I'm Only Sleeping

Right from the start, the sessions for Revolver were markedly different from any previous sessions by the Beatles, with experimentation in the studio taking precedence over any rush to release the next finished product.  The goal this time was to find the perfect sonic setting for each composition, no matter how much time it took to achieve.  Some still came quickly, while others went through a number of variations before all involved, especially the song's composer, were satisfied with the result.  Lennon's dreamy I'm Only Sleeping went through a few incarnations, though he ultimately returned to the first.

Work on the song began just before midnight on April 27th, 1966.  The group recorded eleven takes of the basic track before finishing up around 3 am.  They returned to the song during the night session on the 29th, but a new approach was considered, and some rehearsal of the new arrangement was deemed necessary.  The tape was running as the boys tried a version that curiously involved a vibraphone most likely played by Paul.  This idea was scrapped, the tape was rewound and a third arrangement was attempted.  As can be heard on Anthology 2, John introduced this as, "I'm Only Sleeping, take one," thus ignoring all previous attempts.  This version features acoustic guitars and a tambourine, plus joint vocals by John and Paul.  It lacks the drowsy quality of the first version and, after five takes, John must have realized this.  He spent the remainder of the session overdubbing his lead vocal onto take eleven of the original.

By the way, it is only after the fifth take of version three that the last minute of the rehearsal with the vibraphone was preserved on the tape.  Otherwise, we may never have even known about it.  This interesting little snippet was also included on Anthology 2.

On May 5th, the entire session was devoted to a complex overdub.  The group had recently added a backwards vocal to the end of the B-side Rain.  Now, some backwards guitar lines were created to enhance the dreamlike quality of this track.  George Harrison could have simply played anything until they hit upon what they liked, but he wanted a specific melody for his solo.  Thus, producer George Martin found a way to notate the sequence (since none of the Beatles could read music) so that Harrison could play it in reverse and achieve the desired result.  This was a lengthy and tedious process.  Paul even joined in on a second guitar for the last section of the song which fades out.

Finally, on May 6th, John, Paul and George added more vocals and the track was complete.  Only days later, Capitol Records in the US requested a few tracks to complete the compilation album "Yesterday"...and Today.  A mono mix was made on May 12th and quickly dispatched.  Two stereo mixes were made on the 20th of May, one for the US and the other appearing on the UK album Revolver.  On the 6th of June, yet another mono mix was made for the UK.

What does all of this mean?  Depending on which of the four versions you are listening to, you will hear backwards guitar phrases occurring at different times, as each mix has slight variations.  Capitol treated fans in America to the UK stereo version of the song for the first time on the 1980 release Rarities.  No matter how you hear it, you are listening to history - no one had played with sound in this way before, but as was often the case, once the Beatles did it, everybody else soon followed.