Revolver (American)-The Beatles--The Record Company Guts a Masterpiece

I'm really outraged. I realize that over the past few years I've lambasted Capitol-EMI Record Company for sacrificing artistic freedom at the altar of money with the company's American releases of albums by The Beatles. It's my opinion that the American releases compromised what The Beatles accomplished artistically on their British releases--sometimes Capitol used "filler", such as the instrumental tracks on the American versions of Help and A Hard Day's Night, or the company mixed and mingled tracks from two or three different albums and threw in a single or two to make a marketable package for release in the United States. These American releases destroyed the integrity of The Beatles' British releases, which had each song in a particular order for a reason. If you've listened to a lot of their music, you know how the ear yearns for one particular song at the end of another--The Beatles cleverly thought out the order of their songs, long before the idea of a concept or programmed album came into being. It was just part of the bigger picture.

Revolver (American)--The Beatles is somewhat of an enigma. Instead of adding filler or borrowing tracks from another album, Capitol's American version is solely made up of songs from the British version of Revolver--problem is, instead of the fourteen-track masterpiece that made up the British version of Revolver, the American version has only eleven songs, with three of the tracks mysteriously missing. Who knows why--maybe there was an acetate shortage in the States when the record was pressed. Whatever the reason, the continuity of the British release was compromised with the American release of the lean, scant Revolver.

The British version of Revolver is critically acclaimed as The Beatles' greatest achievement. Critical acclaim doesn't mean much to me, because I know what I like, and the British version of Revolver is indeed a masterpiece. It's a concept album, and it's not a concept album, but there's something ingenious about the way the tracks are arranged that give the album a feel of a master plan. The missing tracks on Revolver (American)--The Beatles make it a pale, thin imitation of the real thing.

Both albums start out with George Harrison's vitriolic Taxman and the Victorian Eleanor Rigby, but Lennon's bleary acoustic I'm Only Sleeping is missing on the American release. Harrison's Ravi Shankar-influenced Love You To is followed by the elegant Here, There And Everywhere, and the frivolity of Yellow Submarine is nicely contrasted by Lennon's performance on She Said She Said. McCartney's ragtime song, Good Day Sunshine, lightens up the darkness of the preceding track, but the entire mood is ruined by the omission of the glittering, sonic rhythms of And Your Bird Can Sing. I've always thought that And Your Bird Can Sing was one of The Beatles' greatest songs, partly due to Harrison's Byrds-inspired guitar work, and partly because of what it revealed about Lennon's insecurities with relationships, and the fact that it's not on the American release is confusing and unforgivable.

For No One is McCartney's song about the heartbreak of love, and I Want To Tell You might be Harrison's weakest songwriting effort ever. Conspicuously absent between the two tracks on the American version is Dr. Robert, an overt song about drug use, which may be why it's conspiciously absent. Got To Get You Into My Life, McCartney's salute to Motown, and Lennon's experimental Tomorrow Never Knows follow on both the British and American versions.

Confusing?--I hope not. Just remember, the American version of Revolver is just like the British version, minus three very important (to the album's integrity) tracks. In other words, folks, the British version of Revolver, a masterpiece, has been gutted by the record company for reasons known only unto the executives at Capitol-EMI.

Should you buy this album? Of course not--buy the real thing, the British release of Revolver.

Thank you very much.