As we come to the end of October with Donald Trump edging ahead in an ABC National poll, it seems we might need some kind of spiritual revolution, a revolution in understanding rather than intolerance. I’ve never understood a hierarchy of nations or races, genders or judgement over sexual orientation, what’s the point? John Lennon’s political revolution was always a peaceful one, as was Martin Luther King’s as was Mahatma Gandhi’s – unfortunately all three were assassinated.
The Beatles recorded three versions of Revolution, a slow bluesy version entitled Revolution 1 that appeared on The White Album and the experimental version that isn’t musically connected to the other two, on the same record. The third version was released as the B-side of Hey Jude – all versions were released in 1968.
The tone on Lennon’s guitar is nothing short of spectacular in what seems to be a studio live version of the song I’m sure Beatles experts would be able to tell us the exact circumstances of the performance (Michael Lindsay-Hogg Promo Clips with backing tracks and live vocals?) How was that guitar sound achieved? This from Wikipedia:
“The distorted guitar sound was achieved by direct injection of the guitar signal into the mixing console. Engineer Geoff Emerick later explained that he routed the signal through two microphone preamplifiers in series while keeping the amount of overload just below the point of overheating the console.”
Idea: Let’s not assassinate or use violence in any measure towards peaceful protest, let’s remember that we are all equal and as Martin Luther King said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”.
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know that you can count me out
Don’t you know it’s gonna be
All right, all right, all right
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We’re doing what we can
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don’t you know it’s gonna be
All right, all right, all right
You say you’ll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it’s the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don’t you know it’s gonna be
All right, all right, all right
All right, all right, all right
All right, all right, all right
All right, all right
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution_(Beatles_song)
Those guitar tones are searing and extraordinary… especially for their time.
It is interesting to note that Revolution 9 is musically connected to Revolution 1 in the sense that Revolution 9 was constructed over the end part of Revolution 1 (as noted in the Wikipedia entry above about the song Revolution in Marty’s post).
Below is link to a longer version of Revolution 1 that has the seeds of Revolution 9 near the end: