How Capitol DESTROYED The Beatles Revolver Album

Although 'Yesterday & Today' is famous for being called the 'butcher' album, the Capitol version of 'Revolver' comes a close second. Incredibly, it was released with three tracks missing. This video presents the full sorry story of how and why it happened.

0:00 - Opener.
0:37 - Introduction.
1:27 - Capitol Records in the early 1960's.
2:04 - The legacy of Dave Dexter Jnr.
4:04 - What The Beatles thought of Capitol.
4:38 - Dexter's replacement - Bill Miller.
5:32 - 'Revolver' is recorded & released.
6:05 - September 1966.
6:35 - The imbalance of Revolver.
7:25 - Why was Revolver butchered?
7:34 - Yesterday & Today.
9:05 - Canada & Mexico
9:16 - The U.S. Capitol is hard to defend.
9:37 - UK imports via mail-order.
10:22 - The Beatles finally stop Capitol.
10:36 - Who needs this album today?
10:59 - My go-to pressings.
11:26 - Rumours & closing comments.

Ways you can help support the channel:
Click on the 'Thanks' icon below the video.

Ways to contact/connect with us:

Thank you!

[jenscee]

The UK version of Revolver is possibly the best pop album ever made. Culling 3 brilliant songs is a travesty. The original mono Uk version is the first Beatles album I ever heard. Needless to say my mind was blown. Great video and yes I still play it (on my Mono remaster).

[elliottchrist]

Revolver is one of those albums where you notice a clear distinction between John and George’s psychedelic/power pop tendencies and Paul’s more baroque pop approach. In the UK Revolver these dueling creative styles are placed in an ideal balance that somehow makes the album stronger than the sum of its parts. Nixing three of John’s tracks for the US version means shifting this balance way into the Paul/baroque wing. Don’t get me wrong - Paul’s at an absolute creative peak here, with some of the best songs he’s ever written. However, losing those John songs deprives the album of a lot of that edge - for instance, that trebly, buzzy, slightly distorted guitar crunch - that (to me, at least) defines the album and its sound.

[peterporker]

The UK version really is Revolver as the album was meant to be it is a masterpiece and constantly voted as the Beatles top Album. Many pick Revolver over Sgt Peppers but both are brilliant.

[benedictweisser]

One of my formative musical memories was listening to the Capitol version of Revolver at the age of ten, and having shivers up my spine, so enchanted and entranced by the music. Even with three less tracks, you couldn't take that feeling away.

[nedhoey]

My Mom was a very early Beatle fan. She got all the Capitol releases as they were released (Including the "Introducing the Beatles" on VeeJay). I was 5 when they debuted on Ed Sullivan (my first pop culture memory) and Beatle Capitol records were played constantly in our house as I grew up. The music fused into my DNA. We had no idea about the US/UK differences into the 70s. So the US versions with their sequencing were ingrained. I didn't ever hear the UK original versions till in the late 70s or maybe early 80s. A friend got a new box set of the Japanese pressings which followed the UK versions. I have to say, it was very strange to hear the UK sequencing of the songs. As a song would end, in my head I would hear the start of the next song on the US version and often it was a different song. That I was a kid made it different for me than for older folks. I completely understand the Beatles point of view but I heard all the songs anyway. I don't think I'll ever lose that orientation around the US versions but in the end the love I gave it is equal to the love they made.

[ricknbacker]

My older sister had both Y & T (2nd state) and Revolver (Capitol) in 1966. I remember her complaining of the lack of Paul songs on Y & T and John songs on Revolver. Her solution was to stack them together on the family hi-fi and play them back to back. I was only 7 at the time but remember marveling at how the Beatles had changed. I was so used to hearing the "Folky" Rubber Soul which she played non-stop. The electric guitar songs dominating Y & T and Revolver sounded much more in your face and aggressive. I loved them both. My Dad HATED the Beatles with every fiber of his being. That is until he heard The Long And Winding Road. I was in the car when TLAWR came over the airwaves. He was saying how much he liked it. When informed that it was the Beatles he said, "Those long haired freaks finally got it right!!" Great video Andrew. Thank you Sir, RNB

[MrDirtybear]

The three songs that Capitol culled from the fourteen track 'Revolver' set appeared on the album that appeared in America before 'Revolver', which was 'The Beatles Yesterday and Today' which had as it's first cover the famous 'butcher' sleeve. Maybe the butcher sleeve photos were not merely the suggestion of the photographer. The band agreed to those photos of the 'butcher' cover in overt protest at what Capitol were doing to their albums...

[Martgon]

As a young Canadian Beatles fan in the 1980s I thought the Capitol albums were identical to the albums released in England. Information and discographies were hard to find then. When the CD's came out in 1987 I discovered how much we had been cheated by Capitol US (the first two Canadian Capitol Beatles albums were much better). So no nostalgy for me. I hate the Capitol US albums, except for Rubber Soul !

[anthonyrbrockman]

While my father served with the Australian military in Vietnam he collected quite a few American records and reel to reel tapes. He was never a Beatles fan but he did a reel to reel copy of The Beatles Yesterday and Today which I loved and I used to play on a massive Akai tape deck we had at home. It was the only Beatles album I had until I started buying records in 1982 and it sticks in my mind because I thought it was a great album. The tracks that I remember most were Drive my car, I’m only sleeping, And your bird can sing, and Dr. Robert. That tape and the tape deck disappeared after dad sold it and his reel to reel collection and the tape deck for $20 in the late eighties! It was really a shame because I should have kept that tape.

[NewFalconerRecords]

In my opinion there are two "freak" albums in the Beatles catalogue (a bit how Abe Simpson refers to Hawaii and Alaska as "freak" US states), 'Magical Mystery Tour' and 'Yellow Submarine'. 'Magical Mystery Tour' (US Capitol version) is an absolute triumph -- love it to bits. 'Yellow Submarine' is basically an EP with George Martin's movie score on side B. It's hard for me to even consider 'Yellow Submarine' a Beatles album, so therefore it's the worst for me hands down. I'd never actually studied the track listing of 'Yesterday and Today' until now, and it's great, but as you say, had they'd put in 'Paperback Writer', 'Rain' and 'I'm Down' instead of Lennon's 'Revolver' tracks, it would have been a phenomenal collection, leaving Capitol to actually do 'Revolver' justice. Great video once again.

[allisons]

I agree that the 'Paperback Writer/Rain' single could have been used on one or both of those albums. I think 'Rain' works better on Revolver and 'Paperback Writer' would have fit nicely on Yesterday and Today. This could have left 'I'm Only Sleeping' on Revolver and given John a better presence.

[OuterGalaxyLounge]

One of the most artful "clickbait that ain't clickbait" arcs that I've seen. Another banger from Parlogram.

[buzzbabyjesus]

I grew up with "Yesterday And Today", "Rubber Soul", and "Revolver" on my record player. I loved them, and didn't know any better.

[Suddenlyits]

A lot of people at Capitol, including many of the big name recording artists held the same general disdain for rock-n-roll and teen oriented pop music as those running the label. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Stan Freberg were all outspoken critics of it. Freberg found huge success openly mocking it, and even Nat King Cole released “Mr Cole won’t Rock and Roll”, making fun of the 50’s style of rock n roll music.
Imagine how they must have felt when the Beatles took America by storm and then psychedelic music later emerged. Even the reprise label (started and once owned by Frank Sinatra) ended up releasing bands like “the Electric prunes”
I also have to admit that I love Sinatra, Nat King Cole and the jazz music the older folks at Capitol liked as well as the Beatles and all the rock n roll stuff and I supposed I can understand to a certain extent how those folks must have felt.
As an American, I agree with you completely about the handling of the US release of revolver too. I don’t blame The Beatles one bit for being upset. The UK version is the best and I was glad to hear the missing songs. In my opinion record company’s shouldn’t be focused entirely on money, it should mainly be about music.

[joeciorciari]

Obviously, the songs that were left on the US version are also great. But even as a kid who didn't know the story behind the abbreviated US variation of the album, "Revolver" always felt 'LESS'. It was my least favorite album while I was growing up.
As I got older and started buying imports; then when the original round of CDs were released, I was always amazed at how the simple addition of three songs on the UK version turned my least favorite into my most favorite...which it has remained now for about 40 years. I absolutely love Revolver.
Side note: In contrast, the US Version of "Rubber Soul" was perhaps my favorite at the time. Even if it is also mostly a US butchered hodgepodge, the song selection...and the way they connect thematically, make it a very satisfying listen.

[stephentansleysr.]

Hi Andrew... thank you for this USA Revolver video. I am one of the millions in the USA who grew up on this album, and the others prior to Sgt. Pepper, and I can't tell you how thrilled I was to eventually get a copy of the UK Revolver..I have long considered the UK Revolver to be the best album the Beatles recorded. I think it's flawless. Can't wait for your next video. Thanks again!

[ChrisOBrien]

I grew up in the US listening to my parent's copy of Revolver and always loved that album. When Revolver was released on CD I of course bought it and was blown away by the additional songs, not that I had never heard them before because I also had the vinyl version of Yesterday and Today but because I had become so familiar with the running order of the US version. I much prefer the UK version and as others have said, it's one of their best albums.

[TheHutt]

As a side note: 1967 was also the year where The Beatles' masters for 1st German pressings drastically improved (with Sgt. Pepper). So I wonder if that renegotiation with EMI, apart from not messing around with tracklists and/or cover designs maybe also included supplying better tape masters to foreign subdivisions as well. Do you have any info on that, Andrew?

[happyhotdogmusic]

As an American I absolutely love this album I found it at a resale shop for $5 still in the shrink wrap it was open but barely played and I listened to it 5 times that day it was absolutely mind blowing I’ve never heard another record that amazing since. I’m so used to the us track list that the English version just seems to drag on in comparison. And only giving John 2 songs made both of those songs super special and you really listen closer because it must be important there’s only two and ending both sides with them was pure genius and really gave John the defining touch of the album in my opinion

[eddiecarter]

My mom got me into The Beatles at a very early age. My aunt gave me 3 Beatles 45rpm records from her collection when I got my first record player. I never actually heard any albums by The Beatles in their entirety until later in high school. The only version of Revolver I was ever familiar with is the UK version after I bought it on cd. I can't imagine it any other way, especially when looking at the track listing. I have a good friend though who grew up with the US version that his mom had. Therefore, he loves the US pressing. I can see how nostalgia comes into play with that. Great video!