Tomorrow Never Knows

After an unusually long three-month holiday, the Beatles reconvened at Abbey Road Studios on April 6th, 1966, to begin work on their seventh album, Revolver.  The song they recorded on this day would ultimately close out that remarkable album in jaw-dropping fashion, presenting listeners with a sonic experience far removed from the well-crafted pop sound of the Fab Four as the world first knew and loved them.  The question was: would those same listeners continue to follow them as the band moved on to newer, more challenging material?

A key part of the sound achieved on this day is due to the promotion of Geoff Emerick as first engineer for the Beatles, replacing Norman Smith, who had chosen to move on to other duties.  Emerick would now be producer George Martin's right-hand man, and he would be put to the test immediately.  John Lennon had written a song, known on this date as Mark I, with lyrics based on Timothy Leary's version of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and he wanted his voice to sound "like the Dalai Lama chanting from a mountaintop."  After giving it some thought, Emerick put John's vocal through a rotating Leslie speaker, astonishing everyone in the studio the first time they heard it.  

This vocal, along with Ringo's drums, was recorded over a tape loop made earlier in the session of John playing a guitar phrase, slowed down to create a thunderous sound.  This take, take one, can be heard on Anthology 2, including George Martin's voice on the intercom stating, "Stand by, here it comes," as the tape loop starts playing back in the studio.  As excited as everyone was by this incredible take, they instantly envisioned a different approach and began discussing many additional sounds.

As these discussions were taking place, Emerick moved microphones closer to Ringo's drums than had ever been attempted before, then stuffed a woolen sweater inside the bass drum to achieve an even bigger sound.  Take two consisted of the newly mic'd drums, George on guitar, Paul on bass, and a new lead vocal from John.  Even this vocal track was different, with the first three verses being subjected to a process called Artificial Double Tracking, or ADT, for the first time ever, and the final four verses after the instrumental break using the Leslie speaker.  Take two broke down quickly but take three became the keeper.

Before calling it a night, it was decided that the Beatles would go home and record some sounds on their personal tape recorders that could be used as tape loops at the next day's session.  They duly reported in on April 7th and listened to what each of them had come up with in multiple ways - at regular speed, sped up, and slowed down.  Paul had the most tape loops, and his were favored overall.  It is perhaps surprising to learn that only five were actually chosen to be used in the finished product.

A few additional EMI employees were rounded up to stand by various tape machines throughout Abbey Road Studios and maintain tension on the tape loops as they ran continuously.  George Martin and Geoff Emerick then sat at the console in Studio Two and brought the faders up and down, overdubbing the tape loop sounds onto take three until all were satisfied with the results.  (Lennon would pretty much use this same technique a few years later to create his soundscape Revolution 9.)  

Although John's vocal in the early verses had been treated with ADT in order to avoid double-tracking, he now decided to double-track it, as well.  The irony of this is that ADT had been invented by engineer Ken Townsend precisely because John had always complained about the tediousness of having to double-track his vocals.  Nonetheless, both techniques were used on this track.  The final overdubs recorded on this day were a tambourine played by Ringo and an intermittent organ part played by John.

They did not return to the track until April 22nd, at which time a few important finishing touches were added.  After originally hearing take one on April 6th, George Harrison had mentioned to John that an Indian instrument called a tamboura would fit in perfectly with the feel of the song.  He now brought one into the studio, and it was recorded to establish the one-chord drone effect throughout.  Next, an addition was made to the second half of the instrumental break.  Paul had played a brilliant guitar solo the previous day for Harrison's song Taxman.  That solo was now cut up into sections and those sections were randomly inserted into this song, slowed down a bit and played backwards.

John then felt the need to re-record his vocal with the Leslie effect for the second half of the song.  A final, somewhat incongruous addition was Paul playing a bit of tack piano, which only appears as the song is fading out.  The end result is a piece of work unlike anything the Beatles had ever done or would ever do again.  And it was certainly their most complex recording to date, setting the bar for the Sgt. Pepper sessions of the following year. 

Sometime before the release of the album Revolver, Lennon chose to use one of Ringo's odd offhand remarks as the title of the song.  It therefore became known as Tomorrow Never Knows.  A number of fans were no doubt put off by the new direction that the Beatles would chart from this time forward.  Yet, not only did most continue to follow the band, but many new listeners would gravitate to their more mature work, cementing their reputation as the most influential group in the world.