April 1966 - August 1966: I Don't Know Which Will Go First

Pictured above: The Pink Floyd, 1966.

Being the frontman of a minorly successful rhythm and blues rock band called "The Pink Floyd Sound" for almost a year now, the young Syd Barrett (real first name Roger) decided it was about time they finally recorded something in studio. The band's keyboardist, Richard Wright, managed to secure the band some time in a studio in West Hampstead through a friend of his. 

It was in this day-long session where the band would record six songs, five original and one cover. These songs were Lucy Leave, Double O Bo, Remember Me, Walk With Me Sydney, Butterfly, and a cover of the standard I'm a King Bee. Unfortunately this wasn't enough for a full album and the recordings were soon shelved.

Pictured above: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, 1966.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in California, USA, Brian Wilson was making the final touches on the mixing of The Beach Boys' eleventh studio album, Pet Sounds. It was to be an album unlike anything the group had put forward until then. It was artsy, it was experimental, it was anything unlike the band was previously known for.

"We knew that Pet Sounds was a very special record. And to us, it was more than a record, it was... a new place. It was, ya know, popular music reaching a new level."

- Carl Wilson, 1998

Pet Sounds was released on May 16th, 1966. Compared to previous Beach Boys releases, the album peaked at number 10 in the US, with greatly mixed reviews due to the drastic change in sound and style from previous releases. Despite this when it was released in the UK, it achieved nearly universal acclaim, reaching number 2 in the UK charts. Among many of the people who purchased and listened to the album was none other than Beatle Paul McCartney.

"I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard 'Pet Sounds.' I love the orchestra, the arrangements – it may be going overboard to say it's the classic of the century – but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways. I've often played Pet Sounds and cried."

- Paul McCartney, 2003

It is commonly reported by people involved in the recording of The Beatles' album Revolver and it's follow-up that McCartney would play Pet Sounds non-stop for inspiration.

Pictured above: The Beatles' Yesterday and Today, 1966.

When the time came for Capitol to release a new Beatles album in the United States, they soon realized there wasn't enough material for a full 11-song album, with them pulling songs from the UK versions of Help! and Rubber Soul, as well as the single Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out. 

When asked by EMI for any songs they could use, they contacted The Beatles asking for songs from their new still a work-in-progress album titled at the time Abracadabra. Instead of giving songs for an album that wasn't even released yet, The Beatles ended up giving Capitol the songs from the single Paperback Writer / Rain. 

Still not having enough tracks, Capitol also included the old Beatles song Can't Buy Me Love, with each song respectively becoming the fifth, second and seventh song from the album. Yesterday and Today was then released on June 20th, 1966.

Pictured above: The Beatles' Revolver, 1966

When the time came to release The Beatles' album Revolver in 1966, The Beatles already started controversy in the United States in July, when a statement John Lennon made during an interview in with Bruce Morrow was republished in the US:

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first – rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

- John Lennon, 1966

The outcry caused by this statement was unprecedented in Beatles history. Disc jockeys refused to play Beatles songs, records were burnt and in the following weeks before the release of Revolver and the band's US tour in August, their manager Brian Epstein went on full damage control holding a press conference in New York City, which unfortunately didn't help much.

Despite this controversy, The Beatles, tired of how Capitol "butchered" their albums for the US market, pushed for Capitol release Revolver with the same tracklisting internationally.

"You see, we were sick of Capitol doing what they were doing to our albums. With Revolver in particular, we put extra thought into the tracklisting and flow of the album and such. However weren't budging, insisting on how it was "the rules" or whatever. It was until John ended up threating them with us signing to Decca or something along those lines, not entirely sure what he said, but at the end of the day, from that point onwards the idea of having different tracklistings in America and the UK was... ya know, it basically didn't exist anymore, because of Revolver."

- Paul McCartney, 2001

Despite the controversies in America and the drama with Capitol, Revolver was released both in the US and the UK on August 5th, 1966 reaching #1 in both countries. The band went on tour in North America a week later. Unfortunately these shows were plagued with the backlash of the "more popular than Jesus" outcry, death threats and the band's own dissatisfaction with the noise levels in venues and their inability to hear themselves play. 

This culminated with The Beatles announcing they wouldn't tour anymore, devoting all their time to recording in the studio.

"We'd been through every race riot, and every city we went to there was some kind of a jam going on, and police control, and people threatening to do this and that … and [us] being confined to a little room or a plane or a car. We all had each other to dilute the stress, and the sense of humour was very important … But there was a point where enough was enough."

- George Harrison, date unknown