Revolver – The Beatles (1966)
Revolver feels like the album where The Beatles really became The Beatles, which is odd because it was their seventh record and they released only four proper studio albums after this one.
But this album saw the band pivot from a pop band to psychedelic pioneers — tour guides on a head trip that would last for a decade.
In the latest season of Mad Men, Don Draper — at 40, increasingly on the outside looking in on a changing cultural landscape — is given a copy of Revolver by his young wife. He drops the needle on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and realizes the world has changed.
That’s the cultural context surrounding this album, but setting aside its importance, Revolver is a collection of truly great songs — ‘Here, There and Everywhere,’ ‘Good Day Sunshine,’ ‘And Your Bird Can Sing,’ ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ and ‘For No One,’ for starters. And of course ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ with its orchestral backing heralding the band’s move away from traditional instrumentation.
Revolver isn’t my favorite Beatles album, but it may well be their best.
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
In the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie, writing the words
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks
In the night when there’s nobody there
What does he care
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Ah look at all the lonely people
Ah look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
And was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt
From his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Meet Me In Montauk 
Hmm…I thought this would be number one on your list. Did “yellow submarine” single handedly knock it down a few pegs?😄
As I said earlier, I prefer the more acoustic Rubber Soul to Revolver, but this is undoubtedly a great album with some of the Beatles’ finest songs
That Mad Men scene sounds fantastic. Having just returned from a relatively unsuccessful trip to your favorite old haunt – The CD Warehouse – to sell back CD’s, I am all the more aware of the ongoing power and influence of The Beatles. The gentleman behind the counter said, “new or old doesn’t matter. If you brought me some Beatles, I’d be happy to buy them.” Of course our Beatles CD’s are sitting safely on the shelf, as Maddie made it very clear that we shouldn’t even consider selling any of them.
I just love that one album contains “Here, There and Everywhere” and “Eleanor Rigby.” What more could you possibly want?
This is one of my favorite Beatles songs because it really has an amazing instrumental for a very depressing song that somehow became a hit. Like if you listen to just the lyrics you don’t think Beatles