How on Earth do you only have 6K subscribers?! This is by far the best breakdown and analysis I have ever heard of this masterpiece. Your videos are brilliant.
Absolutely Brilliant. I love your enthusiasm and in depth analysis. I even got slightly emotional listening to you today. You nailed it! Anyone who says they hate the Beatles don’t have a clue what they’re talking about!
Thankyou for a brilliant analysis, illustration, creative endeavor and expert musical understanding and appreciation! Wonderfully put together and explained - this is quality fine art in itself. Congratulations on presenting what many (ie I) consider to be the greatest album ever produced by anyone ever!
Isn't it amazing that at the time where most, if not all, other producers would have shot down an idea like this, they had stumbled on probably the... only? person in the world to not only accept but actively help them with this - as we've seen, with experience both with tape loops and electronic music. And to boot, he'd gone independent just a few months earlier so he was both intimately familiar with the EMI studio and now also free from any responsibility other than keeping the Beatles as clients to his new company (AIR).
You are a great joy to watch and listen to. The God of Music sent you to us! What a wonderful mind you have! I will watch every video you make. Thank you!
I love the scene from Mad Men when Don Draper listens to Tomorrow Never Knows. It changed the world he thought he knew. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to hear this revolutionary song for the first time back in 1966. It is in my Top 5 list of favorite Beatles songs. I love listening to it at night, when it is nice and dark, through headphones. It is a trip with having to drop acid. You brilliantly take us through this wonderland with your insight and humor. You are a national treasure!
@nolarobert Good call on the Mad Men scene! The fact John had this and Strawberry Fields Forever in the same year is mind blowing(amongst all the others) Would you give my album Separate Checks by A Keithing a listen? I swear you'll love it!
@nolarobert I was 15 when I heard this track for the first time in 1966. It was like entering another universe. Never heard anything remotely like it before and I must have played it over and over thousands of times. Even now at 73, when I listen to it, I get goose bumps just like the first time I played it. It's truly timeless.
Wow!! This has been by far the most in depth analysis I have ever experienced around any Beatles record and it has been a fantastic experience. THANK YOU!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I have looked forward to each song/episode with great anticipation. This series of video's deserves to be put out in a box set just like Apple keeps doing with all of The Beatles albums. This must have been a labor of love for you, because it is so elaborate. You turned over every stone from the Sitar player to your unbelievable plastic horn section on "Got To Get You Into". I don't know how you managed to figure out the harmony parts to that, but it sounds to this musicians ear that you did it beautifully. I got this album when it came out in 1966 for my 9th birthday. As a 9 year old, I wasn't ready for "Tomorrow Never Knows". It sounded quite radical to a kid that was used to the songs I had been hearing them come out with since they first hit my country (the US) in early 1964 and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" I had to grow into that one. Today it is my favorite Beatles track and although it has fluctuated over the years, Revolver has been my favorite album of theirs for quite a long time now. At different times it was St. Pepper, later it was Abbey Road.....except for that damn "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" that album is a masterpiece as well as a masterclass in arranging and production. But yes, the Paperback Writer/Rain single would be a nice epilogue to this series since those two songs were part of these sessions if you are not to burned out at this point. Thank you so very much again. And yes, from the moment I saw them on television that first time, I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life....and have done so.
I will never understand how a big Beatles fan can dislike "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". It may be the best comedic song ever made. It's beautifully crafted and perfectly executed.
11:30 mention of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, vs 33:53 "It established a precedent for the kind of experiment that, up until this point, was unique to these very specific circles of artsy people, to go mainstream". For British audiences, the Radiophonic Workshop had done quite a lot to bring experimental musical techniques into the mainstream, because its sole function was to provide unusual sound, including music, to be broadcast on the BBC. The _Doctor Who_ theme tune from 1963 is the most internationally famous (along with the musique concrète sound of the TARDIS), but the Workshop provided huge numbers of little pieces which featured on both TV and radio, some sounding deceptively conventional, others truly weird.
Love this, these are brilliant. But a note: Here’s the thing about “Paul was reallly the artsy one”: John had actually studied and made art. HE went to art school! He made lithographs and drawings. He wrote two satirical books by 1966. So who is “artsy”? The person who hangs about and around artists, or the person who actually makes art? (And goes so far as to marry an avant garde artist). Sorry, I just find that bit of revisionism tiresome (not by you, just see this going about lately). What TNK’s creation does drive home: John’s songs required the most help of any of the three songwriters. Partly by his ambition (Strawberry Fields, A Day in the Life..), partly by his laziness (/ limitations?)…
I don't think anyone is saying John wasn't "artsy" as well. The re just saying that guess what... Paul did all this stuff that most of you don't seem to know about. To suggest that Paul didn't make art is just wrong.
Such excellent analysis and commentary on the Beatles. I'm almost jealous of your intellectual power in discussing these songs. Look forward to your next Beatles video! Also love the ones with your sister! Just a side note, your jacket is awesome!
the applause won't die down for a while nancy. if we consider this as a series it's a flabbergasting amount of work. alongside abby's ABH, and i'll throw in larsland's deeply researched episodes, it's three people tearing up the rule book on what is possible on this platform. if i remain unconvinced R is their greatest ( boo, i know, just after you've crossed the finish line) you have made a convincing argument that this is THE band ( making the band imposters LoL). love you to ( just realized the cleverness of that title: to as opposed to er too) a brilliant video. GTGYIML my fav in the series. there was an eruption in 1969 and it was the radical boom of 21st century schizoid man. free form heavy poetic proggie. imo revolution 9 is part of the monumental structure that is the WA. take out anything away from that building and it falls down. yes i know i'm going on a bit, look i'm going: gone.
Love your take on most everything, Alan... but I can't tell if you were joking on that sentence about "Rev-9" or not. For me... "Rev-9" is the one thing that actually nearly makes the WA building fall down.
@@aBeatleFan4ever i lost my reply to you, had to start again! i know that my position on 9 could be considered idiosyncratic but the labyrinthian strangeness of the white album is one of its prime qualities for me. it doesn't mean i like that track, there are one or two others, but i never skip any of them . the fact that it is hard to get a handle on that album is the charm for me. i mean 9 before goodnight is crazy. always aware of your intelligent appreciation of their music so i know that the point you make is important to you.
Your work on this album has been brilliant and insightful, entertaining and fun, so it’s a big thank you from me. Over-familiarity with something (or someone!) can often mean you take it for granted and become complacent about what made it so great in the first place. As a musician myself, it was like listening to the album with a fresh pair of ears - you made me think about things I’d not given much thought to for a long time, if ever. Thank you and keep going!
10:57 In many other universes in the multiverse, that universe's Dick Rowe of Decca turns down the Tremeloes in favour of the Beatles in 1962 and they never meet George Martin. Let us give thanks for living in this universe where they did.
Marvellous! You saved the best for last -- the best song from Revolver, and your best breakdown. I hadn't known about Ray Cathode: that was a revelation. As was the absolutely inspired mash-up of Got To Get You Into My Life and Tomorrow Never Knows. What a gift to the world this song has been, and what a gift your series is.
Great video!! I will have to disagree though on your point about it seeming that John was under represented in the “blow you away songs”…. I’ve always thought that George and John’s songs were more forward thinking in the psychedelic movement than Paul’s songs. Paul I think kinda backtracked(not a bad thing) with songs like Got to Get You Into My Life and Good Day Sunshine, for example. She Said She Said, I’m Only Sleeping, Tomorrow Never Knows all represent the new age of the psychedelic movement in a better way
Paul's songs that you mention (along with "Here, There and Everywhere") did a magnificent job of helping to keep the Beatles fans of the past... along for the ride - as the group was changing right before our eyes.
I remember listening my dads albums from the beatles.abbey road and white album as a kid.and thinking the music was just made then (1980s) .when I dive into their music in my teens I was so surprised the music was already 30 years old!!! A kid now can listen tomorrow never knows and will still fresh and new!! Amazing
However, I disagree with your comment that John was underrepresented on Revolver. Lennon's contributions on Revolver are epic and are amongst his best compositions.
Yeah that's crap. Lost all credibility with me. She wasn't there so doesn't understand. John's songs along with 'Rain' were hugely influential for good or bad on the counter culture, youth movement, hippie drugs scene of the time...and they inspired Oasis twenty years later. None of Paul's were. They were rooted in the past appealing to an older generation. And John wrote half of 'Yellow Submarine'. His demos thereof are just incredible. John had the best six songs of those sessions for moi...easily. So Paul hung around with some dawky arty types. So effing what!
@@gettinhungrig8806 - John's contributions from the "Revolver" recording period are excellent and absolutely worth special note. But any Beatles fan that does not also recognize the fantastic work McCartney had during that period... has to be kidding themselves.
Dear Nancy/Fathom, Thanks for all the Beatles analysis, it was GREAT! In the future PLEASE do: Paperback Writer & Rain, Sgt. Pepper & its singles, Magical Mystery Tour & the Yellow Sub. lp (the 4 new tracks), The White Album & the singles of '68 (34 songs!) Get Back/Let It Be with Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of JOhn & Yoko & Old Brown Shoe, and finally Abbey Road! Then start at the beginning and do all the early LPs/singles from Please Please Me to Rubber Soul! That oughta' keep you busy! (You could even ask listeners to give $ and after you get to a certain level you'll do a new Beatles project! See? I'm looking out for 'ya; FATHOMs CATS GOTTA EAT! Love & Best Wishes, Paul
A fantastic video as always. And I love your jacket. It's almost worth it just for the jacket. Also, I had no idea there was actual film of Ringo saying "Tomorrow never knows!"
that mashup was incredible! thank you for this incredible series - i've learned so much about my all-time favourite album and i'm blown away by your dedication to demonstrating and explaining the theory and production of these tracks. some of the best videos i've ever seen on youtube!
As somebody who is 75 and experienced the Beatle albums as each was released. One of the effects that it had on me was the acceptance of Indian music and learn to love Ravi Shankar. You are brilliant please come to Cornwall in the UK you would be very welcomed.
Yeah, Revolver. It was for years my favourite Beatles album...then for a while maybe not...but now (again) it's just so clearly their absolutely giant creative step. This track never dates, and what I especially love about it (combined with all the amazingly fresh and original sounds and the driving beat) is how 'melodic' it still is. All those random / backwards / processed sounds are incredibly...tuneful? Who but The Beatles (and George Martin) could do that? I am one of those who heard this with no 'modern' experience (I was 16 when it was released), and while this track was puzzling, it was also accessible - maybe because it was The Beatles and you trusted them? The whole album was an electric trip of different sounds, rhythms, images, with a sound quality/character/texture like nothing we had heard before. Even then, though I had no idea what 'production' was, the production was astounding, mesmerizing - maybe the most noticeable aspect of the album. You could say we didn’t know what we were listening to, but we knew it was something new and important. I still feel that way about it. To me there was 'before Revolver', then 'Revolver - Pepper - White', and finally 'Abbey Road'. Yeah, Revolver. Thanks so much for this - a really absorbing analysis and summary!
Tomorrow Never Knows is the biggest leap forward in the history of music. Even now it sounds so different and progressive as a song. 40 years ahead of its time, it sounds like Ambient Techno from the 2000s or the first 'Drum & Bass" Yet another musical genre the Beatles planted the seeds for ! When the song came out, it was not understood or liked as shown in an episode of Mad Men it took the Chemical Brothers, 30 years to reintroduce a very similar sounding song that was quite a phenomenal success in 1996, for people to realize the Beatles had laid the foundation and genre 30 years before. Stunning. ruclips.net/video/p5NX1FC-7-w/видео.html
Tomorrow Never Knows is the Beatles most revolutionary song - which is saying a LOT, considering this same band also made Strawberry Fields Forever, and A Day in the Life, and I Want You / She's So Heavy, and the Abbey Road medley, and etc. etc. - but TNN is a song that *still* to this day sounds like it's coming to us from the future.
It certainly was up through 1966... and it may still be. But I have to go with their single... "Revolution" as their most "revolutionary" song. Just me being punny ; )
Ooh, you stopped just short of saying that with this song, the Beatles had boldly gone where no mainstream musicians had gone before (!) Or did that end up on the cutting room floor?? 😉 Thanks for a tremendously satisfying full-spectrum analysis of this psychedelic masterpiece 😎💕🎶
The drum pattern in Tomorrow Never Knows has a few near-precedents in (the chorus of) She Loves You, the start of What You're Doing, and especially Ticket To Ride
Seconding the requests to do Paperback Writer and Rain! I've added them to the front of my 2022 mixes playlist for Revolver, so they're now inextricably linked to the rest of the album in my mind.
Be grateful we got to experience all that Nancy gave us with her "Revolver" coverage. Don't be sad... be glad. There will be more Beatles from Nancy. The girl can't help it. ; )
Bravo! This was so fascinating. I'm a Beatlemaniac and thought I knew everything there is to know about The Fabs, but I learned new facts from this video.
I was eleven years old when my parents gave me my first Walkman...tape, no CDs yet. I listened to The Beatles for hours, and I learned a lot of English by listening to them. One day, I heard that track and, as you said, my mind was blown. I am pretty sure that Revolver as a whole influenced my taste in music. From that day on, The Beatles were the bar that very few other musicians could get close to, let alone reach. Even now, I think they are underrated because so many people are unaware of how truly influential they have been since then.
You're a brilliant content creator and presenter. That you have so relatively few subscribers baffles me. Well researched and cleverly written, your vids not only scratch the itch for celebrity revelations, but also provide innovative connections and insights that don't appear elsewhere. Well done you. Carry on creating.
Brilliant video, ive been waiting for this one since june It would have been cool to hear a little more about how the psychedelic expirience inspired john to write this song but otherwise this is a 10/10 I hope you do Sgt Pepper's next!
You could put all of your "Revolver" song reviews together, write up a syllabus (I know, snore) and you would have a really nice college course. Just sayin'
you could have the teacher who gave you disappointing grade on beatles paper 15 years ago on while guitar correspondent glares at him or just stares disapprovingly! you're past that now...maybe??
Brilliant! Thankyou! I was so lucky to be 13 in 1963. My gardening jobs paid for all the Beatles,Stones,Dylan albums as soon as they came out. And then Jimi,the Dead,Velvets,Beefheart,Zappa,till I arrived at Uni with a killer collection. Bach,Flamenco,BluesJazz, Motown.Music,and playing amateur guitar,has been central to my life. Life without music is unimaginable. But after age 30(1980) I didn't like much new stuff at all, especially Rap. Now the top ten on Spottify is just corporate junk. So now it's Bach,Jazz,World Music, And rarely,because the nostalgia is so bitter sweet, the old favourites like Revolver or Blonde on Blonde,that have stood the test of time,may get played Hope you are interested to know what kind of people are your fans. I'm a retired archaeologist and socialist from Norwich,England. Keep up the good work!
Regarding your last bit about their evolution from mop tops to the Revolver Beatles. I heard a quote years ago that said, "The Beatles went from being New Kids on the Block to being Radiohead in less than 3 years." I think thats brilliant and really sums it up well.
Great presentation! I consider myself fortunate that I grew up experiencing The Beatles in real time. As you said, it must have been incredible hearing their music when it was new. It was. I bought each album when it came out from the first one to the last. I bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" when it first was released. It was something very different from anythng I'd heard before. They were so different they might as well have been from another planet, their sound, hair, clothes, accent, and the fact they were English. There had never been an English rock band or singer that had success in America. A lot of young people don't realize that even the early Beatles records were revolutionary. From the beginning their sound was different, their vocal harmonies, the sound of their guitars and amps, the chord progressions, and the joy and intensity that came off the grooves. I remember being floored the first time I heard "I Feel Fine," "Ticket To Ride," "Rain," etc. When "Rubber Soul" came out it was the first big leap to more serious and adult music and lyrics. It was when their music became art. I'm grateful I took the ride with them through all their records and their life journey, the LSD, meditation, Indian and avant garde music. I'm a musician who actually had a band before The Beatles came out in the U.S. We played Beatle songs along with our other music all throughout the 60s. I went on to record for Capitol Records, The Beatles U.S. label, and other labels in the early 70s. I've also taught classes on the history of The Beatles for the OSHER program at a couple of universities in California. Their music inspires me to this day. I've seen some of your other videos about The Beatles and have enjoyed them. I appreciate your enthusiasm, insight, intelligence, talent, and personality. Keep up the great work! p.s. I'm still performing, recording, and rocking at my advanced age. I just got back from Liverpool where I did three shows.
@@fathommusicnz - 41 minutes of magnificence. I appreciate all the time and effort you put into these masterpieces - so much. Thank you... thank you... thank you.
I've been waiting for this particular video ever since you started your journey on the Revolver Album. Your work is above and beyond any and whatever one could think or expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel. Thank you for the journey. As for your next project ... who are we kidding? There's no way you're going to stop before doing the whole journey from Tomorrow never knows until Her Majesty.
Love your description of what Nancy has been doing as a RUclipsr ("above and beyond any and whatever one could expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel.") Very well said. I agree completely.
Absolutely on target! I was entering college in '66 and had never been terribly interested in the Beatles---although you couldn't avoid hearing them or their songs by some old-style crooner. Revolver was an album without any "dating" songs on it. At the time I thought they were going to lose their fans, but I (and millions of others) started paying more attention. The Beatles had already broken norms of musical form, but this album got rid of the "formula" for lyrical content. A pop song had, up to that time, always been intended as entertainment. But the Beatles 'Part Two' weren't pop stars anymore---they were artists with a following around the world, and they redefined a song as a blank canvas.
Interesting comment.... But I'd disagree and say that there are 3 tracks that could qualify as "dating" songs: "Here, There and Everywhere", "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got To Get You Into My Life". Those 3 songs also played a huge roll in keeping all the original Beatles fans happy with the album... while they may have needed some time to catch up to what was happening with most of the other tracks. I think they always did a great job of finding a way to keep their old fans... while moving forward and creating new sounds that could capture the hearts of new fans.
Very good cover of "Tomorrow never knows". It does not have the original experimental feel, instead a more modern psychedelic/raga genre. but it also reveals that the song is actually quite melodic which is not the first thing that comes to mind in the original. ruclips.net/video/H1SbBOMlxr8/видео.html
You did a fantastic job in your analysis of Revolver, I've learned so much from listening to your videos. Thanks for your work! I hope you will be able to do all the Beatle albums. It would be great if you could start with Please Please Me and finish with Abbey Road.
Incisive analysis, but with feeling too! 73 year old here, born in Liverpool who began his musical journey aged 11 with The Beatles. And, the thing is, that from their first hit single, throughout their relatively short time together as a group, everything they did was, in some way new. You have to remember the popular music context that they were operating in. Look at what was aired on the radio and TV of the early sixties and you will see how little innovation there was and how the whole scene was jaded and, quite simply, tired and, to the 11 year old that was me, just plain boring. I was 15 when Revolver was issued and listened to it a million times. I still listen to it now and it is still as fresh as ever and I keep finding things in the music that I never remember hearing and appreciating before. Exactly how I feel when I listen to Bach, Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart (and many other 'classical' composers). Their music is transformative, freeing the mind and heightening the senses. The genre doesn't matter. It's simply what the best music does.
Slightly slow start but a tremendous historical analysis of this MONUMENTAL track. The extract of all of the constituent tape loops at 20:00 was amazing to hear. One of the most astounding live performances I ever saw was Los Lobos playing this song live on a TV tribute to The Beatles that aired around 1993. They nailed the vibe perfectly. I loved your insight on whether the Beatles were consciously or inadvertently sampling themselves from prior work. Very cool jacket, by the way.
Excellent comment. I agree whole heartedly about the tape loops portion. She putted that in from about 66 feet away. And that live cover by Los Lobos was very good. I remember it well.
I sure am glad that The Beatles came our way as they made such timeless music and did it so very well. Radical songs are not super commonplace but one that comes to my mind is Poppy's song"X" with it's genre bending mashups. I mention Poppy because in the present day her music has a very experimental edge to it and you can see her in concert. Nice video by the way I liked it!
I like Revolution 9, but I have been hearing it since I was born. My dad didn't have Revolver though, so I don't think I heard Tomorrow Never Knows until I was young teen ravenously searching for Beatles songs I had not yet heard. I took a series of Electronic Music Classes in college and love using some of the musique concrète ideas in my music, or just messing with sounds until I come up with something interesting on it's own as a piece.
What's the most radical song you know?
It’s probably not the most radical, but as far as songs I like a lot, probably the original Vega-Tables by Brian Wilson from SMiLE
Tomorrow Never Knows is the most unprecedented song. They were 23-25 years old and it was 1966. Still insane to consider that
Either IAmTheWalrun or the Doors' TheEnd.
Or, maybe it's Bach's ArtOfTheFugue, or various things by BrianEno?
"I Wanna Rule the World" by 10cc.
4'33
How on Earth do you only have 6K subscribers?! This is by far the best breakdown and analysis I have ever heard of this masterpiece. Your videos are brilliant.
One of the bigger music education/reactors RUclipsrs must be introduced to this girl. She is phenomenal!
I was about to say the same thing…..the absolute best Beatles related youtube video I have seen.
Agreed. Drives me nuts that those who really deserve the attention aren’t getting it. This channel rules.
I love your channel because I learn things I've never thought of and because you are a great, great, story teller.
You are so right. The videos are equally fun and educational.
Absolutely Brilliant. I love your enthusiasm and in depth analysis. I even got slightly emotional listening to you today. You nailed it! Anyone who says they hate the Beatles don’t have a clue what they’re talking about!
Nice comment.
Thankyou for a brilliant analysis, illustration, creative endeavor and expert musical understanding and appreciation! Wonderfully put together and explained - this is quality fine art in itself. Congratulations on presenting what many (ie I) consider to be the greatest album ever produced by anyone ever!
Lovely comment.
If I could give a standing ovation in the comments I would. Or did I?
I did.
Isn't it amazing that at the time where most, if not all, other producers would have shot down an idea like this, they had stumbled on probably the... only? person in the world to not only accept but actively help them with this - as we've seen, with experience both with tape loops and electronic music. And to boot, he'd gone independent just a few months earlier so he was both intimately familiar with the EMI studio and now also free from any responsibility other than keeping the Beatles as clients to his new company (AIR).
Great comment.
Can't wait to hear you talk about "Rain"! (The Beatles song)
I'd even look forward to hearing Nancy talk about rain (the weather).
You have a real genius in understanding how the music came together, thank you.
Nice comment.
Well, if you don't want it to end just yet... The Beatles recorded two more tracks during the sessions - Paperback Writer and Rain.
Yes
That fact would be outstanding, but hey, they did it again and again and again. Genius es!
Best video retro/perspective on Tomorrow Never Knows I’ve seen or read.
Yes
You are a great joy to watch and listen to. The God of Music sent you to us! What a wonderful mind you have! I will watch every video you make. Thank you!
Lovely comment
You combined GTGYIML and TNK 😅
A great mashup
She certainly did.
BTW Full Front Noodle would be an EXCELLENT band name!
Funny stuff.
I love the scene from Mad Men when Don Draper listens to Tomorrow Never Knows. It changed the world he thought he knew. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to hear this revolutionary song for the first time back in 1966. It is in my Top 5 list of favorite Beatles songs. I love listening to it at night, when it is nice and dark, through headphones. It is a trip with having to drop acid. You brilliantly take us through this wonderland with your insight and humor. You are a national treasure!
@nolarobert Good call on the Mad Men scene! The fact John had this and Strawberry Fields Forever in the same year is mind blowing(amongst all the others) Would you give my album Separate Checks by A Keithing a listen? I swear you'll love it!
@nolarobert I was 15 when I heard this track for the first time in 1966. It was like entering another universe. Never heard anything remotely like it before and I must have played it over and over thousands of times. Even now at 73, when I listen to it, I get goose bumps just like the first time I played it. It's truly timeless.
Did you mean to write... "It is a trip without having to drop acid." You left out the "out" in "without". Or am I misreading what you meant..?
@@robinholland1136 I first heard it in 1996 when I was 15 and did the same for me!
Wow!! This has been by far the most in depth analysis I have ever experienced around any Beatles record and it has been a fantastic experience. THANK YOU!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!! I have looked forward to each song/episode with great anticipation. This series of video's deserves to be put out in a box set just like Apple keeps doing with all of The Beatles albums. This must have been a labor of love for you, because it is so elaborate. You turned over every stone from the Sitar player to your unbelievable plastic horn section on "Got To Get You Into". I don't know how you managed to figure out the harmony parts to that, but it sounds to this musicians ear that you did it beautifully. I got this album when it came out in 1966 for my 9th birthday. As a 9 year old, I wasn't ready for "Tomorrow Never Knows". It sounded quite radical to a kid that was used to the songs I had been hearing them come out with since they first hit my country (the US) in early 1964 and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" I had to grow into that one. Today it is my favorite Beatles track and although it has fluctuated over the years, Revolver has been my favorite album of theirs for quite a long time now. At different times it was St. Pepper, later it was Abbey Road.....except for that damn "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" that album is a masterpiece as well as a masterclass in arranging and production. But yes, the Paperback Writer/Rain single would be a nice epilogue to this series since those two songs were part of these sessions if you are not to burned out at this point. Thank you so very much again. And yes, from the moment I saw them on television that first time, I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life....and have done so.
Agreed! I didn't begin to grok this song until 1968, when age 14 I began eating acid.
I will never understand how a big Beatles fan can dislike "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". It may be the best comedic song ever made. It's beautifully crafted and perfectly executed.
11:30 mention of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, vs 33:53 "It established a precedent for the kind of experiment that, up until this point, was unique to these very specific circles of artsy people, to go mainstream".
For British audiences, the Radiophonic Workshop had done quite a lot to bring experimental musical techniques into the mainstream, because its sole function was to provide unusual sound, including music, to be broadcast on the BBC. The _Doctor Who_ theme tune from 1963 is the most internationally famous (along with the musique concrète sound of the TARDIS), but the Workshop provided huge numbers of little pieces which featured on both TV and radio, some sounding deceptively conventional, others truly weird.
This ties nicely with the fact that the BBC Sound Effects Archive has just been made free to access by the public in the last few days.
Love this, these are brilliant.
But a note:
Here’s the thing about “Paul was reallly the artsy one”: John had actually studied and made art. HE went to art school! He made lithographs and drawings. He wrote two satirical books by 1966. So who is “artsy”? The person who hangs about and around artists, or the person who actually makes art? (And goes so far as to marry an avant garde artist). Sorry, I just find that bit of revisionism tiresome (not by you, just see this going about lately).
What TNK’s creation does drive home: John’s songs required the most help of any of the three songwriters. Partly by his ambition (Strawberry Fields, A Day in the Life..), partly by his laziness (/ limitations?)…
I don't think anyone is saying John wasn't "artsy" as well. The re just saying that guess what... Paul did all this stuff that most of you don't seem to know about. To suggest that Paul didn't make art is just wrong.
Making up sounds was much more interesting before synthesizers .
Yes
I love your analysis and passion, keep it up please.
Yes
I can turn off my mind relax and float downstream listening to your brilliant analysis. Merci Beauchamp. ❤
Nicely said.
love your work
Nice comment.
Such excellent analysis and commentary on the Beatles. I'm almost jealous of your intellectual power in discussing these songs. Look forward to your next Beatles video! Also love the ones with your sister! Just a side note, your jacket is awesome!
Second all of THIS!
Thank you! Very easy to make: just upend a bunch of test pots of house paint on it.
Completely agree.
the applause won't die down for a while nancy. if we consider this as a series it's a flabbergasting amount of work. alongside abby's ABH, and i'll throw in larsland's deeply researched episodes, it's three people tearing up the rule book on what is possible on this platform.
if i remain unconvinced R is their greatest ( boo, i know, just after you've crossed the finish line) you have made a convincing argument that this is THE band ( making the band imposters LoL). love you to ( just realized the cleverness of that title: to as opposed to er too) a brilliant video. GTGYIML my fav in the series.
there was an eruption in 1969 and it was the radical boom of 21st century schizoid man. free form heavy poetic proggie.
imo revolution 9 is part of the monumental structure that is the WA. take out anything away from that building and it falls down.
yes i know i'm going on a bit, look i'm going: gone.
Love your take on most everything, Alan... but I can't tell if you were joking on that sentence about "Rev-9" or not.
For me... "Rev-9" is the one thing that actually nearly makes the WA building fall down.
@@aBeatleFan4ever i lost my reply to you, had to start again! i know that my position on 9 could be considered idiosyncratic but the labyrinthian strangeness of the white album is one of its prime qualities for me. it doesn't mean i like that track, there are one or two others, but i never skip any of them . the fact that it is hard to get a handle on that album is the charm for me. i mean 9 before goodnight is crazy.
always aware of your intelligent appreciation of their music so i know that the point you make is important to you.
Your work on this album has been brilliant and insightful, entertaining and fun, so it’s a big thank you from me. Over-familiarity with something (or someone!) can often mean you take it for granted and become complacent about what made it so great in the first place. As a musician myself, it was like listening to the album with a fresh pair of ears - you made me think about things I’d not given much thought to for a long time, if ever. Thank you and keep going!
This is such a great comment. Well said.
Brava! This entire project was awesome. Keep going! Keep going!
Yes
10:57 In many other universes in the multiverse, that universe's Dick Rowe of Decca turns down the Tremeloes in favour of the Beatles in 1962 and they never meet George Martin. Let us give thanks for living in this universe where they did.
Great comment!
Yes!
So many things had to come together (pun intended) just right in their story.
Yesssss to this amazing video. Gods of the RUclips Algorithm, please start showing Fathom in a million feeds.
Frank Zappa. His songs were often 'radical'. I think he aimed for radical.
Marvellous! You saved the best for last -- the best song from Revolver, and your best breakdown. I hadn't known about Ray Cathode: that was a revelation. As was the absolutely inspired mash-up of Got To Get You Into My Life and Tomorrow Never Knows. What a gift to the world this song has been, and what a gift your series is.
Great comment. Love that last line.
PLEASE do more Beatles! PLEASE do more Beatles! The band and your love for them lift my spirits!
Me too.
Great video!! I will have to disagree though on your point about it seeming that John was under represented in the “blow you away songs”…. I’ve always thought that George and John’s songs were more forward thinking in the psychedelic movement than Paul’s songs. Paul I think kinda backtracked(not a bad thing) with songs like Got to Get You Into My Life and Good Day Sunshine, for example. She Said She Said, I’m Only Sleeping, Tomorrow Never Knows all represent the new age of the psychedelic movement in a better way
Paul's songs that you mention (along with "Here, There and Everywhere") did a magnificent job of helping to keep the Beatles fans of the past... along for the ride - as the group was changing right before our eyes.
Paul was a big part of what made TNK forward thinking. Mostly his loops and his idea for the skip drum pattern.
I remember listening my dads albums from the beatles.abbey road and white album as a kid.and thinking the music was just made then (1980s) .when I dive into their music in my teens I was so surprised the music was already 30 years old!!! A kid now can listen tomorrow never knows and will still fresh and new!! Amazing
Yes
I absolutely love you!!
Me too.
Possibly the greatest thing ever recorded.
Nice comment.
Possibly the most accurate comment ever.
omg that mashup sounded so fucking sick PLEASE upload it on its own, Miss Fathom!
Yes it was so good. And I love that you called her... "Miss Fathom". ; )
Bob Dylan more than once comes off quite insecure and dismissive…see his treatment of Donovan in the Pennymaker film.
That was brilliant!
Brilliant is a fantastic one word description.
However, I disagree with your comment that John was underrepresented on Revolver. Lennon's contributions on Revolver are epic and are amongst his best compositions.
Yeah that's crap. Lost all credibility with me. She wasn't there so doesn't understand. John's songs along with 'Rain' were hugely influential for good or bad on the counter culture, youth movement, hippie drugs scene of the time...and they inspired Oasis twenty years later. None of Paul's were. They were rooted in the past appealing to an older generation. And John wrote half of 'Yellow Submarine'. His demos thereof are just incredible. John had the best six songs of those sessions for moi...easily. So Paul hung around with some dawky arty types. So effing what!
@@gettinhungrig8806 - John's contributions from the "Revolver" recording period are excellent and absolutely worth special note. But any Beatles fan that does not also recognize the fantastic work McCartney had during that period... has to be kidding themselves.
Dear Nancy/Fathom,
Thanks for all the Beatles analysis, it was GREAT!
In the future PLEASE do:
Paperback Writer & Rain,
Sgt. Pepper & its singles,
Magical Mystery Tour & the Yellow Sub. lp (the 4 new tracks),
The White Album & the singles of '68 (34 songs!)
Get Back/Let It Be with Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of JOhn & Yoko & Old Brown Shoe,
and finally Abbey Road!
Then start at the beginning and do all the early LPs/singles from
Please Please Me to Rubber Soul! That oughta' keep you busy!
(You could even ask listeners to give $ and after you get to a certain level you'll do a new Beatles project! See? I'm looking out for 'ya; FATHOMs CATS GOTTA EAT!
Love & Best Wishes, Paul
Nice comment.
A fantastic video as always. And I love your jacket. It's almost worth it just for the jacket.
Also, I had no idea there was actual film of Ringo saying "Tomorrow never knows!"
Lovely comment. Her jacket (and her whole look) is A+++.
that mashup was incredible! thank you for this incredible series - i've learned so much about my all-time favourite album and i'm blown away by your dedication to demonstrating and explaining the theory and production of these tracks. some of the best videos i've ever seen on youtube!
Yes. I agree with every word.
As somebody who is 75 and experienced the Beatle albums as each was released. One of the effects that it had on me was the acceptance of Indian music and learn to love Ravi Shankar. You are brilliant please come to Cornwall in the UK you would be very welcomed.
I believe Nancy would be very welcome... everywhere in the Beatle universe.
I, truly, appreciate the effort you put into your videos. Just terrific work! Thank you.
Agreed.
How can you be so beautiful, so smart and so entertaining? (Asking for a friend.)
Excellent question.
Yeah, Revolver. It was for years my favourite Beatles album...then for a while maybe not...but now (again) it's just so clearly their absolutely giant creative step. This track never dates, and what I especially love about it (combined with all the amazingly fresh and original sounds and the driving beat) is how 'melodic' it still is. All those random / backwards / processed sounds are incredibly...tuneful? Who but The Beatles (and George Martin) could do that?
I am one of those who heard this with no 'modern' experience (I was 16 when it was released), and while this track was puzzling, it was also accessible - maybe because it was The Beatles and you trusted them? The whole album was an electric trip of different sounds, rhythms, images, with a sound quality/character/texture like nothing we had heard before. Even then, though I had no idea what 'production' was, the production was astounding, mesmerizing - maybe the most noticeable aspect of the album. You could say we didn’t know what we were listening to, but we knew it was something new and important.
I still feel that way about it. To me there was 'before Revolver', then 'Revolver - Pepper - White', and finally 'Abbey Road'.
Yeah, Revolver. Thanks so much for this - a really absorbing analysis and summary!
Enjoyed your comment.
Tomorrow Never Knows is the biggest leap forward in the history of music.
Even now it sounds so different and progressive as a song.
40 years ahead of its time,
it sounds like Ambient Techno from the 2000s or the first 'Drum & Bass"
Yet another musical genre the Beatles planted the seeds for !
When the song came out, it was not understood or liked as shown in an episode of Mad Men
it took the Chemical Brothers, 30 years to reintroduce a very similar sounding song
that was quite a phenomenal success in 1996, for people to realize the Beatles had laid
the foundation and genre 30 years before. Stunning.
ruclips.net/video/p5NX1FC-7-w/видео.html
Nice comment.
Tomorrow Never Knows is the Beatles most revolutionary song - which is saying a LOT, considering this same band also made Strawberry Fields Forever, and A Day in the Life, and I Want You / She's So Heavy, and the Abbey Road medley, and etc. etc. - but TNN is a song that *still* to this day sounds like it's coming to us from the future.
It certainly was up through 1966... and it may still be.
But I have to go with their single... "Revolution" as their most "revolutionary" song. Just me being punny ; )
Ooh, you stopped just short of saying that with this song, the Beatles had boldly gone where no mainstream musicians had gone before (!) Or did that end up on the cutting room floor?? 😉 Thanks for a tremendously satisfying full-spectrum analysis of this psychedelic masterpiece 😎💕🎶
Nice comment.
The drum pattern in Tomorrow Never Knows has a few near-precedents in (the chorus of) She Loves You, the start of What You're Doing, and especially Ticket To Ride
Nice comment.
It's like the Universe didn't want them to work with any producer BUT George Martin. If anyone could be considered the fifth Beatle, it would be him.
Nice comment.
Seconding the requests to do Paperback Writer and Rain! I've added them to the front of my 2022 mixes playlist for Revolver, so they're now inextricably linked to the rest of the album in my mind.
Me too. They have always been attached in my personal experience.
This was so much fun to listen to. Even having read the books, seen the videos etc., you tell this in such a compelling way. Thank you for sharing!
I'm sad your Revolver phase is over, too--though deeply grateful for all your insights. I'd love to see what you'd do with any other Beatle album.
Be grateful we got to experience all that Nancy gave us with her "Revolver" coverage. Don't be sad... be glad.
There will be more Beatles from Nancy. The girl can't help it. ; )
Bravo! This was so fascinating. I'm a Beatlemaniac and thought I knew everything there is to know about The Fabs, but I learned new facts from this video.
Nice comment.
Good grief, this is fantastic, respect. Can you do the Rain/Paperback Writer single as well?
I was eleven years old when my parents gave me my first Walkman...tape, no CDs yet. I listened to The Beatles for hours, and I learned a lot of English by listening to them. One day, I heard that track and, as you said, my mind was blown. I am pretty sure that Revolver as a whole influenced my taste in music. From that day on, The Beatles were the bar that very few other musicians could get close to, let alone reach. Even now, I think they are underrated because so many people are unaware of how truly influential they have been since then.
Excellent comment. Love that last sentence especially.
You're a brilliant content creator and presenter. That you have so relatively few subscribers baffles me. Well researched and cleverly written, your vids not only scratch the itch for celebrity revelations, but also provide innovative connections and insights that don't appear elsewhere. Well done you. Carry on creating.
Lovely comment. Nicely stated.
Brilliant video, ive been waiting for this one since june
It would have been cool to hear a little more about how the psychedelic expirience inspired john to write this song but otherwise this is a 10/10
I hope you do Sgt Pepper's next!
Nice comment.
What a great dissection of TNK. Lots of things I never really heard before.
Nice comment.
Your passion and the work you put in to these films are inspiring. i would love to get your take on the Brian Jones / Mick Taylor era Stones.
Nice comment.
I loved this! I am going back to see the previous vids in this series. Thanks‼️
That will be time well spent. Enjoy!
I am also sad. What a great series. And you saved the best part for the end. Loved it, thank you.
Nice comment.
This is a phenomenal channel. Thank you for all the analysis you put into your videos. Very entertaining.
Excvellent analysis and research. A real pleasure to listen to.
When music was fun......and worth listening to......
Yes
why did i cry at the end? thanks, nancy! can't wait to see what you will get up to next.
Brilliant video and such an epic audio journey 😎🎶
The outtakes at the end 😅
(Yes, I watched it all)
Usually, along with the feline interruptions, my fav part of Nancy's vids!
Nancy's outtakes are always so funny and very much worth the wait. A must watch for me.
what a fantastic video, as always. i learned so much. thank you!!
One of the best writings about TNK. Thank you so much!
Excellent video, thank you🥂
Yes
You could put all of your "Revolver" song reviews together, write up a syllabus (I know, snore) and you would have a really nice college course. Just sayin'
you could have the teacher who gave you disappointing grade on beatles paper 15 years ago on while guitar correspondent glares at him or just stares disapprovingly! you're past that now...maybe??
Nancy could probably get her doctorate with these videos.
"Avant guard a clue" ,,, priceless
Agreed.
Brilliant! Thankyou! I was so lucky to be 13 in 1963. My gardening jobs paid for all the Beatles,Stones,Dylan albums as soon as they came out. And then Jimi,the Dead,Velvets,Beefheart,Zappa,till I arrived at Uni with a killer collection. Bach,Flamenco,BluesJazz, Motown.Music,and playing amateur guitar,has been central to my life.
Life without music is unimaginable.
But after age 30(1980) I didn't like much new stuff at all, especially Rap. Now the top ten on Spottify is just corporate junk.
So now it's Bach,Jazz,World Music,
And rarely,because the nostalgia is so bitter sweet, the old favourites like Revolver or Blonde on Blonde,that have stood the test of time,may get played
Hope you are interested to know what kind of people are your fans. I'm a retired archaeologist and socialist from Norwich,England.
Keep up the good work!
Always love to hear from retired socialist archaeologists from Norwich! Thanks for watching. :)
Brilliant is probably the best one word description - for what Nancy is doing.
@@fathommusicnz - Me too. Probably my favorite group of RUclips commentors.
Regarding your last bit about their evolution from mop tops to the Revolver Beatles. I heard a quote years ago that said, "The Beatles went from being New Kids on the Block to being Radiohead in less than 3 years." I think thats brilliant and really sums it up well.
Except that is an incredibly inaccurate analogy. They were NEVER a boy band, in any way!
@@BeatlesCentricUniverse - Yes. You are so right.
No... The Beatles were NEVER the "New Kids On The Block". That is utter nonsense.
Great presentation! I consider myself fortunate that I grew up experiencing The Beatles in real time. As you said, it must have been incredible hearing their music when it was new. It was. I bought each album when it came out from the first one to the last. I bought "I Want To Hold Your Hand" when it first was released. It was something very different from anythng I'd heard before. They were so different they might as well have been from another planet, their sound, hair, clothes, accent, and the fact they were English. There had never been an English rock band or singer that had success in America. A lot of young people don't realize that even the early Beatles records were revolutionary. From the beginning their sound was different, their vocal harmonies, the sound of their guitars and amps, the chord progressions, and the joy and intensity that came off the grooves. I remember being floored the first time I heard "I Feel Fine," "Ticket To Ride," "Rain," etc. When "Rubber Soul" came out it was the first big leap to more serious and adult music and lyrics. It was when their music became art. I'm grateful I took the ride with them through all their records and their life journey, the LSD, meditation, Indian and avant garde music. I'm a musician who actually had a band before The Beatles came out in the U.S. We played Beatle songs along with our other music all throughout the 60s. I went on to record for Capitol Records, The Beatles U.S. label, and other labels in the early 70s. I've also taught classes on the history of The Beatles for the OSHER program at a couple of universities in California. Their music inspires me to this day. I've seen some of your other videos about The Beatles and have enjoyed them. I appreciate your enthusiasm, insight, intelligence, talent, and personality. Keep up the great work! p.s. I'm still performing, recording, and rocking at my advanced age. I just got back from Liverpool where I did three shows.
What an inspiration! I hope I'm still playing in bands when I'm older. What was the name of your band?
nice job! how long does it take you to put an episode like this together?
This one took about 15 hours! It was a biggie.
@@fathommusicnz i’m surprised it’s not more. you pack so much in-the editing alone would take me a week!
Nice comment.
@@fathommusicnz - 41 minutes of magnificence. I appreciate all the time and effort you put into these masterpieces - so much. Thank you... thank you... thank you.
You are my favorite RUclips reviewer! I'm always overjoyed to see new videos from you. I'm never disappointed either.
Joseph in Philadelphia PA USA
Me too.
I've been waiting for this particular video ever since you started your journey on the Revolver Album. Your work is above and beyond any and whatever one could think or expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel. Thank you for the journey. As for your next project ... who are we kidding? There's no way you're going to stop before doing the whole journey from Tomorrow never knows until Her Majesty.
Love your description of what Nancy has been doing as a RUclipsr ("above and beyond any and whatever one could expect of a youtuber. You're simply a marvel.")
Very well said. I agree completely.
Absolutely on target! I was entering college in '66 and had never been terribly interested in the Beatles---although you couldn't avoid hearing them or their songs by some old-style crooner. Revolver was an album without any "dating" songs on it. At the time I thought they were going to lose their fans, but I (and millions of others) started paying more attention. The Beatles had already broken norms of musical form, but this album got rid of the "formula" for lyrical content. A pop song had, up to that time, always been intended as entertainment. But the Beatles 'Part Two' weren't pop stars anymore---they were artists with a following around the world, and they redefined a song as a blank canvas.
Interesting comment.... But I'd disagree and say that there are 3 tracks that could qualify as "dating" songs: "Here, There and Everywhere", "Good Day Sunshine" and "Got To Get You Into My Life". Those 3 songs also played a huge roll in keeping all the original Beatles fans happy with the album... while they may have needed some time to catch up to what was happening with most of the other tracks. I think they always did a great job of finding a way to keep their old fans... while moving forward and creating new sounds that could capture the hearts of new fans.
Very good cover of "Tomorrow never knows". It does not have the original experimental feel, instead a more modern psychedelic/raga genre. but it also reveals that the song is actually quite melodic which is not the first thing that comes to mind in the original. ruclips.net/video/H1SbBOMlxr8/видео.html
Nice comment.
You did a fantastic job in your analysis of Revolver, I've learned so much from listening to your videos. Thanks for your work! I hope you will be able to do all the Beatle albums. It would be great if you could start with Please Please Me and finish with Abbey Road.
Yes
Incisive analysis, but with feeling too! 73 year old here, born in Liverpool who began his musical journey aged 11 with The Beatles. And, the thing is, that from their first hit single, throughout their relatively short time together as a group, everything they did was, in some way new. You have to remember the popular music context that they were operating in. Look at what was aired on the radio and TV of the early sixties and you will see how little innovation there was and how the whole scene was jaded and, quite simply, tired and, to the 11 year old that was me, just plain boring.
I was 15 when Revolver was issued and listened to it a million times. I still listen to it now and it is still as fresh as ever and I keep finding things in the music that I never remember hearing and appreciating before. Exactly how I feel when I listen to Bach, Beethoven, Mahler and Mozart (and many other 'classical' composers). Their music is transformative, freeing the mind and heightening the senses. The genre doesn't matter. It's simply what the best music does.
Super comment.
Does the "combining powers" thing remind anybody else of the Care Bears? (Like other people in the comments, I love your analyses!)
Such a "caring" comment.
Love this video 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
This was the album that cemented the Beatles as musical GIANTS. And they never came down.
Yes.... absolutely agree.
Slightly slow start but a tremendous historical analysis of this MONUMENTAL track. The extract of all of the constituent tape loops at 20:00 was amazing to hear. One of the most astounding live performances I ever saw was Los Lobos playing this song live on a TV tribute to The Beatles that aired around 1993. They nailed the vibe perfectly. I loved your insight on whether the Beatles were consciously or inadvertently sampling themselves from prior work. Very cool jacket, by the way.
Excellent comment. I agree whole heartedly about the tape loops portion. She putted that in from about 66 feet away.
And that live cover by Los Lobos was very good. I remember it well.
Great video!...and song.
Yes
I sure am glad that The Beatles came our way as they made such timeless music and did it so very well. Radical songs are not super commonplace but one that comes to my mind is Poppy's song"X" with it's genre bending mashups. I mention Poppy because in the present day her music has a very experimental edge to it and you can see her in concert. Nice video by the way I liked it!
Nice comment.
You've out done yourself again ! I think this is your Beatles analysis masterpiece.
Lovely comment.
I liked your take on tomorrow never knows. I call it the first song the 80's --but of course its so much more.
Nice comment.
That Tomorrow Never Get You Into My Life song sounds pretty cool.
Yes it did!
This is the first time I have seen you but not the last. Your comments are interesting and beautifully delivered.
Beautiful comment.
Great video!!! 👏👏👏
Yes
Killer documentary on this masterpiece of a song!!
Yes
Full Front Noodle!
Yes
Thanks for the absolute master class on Revolver over the last months...
Nice comment.
Brilliant job! Thank you for giving me new insight into the album.
Nice comment.
indeed, in one song they innovated more than most other bands did in their entire catalogues
Yes
I like Revolution 9, but I have been hearing it since I was born. My dad didn't have Revolver though, so I don't think I heard Tomorrow Never Knows until I was young teen ravenously searching for Beatles songs I had not yet heard.
I took a series of Electronic Music Classes in college and love using some of the musique concrète ideas in my music, or just messing with sounds until I come up with something interesting on it's own as a piece.