Episode 26 – Beatles ’68 pt10

It's November of 1968 and the world is soaking in the new double album by The Beatles! While most the tracks on the new record were quite accessible, some baffled (and continue to baffle) listeners and challenged the limits of pop music. John Lennon's Revolution trifecta is a an experiment in sound unmatched by any other Beatles recording. Fans first heard the track in its rocking glory on the flip-side to the monster single Hey Jude earlier in the year. For the "White Album", the original version (rejected for the single by the others as being "too slow") finally saw the light of day, albeit trimmed from its play-out jam form. So what became of the play-out jam? In a truly innovative move, the play-out was used as the skeletal structure of an extended avant-garde sound collage titled Revolution #9. For those wondering where the psychedelia was hiding on this new record, they found it in this ten minute long disturbing portrait of revolution in action as executed by John, George and Yoko. Followed by the orchestral nursery rhyme Goodnight, the end of the Beatles double album left fans confused and critics to sharpen their knives. Controversy and harsh initial reviews aside, the band's 9th album would not only stand the test of time, but prove to be well AHEAD of its time, and is viewed by many to be the band's finest record ever released. As 1968 continued to wind down, the band recorded their annual Christmas message and looked ahead to another new year of transformation...