The Beatles: Revolver and the Genius of Eleanor Rigby

[@maribelfarnsworth4565]

There's an additional structural feaure of Eleanor Rigby that for me makes the ending quite spine-chilling, and indeed makes it the powerful masterpiece I think it is: it's the way the final reprise of "All the lonely people" is combined in melodic counterpoint with "Ah, look at all the lonely people".

[@ordjk4797]

I enjoyed this video a lot, the best analysis of Eleanor Rigby on KZbin. I love the way you linked it back to older composers and also the breakdown on modality. What a genius McCartney is

[@kfiralfiavideo]

This is the song that made skeptical 60s parents realize that the boy band that churned out She Loves You just two years prior were actually ethereal Gods. What a shocking gut punch that must have been.

[@docsavage8640]

That's not what "boy band" means.

[@cuebj]

@@docsavage8640 And the term didn't exist back then. To be fair, you could describe them as the prototype of boy band, as they were the prototype for many other genres. Get a set of pretty young males to sing in harmony and have session musicians to play on the record. The Bee Gees did that par excellence and far more. But Beatles and Bee Gees were far more than the products of a svengali manager.

[@justintuccimusic]

Thanks Tavistock 😂

[@katznkittens]

She Loves You is an excellent song.

[@LAMPENRAINER]

Although I was a music teacher whose "baby" was the Beatles, I still learned quite a bit - in retirement. Thank you very much!

[@DarkForcesStudio]

This song is so deceptively simple.. The relationship between the vocal melody and the instrumental tune is something very special. I play and sing along on keyboards and need to stop to take it in. It's a joy.

[@philipvousden7998]

What a fine little film; I look forward to the next two. It's refreshing to hear one of the greatest albums in the world discussed in such terms, albeit I'm reminded (yet again) of my own ignorance. I probably have six copies of Revolver in my seventy album plus Beatles section and have thus far confined myself to comparing pressings, styluses, mono v stereo etc. I shall listen with new ears. Thanks.

[@themusicprofessor]

Thanks so much for watching

[@jessiej1746]

I really like the music you have playing in the background the levels between that and your voice are perfect. I mean this sincerely.

[@edgarsnake2857]

ER is an amazing confirmation of The Beatles greatness--and I'm including George Martin in the band on this one. I loved your discussion of this simple, yet richly complex classic.

[@TudorSmith]

Loved it. Wonderful job and those interlaced clips....lol :-)

[@AndrewLakeUK]

I've heard that if you are forced to listen to Stockhausen for a prolong period of time, you develop a kind of relationship with the music. Stockhausen syndrome it's called. :)

[@michaela1541]

Great lesson, Thanks! This has been really helpful for A Level Music

[@themusicprofessor]

You're very welcome!

[@tomhenninger4153]

McCartney's genius really shines in this Rubber Soul through Abbey Road. His melodies are absuktely brilliant. I agree - Lennon and McCartney's competitive ness really drove them forward. Love it! Thank you!

[@BenTrem42]

*:-)* A new WinAmp playlist! _(Eleanor playing just now)_

[@BenTrem42]

#Lateral - Sir, would you do a PlayList on mmmm Jazz through the ages?

[@4-dman464]

Thanks, really enjoyable. After all the equations over the years of 'I Love/She Loves You/She Loves Me/ He Loved Her' to feed the teen fantasy, REVOLVER comes up with 2 songs where the guy doesn't get the girl & the girl doesn't get loved. 'Eleanor Rigby' is gothic: autumn winds in the stark strings & a graveside verse & a chorus lament for isolated souls & a doomed finale worthy of Poe - - & only that heartfelt chorus makes it pop at all.

[@magicmusic8]

McCartney @25yrs and strings composed with George Martin at EMI. wow.

[@fromchomleystreet]

I think it’s a bit simplistic to describe Eleanor Rigby as having two chords, as the interplay between the various voices is clearly making additional chords along the way. For example, the descending chromatic part you describe at 11:12 gives us a pretty unmistakeable A7 chord (A being the iv chord in the key of E minor) when it hits the C#/Db.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes of course - I think I just meant in broad architectural terms, it has two harmonic areas

[@gh8vh]

You mentioned Dorian mode but not the final cadence. They tried to finish songs in a surprising way so you would want to hear them again immediately.

[@fredneecher1746]

Hey, the 60s wasn't all drab and lonely! It was a great time to be young. It's that fact that makes people like Eleanor Rigby's life so tragic because they were overlooked in the exciting 'Swinging Britain' of popular culture.

[@Ioganstone]

I find that when you have 2 chords or just 1 chord the song will also be one note. So the reason the song didn't really work for the big audiences was it felt like just how it was produced, they were manufacturing anecdotal lyrics to fill the instrumental of the song. However, what sticks with me is this far-off future/steampunk world in Yellow Submarine where the song was introduced with smokestacks billowing pollution, which gave it the authenticity it needed.

[@fromchomleystreet]

I presume you mean “one note” in a metaphorical sense, which is of course entirely subjective. The literal sense would certainly not be true, as these and many other great songs with limited harmonic movement prove. But as for “the song really didn’t work for the big audiences”… what on earth do you mean? It’s one of the Beatles most famous and beloved songs and it topped the charts all over the world!

[@Ioganstone]

@@fromchomleystreet ya I just kept it in a metaphorical sense the whole time and it may look out of place like a joke was supposed to be there. This video admits the critics did not enjoy it as much and I was extrapolating to the audiences. And frankly I wouldnt as an audience member, receive it well without a pivot to pollution as I explained. If you need a direct comparison in the form of a song that did what this song was trying to do better, speaking about lonely people with imposter syndrome, see California Dreamin'.

[@davidschnittman7954]

“Get Back” has 3 chords in it. A and D but also the G.

[@tymime]

And Ringo was playing the drums

[@docsavage8640]

Except when Paul was.

[@saibhandari]

Brilliant!

[@JorgePeirano]

13:51 C lydian scale, not Major. Very nice video by the way.

[@fromchomleystreet]

He doesn’t mention either at 13:51. Did you get the time stamp wrong? What were you referring to?

[@mliittsc63]

Lately I've taken to thinking of them as George Martin and the Beatles.

[@docsavage8640]

Might as well think of them as Herman Melvill and the Bronte Sisters then.

[@nathanielslee7122]

Rlly helped with my A level music :)

[@nathanielslee7122]

Would love to see more A level music studies

[@themusicprofessor]

Glad it helped! There is lots more A level stuff in the pipelines so keep your eyes peeled.

[@nathanielslee7122]

@@themusicprofessor will do 👀

[@richarddefortuna2252]

Paul namedropped Berio and Stockhausen, for sure. I'm very skeptical of any claim suggesting that he either spent anything more than a passing interaction with either of them, or was influenced by them in any way.

[@themusicprofessor]

I think there was some genuine interest in the late 60s, and that there was cross currents for a short period. There are plenty of examples of studio experimentation during the period that suggest an influence. Berio and Ligeti both admitted to admiring the Beatles. Stockhausen never admitted to liking anything except his own music (and Webern's).

[@georgio2]

I was 15 when when the Beatles arrived and I bought all their records as they were released. That same year I discovered Bach. I wonder if they can be compared.

[@themusicprofessor]

You did well to discover Bach and the Beatles in the same year!

[@CalebCarman]

Another sing that plays with that chord relation, in this case between c minor and Ab major, is ‘o Superman’ by Laurie Anderson

[@docsavage8640]

Yes, but her "songs" are barely listenable.

[@anonUK]

​​@@docsavage8640 Unless you're Dennis Nilsen.

[@cantkeepitin]

For all who like Eleanor Rigby, check out Lutoslavsky concert for orchestra.

[@cantkeepitin]

And Beethoven op. 59 nr 1. the short movement(best with Alban Berg Quartett) + Stravinsky's sacre 1st dance after the introduction.

[@themusicprofessor]

What's the connection? You mean there's a similarity in the string writing...?

[@sammeredith5983]

What was Ringo doing in 1966?

[@themusicprofessor]

Only Ringo would be able to answer that question.

[@docsavage8640]

Drugs.

[@anonUK]

​@@themusicprofessor Drumming.

[@gerarddearie-zd2gb]

Professor King, do you intend to do something on "She said, she said"? I believe it was a favourite of Bernstein's and is a high water mark in Lennon's musicality, pre-Epstein's demise and his retreat into drugs and an Oedipus complex. Paperback writer was designed deliberately to be a one chord song, although it has to use the IVbVII at the end of each chorus(?). It's interesting for two reasons:1) I think it actually precedes Revolver, or may be one of their 1966 non-album singles and ; 2) it got to number one.

[@themusicprofessor]

Fascinating comment. I would like to go back to the Beatles at some point. Interesting that you highlight "Paperback Writer' which was indeed a very significant song. Here's an interesting video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5LKeXqVa9doqdUsi=6pjsKWZTzEPXdtx3

[@allancerf9038]

The Music Professor Interesting you should cite this song's genius. (I sure like it.) Some colleague of Jane Asher's Guildhall-instructing mother (who in turn had an influence on McCartney as he lived at their digs) had told Paul of ER's musical cliche's and very basic nature. I wish I could remember this guy's name. Humorously the person making those remarks then summed up by asking "Is this your next number one?" 😄 Also, Ned Rorem I believe it was, said in effect, good lyrics but the melody was no more adventurous than a Kentucky Carol - whatever that might be.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, the Guildhall connection was strong with JA's mum and of course George Martin! I think this is really a question of 'sophisticated' listeners having a naturally condescending view of McCartney's apparently simple material. I would say though that ER is simple but also brilliant. The combination is not an easy one to achieve.

[@allancerf9038]

@@themusicprofessor Agree.

[@tymime]

It's possible that chromatic line was inspired by the James Bond theme

[@themusicprofessor]

Actually I think Beethoven was inspired by the Batman theme there

[@PartySpock]

It was John Lennon who discovered Stockhausen not Paul m,Cartney👍

[@themusicprofessor]

According to various sources I have read, it was McCartney who was first interested in leading avant garde musicians like Luciano Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen. John became interested later, especially when he started seeing Yoko Ono.

[@PartySpock]

Oh, so i don,t trust wiki anymore. thank you

[@nomnom8378]

Notice

[@richarddefortuna2252]

You presume that McCartney composed the orchestration, something he'd never done since, interestingly. I'd bet that he had a short guitar or piano chordal piece that simply would never sound right as written, and that Martin first suggested the strings and then composed them as something that Paul McCartney was simply incapable of creating. Not that McCartney would ever admit as much, but nevertheless, it's the only thing that truly makes sense. His lyrics are phenomenal, though, without question.

[@themusicprofessor]

I agree - I don't think I imply he had anything to do with the orchestration except to suggest to George Martin that 'it sound a bit like Psycho'.

[@fromchomleystreet]

McCartney couldn’t (and still can’t) physically “write” music, nor was he familiar with the capabilities of instruments he didn’t play (untrained and inexperienced orchestrators sometimes compose parts that are impossible or needlessly difficult to play on the instrument for which they are written), nor was he familiar with the way in which the relative volume of various voices must be balanced in the composition (something he was used to doing with a knob on an amplifier or a mixing desk fader) For those reasons, he needed Martin to translate his musical ideas into something string players could read, understand, and replicate. But that DOESN’T mean he had no input into how the individual parts would go. He couldn’t play a cello, but he was more than capable of demonstrating how a cello part should go by either singing it or playing it on the piano. None of the individual string parts in Eleanor Rigby are intrinsically more sophisticated or difficult than many other parts that McCartney sang or played himself on songs he wrote. Listen to a string quartet playing “Blackbird” and you will hear them essentially replicating what McCartney sings/plays on the record, because it can’t really be bettered, and when those parts are played on strings it sounds every bit as sophisticated as the arrangement on Eleanor Rigby. There is nothing in this arrangement so wildly complicated that it is intrinsically beyond the musical imagination of Paul McCartney. While It is of course possible that he just left it all the Martin, that would seem incredibly uncharacteristic of such a notoriously controlling personality as McCartney. It is most likely that, as with Yesterday before it, it was a joint effort between the two of them, with Martin writing down McCartney’s melodic ideas for the various parts and offering his own suggestions where he thought he could improve upon it. If it was a Lennon song, it would be a different matter, as Lennon was famously much less opinionated and “hands on” about how his songs were arranged, giving Martin vague, abstract images to evoke the kind of “vibe” he wanted, but happy to leave the realisation to others.

[@PaulFormentos]

One of the first PID songs......

[@benjamink7105]

The strings in this song are ridiculous.

[@vielcollins9337]

Eleanor Rigby goes well with Pink Panther. Some time ago I made this mashup: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmPaqZqqetqZqLs

[@dragnflei]

Interesting to hear you refer to the collaborative genius of the four Beatles and then call out John, Paul and George. What about Ringo? Take the drums out any of the music you’re discussing here and none of it has the same impact.

[@themusicprofessor]

Yes, I agree. For this video, I was focussing more on the creative impact of the other 3 Beatles because they all wrote songs for Revolver. But I do fully accept Ringo's essential (and creative) contribution to the band.

[@tleye4360]

has anyone ever told you you look like George?

[@themusicprofessor]

I take that as a compliment.

[@debessar95]

Lyrics by John Lennon, music by George Martin and Paul McCartney/George Harrison.

[@strathman7501]

"Lyrics by John Lennon"? Where did you get that from? Your order of creative priority is seriously skewed. Try: music by Paul McCartney *with* George Martin, plus a contribution from George Harrison; lyrics by Paul McCartney with contributed ideas from Ringo Starr, Pete Shotton and John Lennon.

[@debessar95]

@@strathman7501 you are somewhat disoriented in this matter.

[@strathman7501]

@@debessar95 I asked you where you got the idea "lyrics by John Lennon". You don't respond. I suspect the answer must be "John Lennon", who claimed to have written "a good lot" of the lyric. Nobody else involved and in a position to know has ever claimed that the lyric was "by John Lennon", in fact quite the opposite. Pete Shotton (Lennon's oldest mate, who was there) said that John’s contribution was “virtually nil”. Paul said, “Yeah, about half a line!”. Ringo contributed the idea for Father MacKenzie to be darning his socks. Pete Shotton suggested the denoument in the graveyard. Even John said that Paul already had the first verse complete (Eleanor, the rice, the face in a jar etc) and the chorus, but claimed to have contributed significantly to the other two verse lyrics. But knowing that Ringo and Shotton contributed the key ideas for each of those verses, and that it was George Harrison who suggested re-echoing Paul’s line “All the lonely people” as a refrain (“Ah, look at all the lonely people”), there isn’t a lot left for John, certainly not the “about 70%” or “60%” or “50%” that he claimed in various places. John’s story was that he went off with Paul into another room and they finished the song between them, such that “not a line of theirs [George’s, Ringo’s and Shotton’s] remains in it”; but this has to be interpreted as a verbal polishing of the last two verses using the ideas and images already in play. John’s account of being pissed off that Paul involved the others amounts really to a tacit admission that his role was small, and this annoyance (plus, possibly, a little envy, critically-acclaimed poetic lyrics being supposedly his turf) may explain his need - atypical, I would say - to take unjustified credit for this song. As for the music, all evidence indicates that tune and chordal backing were Paul's and that he was mainly responsible for the character of the arrangement. He and George Martin worked together on the score, which was based on Paul’s Vivaldi-inspired staccato piano: ‘I thought of the backing, but it was George Martin who finished it off,’ he said, adding ‘I just go bash, bash on the piano. He knows what I mean.’ Paul’s big concern in studio discussions had been that it might come out lush.Engineer Geoff Emerick recalls that Martin had to reassure Paul that it would work with an octet. Paul’s final word was, ‘Ok, but I want the strings to sound really biting.’ He then visited George Martin’s flat to rough out the score. :- John Lennon: “The violin backing was Paul’s idea. Jane Asher had turned him on to Vivaldi and it was very good. The violins were straight out of Vivaldi. I can’t take any credit for that, at all.” Paul McCartney: “I thought of the backing but it was George Martin who finished it off. I just go bash, bash on the piano. He knows what I mean.” George Martin: “Paul came round to my flat one day and he played the piano, and I played the piano, and I took a note of his music… When Paul told me he wanted the strings in ‘Eleanor Rigby’ to be doing a rhythm it was Herrmann’s [Psycho] score which was a particular influence." Paul McCartney: "When I took the song to George, I said that, for accompaniment, I wanted a series of E minor chord stabs. In fact, the whole song is really only two chords: C major and E minor. In George's version of things, he conflates my idea of the stabs and his own inspiration by Bernard Herrmann, who had written the music for the movie 'Psycho.' George wanted to bring some of that drama into the arrangement. And, of course, there's some kind of madcap connection between Eleanor Rigby, an elderly woman left high and dry, and the mummified mother in 'Psycho.'"

[@debessar95]

@@strathman7501 Your head is full of fragmentary information that you are unable to turn into a correct conclusion.

[@strathman7501]

@@debessar95 Ha, another empty reply - as empty as your own head, I suspect. But don't worry, my post isn't for you. The information is there for others who have the wit to understand it.