Revolution 1: Introduction
This article includes information about The Beatles’ “Revolution 1” song. This is the softer, bluesy track from their “White Album” and not the heavy rock version, which is the B-side of “Hey Jude.” Previously, The Beatles never put over a political message in their songs apart from “Taxman.”
In Detail
- Publisher: Northern Songs
- Released: November 22, 1968 (UK), November 25, 1968 (US)
- Recorded: May 30–31, 4th and June 4 & 21, 1968
- Genre: Blues rock
- Track Duration: 4:17
- Record Label: Apple
- Songwriters: Lennon-McCartney
- Producer: George Martin
- Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Peter Bown
Performers And Instruments
- John Lennon: lead vocals, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, and also the tape loops
- Paul McCartney: bass guitar, piano, organ, and also the backing vocals
- George Harrison: lead guitar, also the backing vocals
- Ringo Starr: drums
Other Performers
- Francie Schwartz: backing vocals
- Derek Watkins and Freddy Clayton: trumpets
- Don Lang, Rex Morris, J. Power and Bill Povey: trombones
Where To Find “Revolution 1”
You can still buy this song on the following album. Click on the album image to see what other songs it includes.
Revolution 1
As with quite a few Beatles’ songs, John Lennon began writing “Revolution” in 1968 while he was in India. The Beatles were at Maharishi‘s ashram to learn transcendental meditation at the time. Lennon finished the song when he came back to the UK.
His inspiration for the song was political unrest at the time, particularly the protests in opposition to the Vietnam War.
“I thought it was time we f*cking spoke about it, the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war when we were on tour with Brian Epstein and had to tell him, ‘We’re going to talk about the war this time, and we’re not going to just waffle.‘
I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India, I still had this ‘God will save us‘ feeling about it—that it’s going to be all right. That’s why I did it. I wanted to talk, I wanted to say my piece about revolution. I wanted to tell you, or whoever listens, to communicate, to say, ‘What do you say? This is what I say.'”
John Lennon
Rolling Stone, 1970
The Vietnam War wasn’t the only trigger for the song because there were so many other political stories in the media during the late 1960s. For example, there were the March 1968 protests in Poland against their communist government. Then there was the civil unrest in France in May.
Since Lennon finished the song in May, it is likely that the events in France spurred him on further. However, Leninist, Trotskyist, and Maoist groups also applied some pressure on the band to support the revolutionary cause.
Revolution Splits
The Beatles commercially released three songs with “Revolution” in the title. There is the fast, heavy rock version, which is on the B-side of “Hey Jude” with the simple title “Revolution.” Then there is the slower version, which is what we are highlighting on this page.
This track was over 10 minutes long, with the last six minutes being an instrumental jam. During the long coda, John Lennon repeatedly screams “All right” while Yoko Ono moans along with him. Lennon would soon cut off the last six minutes, which became the basis for “Revolution 9.” That left the slow song that we hear on the self-titled “White Album,” which Lennon wanted to use on a single.
Paul McCartney thought that “Revolution 1” was too slow for a single, and he didn’t want to invite controversy.
“When George and Paul and all of them were on holiday, I made Revolution, which is on the LP and Revolution 9. I wanted to put it out as a single, I had it all prepared, but they came by, and said it wasn’t good enough. And we put out what? Hello, Goodbye or some shit like that? No, we put out Hey Jude, which was worth it. I’m sorry, but we could have had both.”
John Lennon
Rolling Stone, 1970
Obviously, John Lennon spruced up the song to create a rock version in order to get it out on a single.
Recording Studio
The Beatles began recording “Revolution 1” on May 20, 1968, in Studio 2 at the EMI Studios in London (2.30 p.m.–2.40 a.m. session). It had been over three months since their last recording session in the studios. There were 18 takes in total on that day. Further recording took place for the song on the next day in Studio Three during the 2.30pm–12.00pm session.
Still not happy with the vocals, Lennon began re-recording on June 4 in Studio Three (2.30 p.m.–1.00 a.m. session). However, this time he laid on the floor while singing. This was in order to make himself sound differently.
Further overdubbing and adjustments occurred on June 21, 1968, to complete the track suitable for The Beatles (album). “Revolution 1” kicks off side 4 of the double LP release in late 1968.
Take A Listen
Finally, press play to listen to the bluesy version of this song from the White Album. Then, you can leave us your thoughts about it below. For example, which version do you like best?
