It was 56 years ago today (August 5th, 1966), that the Beatles released their groundbreaking seventh album Revolver. What sets the album apart from its predecessors is that aside from a brief nine date UK tour the previous winter, and no new movie to be shot for 1966, the group had an unprecedented five months off to recharge their creative batteries, and for the first time the group was able to spend open-ended hours working on new sounds by experimenting with new instruments and state of the art technology. With a lighter schedule, the Beatles were able to take a full 11 weeks to record what has become one of rock's most important milestones.

The album's sessions, which also included a separate single, "Paperback Writer" and "Rain," were the first with newly promoted chief engineer Geoff Emerick working side-by-side with producer George Martin.

The album featured touches of ragtime on Paul McCartney's "Good Day Sunshine"; Indian ragas on George Harrison's "Love You To"; hard rock on Harrison's "Taxman"; a children's song sung by Ringo Starr on "Yellow Submarine"; and John Lennon's proto-psychedelic anthems such as "She Said She Said," "And Your Bird Can Sing," and "Tomorrow Never Knows," which broke new ground with dramatic use of backwards music and tape looped sound effects.

It was on this album that the group, still working as a four-piece ensemble, was able to break sonic boundaries, such as the use of the Emerick-invented automatic double tracking. McCartney's bass was sometimes recorded through a megaphone, or plugged directly into the recording console, bypassing the amplifier completely. Harrison worked out a backwards guitar part, which was then played forward for Lennon's "I'm Only Sleeping."

On Revolver, McCartney developed most as an artist, with his classics "Eleanor Rigby," "Here, There And Everywhere," the Tamla-Motown influenced "Got To Get You Into My Life," and "For No One."

In 1980, John Lennon told Playboy that he was always a fan of McCartney's work on Revolver, saying that, "'Eleanor Rigby' was Paul's baby, and I helped with the education of the child. . . 'Here, There And Everywhere' was Paul's song completely. . . and one of my favorite songs of the Beatles."

"Got To Get You Into My Life" was a surprise Top 10 hit for the Beatles in the summer of 1976, when it was reissued as a single to promote the group's Rock 'N' Roll Music compilation.

(from pulseofradio.com)