The Radical Innovations of the Perfect Beatles Song: Rain

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  • čas přidán 5. 04. 2021
  • 55 years ago this week, The Beatles entered EMI Abbey Road Studios for what would arguably be the most revolutionary week of their recording career. Working closely with their beloved producer George Martin and an eager young EMI engineer named Geoff Emerick, the band developed a slew of innovative new techniques that would forever change their sound and the sound of pop music.
    The song "Rain", born out of these sessions and released as the B-side to Paperback Writer in mid-1966, would be the world's first glimpse into the brilliant new ideas and sounds that burst forth on the landmark Revolver album in August 1966.
    In this video, we'll dissect the incredible innovations that make Rain - a favorite of many Beatles fans, and for good reason - so special.
    As a fair warning, once I point them out, you can't unhear this ;)
    Help support my channel on Patreon and get early access to new episodes: www.patreon.com/youcantunhear...
    Special thanks to the following individuals for sharing insights and materials for this episode:
    Dave Rybaczewski www.beatlesebooks.com
    Alan Pollack www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/D...
    Mark Lewisohn www.marklewisohn.net/
    Scott Freiman www.beatleslectures.com/about-...
    Dash Cole
    Eli Rosen
    ‪@DLD2Music‬
    Check out my other videos:
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    The Hidden F-Bomb in 'Hey Jude'
    • The Beatles' Hidden F-...
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Komentáře • 4,1K

  • @YouCantUnhearThis
    @YouCantUnhearThis  Před 3 lety +791

    NEW EPISODE! What do YOU think about Rain? Should it have been included on Revolver instead of being released as a single?

    • @Theactivepsychos
      @Theactivepsychos Před 3 lety +25

      Up there with my favourite songs. This, yer blues, I want you, helter skelter, all often my go to track.

    • @j-mersh6572
      @j-mersh6572 Před 3 lety +65

      I honestly think that Rain would have fit on Revolver very well; such a wonderful and innovative song.

    • @beatlemaniac-oc4dr
      @beatlemaniac-oc4dr Před 3 lety +52

      Definitely shoulda been on revolver

    • @Theactivepsychos
      @Theactivepsychos Před 3 lety +14

      @@beatlemaniac-oc4dr 3 words. Value. For. Money.

    • @yoshi41301
      @yoshi41301 Před 3 lety +29

      Definitely should have been on the album, always been a favorite of mine

  • @BlinDefender
    @BlinDefender Před rokem +238

    I was at a Grateful Dead concert in Las Vegas years ago. During the show, a small lighting storm rolled over the stadium dropping a short but intense rain shower.
    During the shower, the band transitioned from the song they were playing into a cover of Rain. After the shower passed, they slipped seamlessly back into the original song.
    It was excellent, totally spontaneous moment.

    • @WestCoastLife96
      @WestCoastLife96 Před rokem +8

      Epic!

    • @colins9559
      @colins9559 Před rokem +3

      Thats beautiful

    • @stevetruth2696
      @stevetruth2696 Před rokem +2

      THAT is freaking awesome!

    • @TSAR2010
      @TSAR2010 Před 11 měsíci +1

      Woah

    • @sulatlalaki
      @sulatlalaki Před 11 měsíci +5

      Are you sure you weren't "under the influence" and the seamlessness wasn't at least a bit skewed perception? 😆
      Jk

  • @curtisduncanmusic7645
    @curtisduncanmusic7645 Před rokem +275

    I WAS around in '66, and yes, "Rain" sounded completely fresh and revolutionary. I am so glad to have lived through this incredibly creative, innovative period of time.

    • @nicksrestos8505
      @nicksrestos8505 Před rokem +9

      I was too. According to the vid. I was 7 days old when the first sat down to write that song. I love that song.

    • @taragreenetarotastro
      @taragreenetarotastro Před 11 měsíci +4

      yes me too, These records were mind-bending for a teen in those days

    • @TampaDave
      @TampaDave Před 10 měsíci +3

      @@taragreenetarotastro Yes, I turned 18 the year _Revolver_ came out. It was the trippiest music ever. Then came _Sgt Peppers_ and it was the trippiest record of all time. Then there were more.... _Magical Mystery Tour_ and _Abbey Road_ and the "White Album", and more ... each a legend.
      Each great group of the time stimulated the others, and technology rose accordingly to accommodate the explosion in music creativity, and KABOOM!
      The "Fab Four" will be played (along with Mozart and others) until the end of our civilization.

    • @DungeonTV100
      @DungeonTV100 Před 9 měsíci

      B side to we can work it out? Its the bass-line... my dads 7" vinyl.. 💙😎👊

    • @charleslatora5750
      @charleslatora5750 Před 9 měsíci +1

      Same. Always loved this song.

  • @gavinspencer399
    @gavinspencer399 Před 2 lety +621

    I really dont think one could describe this track as "tragically overlooked". To Beatles fans, it's a masterpiece.

    • @alistersutherland3688
      @alistersutherland3688 Před 2 lety +11

      Well, as he said, he wasn't alive then, so there's that.

    • @johnclark3152
      @johnclark3152 Před 2 lety +1

      Paperback Writer and Rain are two Beatles tracks I found/find somewhat disagreeable.

    • @imkluu
      @imkluu Před 2 lety +14

      @@johnclark3152 This is the perfect Beatles single, in that it is so diverse, as were the Beatles, and it pushed the edge of studio vs traditional pop and rock sounds, again, as did the Beatles.

    • @literallyunderrated
      @literallyunderrated Před 2 lety +8

      I agree but there are a lot of younger listeners who may not understand what was so special about it

    • @garytwitchett9359
      @garytwitchett9359 Před 2 lety +2

      Agreed. To hear the stereo version in the UK back in the early 70s, you had to obtain the US only released "HEY JUDE" AKA "THE BEATLES AGAIN" vinyl LP . Once you heard the Stereo version, it truly brought out the best in the song.

  • @andrewcrocker9432
    @andrewcrocker9432 Před rokem +57

    Even as a fan, what The Beatles achieved never ceases to amaze me. The stars truly aligned when they met. Anybody who denies the colossal effect they had on popular music and society clearly doesn't understand what they did. Analogue equipment and just 4 track to boot. Rain has always been massively underrated and is a work of absolute genius.

    • @shaft9000
      @shaft9000 Před 9 měsíci +2

      How can anything that the Beatles did be underrated
      when they get more love and adulation than any other band in history lol

    • @tomdaoust
      @tomdaoust Před 9 měsíci +1

      Yes. The stars aligned and gave us the Beatles. So much talent, humor, creativity gave us so much joy. I feel the same way about a few groups, such as ABBA. Gorgeous girls, talented writers, marvelous sound engineer, sex appeal, outrageous costumes. What’s not to like? The stars aligned. I’m so happy.

    • @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306
      @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306 Před 3 měsíci

      @@shaft9000 I think some confuse underrated with underappreciated. I don't really notice it though with anything Beatles but everyone's different. I subscribe to satellite radio and mainly listen to the Beatles channel. Rain is played quite often. But there is so much material that some songs may get lost in the sauce.

  • @soulagent79
    @soulagent79 Před 3 lety +2590

    To me "Rain" is the whole Revolver album compressed into one song.

    • @georgelumsden4484
      @georgelumsden4484 Před 3 lety +28

      True its better the half the dongs on there. If they cut out good day sunshine and got to get you into my life and put those singles there it wouldve been great

    • @ala0284
      @ala0284 Před 3 lety +131

      @@georgelumsden4484 GTGYIML is one of my favourites from Revolver. Get rid of Yellow Submarine, it doesn’t fit the album

    • @georgelumsden4484
      @georgelumsden4484 Před 3 lety +9

      @@ala0284 i forgot about that one lol

    • @gypsydavy708
      @gypsydavy708 Před 3 lety +10

      @@georgelumsden4484 It would have been a better choice than "Got to get you into my life", in my humble opinion.

    • @Kelly14UK
      @Kelly14UK Před 3 lety +24

      Always likened She Said to Rain till recently, i found out Harrison did the bass and McCartney was absent from She Said. It was like they were recorded on the same day.

  • @metalheadeli
    @metalheadeli Před 3 lety +923

    Man I love the Revolver era

    • @rumigilani7525
      @rumigilani7525 Před 3 lety +26

      You should definitely read ‘Beatles 66’! (If you haven’t already of course) Great novel, very descriptive and well written.

    • @ferociousgumby
      @ferociousgumby Před 3 lety +33

      Do you agree that Rubber Soul and Revolver would have made a perfect double album? I'd call it Rubber Revolver.

    • @centin8035
      @centin8035 Před 3 lety +5

      @@ferociousgumby They're definitely very similar albums

    • @MsAppassionata
      @MsAppassionata Před 3 lety +23

      @@centin8035 I don’t think they are at all. There are things on Revolver that were very different from Rubber Soul. That’s what I have always loved about The Beatles. They were always advancing with every album. They liked pushing the envelope, so to speak.

    • @gregoryjgarcia3862
      @gregoryjgarcia3862 Před 3 lety +3

      Agreed!

  • @sgvincent100
    @sgvincent100 Před rokem +62

    I’m 66 and every Beatles song that came out added to the soundtrack of my coming of age. “Rain” is one of those standouts, an absolute masterpiece. I don’t think it’s too dramatic to say that my jaw probably hung open in amazement whenever the Beatles released new music.

    • @richneuman9113
      @richneuman9113 Před rokem +2

      Thank you for opening my ears to this tune.
      Rain, like many great songs, took quite a number of plays to grow on me.
      Over time, I saw how incredibly beautiful the song was, and still is.
      BTW, I couldn't stand MacArthur Park, sung by Richard Harris, written by Jimmy Webb, when it first came out, and now it's still one of my favorite songs of all time!

    • @johnnybeegoode204
      @johnnybeegoode204 Před rokem +5

      yup we waited with bated breath eaxh new release - and they never failed to amaze

  • @peterfrengel3964
    @peterfrengel3964 Před rokem +42

    Giles Martin's 2022 remix of "Rain" is beyond words - like hearing the song over again for the first time. Using advanced technology from Peter Jackson's Get Back documentary, they UNMIXED the guitars, bass, and drums, which had been stuffed onto one track when the song was recorded in mono in 1966.. They then remastered each instrument and remixed everything into vibrant stereo. The result is an aural knock out punch. Amazing.

    • @shaft9000
      @shaft9000 Před 9 měsíci +1

      Actually that tech was pioneered by Celemony to do audio 'surgery' over a decade before the Peter Jackson doc was conceived.

    • @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306
      @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306 Před 3 měsíci +1

      The original engineers say they prefer the mono mixes. But they are probably biased being they put so much time and effort getting a good sound with such archaic equipment. And as well back then they had to master it to work through a single little dashboard speaker of a car or portable radio via AM. Totally different animal from todays systems.

  • @TheIgnatzz
    @TheIgnatzz Před 3 lety +247

    I was blasting Rain through my car speakers, and a guy actually ran up to my car at a traffic light to tell me how great the song was.

    • @glenndespres5317
      @glenndespres5317 Před 3 lety +20

      Even if you made this story up.... I LOVE it!!!

    • @Krabadaque
      @Krabadaque Před 3 lety +2

      I can very well understand him!

    • @banjoboy01
      @banjoboy01 Před 3 lety +4

      and you lived happily ever after

    • @clintonsmith5163
      @clintonsmith5163 Před 3 lety +7

      It would have been really cool if he had run through the rain to tell you that.

    • @CerpinTxt87
      @CerpinTxt87 Před 3 lety +1

      No he didn't

  • @The1920sChannel
    @The1920sChannel Před 3 lety +352

    When someone says Ringo wasn't actually talented, just show them "Rain"

    • @aboxofbroken8tracks983
      @aboxofbroken8tracks983 Před 3 lety +75

      Or just walk away from them, because they are irredeemable idiots.

    • @jamespurcer3730
      @jamespurcer3730 Před 3 lety +42

      Ringo wasn't flashy or outrageous, but he was simply perfect and his timing was always tight.

    • @clintwheeler2184
      @clintwheeler2184 Před 3 lety +11

      Wait... who ever says Ringo wasn’t talented? If someone says that to me I say fuck right off, and... let it be

    • @DaddyGabby
      @DaddyGabby Před 3 lety +8

      or just show them, a, a, oh hell, all the rest...

    • @dennismoore8297
      @dennismoore8297 Před 3 lety +22

      Ringo was the perfect drummer for this band in every way. It had to happen this way.

  • @Dick_Z_Normas
    @Dick_Z_Normas Před 2 lety +168

    I was 15 when Rain was released. That song, and the following 3 LP's, completely changed my outlook on just about everything. Girls, the band I was in, my family, school.....nothing was the same ever again.

    • @SelectCircle
      @SelectCircle Před 2 lety +9

      I envy people who came of age with the Beatles. I was a little too young.

    • @billinct860
      @billinct860 Před 2 lety +7

      Ditto... same here. I'll be 74 in November. I was just starting High School when Kennedy was shot. We needed something to heal our minds when the Beatles first came in view. If I recall right, both Rain and Paperback were in the charts, and both did equally well. I wondered how they figured which song was being bought.

    • @gmb858
      @gmb858 Před 2 lety +9

      @@billinct860 I was 13 when JFK was murdered. 79 days later, after that cold and depressed winter, the Beatles appeared on the Sullivan Show. It gave Americans a reason to smile again.

    • @johnrogers9481
      @johnrogers9481 Před rokem +8

      I was 13 in ‘66. There was hit after hit song from those guys that ruled! I can remember the moment, walking on a Bronx sidewalk, wearing my very first pair of bell bottom pants, looking down I suddenly felt awesome! I fully felt that I belonged, I belonged to something, something big. Belonged to a church hole new generation. At that time it felt that Beatles would never end and since 1970 it’s felt like they never ended! Beatles is an awesome feeling!

    • @bluezy1
      @bluezy1 Před rokem +4

      and I’m 20 here in 2022… the Beatles are forever haha!

  • @ranchjp
    @ranchjp Před 2 lety +40

    In 66 I was 17, and in a band in Chicago. This was one we could never do live LOL. We did Stones, Monkees, Paul Revere, etc and some "simple" Beatles tunes. Interestingly I liken many Beatles compositions like architectural creations of Frank Lloyd Wright - they are timeless

  • @ronlemons5316
    @ronlemons5316 Před 3 lety +126

    I grew up with The Beatles. I'm a 70+ year old musician. The Beatles are the absolute best ever. Thank you John, Paul, George and Ringo.

    • @zakstev
      @zakstev Před 2 lety +1

      Me too. But I've always considered Rain to be third rate for the Beatles. An wasn't this around the time that Paul was killed in a car crash, and replaced by "Faul?"

    • @invoxicated
      @invoxicated Před 2 lety +1

      Same here 70 1/2 years old and still playing their songs.

  • @davidharvey8158
    @davidharvey8158 Před 3 lety +203

    I bought Paperback Writer/Rain on the first day of release in 1966.
    My father worked at EMI Ltd, Hayes, and one of the the benefits of working for this great organization was that the staff got a discount on the records and audio equipment that they produced.
    During the 1960s, I would meet my father after he had finished work at EMI and we'd go to the Staff Sales record section and I'd look through the huge selection of records that EMI produced. Its true to say that I spent a great deal of my money at EMI Staff Sales.
    For some reason which I cannot remember, I didn't go to EMI to buy The Beatles new single, Paperback Writer/Rain, my father bought it on my behalf and brought it home for me.
    We had a Marconi-phone radio-gram (another EMI product) back in the sixties and after I had played the A side, Paperback Writer, I turned the record over to hear the B side, Rain.....WOW!!
    Rain hit me like an express train coming out of a tunnel, this was something quite different to what had come before. I played Rain repeatedly much to my parents displeasure!
    It still rates as one of my favorite Beatle songs, its not the lyrics that set it apart, its the sound, the overall sound that hits you!!
    Thank God its not just me that appreciated this great B side all those years ago!
    It must be difficult to appreciate The Beatles for anyone born after 1970, if you were growing up in the 1960s you were living through a period of immense cultural change and every new Beatles record meant more change, and the changes effected so much, it was much more than the music, it was about fashion, politics, religion, sex, literature, theatre and travel.
    The changes were huge and we still feel those changes to this day.

    • @kurikokaleidoscope
      @kurikokaleidoscope Před 3 lety +5

      𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 💋💋

    • @chazsach6594
      @chazsach6594 Před 3 lety +6

      Who would have thought that in mint condition records are worth considerably more today than when they ere new.

    • @dan537
      @dan537 Před 3 lety +12

      I was born in 1978 and Beatles songs are still filled with truths about my life. At my first job somebody had brought in the anthology CD's and we played them every day. I still think of that job when I here Revolver, that got played more than anything else. The first time I bought records for myself I picked up the white album, help and live at the Hollywood Bowl. I absolutely fell in love with the white album. For a time, I was a woodwinds teacher at a music store and a private school. I taught Beatles songs to many of my students who were born 15 years before I was because they knew the songs too. I think up through the millennial generation people all have experiences with The Beatles growing up. You're right, of course. I can't appreciate them for what they were in the 1960s, but I can appreciate them very much as part of my youth all the same. And ftr, I am still absolutely in love with the white album.

    • @joe6096
      @joe6096 Před 3 lety +9

      I was born in 1977. My Mom still has all her original issue Beatles records (no, sorry, they're not worth much due to how often she played them as a teenager and frayed and ruined the album covers and put scratches on the records). Having been born 7 years after the Beatles broke up, hearing their music was never a "first time experience" for me unfortunately. Their music was always there, in the background of my life, whenever I wanted it. I can't say "the first time I heard Rain" because, my Mom has the 45 with PbW and I've just always listened to it. Don't get me wrong I love the songs and I've learned to play guitar because of the Beatles, but since I'm not old enough I can never have that experience of running out to the store to buy the latest Beatles album.
      I can only imagine being 16 years old when Paperback Writer/Rain hit the store shelves, and you run up there to buy it, bring it home, and play it for that very first time. For the last 2-3 years you know the Beatles, you've heard the Beatles everywhere, and you have all their albums. But this? This..... is a whole new ballgame. This ain't She Loves You or I Saw Her Standing There.
      Wow. Had to be amazing for you.

    • @davidsanderson5918
      @davidsanderson5918 Před 3 lety +4

      My own LP was pressed using the very same machines they used at Hayes Middlesex for Revolver. Well chuffed!

  • @nathaneast7923
    @nathaneast7923 Před rokem +29

    Thank you for making this video. Rain has always been one of my favourite Beatles songs, capturing a transcendent, otherworldly feel that is redolent of most of the Revolver album (even though it didn't appear on it). It's my favourite track on the Past Masters singles compilation.
    Revolver, not Sgt Pepper, is the gateway drug. It's the signpost to a new kind of sound and a new kind of consciousness. The Beatles are not just of a time and a place; their sound and their innovations belong to all of mankind, for all time.

  • @didimean
    @didimean Před rokem +25

    "Rain" is mesmerizing. I never even heard it until I got the Past Masters album. Now it is one of - if not my favorite song of theirs.

  • @jegog.
    @jegog. Před 3 lety +337

    In 1966, when this song was released, I was 10 years old. My brother, 5 years older, had bought the single, and Rain captivated me. I played it over and over, and sang along. Several weeks later, I was away at summer camp. I loved to sing and I loved musical theater, so I decided to try out for the camp production of "Oliver!". I had a beautiful boy soprano voice and decided to sing "Rain" for my audition a cappela. I thought I nailed it but I remember getting a great many odd looks as apparently nobody else knew the song and they didn't know what to make of the song, or me. I didn't get cast, but it is one of my proudest memories.

    • @mozdickson
      @mozdickson Před 3 lety +6

      good yarn, thanks!

    • @shivasgirl1609
      @shivasgirl1609 Před 3 lety +14

      You were obviously an enlightened, well-ahead-of-his-time young man. It was that camp's production of Oliver!'s loss to have missed out on having you in it. Thank you for sharing.

    • @gilbertgiles
      @gilbertgiles Před 3 lety +10

      I know what to make of you. Ahead of the class, mate.

    • @ramjamflimflam
      @ramjamflimflam Před 3 lety +4

      Good for you

    • @GedMaybury23
      @GedMaybury23 Před 3 lety +10

      These micro-stories are gold. A snapshot of a boy at 10; summer camp; and a young genius just gets up and expresses his love for a song.
      Beautiful.
      I hope the memories this era can be captured this way - in a hundred million snapshots instead of our conventional concept of History.
      Stories we store in our hearts instead of our minds.

  • @elirosen1391
    @elirosen1391 Před 3 lety +137

    Holy cow, man! When you think about it, Rain is the one song where the Beatles managed to encapsulate every technical innovation that they'd use in Revolver! Backwards instruments and vocals, vari-speed, unconventional lyrics, you name it! Somehow, Rain has it all!

    • @DLD2Music
      @DLD2Music Před 3 lety +2

      hello
      elirosen

    • @filmaticpictures9693
      @filmaticpictures9693 Před 3 lety +3

      And leading bass!

    • @porflepopnecker4376
      @porflepopnecker4376 Před 3 lety +3

      And John even works in the word "lemonade"!

    • @chadheckman2693
      @chadheckman2693 Před 3 lety +3

      @@filmaticpictures9693 Paul's bass was revolutionary!

    • @tashurst1
      @tashurst1 Před 3 lety +4

      And it's imagining to think they put all these new bits together I a few days, although of course they must have had the ideas in mind before. Must have been an incredible few days in the studio, with the guys saying "Let's try this...then this...then this!"

  • @gregkindvall933
    @gregkindvall933 Před rokem +10

    One of my favorite Beatles tunes. It shows how far ahead of time they were. No one had ever heard anything like this before. Each instrument and the vocals are brilliant. Such a masterpiece!

  • @ToGeeseIsToNeed
    @ToGeeseIsToNeed Před rokem +23

    Listening to the Rain (Take 5/Actual Speed) track on the new Revolver (Deluxe Edition) takes this video to a whole other level. The actual speed ended up even faster than what you said it “probably sounded like.” Amazing work!

    • @gregwinter1081
      @gregwinter1081 Před rokem +3

      Yea, I think I read where the engineer could alter the speed of playback, so this song ends up somewhere between G & Gb. It really belonged on Revolver

  • @paultheaudaciousbradford6772

    The first song I think of when it comes to overlooked “Beatle gems” is “Hey Bulldog”. I absolutely love “Rain”; but, Dude, ROCK AND ROLL!

  • @GeneJenkins
    @GeneJenkins Před 3 lety +262

    I was 9 years old in 1966 and I clearly recall this song and Paperback Writer being released. They were inching the new sounds along a little at a time but the innovations were clearly noticed and a side note...I recall being at a swimming pool that summer when a storm came through. They made everyone get out of the pool and some person in tune with the situation selected Rain on the juke box. There suddenly was John Lennon singing along to a downpour through the loudspeakers at the pool. It was a moment I’ll never forget and exemplary of how the Beatles fit into life and touched the moments that would forever remind us of those times.

    • @cuebj
      @cuebj Před 3 lety +3

      Brilliant memory! And, seriously, very good to get you out of the water. Learned to be wary of lightning - not just direct hits but, when it hits soaking wet ground and travels through the water, it can still harm and kill.

    • @celiopereiramarcuci455
      @celiopereiramarcuci455 Před 3 lety +1

      I Also Heard Yellow Submarine on the speaker of a local radio where I lived. I' ll never forget I sent them the Record to play.

    • @SgtReinhardt
      @SgtReinhardt Před 3 lety +4

      i remember flying in a plane over the clouds with the sun starting to rise, and played "I'll Follow the Sun" and when we landed "Back in the USSR" just for that plane sound. I love that i can play Beatle songs at any moment and it relates to something to anybody

    • @victorhawkins3461
      @victorhawkins3461 Před 3 lety +3

      I'm willing to bet that whoever fired up RAIN on the juke box at your swimming pool that day went on to become one fine free-form FM rock d.j.! Takes a certain mindset to do that and do it that well...

    • @tubular618
      @tubular618 Před 3 lety +2

      We had a 1951 AMI jukebox (purchased in the early 70's) at home when I was a teen, and the Rain 45 sounded great on it.

  • @terencetheturrible5193
    @terencetheturrible5193 Před 2 lety +19

    I loved “Rain” (quite literally) from the beginning. I bought the 45 for “Paperback Writer,” but I had already learned never to dismiss the B side of a Beatles single. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to the ending, desperately trying to discern the words John was singing! What language was it? Crazy, but addictive!! I was almost disappointed when I learned that it wasn’t a secret message to true Beatles fans!
    Loved the analysis and history of the recording!

  • @bb1111116
    @bb1111116 Před 2 lety +78

    When it was released the striking thing about Rain was its bagpipe style drone vocals.
    Since I am an older guy, a musician who was alive at the time, Lennon had already explored what I’d call deeper ideas previously with; I’m a Loser, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away & In My Life. These songs touched on darker parts of the human condition involving loss, self doubt & relationships with the passage of time.

    • @newagain9964
      @newagain9964 Před 2 lety +4

      Lennon had the Lyrics but Paul had the music. Numerous interviews have the band claiming Revolver, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road were “Paul’s records”. He served as musical director from 66 (sometimes to much annoyance).

    • @bb1111116
      @bb1111116 Před 2 lety +1

      @@newagain9964 ; while overall you are correct, the devil is in the details. There is plenty of influence by Lennon on the music in his songs with Pepper, Let It Be and Abbey Road.
      Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds or Across the Universe are not Paul songs musically.
      After the breakup, Lennon had plenty of that kind of musical complexity in Walls and Bridges as well as with Double Fantasy.

    • @rhythmfield
      @rhythmfield Před rokem

      The last part of your statement is John in a nutshell! The deeper, darker voice of pain and struggle, anxiety, and all of those all-too-human grapplings. Without John, none of this music would’ve gotten to such a high level of depth and creativity, even though Paul is, without a doubt, a genius.
      They were all street-level geniuses, but John was the grit .

    • @NuisanceMan
      @NuisanceMan Před rokem

      @@newagain9964 John wrote the melodies and not just the lyrics to his songs. Also, while Paul more actively produced his own songs that John, he did not produce John's songs, though he certainly contributed.

    • @newagain9964
      @newagain9964 Před rokem

      @@NuisanceMan I didn’t say he produced (tho he did do a lot of that). I said he served as (defacto) music director. From even just getting them together to practice and record, as well as shape the DIRECTION of the music.

  • @axeman2638
    @axeman2638 Před 3 lety +110

    Rain was always one of my most favourite beatles tunes, seems like most either never heard it or didn't get it.

  • @horse14t
    @horse14t Před 3 lety +122

    I get Rain stuck in my head every time it rains in my area!

  • @leokimvideo
    @leokimvideo Před rokem +45

    I was in Kindi school in 1970 and we were singing Yellow Submarine, not knowing as little children this was a fairly new song against all the other old classics we also sang.

    • @MrU4theChillWind
      @MrU4theChillWind Před 3 měsíci

      The first time I played Yellow Submarine for my neice she was blown away and learned almost all the lyrics on the first and second takes. Those lyrics and upbeat rhythm draws little ones in like a big bowl of ice cream lol

  • @artiewithers6980
    @artiewithers6980 Před rokem +25

    One thing I always liked about this song is Paul’s bass line. I think the song was originally in the key of “G”. If it wasn’t, I will use “G” in my example. In the chorus when they sing the lyric “Rain”, Paul plays the note “G” on his bass, which is the first note of the “G” scale. As George and John move to a “C” chord, which is the 4th of the “G” scale, Paul does not move to a “C” note, but he remains on the “G” note, which is the 5th note of the “C” chord. It has the effect of creating this semi dissonant sound in the song at that point.

    • @jamesturner2914
      @jamesturner2914 Před 4 měsíci

      It’s not dissonant, it’s just a strong drone. A route and fifth can never not work :)

    • @Mrbeahz1
      @Mrbeahz1 Před 3 měsíci +1

      Paul staying on C makes the chord a C5. He also plays a C chord as descending triplets in another chorus.

    • @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306
      @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306 Před 3 měsíci

      Paul was real good at stuff like that. For someone who was more or less forced to play bass he ended up being one of the best in the world and totally perfect for the band.

  • @daytripper9222
    @daytripper9222 Před 3 lety +234

    Well for someone who was there in 66 I will tell you my story. I lived in Redondo Beach California and went to a little elementary school right in the middle of the neighborhood. I was in the fifth grade and already a huge Beatles fan. Had seen them on Sullivan in 64 of February. Our little record store was about 5 to 7 minutes away from the elementary school. The record store used to have a little card that had the top 30 songs and on the back of it it would say these songs are hit bound. And one of them was Paperback writer and Rain single. Back then we had three huge AM radio stations, KHJ, KRLA and KFWB. All three were playing the daylights out of paperback writer and rain. I had called the record store and he told me the release date of the single. At lunch time I left the school grounds went to the record store and bought a copy of paperback writer and Rain which I think came to about a buck. I walked from the record store to my grandparents house which was a block away from the school. Mind you I had 30 minutes to do all this so I had to haul ass. The record store was 5 minutes away from the school but I still had to run to the record store then run to my grandparents house play paperback writer five times play rain five times run back to school. As soon as I stepped on the school grounds the bell rang so I just made it. To go back a little bit at my grandparents house playing that song on my grandfather's stereo the first thing that I noticed immediately was the bass. It sounded so different from hearing it on my transistor radio. I remember the rumor that was going around back then that somebody I think at EMI or possibly Capital records was worried about the bass sound thinking that the needle would skip on the record player. Damn near did. I remember that day clear as day. It's funny, I can't remember what happened 5 minutes ago but I can sure as hell remember what happened over 50 years ago thanks to music and the Beatles. I wish I could go back to that June day in 1966.

    • @lorenanders702
      @lorenanders702 Před 3 lety +7

      Cool story

    • @kathygreca
      @kathygreca Před 3 lety +2

      I do also

    • @chadheckman2693
      @chadheckman2693 Před 3 lety +1

      Thanks for the story. I posted my story too. Please see response to "You Can't Unhear This" section above.

    • @nortonnewmann3711
      @nortonnewmann3711 Před 3 lety +7

      I was 11 then and also in 5th grade. I remember listening to these on a little green transistor radio. I had a friend years ago (we eventually formed a band together in junior high) who had a literal wall of Beatle albums and bootlegs in his bedroom.

    • @daytripper9222
      @daytripper9222 Před 3 lety +3

      @@nortonnewmann3711 My first bootleg was the Get Back album.

  • @themusicaljunkie37
    @themusicaljunkie37 Před 3 lety +94

    OMG. "Rain" is one of my top favorite songs of all time. Every insturment fits so perfectly. The dreamy noisy guitar, the marching yet complex drums, the bouncy bass lines while John's melodious voice and the harmonies behind him swim in the middle of all the swirling sounds.
    During every long drive, i blast it through my car speakers, singing along, air drumming, air guitar playing, air bass playing. It does feel like a drug trip. It's a timeless psych-pop jam at it's finest.

    • @57Jimmy
      @57Jimmy Před 3 lety

      I do hope you’re driving through the prairies when playing! If you were on the West Coast, you’ld wind up in a ditch...full of water...RAIN water!😂

    • @TakeOffeur
      @TakeOffeur Před 3 lety

      Hey that's how we find ourselves in the ditch singing backwards! :)

  • @johnnyanglo6709
    @johnnyanglo6709 Před 11 měsíci +9

    I was eight in 1966, listening to each new Beatles record with my mom, who was a fan. Their music, to me at the time, was otherworldly, uniquely able to produce an ambiance that could be felt in the psyche, which made their dense musical package like a workout, which I could only be on the receiving end of it for about an hour or two. It was an interactive experience that, for me, was emotionally draining in a good way, but like eating too much chocolate needed to be taken sparingly. Rain was an odd enough piece that it was unnerving in its disjointed assembly, which I found intriguing but somewhat unsafe for repeated listening. So, I felt better with the more traditional Beatles tunes with their stable melodies, enticing chord changes, and soaring vocal harmonies, yet without invoking the peculiarness that Rain did as if we were in some foreign territory an eight-year-old shouldn't be. By the time I heard Strawberry Fields and other pseudo-psychedelic songs of that nature, I was less ignorant of musical styles and could now immensely enjoy the journey as the Beatles music carried me along (without involving any drugs). For it remains inspirational at a genius-level composition, unique in its genre, unmatched by any other artist to this day and likey will never be surpassed.

    • @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306
      @whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306 Před 3 měsíci

      My mom raised me on Beatles music too and taught me to read from their album covers and books. It's amazing I loved all their music as a little child and still love it the same to this day. That's serious staying power. I really can't recall disliking any of it. Some a bit strange like John with his number 9, number 9. I never really got that but still was intrigued.

  • @TheMarshmelloKing
    @TheMarshmelloKing Před rokem +16

    My favorite Beatles song. Transcendent, mystical, no matter how many times i listen to it it never gets old. I think i’m a huge fan of the Beatles B sides, which may not be as well known, but definitely represent some of their greatest achievements artistically.

    • @im1who84u
      @im1who84u Před rokem

      "You Know My Name, Look Up The Number".

  • @MrUnderdog-vn3zf
    @MrUnderdog-vn3zf Před 3 lety +56

    Paul's bass work took these Beatle's songs to a whole other level of grooviness!!

    • @joe6096
      @joe6096 Před 3 lety +5

      Yes between Paul's Rickenbacker and Emerick's engineering they pushed the bass into a whole new dimension. It went from an afterthought/filler to a serious instrument by every rock band after.

  • @5roundsrapid263
    @5roundsrapid263 Před 3 lety +546

    “Rain” is probably their most underrated song. It’s definitely the point when they stopped being just “teen idols”.

    • @Yahniboy
      @Yahniboy Před 3 lety +19

      I would say Tomorrow Never Knows! That song was way out there. Never before was a song so different

    • @breakfastline
      @breakfastline Před 3 lety +27

      @@mattl2457 i'd say rubber soul

    • @martincvitkovich724
      @martincvitkovich724 Před 3 lety +3

      @@Yahniboy It was a great song to listen to while tripping

    • @seanoglynch2405
      @seanoglynch2405 Před 3 lety +11

      @@mattl2457 I would consider even their earliest works such as "From Me To You" as being genius too, the key change into the bridge was incredibly clever for pop music of the time.

    • @adrianfallavollita3247
      @adrianfallavollita3247 Před 3 lety +11

      I think Rain marked the end of the dominant guitar sound on Beatles songs. The music that followed placed the Beatles on a higher altitude

  • @paoloc.8055
    @paoloc.8055 Před rokem +12

    As of today, October 28th, 2022, the original recording of Rain, at full speed, is available. To think that the closest thing we had to that recording was the excerpt from this video. Awesome!

    • @YouCantUnhearThis
      @YouCantUnhearThis  Před rokem +3

      And it turns out the original was even faster!

    • @annejacks3995
      @annejacks3995 Před rokem

      Where is the original available?

    • @paoloc.8055
      @paoloc.8055 Před rokem +1

      @@annejacks3995 Revolver Super Deluxe edition. It's on Spotify

  • @michaelaiello9525
    @michaelaiello9525 Před 2 lety +11

    Both Rain and Paperback Writer were on endless repeat during my youth. The impact on my psyche is still evident.

  • @normallen3457
    @normallen3457 Před 3 lety +231

    As far as I'm concerned, Paperback Writer and Rain is a double A-side single.

    • @secretmessagesaroundthewor504
      @secretmessagesaroundthewor504 Před 3 lety +2

      B side as I am the walrus...

    • @pappatacio66
      @pappatacio66 Před 3 lety +1

      Exactly

    • @5roundsrapid263
      @5roundsrapid263 Před 3 lety +1

      Probably the best double A-side ever.

    • @buffalobraves9
      @buffalobraves9 Před 3 lety +10

      @@5roundsrapid263 IMO that distinction goes to Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane but its darn near close.

    • @rodhatley9427
      @rodhatley9427 Před 3 lety +4

      My thoughts exactly! I couldn't believe that "Rain" was relegated to being a B-side. I always thought it was a double A-side.

  • @nicholassands9903
    @nicholassands9903 Před 3 lety +317

    I always thought of myself as a Beatles historian and certainly I am one, however I have to tell you that your commentary on Rain was one of the most thoughtful, incisive, insightful and wonderfully well written commentaries on any Beatles song that I have ever heard. I have never posted a comment of any kind on CZcams, but I could not resist posting this comment to you as it is so extremely well deserved. Kudos to you and please keep up the great work! Rain has always been one of the most fascinating and awe-inspiring Beatles songs to me... All the best, Nicholas Sands

    • @YouCantUnhearThis
      @YouCantUnhearThis  Před 3 lety +48

      Comments like yours make this whole endeavor worthwhile - I really appreciate the feedback! Hope you’ll stick around for more.

    • @chetgallaway
      @chetgallaway Před 2 lety +8

      Agree.

    • @redlipstickmafia
      @redlipstickmafia Před 2 lety +4

      Same here and ditto!

    • @schizophrenic_AI
      @schizophrenic_AI Před 2 lety

      Thank you for your comment. It may be your first, but you’ve unknowingly become a bit of a trailblazer by including a valediction.
      Kindest Regards,
      K.A. 2000

    • @robertfrench80
      @robertfrench80 Před 2 lety

      I agree whole-heartedly!

  • @rodwanker4517
    @rodwanker4517 Před 2 lety +4

    Discovered 'Rain' in 1968 while tripping on LSD. The visualization of the Beatles emerging from the layers of music in colors is still in my head.

  • @rickketchum8668
    @rickketchum8668 Před 2 lety +68

    George Martin's genius was truly amazing. He WAS the 5th Beatle.

    • @tyrannosauruszeppelin2205
      @tyrannosauruszeppelin2205 Před rokem +1

      He literally did nothing of importance to the song. I don't believe him saying he invented the backwards vocals bit, because George (Harrison) and Emerick also confirmed John's story and all the genius studio inventions were thought up by Emerick, not Martin. Martin only produced this song. He is a genius and the 5th Beatle but don't say things like this on a song where he did nothing.

    • @Rightsideup
      @Rightsideup Před rokem +1

      Geoff Emerick did much more for inovations of Beatles tunes

    • @briangoodspeed8807
      @briangoodspeed8807 Před rokem

      Paul 40, John 30, George 20, Ringo 10%

    • @Keenan716
      @Keenan716 Před rokem +1

      @@briangoodspeed8807 thats untrue, Ringo was vital especially on songs like "A Day in the Life" and "Strawberry Fields"

    • @tyrannosauruszeppelin2205
      @tyrannosauruszeppelin2205 Před rokem

      @@briangoodspeed8807 What does this comment mean at all? How much they were important to the band?

  • @rome8180
    @rome8180 Před 3 lety +138

    Man, that bass line is genius. It plays so well rhythmically and melodically off of everything else going on. You could make an hour long video just analyzing what Paul is doing and why it works.

    • @everlastingarms3065
      @everlastingarms3065 Před 3 lety +8

      This. The bass lines are what makes it for me.

    • @jimc4839
      @jimc4839 Před 3 lety +8

      Totally agree. I find myself humming the bass when I think of that song. Can you imagine? I'm a dork.

    • @everlastingarms3065
      @everlastingarms3065 Před 3 lety +1

      @@jimc4839 I do the same for a lot of songs lol. You're not alone.

    • @jimc4839
      @jimc4839 Před 3 lety

      @@everlastingarms3065 thanks

    • @SgtKaito
      @SgtKaito Před 3 lety +4

      @@jimc4839 As a (not very good) bass player I get basslines in my head almost just as much as lyrics. Bass just sounds so cool when done right.

  • @jamesgang6206
    @jamesgang6206 Před 3 lety +121

    The best double A side EVER!!! I cannot imagine what hearing this in 1966 was like. They were just sooo far ahead of everyone else..

    • @johnbigbooty
      @johnbigbooty Před 3 lety +2

      You're right James.

    • @itsbobinnit6944
      @itsbobinnit6944 Před 3 lety +1

      Well I can tell you that as a big Beatles fan, I and friends knew it and we went around singing it along with a load of the lesser known Beatles songs.

    • @fredkruse9444
      @fredkruse9444 Před 3 lety

      I was an 11 year- old fan then. Quite honestly, I wasn't sure if I liked this (or Paperback Writer) as much as the earlier stuff. It took awhile to grasp it-- it was so different.

    • @aisforapple2494
      @aisforapple2494 Před 3 lety

      I was given my uncle's 45 rpm collection, orange and yellow label Capitol. I think it was around 1980 when I first heard it.
      It blew my mind then, and still does!

    • @johnbigbooty
      @johnbigbooty Před 3 lety

      @@aisforapple2494 Remember them clearly. Lucky you! Enjoy!

  • @BK-js1hh
    @BK-js1hh Před rokem +4

    When I was 12 years old in 1966 and living in the bay area I heard Paperback Writer for the first time on AM radio and instantly wanted that 45 record. I raced my bicycle down to the nearest record store and purchased it for probably $2. I raced home on my bicycle and ran into the house and put that 45 on the record player and cranked it up. It sounded more better than the radio playing it. I played it over and over again. My Mom would yell at me to turn the bass down. When I played the B side, Rain had caught me by surprise. It was very good. Ringo's drums and Paul's bass gave me a new feeling that I'd never felt before. I also played it over and over again. My friend at that time had formed a band and he played drums. He found out that I had the 45 record with Rain on it and he'd come over to my house a couple times a week to borrow it and try and figure out the drum riffs from Ringo's drumming. I think that he gave up because it was to difficult to play. I love The Beatles to this day and they all had that special something about them that made their music the greatest. I still have that 45 with the cover sleeve.

    • @josephfontana7938
      @josephfontana7938 Před rokem

      In 1966 it was probably 49 cents for the single :)

    • @limelight8018
      @limelight8018 Před rokem

      @@josephfontana7938 it was around 90 cents in canada and my sisters still got her 45s

  • @Robisquick
    @Robisquick Před 2 lety +6

    Yessss!!!! Rain is in my top 10 Beatles songs of all time. That harmony in the chorus is so brilliant

  • @eldiablo8580
    @eldiablo8580 Před 3 lety +120

    "Stare it down and nourish what comes near you" - Japanese genius

    • @robgronotte1
      @robgronotte1 Před 3 lety +5

      Whenever I sang along to the gibberish, I always got "down and nourish" in there as well.

    • @eldiablo8580
      @eldiablo8580 Před 3 lety +5

      @@robgronotte1 that's amazing. I never thought of that. I had read in a book that Rain contained backwards words at the end and this was before I had ever heard the song, so when I did finally hear it, I always just sang it as gibberish but I suppose if you didn't know that to begin with, you would think it's just John, on drugs, slurring his words 🤭

    • @robgronotte1
      @robgronotte1 Před 3 lety +1

      @@eldiablo8580 I think I knew that as well, but I still came up with something in order to sing along with that part.

    • @eldiablo8580
      @eldiablo8580 Před 3 lety +1

      @@kevingilliam4332 yes indeed

    • @oldbrownshoe52
      @oldbrownshoe52 Před 3 lety +2

      😂

  • @godoymusikalejandrogodoy3006

    We are talking about 55 years ago: 1966. The Beatles are geniuses. What would music be without them.

    • @justin1978
      @justin1978 Před 3 lety +11

      Give thanks to George Martin

    • @aaronjohnson3463
      @aaronjohnson3463 Před 3 lety +6

      @@justin1978 you mean after the beatles explained to him wanted they wanted? Still their ideas bud.

    • @justin1978
      @justin1978 Před 3 lety +5

      @@aaronjohnson3463 Nope, George Martin introduced the idea to them 3:40

    • @aaronjohnson3463
      @aaronjohnson3463 Před 3 lety

      @@justin1978 listen to George talk about his contributions... As he has stated on record that Paul especially was pushing more and more creative ideas. So YEP

    • @justin1978
      @justin1978 Před 3 lety +1

      @@aaronjohnson3463 So in this video when he talks about George Martin speeding up the piano part on in my life, you’re saying that it was actually Paul’s idea? What are your sources? Got a link??

  • @pmugglestone
    @pmugglestone Před 2 lety +6

    I was around in 1966 and was entranced with this song. My sister at 15 years old bought the single for the A side, myself at the age of 6 played the B side-Rain-over and over and over. I'm so glad you reviewed it...

  • @johnandrews1780
    @johnandrews1780 Před rokem +8

    The last time i saw John Hartford, a couple months before he died, his band did Rain. The banjo player stated that he always tried to figure out Beatles songs. Not knowing about backwards tapes, he worked out the ending as it was released and said it took him so long he was going to do it and the end of the song. It was perfect🙂

  • @levimust4479
    @levimust4479 Před 3 lety +75

    As a teen in that era, Beatles tunes like Rain and I am the Walrus felt like bolts of lightning in a world of drab. I knew they were something really special even if I didn't know why. At the same time I was spoiled into thinking that, like youth itself, such wonders would keep coming forever.

    • @ogedeh
      @ogedeh Před 3 lety +3

      They do, only our perceptions have dulled with time. New wonders are experienced continually, and fade to drab or become the drab

    • @musicjunkie2k
      @musicjunkie2k Před 3 lety +3

      Both of your comments sum up an awareness I had both considered and dismissed. Thank you both for reigniting it.

    • @yenbbc8840
      @yenbbc8840 Před 3 lety +3

      what a drag it is getting old

    • @melvinschofield5423
      @melvinschofield5423 Před 3 lety

      Drab? 1966-67?!

    • @donaldsaigh8785
      @donaldsaigh8785 Před 3 lety

      They can keep coming if you know where to look. The Beatles produced many great records with the aid of groundbreaking studio work, but they were not great melodists, and melody is the essence of popular song. Check out the oeuvres of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, and others who created the "Great American Songbook". Their melodies and lyrics endure without the need for studio effects. Songs like "Summertime", "Bess, You Is My Woman Now", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "My Funny Valentine", "Night And Day", "Love Walked In", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "The Way You Look Tonight", and thousands of others from that era of popular song, are more emotionally powerful than anything produced by The Beatles.

  • @disneyscott98
    @disneyscott98 Před 3 lety +296

    This channel is the embodiment of "Quality over Quantity." Fantastic video as always. Can't wait for the next one.

  • @redrav4
    @redrav4 Před rokem +4

    I'm 59 now so when that song came out I was only 3; being the baby of the family my older siblings listened to Paperback Writer but didn't pick up on the B side til 15 years later I bought the American copy of Rarities on Capitol and also the British Parlophone copy; the British copy had Rain and when I heard it I was flabbergasted! I fell in love with it immediately! Great rock song! The driving guitars and of course Ringo's incredible drumming! 🙂

  • @jtmichaelson
    @jtmichaelson Před 2 lety +6

    I fully discovered The Beatles in 1979 at the age of 11 and for the next several years The Beatles were a forever flow of discoveries and imagination. The White Album was the last album I discovered by The Beatles, and I did that in 1981.

    • @siroswaldfortitude409
      @siroswaldfortitude409 Před 2 lety

      George Martin wanted to release the white album as a single album, which would have been an incredible album, but i'm glad it was a double, so we can appreciate the extra gems..

  • @michaelthomas9991
    @michaelthomas9991 Před 3 lety +110

    “Rain” is one of the best rock songs ever recorded. It is perfect in every way.

  • @jethroburns
    @jethroburns Před 3 lety +66

    I was about 14 when Rain came out. I remember listening and looking through the window at the English rain mingled with the sunshine. Yes, Revolver was fantastic but I also think Rubber Soul was quite revolutionary. The Beatles seemed to turn monochrome England into a vivid-coloured landscape.

    • @namcat53
      @namcat53 Před 3 lety +1

      YES.

    • @palemale2501
      @palemale2501 Před 2 lety

      ME TOO - I did exactly that too - listening to this record on a sunny rainy afternoon in Scotland with my pals. I was 13.

    • @jethroburns
      @jethroburns Před 2 lety

      Ah, Scottish rain mingled with the sunshine!

    • @palemale2501
      @palemale2501 Před 2 lety

      @@jethroburns We often get 4 seasons in one day up here lol.

  • @matchrocket1702
    @matchrocket1702 Před rokem +3

    I still remember where I was the first time I heard Rain. It completely took hold of me. Adolescence is a special time in one's life. To have the Beatles fresh upon the world at the times makes it even more special.

  • @MrSophbeau
    @MrSophbeau Před rokem +4

    I was a pre-teen when Rain came out and I remember it vividly. It was revolutionary to me, confirming my strange and would be wayward ideas about the transcendental nature of the mundane. Deeper experience is available all around us if we just listen closely and open our eyes. I was feeling these things before I heard the song but I thought I was just being too introspective. Rain told me the Beatles and therefore others were feeling these things too. Everything isn't just as it first appears. Thanks to the Beatles for this gift to a young person in suburban America in the 1960s.

  • @drowsy7921
    @drowsy7921 Před 3 lety +73

    That bassline is going to be playing in the back of my mind for weeks. thanks.

    • @ElvarMasson
      @ElvarMasson Před 3 lety

      Base or Bass ?

    • @drowsy7921
      @drowsy7921 Před 3 lety +1

      @@ElvarMasson thanks for correcting me, i get those two mixed up all the time.

    • @chadheckman2693
      @chadheckman2693 Před 3 lety

      @@ElvarMasson Bass is correct. Looks like the fish but it is pronounced like the low instrument in a song, i.e. bass guitar.

    • @ElvarMasson
      @ElvarMasson Před 3 lety +1

      @@chadheckman2693 No need to inform me about that 😉 I am a musician / songwriter myself. I asked the question because the original comment (before it was edited) included the word "baseline"

    • @chadheckman2693
      @chadheckman2693 Před 3 lety

      @@ElvarMasson Cool. I envy you for being a musician/songwriter. It's one of the things I wish I had the talent for.

  • @jjensen4029
    @jjensen4029 Před rokem +2

    I was living in Renton, Washington, working at my first real job at Boeing Aircraft at 18. Around the corner from my house was a barber shop that had Rain on a judebox. I used to go in there just to play the song, often more than once. The barber had it removed. I loved that song.

  • @divineatheist5546
    @divineatheist5546 Před 2 lety +6

    When I started my own band in 1976, I added Rain to our songlist. I was totally under the spell of this song. I played the bass, lefthanded, yeah, thinking I was in my own universe in The Newtles… My Dream…

  • @areidskyraider1966
    @areidskyraider1966 Před 3 lety +55

    I was in the United Kingdom on leave from the US Army. I was passing a HMV music store, when I hear them playing Rain on the store's speakers system. I was surprised by the song on how sounded. I purchased, and it is still in my large 45 records collection. Thank you for your reporting on how The Beatles did it. Sargent First Class Aubrey A. Reid USAR

    • @tfranks2519
      @tfranks2519 Před 3 lety +3

      Thank you for your service, SFC Reid

  • @tomdarby4906
    @tomdarby4906 Před 3 lety +102

    Rain also highlights an often overlooked talent of Sir Paul....most don't know or have forgotten what a solid bass he contributed to the band

    • @jaelge
      @jaelge Před 2 lety +15

      Solid, melodious, and intricate, and hard as fawk to duplicate.

    • @robertsamson4610
      @robertsamson4610 Před 2 lety +9

      There was a time when Paul was voted best bass player and Ringo was voted best drummer for the year. I believe it was around the time of Sgt. Pepper.

    • @libraryquiet
      @libraryquiet Před 2 lety +8

      +Tom Darby+
      Overlooked talent of Sir Paul? Where have you been? Paul's been recognized as the most innovative bass player since the 60's along with his other musical talents. You just came out of your cave recently or what?

    • @VictorianDad
      @VictorianDad Před 2 lety +3

      What actually is overlooked is that some of the songs the lead guitars are not played by George but by Paul.
      Taxman
      Good Morning Good Morning
      To name but two.

    • @libraryquiet
      @libraryquiet Před 2 lety

      @@VictorianDad
      Did "YOU" just crawl out of your cave?
      Just about all true Beatle fans know that George didn't play lead all the time
      The Beatles story has been printed, dissected, analyzed, studied inside and out that even "casual fans" know that George didn't play lead on several Beatles songs. George himself explained in interviews how it was Paul who played lead on Taxman out of necessity because he couldn't think of a proper solo for the song. Heck even John played lead solos, "You Can't Do That and Get Back," just to name two. Overlooked..........., I think not.

  • @ricardorusca8190
    @ricardorusca8190 Před 2 lety +6

    I remember this one was one of the songs that had a great impact first time I listened.sounded so fresh and unique .and was from 1966. When I was kid I always thought it just came out on the radio on the 80,s!!!

  • @josephfontana7938
    @josephfontana7938 Před rokem +3

    Couldn't agree more with your assessment. Rain is a brilliant song and think that this is the Beatles at their most prolific time.

  • @danielmartin7578
    @danielmartin7578 Před 3 lety +38

    Hanging out at my friend Alex's house in 1979, I was a 13 year-old Beatles fan who was still discovering tracks of theirs. Alex had the Hey Jude album and was keen to share it with me. Rain came on and, to this day, I vividly remember that moment when I first heard it; the assertiveness of the opening snare drum followed by the psychedelic flourish of that first chord, it was electrifying and, yes, contained so much of what I love about The Beatles. In my imagination, Rain is the sound of The Beatles opening the door to an undiscovered, technicolor landscape. To this day, it is still my favorite track from my favorite period of their career.

  • @dylanjhugroo3052
    @dylanjhugroo3052 Před 3 lety +53

    I never click on any channel's uploads faster than this one ❤

  • @malcolmmcdowell7462
    @malcolmmcdowell7462 Před 2 lety +7

    Rain and Tomorrow never Knows are my favourite Beatles tracks. I think Rain encapsulates the drone/mantra aesthetic of the traditional Indian music through pop sensibility. The genesis of popular music's third eye opening. Bloody hell they were great, the greatest.

  • @srkastk
    @srkastk Před 2 lety +5

    Rain has always been my #1 favorite Beatles song. I also heard Ringo on a radio show once, asked what was his favorite Beatles song. He said Rain.

    • @nealzokan2680
      @nealzokan2680 Před rokem

      That's easy for him- on Rain, he plays his best, his drum settings sound the best, and he's not turned down in the final mix like he is on so many other numbers.

    • @Matthias-sl6jr
      @Matthias-sl6jr Před 11 měsíci

      The other real strong Ringo presence is Abby Road side 2 The Long One medley.

  • @thomashealy6127
    @thomashealy6127 Před 3 lety +49

    Ringo owns this song his timing is perfect ✌🏻

    • @bconman
      @bconman Před 3 lety +7

      I remember from an article back in the late 60's where John said he told Paul and Ringo to go crazy, and play over the top in this one. Ringo never liked to show off, but did what John asked him to do. This was the result. Yes the beginnings of Revolver for sure.

    • @morbidmanmusic
      @morbidmanmusic Před 3 lety +2

      define perfect. But yeah, it "feels" great.

    • @tharveytucker1
      @tharveytucker1 Před 3 lety +1

      Isn’t that the drummer’s only job? Hahaha

    • @thomashealy6127
      @thomashealy6127 Před 3 lety +3

      @@tharveytucker1 It is the drummers job
      but if he does it wrong everyone will hear it.

    • @frankboyd.
      @frankboyd. Před 3 lety +6

      In live chaotic screaming concerts where Ringo couldn't even hear their music Ringo never missed a beat by reading John, George, and Paul's body movements from behind.

  • @grampamirlin
    @grampamirlin Před 3 lety +125

    I was 12 when John was murdered, and Rain ☔ was the song that introduced me to the psychedelic Beatles, almost as if I had graduated from the Early Beatles to the later Beatles. I grew up in the early '80s when MTV was new, and I was laughed at and made fun of because I was an over-the-top Beatles fan. When every other teenager was listening to Duran Duran and Judas Priest, I was playing my Beatles records backwards with my finger to hear what it sounded like. 41 years later, I'm 53, and I taught my daughter, and then my Grandson to live the magic of The Beatles.

    • @superking208
      @superking208 Před 3 lety +2

      The Beatles are obviously on another level from either, but I would still thoroughly recommend Duran Duran and Judas Priest 🙏

    • @andyjacobs28
      @andyjacobs28 Před 3 lety +7

      And now people laugh at anyone who's still into any of those other bands. The Beatles endure.

    • @superking208
      @superking208 Před 3 lety +1

      @Andy Jacobs Lmao if we're actually talking about what's popular now, I hate to break it to you but there is nothing in this world that young people find lamer than a Beatles fan, except maybe a Beach Boys fan. My personal boomer rock Shangri-La is Pink Floyd, and they're pretty high up there too unfortunately. Duran Duran and Judas Priest are both musically and aesthetically present in the contemporary mainstream in a far bigger way than literally anything from the 1960s -- for example, Ghost has gotten ludicrously big compared to most rock bands these days, and they bear more than a passing resemblance to both those groups -- and I find that loss of interest in the dawn of psychedelia unfortunate but unavoidable :/

    • @davidhenry2453
      @davidhenry2453 Před 3 lety

      I was 14

    • @lyrebird9749
      @lyrebird9749 Před 3 lety +7

      @@superking208 Rubbish, plenty of 20-somethings today are listening to and loving the Beatles. I often see young people in the 'hip' parts of town or music festivals wearing Beatles T-shirts. They are more popular now than they were in the 80's.

  • @NigelT57
    @NigelT57 Před rokem +5

    After the recent release of the speed at which the song was actually played and recorded, it is even more impressive.

  • @Engineer_Who
    @Engineer_Who Před 3 lety +322

    Smooth brain: Never heard "Rain."
    Average brain: "It's a good song, but there's no good way to listen to it."
    Advanced brain: Listens to "Rain" on the _Hey Jude_ collection.
    Galaxy brain: "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" are the first two tracks of an extended edition of _Revolver._

    • @jonpopper9208
      @jonpopper9208 Před 3 lety +2

      Me advanced brain ig

    • @sunj9444
      @sunj9444 Před 3 lety +11

      If someone does not appreciate the Beatles we must forgive them for poor sense of music.

    • @klyvemurray
      @klyvemurray Před 3 lety +9

      I dunno what 'type' of brain I have...But these 4 'Herbert's' from
      Liverpool can still bring a tear to my 63 year old eyes ☮☮☮
      .

    • @quikmart1
      @quikmart1 Před 3 lety +1

      Universe brain: Someone is selling something.

    • @wjhall307
      @wjhall307 Před 3 lety +6

      I was around in 1966 and through the mists I remember Rain as the song that defined Beatles music. I would say but have you heard Rain. I wish I could remember that first time I flipped the Paperback Writer 45 over and played Rain. But I know it lead me on a search for great B sides until they no longer existed.

  • @dennismiller9681
    @dennismiller9681 Před 3 lety +55

    Even as a 6th grader when Rain and Paperback Writer came out I recognized genius, not just pop appeal. There was no song like Rain. No other song had a drum part like it, no simple one measure riff with occasional fills. And the bass part, a lot more to it than roots and 5ths, a whole lot more, way different than any other bass part at the time. And then the contrast from the "verses" to the "chorus" with a non-stop stream of guitar notes switching to half note chords while the vocals hold one word for several measures. Very different. And then of course the reverse vocals. And Paperback Writer was so cool and innovative too. It especially "blew my mind" at the end of some verses the vocals singing "paperback writer" and then the whole combo fades into a mist of tremolo and reverb. Cutting edge stuff for the time. I agree that Rain deserves much more attention.

    • @LOUANTON1
      @LOUANTON1 Před 3 lety +2

      Wasn't it amazing to be opening our minds and ears back then in the mid sixties? Then only thing comparable now is when your children hear these golden gems and react the same but different way.

  • @ronanfitzgerald1507
    @ronanfitzgerald1507 Před 10 měsíci +3

    I think every time somebody has said “you can’t unhear this” to me I have forgotten it instantaneously

  • @tawpgk
    @tawpgk Před rokem +2

    As a young boy when this originally came out , I played Rain over and over again as loud as I could get away with in my basement. I was mesmerized by Rain. Paperback Writer was epic also at the time. Both were so different than the bubble gummy pop stuff that filled the radio back then... particularly the Beach Boys. Never could stomach silly "California" rock, perhaps because I was nearer to Liverpool in practicality here in NY/NJ. For sure we had more rain here....

  • @simonhodgetts6530
    @simonhodgetts6530 Před 3 lety +25

    Rain. Quite possibly my favourite Beatles song. Along with Hey Bulldog, one of those gems you uncover as you get into ‘deepcut Beatles’!! It’s so good that Andy Partridge borrowed the feel of the song for a number of XTC songs..........brilliant drumming from Ringo too!

    • @BigSky1
      @BigSky1 Před 3 lety +4

      Towers Of London

    • @simonhodgetts6530
      @simonhodgetts6530 Před 3 lety

      @@BigSky1 That’s the one!

    • @jthomas5722
      @jthomas5722 Před 3 lety

      Colin borrowed from it too, especially on songs like "What in the World?"

  • @aidanhickey9845
    @aidanhickey9845 Před 3 lety +30

    Probably my favourite A-side B-side pairing they ever released. I often catch myself singing both songs out of nowhere.

    • @debrascott1927
      @debrascott1927 Před 3 lety +2

      Can I throw All you need is love/ baby your a rich man into the mix for a and b side.

    • @oldbrownshoe52
      @oldbrownshoe52 Před 3 lety +4

      Don’t forget strawberry fields forever/penny lane

  • @hebegbk
    @hebegbk Před rokem +3

    This video makes me feel super emotional for some reason... The Beatles have always been my favorite band, among many groups that I've loved growing up, every single album and single by The Beatles just shines with such charm. What people don't realize about the magic and extraordinariness of The Beatles is that they were essentially a garage band started in a little dock town in England, just 4 poor, lonely boys that made 12 amazing studio albums in only 7 years... They worked hard for about 7 years before they even started recording in 1962 to get to that point where everyone in the world knew them only a year after. They had passion, drive, creativity, influence, and so much more.
    This song just takes enjoyment out of the mundane, showing that The Beatles wrote songs about almost every topic, even when the weather was poor, which it is a lot in England, John found a reason to make a song out of it. Such amazing talent and bizarre drum patterns on this one!

  • @kewkabe
    @kewkabe Před 3 lety +22

    This is probably Paul's most technically proficient bass part too. He nails those 16 notes perfectly.

  • @billsmith1957
    @billsmith1957 Před 2 lety +59

    Rain represented a shift in musical consciousness, where the Beatles ascended their mop-topped pop combo image to a new level of innovative artistry. This song and "Tomorrow Never Knows" are probably the strongest examples of this ascension.

    • @mickavellian
      @mickavellian Před 2 lety +1

      why oh why everyone thinks that revamping some tired quip from 1965 is going to sound profound ?

    • @LEGLANY
      @LEGLANY Před 2 lety +3

      And, Strawberry Fields... forever!

    • @DrRobertBeatles
      @DrRobertBeatles Před rokem

      oh pop sucks and everything else the beatles has done oh yes innovative artistry oh back in my day of course their songs before help suck because pop sucks ergo they sucked oh yes

    • @DerekDerekDerekDerekDerekDerek
      @DerekDerekDerekDerekDerekDerek Před rokem

      ​@@mickavellianpoop off

  • @brwdl
    @brwdl Před rokem +3

    Rain/Paperback Writer is the very first record I ever bought. I LOVED Rain. I wasn't even stoned yet and I felt like that song changed by life.

  • @ivantaub9414
    @ivantaub9414 Před rokem +3

    Rain was an amazing achievement then and now. The Beatles channeled into a creativity that was boundless in its originality but grounded in the tradition of melodic pop music. The odds that four people (and their production team) with the stupendous blend of vocal, musical, and songwriting ability appeared at this moment in human history is incalculable. They still inspire the rest of us making music to transcend the ordinary.

  • @kataking8661
    @kataking8661 Před 3 lety +101

    I swear every time this channel uploads it's like Christmas

  • @borisdisko4322
    @borisdisko4322 Před 3 lety +25

    I remember finding this hidden gem and saying "Where have you been all my life?" The first real psychedelic guitar song, but sounds like it could be released today.

  • @johncannon9626
    @johncannon9626 Před 4 měsíci +1

    I remember buying Revolver in high school, and it was one of those songs I could not stop listening to - alternating between singing the chorus harmonies at the top of my lungs, and bum bum bumming along to the bass line. And today (50 years later) still finds me doing the same when I hear it.

  • @jayrobertson3264
    @jayrobertson3264 Před 2 lety +3

    The Beatles were a major part of my life then, and still are now...watching them on Sullivan as a 10 yr old... I begged for a guitar until I got one a few years later...by the time I was 14, I played well enough to be invited to play with a live performance of Charlie Pride, played in bands non stop and eventually recorded in Nashville in the early 80’s... I now have my own studio...still write and record, and the Beatles are still favorites of mine...The Fab Four are eternally Fab.

  • @teddykypriss1671
    @teddykypriss1671 Před 3 lety +13

    Rain is my favorite Beatle song and I think it’s the best song they ever did. .Ringo’s drum fill is iconic

  • @jimmy5634
    @jimmy5634 Před 3 lety +25

    Rain was one of the coolest Beatles songs and part of the forward-thinking musical approach that separated the Beatles from everybody else.
    I loved it.

  • @BogartSlap
    @BogartSlap Před rokem +3

    Rubber Soul to Sgt Pepper, you could hear the Beatles moving to new levels in the kind of music they did.
    How incredible is it that - when they were already far and away the greatest band ever - that they could advance so much further from there? I mean, they were already at the TOP...and then they just pushed the top about 10 levels higher. :)

  • @rhythmfield
    @rhythmfield Před rokem +2

    In my humble opinion, Rain is actually a very simple, pedestrian little folk ditty, I bet the boys would’ve agreed with me there. The bones of the song… If you strip away all the production and fantastic drumming (I’m a drummer myself & LOVE Ringo on this one), studio experimentation, and the brilliant dressing, you’ve got a cute little song that could’ve easily been rattled off by Peter Paul and Mary or somebody. The real magic happened with the production, performance, and brilliant Audio Engineer really making magic with a fairly simple unremarkable song.

  • @maryspencer4975
    @maryspencer4975 Před 3 lety +56

    It's hard to believe that John didn't like his voice. It's so well-suited to Rain, I'm Only Sleeping, and Strawberry Fields. He always wanted George Martin to modify it. I think his voice is beautiful, with or without modifications.

    • @blakeharris1114
      @blakeharris1114 Před 3 lety

      Lucy in the sky song with John's voice synthesized.He wasn't talking about some picture his kid brought home. Who was fixing a hole where the RAIN gets in. Stop the pain.

    • @hansvandijk1487
      @hansvandijk1487 Před 3 lety

      Listening to ‘I don’t want to spoil the party’ I know what you mean. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.

    • @keithmills862
      @keithmills862 Před 3 lety +1

      mary - I believe that it WAS John's voice that played a big part in the early Beatles success....listen to songs like "You Can't Do That", "Twist and Shout" ( and he was just screaming on that one ), "Please Mr. Postman", " It Won't Be Long", etc...just friggin' great stuff.

    • @iadorenewyork1
      @iadorenewyork1 Před 3 lety

      Me, too. In "Julia", his voice shines.

    • @kaymuldoon3575
      @kaymuldoon3575 Před 3 lety

      I love his voice. One of my most favorite sounds I’ve ever heard.

  • @romulofigueroadiaz480
    @romulofigueroadiaz480 Před 3 lety +35

    Rain is such a perfect song, it’s sad how overlooked it is but it’s also a testament to how fucking amazing the Beatles discography is that this is considered one of their “lower tier” songs

  • @danytoob
    @danytoob Před 2 lety +9

    I still feel so privileged to have grown up thru those times. I was 15 in '66, and had been thoroughly entranced in Beatle-dom from the start. I was fortunate enough to see/hear them live at Dodger Stadium (they played Paperback Writer). A few days later they played their final live show in the US in San Francisco. For those of you who lived through this time as well, when I say "you had to be there to really understand" ... you understand. And for those who weren't there, I can truthfully say, (quite snobbishly I'm sure), you'll never know.

    • @dasaanudasi
      @dasaanudasi Před rokem

      I was there too. I stay in that timeline. (I got close to them, by other friends; who knew them).
      Hare Krishna

  • @user-ov4fe4pi1i
    @user-ov4fe4pi1i Před 2 měsíci +1

    I was there…I am now 71….but had purchased the Single of Paperback Writer..I felt that Rain was just as Good for the type sound they were doing…The Yardbirds were producing such great Music as Shapes Of Things, Over Under Sideways Down…..what a time to be part of…Greg

  • @MrHellhound1000
    @MrHellhound1000 Před 3 lety +14

    As much as we liked Paperback Writer, me and a few friends, as schoolboys here in the UK, were obsessed with Rain. We played it over and over waiting for the reversed vocal at the end.

  • @edquinn8182
    @edquinn8182 Před 10 měsíci +2

    I was 10 years old in 1966. We took for granted all the different music genres that were around then. Music was a flower growing out from a main stem. Everything was electric 🌩 ☀ 🌈

  • @hipolitovelez5175
    @hipolitovelez5175 Před 2 lety +10

    When I first heard "Rain" back in 1966, I was 16 years old. And it impressed the heck out of me. It was almost hypnotic and addictive to hear as the guitar rhythm's and lead sounds were played. It was (and still is) beautiful to the ears. As a guitar player myself, I often wondered how they achieved such a sound. Thanks for the insights.

  • @williamwalker8201
    @williamwalker8201 Před 3 lety +67

    Rain is suddenly everyone's favorite Beatles song.

    • @genedryer-bivins8314
      @genedryer-bivins8314 Před 3 lety +4

      Maybe not everyone. Mine is from Revolver, but for me 'For No One' is the perfect Beatles song.

    • @davidsanderson5918
      @davidsanderson5918 Před 3 lety +1

      Nope. Many of us out here have been round these houses many decades ago. It's the new fans you're talking about. Some of the newborns who haven't heard The Beatles yet will also meet up with Rain and go 'wow' in about twelve years time. And so it goes on.

    • @realspacemodels
      @realspacemodels Před 3 lety +3

      Trying to pick a "favorite" Beatles song is like picking a favorite food. I have choices that are high on the list: HELP, Revolution, and Eleanor Rigby but that doesn't mean that I don't want the full menu available. It would be a much shorter list of the Beatles songs I'm not fond of.

    • @jjd903
      @jjd903 Před 3 lety +1

      I don't mind

    • @queenhenry3314
      @queenhenry3314 Před 2 lety

      The dude was clearly being facetious. Good grief.
      Why do people insist upon taking innocuous comments so damn seriously? And they have to obnoxiously let you know, just how wrong they think you are.

  • @TheSanityInspector
    @TheSanityInspector Před 3 lety +12

    I heard "Rain" as a child and was utterly entranced by it, although it wasn't until many years later that I even learned its name. Just goes to show the genius of The Beatles: This song would be a career pinnacle for any lesser band, but for them it was just a day at the office, a non-album B-side that had to make way for even greater songs.

    • @skan5728
      @skan5728 Před 3 lety

      When I was younger I always thought the instruments were too high in volume in comparison to the vocals, but stil loved it

  • @paulbfields8284
    @paulbfields8284 Před 2 lety +2

    I was 12 in 68. I had a cassette recorder that I carried with me on my paper route. I had a pair of Olson Electronic headphones plugged in. I owned only one tape to my name.. Past Masters. It had Rain on the album and I listened to the tape back to back over and over again. Never tired of hearing it. Pedaled my newspapers and listened to this song Rain.. this song seemed ethereal to me in those days… now I really know why… thank you.