Ok, so I'm recording the Beatles' "White Album," and I'm wondering...

[Archae]

What the hell was John Lennon thinking, "Revolution #9?" :crazy:

[cherokeeprogressive]

1. Turn me on dead man. Turn me on dead man. Turn me on dead man...

I think he was fucking with people.

[Archae]

2. Or else he got really ripped and someone stuck a microphone in front of him.

:smoke:

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. The most likely answer. n/t

[nolabear]

3. After forty years it still creeps me the hell out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCpxtGNDEDw

[rug]

4. That's Yoko's fault.

[MilesColtrane]

5. Musique Concrete

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concrete

He was thinking of a musical composition as something derived from pure sound, not necessarily chords, key centers, or traditional form.

That was the same way of thinking that 20th century composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage explored.

They were feted, in retrospect, for their explorations, unlike Lennon who was panned by critics as a simple stoned, self indulgent rock star.

[pitohui]

7. what milescoltraine said

he wanted to push himself & experiment, yes, the beatles started as pop BUT he didn't want to be the aging britney spears, he actually CARED abt music and sound and was pushing himself, trying stuff, etc. he really wanted to DO and achieve something deeper than mass entertainment, he wanted to reach those of us who weren't the "mass," he cared.. you know?

if there is a god, lennon sits on his right hand today...this man didn't just work for the money ala maccartney he really CARED abt creating and abt art

[mitchum]

13. Actually, McCartney was the one who introduced the avant garde into the Beatles...

he first got hip to it through Jane Asher and her family.
Strange, but true.

[cemaphonic]

17. Yeah, that's a good point.

John may have wanted Sgt. Pepper's to be The Beatles' "Pet Sounds," but Paul wanted it to be their "Freak Out."

[lunamagica]

24. Sgt Peppers was Paul's idea and concept.

He was the one who was blown away and inspired by Pet Sounds. That information us redly available in many places.

BTW, I don't remember Lennon working for free. He lived a lavish life full of luxury, like any rock star

[old mark]

11. ...which leads us to conclude that most music critics then, as now,

know not their ass from a hole in the ground...

:shrug:



mark

[cemaphonic]

19. Really, considering that they were dilettantes in that sort of music

I think Rev #9 is a pretty decent track. A lot of music concrete just kind of lurches from one sound to another, but the repetitive #9 chant gives it a coherent form.

[MilesColtrane]

22. I agree that it's pretty cohesive compared to some of the "legit" works using similar...

compositional techniques.

Revolution #9 actually has a beginning, middle, and ending that flow.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. Snorting a lot of heroin and working on making Yoko the 5th Beatle

That's the short version.

[The Midway Rebel]

9. John Cage, Yoko Ono and...

this new fangled thing called an 8 track recorder.







oh and I'd guess druu-u-uu-u-uu-u-u-uu-gs.

[edbermac]

10. They'd done experimental tapes before.

Thought Revolution 9 is the only one to wind up on a Beatles album.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Light

[old mark]

12. Listen to some of the stuff Brian Wilson recorded in the early '70's and you

will be amazed...his record company sure was, and they didn't ever release most of it...try Smiley Smile or Pet Sounds....

Or read Brian's autobiography, either one of them...


mark

[Iggo]

14. Wasn't he the one pissed about Why Don't We Do It In The Road?

Some people...

[LynneSin]

15. I use to love listening to that song at volume 10 with the headphones on

really trippy!

but no I wasn't tripping.

[elocs]

16. Back in the day I played it all backwards,

spinning the album around with my finger and the turntable between speeds. All the supposed clues to Paul's death were there from "turn me on, dead man" to the auto crash and fire and screams of "get me out".

REVOLUTION #9 BACKWARDS:
http://beatlesnumber9.com/number9.html

[WinkyDink]

23. My college roommate and I recorded it, then played the tape backwards. EVERYTHING was there, as you

say.

[elocs]

27. You were more high tech than I was. I think I scratched the album doing it. n/t

[WinkyDink]

29. Heh. She went on to a career in major TV network technology.

[Deep13]

18. That could have been cut down to one...

...really good record instead of two so-so records with one big waste of space.

[Maccagirl]

20. Yes, the concensus is that it contains their best and worst

Sounds right to me. Oddly, it's my mom's favorite Beatle album. LOL.

[Archae]

21. I agree.

Lot of good tunes, interspersed among the drek.

[RadiationTherapy]

25. Revolution 9 is one of the seminal influences of my music with my brother.

I love it and hope to do a cover version someday.

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

26. It grew out of an extended version of "Revolution #1"

Originally it was one piece of music but they eventually cut it in half, did the "experimental" stuff seperately, and it expanded even more than what it originally was.

Here's how "Revolution" started out..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDDfW2pMhk

[Arugula Latte]

28. I think the Beatles ruined too many songs on that album

For example -- "Long, Long, Long." What a hauntingly amazingly beautiful song -- until the end. What's up with the drum cacaphony? It just wasn't necessary.