We had a similar series of Beatles polls in 2010. The results of these polls have mostly been very consistent with those ones. But last time, “Eleanor Rigby” was the winner by a huge margin, taking almost 37% of the total votes. So far in this poll “Rigby” is barely keeping pace with “Tomorrow Never Knows.” “She Said She Said” is doing a lot better here than it did then–in 2010 it managed less than 4% of the votes.
Well actually, no.
Some sort of a row erupted involving Paul on the day “She Said, She Said” was recorded, and he stalked out of the studio.
So this song is the work of three Beatles only. The parts you think are Paul (the high harmony and the bass) are in fact sung/played by George Harrison.
George was the secret harmony weapon of The Beatles. He nearly always sang the most difficult harmony parts (e.g., “This Boy,” “Yes It Is”) — and on this song, he tackles a higher harmony that’s not in his natural lower range, and absolutely nails it.
Wow, I did not know that! After all these years the Beatles still manage to surprise & delight me.
Even if I believed in picking a “favorite” song from each of The Beatles’ albums (which, as I’ve noted in other threads, I’m very much against), I would find it utterly impossible in the case of Revolver.
There isn’t a song on it that I even mildly dislike (c’mon, “Yellow Submarine” is a fun and well-executed kids’ song — there’s something wrong with that?). There are only songs I like a great deal, and songs I absolutely LOVE.
That goes even for the ones many dismiss, such as “Doctor Robert.” What’s not to like about a song with sly drug references, classic John and Paul harmonies, and great interlocking guitar parts (that insistent 7th in one of them…find another song in which something like this was done).
In fact, the one thing I’ve always said about Revolver that almost no one ever mentions is that, far and away above any other, this is The Beatles’ GUITAR album. It’s much easier to list the songs that don’t have at least one great guitar part: they would be “Eleanor Rigby,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Good Day Sunshine” and “For No One.”
That’s only four out of fourteen. All the others (I’m cheating and counting “Love You To”'s sitar as a guitar!) have innovative guitars sounds and playing somewhere in the course of them.
This is notable, because for the next two Beatles albums, the use of guitars in any prominent way declines greatly in favor of keyboards, orchestration or exotic instruments.
Soon to come was the era of supposed “God-like” guitarists in rock. And yes, some of them were great. But the wonderful, in-your-face guitar sounds on Revolver do just as much for me in their own way.
There’s been a shift in the critical winds over the last couple of decades, away from* Sgt. Pepper* and towards Revolver as The Beatles’ crowning achievement.
I agree with this shift.
Even “Yellow Submarine” has that lovely, chunky acoustic strumming.
Nice.
DChord568, I, too, was unaware of George’s extra contributions to “She Said She Said.” I assumed the high vocal harmony was a John overdub.
So, who played what sounds like an organ playing a very high note through most of the song? (I think the same organ appears in the short refrains of “Doctor Robert,” too, more apparent in the mix than in “She Said…”, and maybe an octave lower.)
I ask because it seems like you’ve read the Mark Lewinsohn treatise on all the recording sessions (I haven’t yet had the pleasure.)
John plays it in both cases.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too. Abbey Road is my personal favorite, but between that, Revolver, Sergeant Pepper, the White Album, and Rubber Soul, it’s like choosing the favorite among your children. I really can’t crown just one of these albums as the pinnacle of the Beatles catalog.
Shift those winds if you want, but don’t forget that Sgt Pepper launched a new wave just as surely as their appearance on Ed Sullivan.
She’s another godless heathen, thank goodness. But I’ll compliment the Church’s taste.
Nope, not picking one. Not on this album.
This was the hardest one. I was torn between “Good Day Sunshine” and “For No One” but really, the only song I didn’t like on here originally was “And Your Bird Can Sing” and eventually I grew to hate “Eleanor Rigby” owing to its being played way way too much.
I am a Lennon fan, so “She Said, She Said,” won out. That song could be released today and still hold its own against any current rock.
Having said that, this is McCartney’s best album…one very good, groundbreaking song after another. Some of the other Lennon tracks are among his weaker compositions (but a weak Lennon song like “Dr. Robert” is still good). “Tomorrow Never Knows” is certainly a milestone, but not really my favorite listening experience.
George also had three solid compositions…“I Want to Tell You” is perhaps his most underrated song.
Bite your tongue! 
Sure, it is a great Macca album, but I’m Only Sleeping is damn near perfect - I grooved on that as my favorite on the album for years! And Your Bird Can Sing is wonderful and Tomorrow Never Knows is THE pivot point for their big veer into new territory and, along with A Day in the Life, one of the best closing songs ever! I love that “listening experience”!!!
It shouldn’t be that tough to just press a button…
I went with Rigby, although I’m burnt out on it at the moment. Tomorrow Never Knows is stunningly layered and fascinating; And Your Bird is my desert island song – the guitar and harmonies offering a visceral rush I can revisit every week or so.
But Rigby is classic songwriting. I remember my daughter encountering it about age nine. Her comment was, “That’s so sad!” She looked as if she’d been betrayed by life. It does its work efficiently, intelligently, and with minimal smaltz.
And with George Martin echoing the intense, sawing string arrangements from Psycho. Those last “shriek, shriek, shriek, shriek” always leaves me unsettled in a good way for what the song is trying to accomplish. I was listening to a guy lecture on Revolver and he pointed out the Psycho connection and it was like “oh yeah…”
There’s a Jimi Hendrix concert recording where he plays the awesome riff from “I Want to Tell You,” and then he and his band (probably the Experience, can’t remember for sure) launch into something else.*
Speaking of Hendrix’s appreciation for his Beatle contemporaries…Paul told the story (in the *Anthology *video) of how Jimi bought a copy of Sgt Pepper the day it was released, went home and spent an hour or two figuring out the title track, spend another hour teaching the other parts to his bandmates, and played it in a concert a night or two later.
*I know the Experience also sometimes played “Day Tripper,” but I think this was from a different concert.
Definitely “Eleanor Rigby.” A modern classic.
I went with Tomorrow Never Knows w/o looking at the poll, which didn’t work out as well I as thought, as I probably would have given my vote to Yellow Submarine which deserves some love from somebody. 