Thank God some other musical group already had chosen that name as an earlier label, so it ended up tossed. With tongue in cheek, Ringo suggested After Geography as a response to the Rolling Stones recent album, Aftermath.  Some idiot suggested Beatles on Safari, can you believe it? Maybe a prayer to ride the same wave as Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds studio album that made a huge splash on May 16, 1966. Perhaps Thinking of Linking Surfing Safari. Finally, a title struck promise, Four Sides of a Circle, and from there came Revolver. Longtime friend, Klaus Voorman was asked to use his artistic talent and design the cover. He did for 40 English pounds and later that year, won the Grammy for best cover art. This award opened doors to freelance design covers for other pop groups such as the Bee Gees, who requested his service for their first album. . . if he wasn’t away touring as the bass player for Manfred Mann. I got to meet Klaus at a Los Angeles Beatlefest event in the mid-70s. There I learned he had turned down invitations to play bass for the Hollies and the Moody Blues. He went on to say he became a session musician near the Fall of 1969 and moved to Los Angeles in 1971. I guess we both were members of Musicians Union local 47 in Hollywood by then.

Hey, although Revolver entered the Record Shops just before the band took flight for their last North American Tour, not a single track from the new release found a spot on the show. The boys admitted they were too difficult to perform live. Ugh, pulling out the old songs routine must have been a downer compared to the vast improved material just recorded and surely added a sour note on the amount of reasons as to why continue stadium concerts. I bet they all could have pulled off my favorite song from the album, And Your Bird Can Sing, in front of fifty thousand ticket holders––it’s number nine on the playlist. I’ve got a feeling this was also John’s favorite new song at the time.

Inside my novel, Beatlemaniac, I’ve written a section of dialog between two characters that spells out an eerie theme connecting many of the 14 tracks from Revolver in a dark way. Sorry, no spoilers will ever come from me. Just three dollars will pave the way unfolding the mystery. See My Shop page for details.

An ending thought in closing to ponder. It seems the playfulness humor that so easily bounced off each other brought the four Beatles back to their roots inside the studio and just like the first album Please, Please Me blasts the sendoff rocker, I Saw Here Standing There, into orbit through the speakers with a four count, likewise we hear Taxman given a same four-count uttered by Paul, to jumpstart the music onward. 

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the My Shop tab near the top of this page for full details.

Enjoy the weekend!