The Beatles' 'Revolver' at 60: How the Band's Most Acclaimed Album Was Made

Sixty years after its release, the Beatles' 'Revolver' is now widely considered the band's greatest album, surpassing 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and 'Abbey Road' in critical esteem. A new video by music YouTuber David Hartley explores the album's production history, drawing on studio outtakes and interviews with the Beatles and their collaborators. Hartley highlights the role of engineer Geoff Emerick, whose memoir 'Here, There, and Everywhere' details how he, at age 20, helped the band realize their experimental sonic ideas, even violating EMI Studios' policies. The album's recording process was marked by experimentation: 'I'm Only Sleeping' once featured a vibraphone, 'Yellow Submarine' began with a spoken-word intro, and 'And Your Bird Can Sing' was interrupted by uncontrollable laughter. The 35-minute album spans diverse themes, from a children's singalong to a song about taxes and one about laziness, all conveying a 'great feeling of joy.' The video is part of Hartley's series on the Beatles, and the article also links to related content, including a review by Ray Davies of the Kinks, who called 'Revolver' 'a load of rubbish.' The author, Colin Marshall, is based in Seoul and writes on cities, language, and culture.