REVOLUTION

CARL_RICHARDS · Post by **CARL_RICHARDS** » Sun Nov 05, 2000 8:44 am

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT KIND OF EFFECTS JOHN LENNON USED ON HIS CASINO TO GET THE DISTORTION ON REVOLUTION? THANKS CARL RICHARDS

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun Nov 05, 2000 8:29 pm

Carl: Lest this seem too unduly churlish, I believe that Lennon simply turned up the controls on the Casino treble pickup to the max and with a slight overdrive setting on his amplifier produced the driving sound at the beginning of Revolution. I find this sound quite basic and easy to reproduce and so I don't think that there is anything particularly complicated about it. Now as for the vocal ......

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Sun Nov 05, 2000 10:52 pm

The answer is in the Mark lewisohn book the Beatles Sessions ,I may be wrong on this locale but what I have read time and time again is...

There was NO AMP!!! It is in fact the tube recording console at Abbey road studios red lined.Ken townsend the studio manager flipped when he saw Lennon doing this.
there may be something in George martins book 'All you need is Ears' ,about this too.

I have also read Geoff Emericks take on it and he said the same.

I believe there are 4 tracks of john playing the Casino over driven and George playing his red Les Paul the one that was given to him by Clapton and then stolen ,only to be found in Mexico !) doing the shuffle background part.

I will look this up and if I do find it I'll post it.

By the way ...this is the 45 version ,not the LP track.I love the whole sonic tone of it and always liked it way more than Hey Jude.I bought the single 3 times and wore them all out on the Revolution side.I was also disappointed with the fact that the light weight version made the White LP.
That one is nice ,but just doesn't have the gutsiness of the single

admin · Post by **admin** » Mon Nov 06, 2000 4:26 am

Thanks Mark: I guess I need to buy a recording studio and after it is installed I will get back to you on the changes. It is indeed, a hallmark sound and one of my favourites.

mikeobrien58 · Post by **mikeobrien58** » Mon Nov 06, 2000 1:58 pm

Mark, John Lennon said he preferred the slower version because you could understand the lyrics, and spoke as though Paul "forced" him to do the fast version, which he put down as mere "ear candy". I say, "huh"? The fast version is one of the greatest rock'n'roll tracks of all time, and I can understand the lyrics just fine. Anyway, when did anyone ever force JL to do anything? I think he was just looking for things to bash Paul about...

I have also heard that the overdriven tone was produced at the console, by driving the channel VU meter way over into the red, horrifying Abbey Road's white-lab-coated technicians. I never heard the "no amp" bit before, though it wouldn't surprise me in the least. Truly & literally the recording studio was their "instrument"!

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Mon Nov 06, 2000 2:31 pm

This is from the Beatles Sessions book by Mark Lewisohn hardbacked version page 142.

Wednesday 10july 1968

"There were few more exciting,hard rocking Beatles recordings than what became known as the "single version" of 'Revolution'
Perhaps the song's most distinctive sound was of two distorted lead guitars.Phil MacDonald ,tape operator on the july 11th session,remembers how this was achieved.
"John wanted that sound ,a really distorted sound.The guitars were put thru the recording console,which was technically not the thing to do.It completely overloaded the channel and produced the fuzz sound.Fortunately the technical people did not find out .They didn't approve of 'abuse of equipment'."

there is more about the whole session ,but not the guitar parts.
Trivia on this song!!!!
Nicky Hopkins plays the electric piano part.
That was recorded on July 11th.

_CARL_RICHARDS · Post by **_CARL_RICHARDS** » Mon Nov 06, 2000 7:44 pm

MARK,MIKE AND PETER, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE INFO. I LIVE IN AN APARTMENT AND I DONT GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO CRANK MY AMP UP THAT HIGH! BUT I'LL GET TO A STUDIO THIS WEEKEND AND GIVE IT A TRY.....BEATLES 4-EVER!!!

markthemd · Post by **markthemd** » Mon Nov 06, 2000 8:12 pm

an alternative that John used was his trusty Fender Deluxe reverb.That is the sound of most of the White LP and Abbey Road.

E.G.S.T.H.E.F.M.A.M.M. is all Deluxe and recorded in the cord/mic stand closet at EMI /Abbey Road with his Casino .That track was all 4 in the closet live! with the only overdub the bass riff at the end.

Turn that up all the way ,or run an Ibanez tube screamer into a Proco rat and you can get pretty close without making the sheet rock /plaster come off he walls.