5 AUGUST 1966
The Beatles released their album 'Revolver' on this day in 1966. This is now regarded as a truly classic album (no.3 on Rolling Stone magazine's '500 Greatest Albums of All Time', behind 'Pet Sounds' - another 1966 classic - and their own Sgt Pepper's'). One the things that made the 'Revolver' album so great is the variety of musical styles in the songs. Psychedelic headswirlers, brassy soul, Indian raga, jangle rock, classical arrangements, children's songs, and syrupy ballads.
George Harrison contributed two songs - 'Taxman' and 'Love You To'. The latter was a huge stylistic statement for the Beatles, probably more so than 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. Harrison moved beyond the sitar doodlings on 1965's 'Norwegian Wood' and other recent raga-rock bandwagon-jumpers to record a fully classical Indian soundscape, with sitar, tambura and tabla. This track was not to everyone's taste, but it adds an original extra flavour to the overall album, and the deep multi-layered harmonics of this music were no doubt appreciated by those listeners who were 'under the influence' in 1966.
Featured in the clip above is a very solid cover of 'Love You To' by Anglo-Indian group Cornershop (2012).
George Harrison contributed two songs - 'Taxman' and 'Love You To'. The latter was a huge stylistic statement for the Beatles, probably more so than 'Tomorrow Never Knows'. Harrison moved beyond the sitar doodlings on 1965's 'Norwegian Wood' and other recent raga-rock bandwagon-jumpers to record a fully classical Indian soundscape, with sitar, tambura and tabla. This track was not to everyone's taste, but it adds an original extra flavour to the overall album, and the deep multi-layered harmonics of this music were no doubt appreciated by those listeners who were 'under the influence' in 1966.
Featured in the clip above is a very solid cover of 'Love You To' by Anglo-Indian group Cornershop (2012).
