Beatles, the Fabulous Transition Years: Rubber Soul and Revolver

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Rubber Soul is the hiding-place of such wonderful, timeless Beatle songs as Nowhere Man, Michelle, and In my life.  It's startling that John Lennon would write such a retrospective-seeming song barely in his thirties.  Their cleverness with lyrics simply exploded at this time (possibly driven by external forces, such as George Martin), with both McCartney and Lennon writing lyrics that stand well on their own.  Harrison was still getting started, judging from the songs that managed to get on the Beatles albums, but we now know that many of his songs were simply kept out by Lennon and McCartney.  Only their extreme youth can excuse this.

Then came a release of an amazing single with Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, which have not really been established in any of the albums, but inserted as an afterthought it seems, in Magical Mystery Tour.  These two songs have been taken into their collective heart by the mainstream music establishment (despite the strong suspicion that drugs were involved in the inspiration of at least Strawberry Fields).  Strawberry Fields is a recollection of an orphanage into whose grounds John Lennon (at least) liked to sneak, while Penny Lane is Paul McCartney's celebration of a street in downtown Liverpool.  Both songs are heavily orchestrated with brass, Penny Lane featuring a "Bach" high trumpet in C, which Paul heard on the radio, and wanted to feature in the song.  John's strange vocals in Strawberry Fields is due to combining two recordings at different pitches, which necessitated slowing one of them down.  This record, in retrospect, seems to me to be a major milestone in the evolution of the recorded sound of the Beatles.

Revolver, with its striking cover art by Klaus Voorman, a friend from the old Hamburg days (and a major Bassist) is the first instance with a serious contribution: Taxman, by George Harrison, as well as the amazing Eleanor Rigby, brilliantly capturing some of the alienation of the time, in this case, that of agism.  Even if Paul McCartney's feelings about the subject might not be as sympathetic as some way wish, there is no doubt that he was able to depict the pathos of aging pretty well.

This album continues the Beatles tradition of referring to little incidents in their lives in the songs.  This became a common occurrence at that time; it probably reflects the isolation of the group from its fans.  They must have some inspiration, why not the little incidents they experience?  They know the fans are hungry for details about them, and every little clue is analyzed in detail, so why not?!  Dr Robert, She Said, For no one, all these have a feel of excerpts from a journal that make sense only to the subject.  Whatever the lyrics meant, the music is superior.

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