For the 40th anniversary of The White Album , Mojo magazine released one of their free tribute collections CDs. In this case it was two CDs naturally and it was actually pretty good with some interesting takes on these familiar songs. Anyway.... the cover of ' Revolution 9' was by The Neil Cowley Trio ( never heard of them ) and was basically a free form piano piece. Interesting as it had ,like its parent piece, no relation to the rest of the album, just this somewhat wild and weird track.
The Beatles are a major part of my DNA yet I'm not ashamed to admit that out of their entire works, 'Revolution 9' is the one that had the biggest effect and influence on me. As a kid, it beguiled me as I'd never heard anything so damn strange but for some reason, I loved it. It opened a fair few doors for me and acted as my introduction to other avant garde things but it also challenged and provoked me - was this music? How could one paint pictures in sound in such a way? Even my parents loved it to the degree that whenever we'd play it, each would intone random lines at the precise moments they appeared! Always great fun on headphones as well. Much of my own music and artistic works since then have been of a collage like nature so John and Yoko have a lot to answer for as I spent hundreds of hours in my late teens onwards creating my own rambling tape collages which grew more finely honed over the years as I bettered my editing techniques. I have listened to it several hundred times and I still keep finding odd little bits in there I hadn't quite noticed before so it's a track that keeps on giving. I'd love to 1, hear the full length version as John edited out around a minute for the master version and 2, actually hear the raw 4 track tape and study everything that was in there and what was left out since assuming all 4 tracks have constant information throughout, technically, one could then create an infinite number of mixes. I lived in Liverpool for 11 years and most pubs had ALL Beatles albums on their jukeboxes so no prizes for guessing which tracks I'd wreck many drinking sessions with? Yeah... this one and 'Whats The New Mary Jane?' It was fascinating and some would openly groan aloud "Oh no... NOT Number 9 again" whilst others would join in on the 'number 9... number 9' bits. One priceless moment for me was when I did a bizarre performance at The Jacaranda to an audience of drunken students. One song went into total chaos with a taped collage and me doing strange things on top of it and one guy stood in front of me started yelling 'NUMBER 9... NUMBER 9... NUMBER 9...' and that was a lovely moment for me as there I was in a place Lennon knew so well, performing something weird that he'd influenced and one guy in the audience putting that link together in a very vocal way it almost felt epiphanous. So, when all is said and done, I naturally regard 'Revolution 9' as a work of genius.
It is a (or even 'the') cornerstone of the White Album, essential to the atmosphere, which is one of a disturbing, dreamlike nature. Initially not one of my personal favourites, I have grown to really like its nagging musical theme and sense of internal and external revolution.
It's even less good at being musique concrete than Paul's Liverpool Oratorio is at being an orchestral work.
Thinking about its relation to the rest of the album, (for me) it pulls The White Album together as an artistic whole, even though it is, of course, musically different. Probably, the most interesting Beatles track to analyse. Lennon was much more of an instinctive artist than intellectual, which makes it's relational position within the album sequence and over-arching theme of 'revolution' the centre of this massive body of work. It provides 'sense' to the diverse whole and as their is a second revolution track, I do think this gives weight to its importance. For this reason, I never understood why some wished it had been replaced by Hey Jude, great though that track undoubtedly is.
Even though it was recorded at the same sessions, ' Hey Jude' seems like it would not fit in with the vibe of that album kn any way. ' Revolution 9' does fit.
Back in the day, with a little bit of this or that imbibed, the piece made some of us "freak out" a bit. Not so much these days. Liked it then, find it mildly annoying now.
Totie Fields called ‘Revolution 9’ one of the greatest achievements in human history. Karl Stockhausen did not argue with her. Carl Jung uttered on his deathbed ‘Musique Concrete is meaningless.’
That to some degree was my reaction to it. In the beginning, listening to it with some friends at 14 yrs old. Marveling at each turn , trying to remember what sound affect or voice would come of the cheap speakers next. When listening to it on my headphones, closing my eyes, the mind conjures up the visuals to match the sounds. The machine gun fire, the sound of flames burning through your mind. The funny phrases that John would say. The droll random word thrown in by George. The chants from the sports crowd to "block that kick". What other Beatles song did this much? Well quite a few, but not quite in this way. All this from someone NOT doing drugs. You didn't need them. Along with "You Know My Name" , & "It's All Too Much" these songs went places, and took you along for the ride. All of their songs did, but these challenged the norm. They are as much of my teen years as dating, or the first car. Thanks for sharing your unique story.
Every side of The White album is a show of it's own. In the LP format I'm talking about. I like each side for different reasons. Revolution #9 is a classic, nothing like it before or since at least from what I have heard. From the eerie warning of "can you take me back" to calming us down after the nightmare with the wholesome child-like Good Night, it's just about perfect.
Agreed. I’ve mentioned before that I think each side is a song suite. And each side has a different vibe. It’s the madness of 1968 pressed into the grooves of four sides.
Yeah absolutely it took 24 hours to sequence that album, if I heard that correctly. To bad that isn't on video.
Interesting but not genius. Like someone else posted, been done before. It's interesting for The Beatles.
Like my precious Negativland, Vicki work has the sense of humor that many don't consider 'art'. It's a shame that when people think of any thing avant-guard, they think it has to be this big serious thing; no humor. But, these two have totally entertained me, and I'm sure they'd be up your ally.