The Making of The Beatles REVOLVER Album Cover
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- Klaus Voorman's striking artwork on the cover to The Beatles 1966 album 'Revolver' has made it one of the most recognizable in album covers of all time. The cover signaled a major shift in the group's direction both musically and artistically. In this video we take a close look at now only how the cover was designed and hunt down the sources of the photographic fragments used on the cover. We also discover how and where the album's title was chosen from a list of hilarious suggestions.
0:00 - Opener
0:57 - Plans for 1966
2:00 - Breaking from Robert Freeman
2:34 - Lennon invites Klaus Voorman to Abbey Road
3:21 - The search for inspiration
3:55 - Tools of the trade
4:29 - The source of the cover's photographic elements
7:55 - Cover assembly montage
9:03 - The search for a name for the album
10:39 - McCartney's handwritten evidence
11:27 - Rear panel cover shot.
11:38 - Voorman's payday
12:15 - The whereabouts of the original artwork
12:58 - Closing comments.
Correction: 11:54 He drew the illustrations for the booklet only.
Photos credits: Klaus Voormann, Robert Freeman & Robert Whittaker.
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Another great in-depth video Andrew. I love how After Geography was Ringo's idea. It was a play on the Stones recent album Aftermath. I think Full Moon or Abracadabra would have been good names too, but ultimately the best name won.
The "abracadabra" name also sounds like it was made in the same train of thought as Magical Mystery Tour's wizards.
I agree, Abracadabra would have been a good name for the album.
BTW, Abracadabra was an album by Steve Miller Band in 1982. LOL.
thank God they went with "Revolver" - a title that was a universal head-scratcher, but sounded so cool and so right. Abracadabra would have been ridiculous. Beatles on Safari would have been as tongue-in-cheek as Beatles For Sale, but Revolver was the best choice overall (or do you say Uber-Alles).
@@farrellmcnulty909 I don't like that it can be understood as a gun. So I won't wear a shirt with the name on it.
@@ricardo_miguel13 I get it. After Lennon was killed, I felt a bit queasy about the title and thought, "Revolver, huh?"
I LOVE that John's right ear is actually Pauls! There's such poetry to that, since they could never make such good music individually :)
As you pointed out, Klaus Voorman put a picture of himself on the cover. But when the cover was reproduced for the Anthology project, he updated the shot of himself to how he looked in the 1990s.
My Dad had three Beatles LPs and the four year old me in 1975, who couldn’t read, came to the conclusion that With the Beatles was from the past, Beatles for Sale was new and current from today and Revolver was from the future. Such was the otherworldly look and sound of the LP.
Revolver is the first Beatles album that I recall stumbling upon in my parents' LP collection (which they thankfully hung on to!). An early US pressing in mono. What a mesmerizing cover...and that's before you even get to the music! 🎧
Love your channle man!, please come back!
Yooo how in the blazes did we find you here man!?😂
And I must say Voorman's art in the Ringo album book is truly a collection of artwork in and of itself.
Another amazing video. Klaus's cover design still packs a punch today and was tailor made for the LP format. Having designed a similar cover for a local punk band in 2007, I can attest to the painstaking work Klaus did. Collaging cut-outs is no easy task. A lot of layering is involved but the end result is worth it.
Now, I have the urge to give my newly-acquired UK stereo LP (a 1971 pressing acquired with loads of other Beatles LPs at a recent record fair) a spin before work.
I loved seeing the uncropped photos in their original context. I brought out my 2014 mono LP to look at the cover as the video was playing - audience participation.
Beautifully done Andrew! This is the kind of info “that means a lot” to us who studied the covers from Revolver to The Beatles Again! Well done and fun!
Good timing, very informative. Can’t wait for box set to come! 👍🏻🍏🍏🍏🍏
Revolver is such a great album and I don't believe I've heard of anyone covering how the cover came to be. Thanks for doing doing a cover of its cover.
This is the first time I preordered a super deluxe box set and while I love every Beatles album I think this was the perfect one to start with I’m so excited for the 28th!
Nice 'art-school' video(and music) , tastefully befitting Klaus's assembled cover. Love the pen+ink, scalpel sequence.And thank goodness the Beatles came up with the right name.
Thank you, Stephanie. Glad you liked it!
Ladies and Gentlemen, One of the best album cover in Music and Rock & Roll History.
Fascinating information. I love these sort of in depth, behind the scenes videos. More please. :)
Wait a minute, the title had not yet been chosen, but the first artwork draft was that of a… revolving disc? (By the way, this has to be your best video to date. Excellent, next-level research!)
One of my thoughts exactly - Maybe it could have been animated also - when played? (Mouths opening and closing or what have you?
The two original album title ideas before Klaus did the cover were Beatles on Safari and Abracadabra. But Safari was too close to Pet Sounds and Abracadabra, according to David Crosby who was hanging with the Beatles occasionally, was going to be the Byrds 5D album's original name. Of course at one point I think Mike Nesmith or Micky Dolenz also said at some point The Monkees next album was going to be Abracadabra so the Beatles didn't use it. So who knows. Colliding Circles was also a possible early title but then someone said bootlegers just gave that story to the author of All Together Now book in the 70's.
Agreed, I always thought the name was chosen before Freeman’s work was produced. Amazing. Maybe that draft entered their subconscious when they chose the name.
Great story, great cover. I never thanked you for my beautiful Hollies Singles lp. Arrived perfectly and great songs abs sound.
You're welcome, Ken. Glad you're enjoying it.
Another superbly researched video, Andrew, where I learned so much! It must have taken you hours to track down the sources of the photos which comprised the collage. Klaus' pen and ink drawing of The Beatles is wonderful and his idea to use ears, mouths and eyes from photos was a touch of genius! I thought Robert Freeman's design would have made an effective cover as well although Klaus' was definitely the right one to use. Something that has left me wondering is this. John rejected Freeman's cover because he thought that it didn't reflect where the band was in 1966 and yet the finished design used photos taken in 1963 - 1965! Ah, well, it doesn't matter as the 'Revolver' cover is one of their best!
Superb as always Andrew!! 👍👍
Andrew's videos are always informative. But this Revolver one is one of his best to date. Absolutely amazing to watch. I've owned my mono Revolver LP (the Canadian Capitol one) since 1966 and finally 'the penny dropped' and the veil has been lifted as to how the cover artwork was all pieced together by Klaus. And so well presented here in video form. Lucky for me, Klaus kindly signed my LP cover when I interviewed him in Chicago a few years back about his time in Toronto with the POB (when he published his book Revolver at 50 - his book is also highly recommended). Well done again Andrew !
Thank you so much, Piers!
Fantastic video! Definitely learned a few things. Revolver was always my favorite Beatles album cover.. I would love to get a tattoo of it. 😎
OK who has a Beatles LP cover tattoo 😝😎
Very interesting. Klaus also reprised his Revolver artwork on George Harrison’s ‘When we was fab’ single, creating an up-to-date George in the same style. Hope he got paid a lot more than £50 for that one.
Probably not 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
So fascinating - these videos are such a great resource for Fab Four information. Well done!
Thanks Steve. Glad you like them!
Another banger from Andrew. It's weird this came up today, as earlier today I was having that oft-debate in my mind as to which Beatles album is my favorite, Revolver or the white album. I'm going with white, but it's more like 1a and 1b, rather than 1 and 2.
I had no idea he did so much work for so little money. It explains the unique look of the drawn heads. From the back of a movie theater to staying at a castle in six short years. Great work.
50 pounds in 1966 is the equivalent of almost 800 pounds today… Don’t think designers today get more than that.
@@vinylarchaeologist well you may think that, but you'd be wrong.
@@adamlane6453 well, the average annual salary in the UK in 1966 was £891, so he was paid the equivalent of just under 3 weeks work at an average salary level.
@@davidtellett179 that's 891 in 1966 money, which is 14,977 pounds today
@@the-np4mr yes that's right. So the average weekly wage in 1966 was about £17.
Thx again for showing us where the photos originated from. Having passing knowledge on where a few of them originated, it's awesome to see most of them identified (especially the realistic ones of the eyes/mouths and "John's" ear)
I have always been so curious to see what the original line drawing looked like before the eyes and other photo parts were pasted on. If you look closely you can see some of George's mouth and eyes drawn underneath the pasted on eyes and mouth. I guess we'll never know!
Wow! Another awesome video, Andrew!! Love it! So cool to see the origins of the photos used in the collage!
That answers some long awaited, in the back of my mind harboured questions!! Thanks! Can't wait for the next video!!
I cannot figure out why this channel doesn't have views in the millions.
Are you sure the original artwork is not at that house in France you recently were at? 😊 Excellent video. I enjoyed seeing the cover put together as it were. I think between the cover, his part in the Hamburg saga and his musical contributions to three quarters of the group’s early solo albums, Klaus has secured a spot as a beloved member of the Beatle family. And nice YS shirt.
Thanks Michael. Sadly it’s not in that French collection, I did check. 😉
That collection is so in depth I wouldn't be surprised if Klaus himself wasn't in a cupboard.... When I got the LP in 1979 I remember poring over it with my parents old brass magnifying glass, looking at the details (a habit I had back then; anorak!) Best cover, best album.
@@OldMod67 that reminds me of the old SNL skit where they are trying to auction off Ringo.
@@MusicOverMyHead And RINGO still has all ten fingers
Remember in Help his friends talked about cutting one off😲👍
Wooow... fantastic video, my friend!!! Love when you talk about Revolver!!! It's great research!!!
Best wishes from your Brazilian friend.
Thank you , dear friend.
Andrew!
Nicely done, my friend!! Without this guide to the photos and their sources, one could go NUTS trying to figure out where each picture came from. So you can file this entry under “Public Service”, or “Good Deeds”. This one is definitely another winner from you!
Glad you liked it, Ed!
Klaus; Also a key member of the later version of Manfred Mann, and a bass player in the 70s who had created great sounds. He did the famous bass note at the beginning of Carly Simons, “you’re so vain”, and Lou Gramm told me, Klaus with seriously considered to be a member of Foreigner in the 1970s!
Yup, Klaus is a mean bass player too! Love that bass riff of You're So Vain.
Michael - A fellow Rochestarian here. Since you mentioned Lou Gramm, that gave it away more than your screen name. Good to know you.
He was also responsible for Trio's Da Da Da, a strange but wonderful piece of early 80s electro-pop.
@@dougiemilnephotography756 oh man! Da Da Da was a MONSTER hit in our country.
Another awesome video from my fave Beatles channel. Its so interesting how the band just keeps going along hardly planning anything but always arriving at exactly the right decision.
You’d swear the power of the universe somehow just swept them along their path.
Btw Andrew great shirt!
See you next time!!
There is a great line by George in the Get Back film where he says "We never plan anything really, things just kinda happen".
Great video, I'd love to see stuff like this for the other records as well.
A. Another one of your best videos, again! Looking forward to your review on it at the end of October/ Nov.
You're really having fun with these videos, Andrew! I can't say I've seen this type of in-depth look at the Revolver cover, so this is much appreciated. Great work! 😁
Thanks Colin!
i really enjoy this reissue run-up series. keep up the great work!
Thanks for the great video Andrew! Very informative 👏 👌 👍 😀
Really enjoyed this video, content brilliantly put together. More of this please alongside the regular audio discussions. Nice one!
I totally agree
Another video to brighten an already bright Sunday morning in Florida. You amaze me Andrew! Those names they were contemplating would not have worked. The Freewheeling Beatles title clearly Dylan’s influence on George. The others are too hokey and contrived. But where did Revolver come from? It’s origin as mysterious as the album title itself? Andrew, wonderful work showing how the creativity emerges from a schedule that required a tremendous amount of energy to sustain. My guess is that the joy of the whole thing carried the boys through. What else can explain the brilliant achievement of that magical year. Revolver indeed! Thanks again Andrew. I think I’ll turn to your webpage to see what vinyl treasures I can find there.
9:46 to explain the 'after geography' suggestion: it was a joke on the Stones album Aftermath
The Robert Freeman cover would look great on a picture disk.
Fascinating insight into the artwork Andrew. Many thanks.
Amazing work as always!
Thanks!
Fantastic stuff, Andrew!
Great video! Thanks for this excellent deep dive!
Great video. Chockful of info. Appreciate all the care and effort in making these videos.
Not me, Andrew! No original artwork here. But I do feel lucky to own a signed 'artist's proof' print of the Revolver cover that I bought at Beatlefest in Chicago. I should have known that 'Tomorrow Never Knows' was its inspiration for Klaus Voorman! Thank you for devoting a segment to this groundbreaking, unconventional album cover.
Thank you, Andrew, a superb video!
That Robert freeman alternate cover kinda looks good and I wouldn’t mind if they used it but definitely the Klaus voormann cover is a legendary piece of art
Thanks for the in depth information on the Revolver cover….interesting to see where the photo collage pictures came from. Looking forward to the box set in a few weeks. Thanks Andrew!
Great film, really enjoyed this! Thank you so much!
At 7:47. The pic on the left was privately given to Klaus by the band, not published. The Ringo pic on the right was shot on a boat trip. Bonus: Klaus image was shot by Astrid K. when Klaus was a member of his first band PKG.
Thanks again Andrew! Great and very interesteting video💙💙💙💙
As ever, a top quality video 👌. Everything just fell into The Beatles laps, they were the most talented musicians ever but they also had the right people around them and in a positive way, knew how to completely exploit that. Great they used Klaus, shows despite being the four most famous people in the world they never forgot their friends or their roots.
Andrew, great information as always. Thank you.
Again, such great well researched work Andrew, Thanks so much 😎👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazingly interesting! Thanks for this work! Joan
Fantastic story, Andrew. Thank you very much
Just great, fantastic video.
Just an excellent video!
Really enjoying your video’s…keep up the good work
Great video as usual!
Hi Andrew, excellent video - I don't know where you find the time to put these immaculate videos together - cant wait for next one. Cheers Matt
That shirt is legendary, I wish I could be so dripped out as a Beatles fan
Brilliant. Thank you Andrew.
Thanks Simon, glad you enjoyed it.
150 videos...wow !!!! And this one in the collection is fab. Has certainly given me a deeper appreciation for the album cover. Can't imagine it not being called Revolver..the best alternate title IMO was Abracadabra. Wonder who has the original artwork. Thanks for another awesome video Andrew 🙏👍🥁
Highly informative and entertaining as usual.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great vid of one of my favorite beatle albums
I remember listening to an interview on one of Spencer Leighs Beatles radio shows where Chas Hodges (Chas n Dave) claims he came up with the Revolver title on tour with The Beatles in Germany 1966 when he was in Cliff Bennetts Rebel Rousers.He said he was given a bottle of Scotch as a reward!
Andrew, that was fab.
Well done! Thanks for the video.
Thanks Filipe, glad you enjoyed it.
One More Time, Excellent Information, Congratulations!!!!!
Thanks again, Alejandro!
Ahhh.now my Sunday morning is complete⚡⚡
That photo on the upper left corner has always fascinated me. I'll take a wild guess and say it was taken from Voorman's days in Hamburg with the group
Great work Andrew!
Glad you liked it!
Bravo!
Great video again.
I have a signed art print "The Making Of Revolver" by Klaus Voormann. I showed it in one of my last videos.
Cheers✌️
Wonderful Andrew. I’ll lay money that your 14 min video is far more revelatory than the anaemic offering of the forthcoming box set.
And it also seems that Paul knew that over 55 years later you'd be using his handwritten bold title of REVOLVER in your CZcams post today Andrew - pausing the screen @11:07 and he's clearly included the Parlogram Auctions bold circle in the script.....😎
Excellent video
A thoroughly interesting and fascinating breakdown of the great album. Interesting to see and learn where the photos came from and how the design came about. Always been interested in album art of my favourite artists, who created them and the inspiration behind them. Have you/could you do the other Beatles covers? and even why some countries opted for a different cover altogether. You didn't state why it was called Revolver. Was it because a record revolves on it's turntable?
Thanks and you're right, it was because a record 'revolves'.
Can't wait til the 28th, hope it doesn't disappoint, thanks for the vid
Great video!
Thanks!
I'm 66 and have been collecting The Fabs since I was 11 or 12. Garage sale stuff originally. Years later, around 83 to 85 , I recall reading in a magazine or newspaper about auction results for Beatles collectables. I recall the original artwork mechanicals for Revolver; final original artwork used to develop reproductive plates, sold for $4000. All original material -I worked for an ad agency during those years so I was familiar with the terms and printing process.
While a lot of money back then, I was floored because it was attainable-I had that much or more in reserve. I recognized it as a tremendous bargain-hence the memory stayed with me and it not terribly fuzzy. Wish I could provide the name of the auction house but I've forgotten those details.
Thanks Andrew-I never miss an episode. I have the complete set of Bruce Spizer books if you ever need something looked up.
Thanks for the info, Steve.
Great video - Thanks 😊
Glad you enjoyed it!
It"s a wonder that The Beatles made the standard SO HIGH!!!!
The Beatles best album.
And My favorite cover.
Always amazing how informed you are on anything related to The Beatles! It's great! Thanks a lot!
Dude... this isn't amazing. It's what he does for a living.
I would hope Klaus would have the original print lost in his collection somewhere, ❤
I love your videos.
He says he doesn’t have it.
@@Parlogram dammit I wish he did, keep looking
I think the band who are posing with the Beatles in the photo at 10:35 are the Rattles, which featured Achim Reichel, who went on to form a couple of interesting groups called Wonderland and A.R. & Machines in the 70s
Aaaaģrrhh... I can't wait till next week🤯...😃👍
Fascinating, Andrew! Thank you for this very informative edition. One thing I have wondered, why did Klaus leave the left side blank? I have always thought that looked a bit awkward. Otherwise, I think it’s a great cover.
Thanks Andrew for all the details on the Revolver cover. Although Klaus Voorman's drawings of the Beatles and his concept fit the theme of their pioneering music at that time, I never understood why he used all the "old" pictures of the Beatles! As you mentioned the Beatles songs were way ahead of its time, so why use pictures from 1963 and ones from Rubber Soul?? My favorite period "look" of the Beatles was 1966, and with the exception of the back cover photo, the old "cut out" pictures on the cover never worked for me.
Great video, as always.
One point of possible clarification: I believe that the Revolver back cover photo was taken in EMI studio 1 rather than studio 2. That is also where the non-Chiswick house Paperback Writer and Rain promo videos were shot.
Fab vid Andrew!!!! While Klaus's artwork is already an eyecatch, Robert Freeman's version looked perfect for the Revolver name (did he make that before they came up with the name?)
I hope you can do a video breaking down the Anthology video. I remember hearing from the boys in Nothing Is Real that there was another guy hidden in the collage besides Klaus.
Great video and information and buildup of revolver rerelease hype. But I’m curious where you got that cool yellow submarine polo?
Thanks Steve. The shirt is from The Beatles online shop: www.thebeatlesonline.co.uk/thebeatles/Men-s-T-Shirts/Unisex-Polo-Shirt-Yellow-Submarine/6KL71SCN000
Clive Foreman did a great job. Pity he couldn't afford some coloured felt tips.
On the Steve Hoffman forum, it was pointed out that the out-of-focus picture in the upper-left corner, was a private picture given to Klaus Voorman by the band.