PAPERBACK WRITER / RAIN (Room 304)
PAPERBACK WRITER / RAIN (Room 304)
By 1966, the limits of EMI’s studio technology were being stretched to the limit. The summer single ‘Paperback Writer/Rain’ went straight to Number 1 but it had received lukewarm reviews. The intricate and experimental nature of the release, is now seen as one of the jewels in the crown of the Beatles output. Very different to the usual boy-girl format that The Beatles had exhausted over the previous three and a half years, Paperback Writer was a functional snapshot in the life of a wannabe author. This was a song writing direction, which Paul would repeatedly return to throughout the rest of his career as a Beatle and a solo performer. Conversely as commercial and ultimately successful that Paperback Writer was, it was the flip side that is now seen as a masterpiece, and one for many years that was perceived as somewhat of a throw away. ‘Rain’ saw Lennon exploring his mind and this song captures the hazy distorted insight of a psychedelic encounter. This was the first of his ‘acid’ songs and many believe it to be his best. It is a dream like sequence; coupled with a driving rock sound underneath its layers. The tape was slowed down and was combined by their first ever-backward vocals to create a disturbing atmosphere like nothing produced before. The supreme paradox was that the revolutionary sound was accompanied by seemingly banal and simple lyrics about the English weather. A monumental leap in Beatles recording history, this pointed the way to a new revolutionary period where The Beatles would permanently give up the stage for a more rewarding sojourn to expand their horizons in the recording studio.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON
PAPERBACK WRITER / RAIN (Room 304)
By 1966, the limits of EMI’s studio technology were being stretched to the limit. The summer single ‘Paperback Writer/Rain’ went straight to Number 1 but it had received lukewarm reviews. The intricate and experimental nature of the release, is now seen as one of the jewels in the crown of the Beatles output. Very different to the usual boy-girl format that The Beatles had exhausted over the previous three and a half years, Paperback Writer was a functional snapshot in the life of a wannabe author. This was a song writing direction, which Paul would repeatedly return to throughout the rest of his career as a Beatle and a solo performer. Conversely as commercial and ultimately successful that Paperback Writer was, it was the flip side that is now seen as a masterpiece, and one for many years that was perceived as somewhat of a throw away. ‘Rain’ saw Lennon exploring his mind and this song captures the hazy distorted insight of a psychedelic encounter. This was the first of his ‘acid’ songs and many believe it to be his best. It is a dream like sequence; coupled with a driving rock sound underneath its layers. The tape was slowed down and was combined by their first ever-backward vocals to create a disturbing atmosphere like nothing produced before. The supreme paradox was that the revolutionary sound was accompanied by seemingly banal and simple lyrics about the English weather. A monumental leap in Beatles recording history, this pointed the way to a new revolutionary period where The Beatles would permanently give up the stage for a more rewarding sojourn to expand their horizons in the recording studio.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON
PAPERBACK WRITER / RAIN (Room 304)
By 1966, the limits of EMI’s studio technology were being stretched to the limit. The summer single ‘Paperback Writer/Rain’ went straight to Number 1 but it had received lukewarm reviews. The intricate and experimental nature of the release, is now seen as one of the jewels in the crown of the Beatles output. Very different to the usual boy-girl format that The Beatles had exhausted over the previous three and a half years, Paperback Writer was a functional snapshot in the life of a wannabe author. This was a song writing direction, which Paul would repeatedly return to throughout the rest of his career as a Beatle and a solo performer. Conversely as commercial and ultimately successful that Paperback Writer was, it was the flip side that is now seen as a masterpiece, and one for many years that was perceived as somewhat of a throw away. ‘Rain’ saw Lennon exploring his mind and this song captures the hazy distorted insight of a psychedelic encounter. This was the first of his ‘acid’ songs and many believe it to be his best. It is a dream like sequence; coupled with a driving rock sound underneath its layers. The tape was slowed down and was combined by their first ever-backward vocals to create a disturbing atmosphere like nothing produced before. The supreme paradox was that the revolutionary sound was accompanied by seemingly banal and simple lyrics about the English weather. A monumental leap in Beatles recording history, this pointed the way to a new revolutionary period where The Beatles would permanently give up the stage for a more rewarding sojourn to expand their horizons in the recording studio.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON