Who does the scream on the single version of Revolution? I never knew, but when I saw the video I figured it was Paul since he does it on the Frost show. Then someone at YouTube said it was John on the record. It doesn't sound much like him, but then it doesn't sound much like Paul either. So anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew. Also, on the Frost show, are they playing to a backing track? What's live and what isn't? And what's the reason for it? (for using the prerecorded stuff) Just wondering. Also, I read something about how John is getting the distortion for the guitar intro, but now I forgot what he did. Was it double tracked or something?

I can't believe this song wasn't a number 1. It's one of their best I think. It's one of the least dated. Except for the Mao lyric. I wish they would have done more in the same vain. Then maybe they wouldn't be called a pop band as often as they get called it now.

I'm pretty sure on the record it was John screaming. To me it sounds like a sharp voice and John had a sharp voice. Plus it sounds like him to me.

I heard that the only live thing on that preformance was Paul's Bass playing and Vocals. Everything else was already recorded. John and George's guitar playing was already recorded, I'm not sure if it was from the record or if they did it the previous day.

I think the reason they did it was to promote Hey Jude/Revolution as singles(I think they were singles). If thats not the reason then it was probably to just preform live infront of an audience for the hell of it. Then we all know that led to the idea of the 'Let it be' movie.

I think The Beatles are considered as a pop band was because people think more of their earlier days with the "She loves you yeah! yeah!! yeah!!!" and "I want to hold your hand!" I think people should think of their more later stuff like White Album to Abbey Road. Plus they were cool as hell with their long hair, beards and long sideburns. The Beatles would have rocked in the early 70s. They were more of a rock band during those years (1968 to The End) All the stuff from those albums would have been great for concerts like Woodstock and isle of Wight(sp?). Imagine seeing The Beatles out preform The Who in Woodstock, its easy if you try.

I was watching the video again and I just noticed that John starts the scream and Paul joins in and finishes it off. I can't believe I never noticed that before. I've only watched the video a hundred times. John's scream does sound exactly like the one on the record, so I guess it's him. But wait! Could that be part of the prerecorded stuff? Is so, that doesn't really answer my question. They don't show John at that point of course, so I don't know if it's him or the backing track. Well, I guess I'm back to being confused now.  

I think you're watching the video from the anthology. That video shows the David frost preformance with the record over it. Watch this version, its the one with the real vocals. You'll notice Paul's scream is way different than the record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf-Q2rDd6Tw


This is the one you might have been watching. Its definately dubbed with the record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7394eK_v1I

The scream sounds like Paul's voice on Helter Skelter.

Quoted from Sandra

I can't believe this song wasn't a number 1. It's one of their best I think. It's one of the least dated. Except for the Mao lyric. I wish they would have done more in the same vain. Then maybe they wouldn't be called a pop band as often as they get called it now.

Not sure what you mean. It was only a b side. Only A sides chart
John wanted it as a single, but Hey Jude was deemed better. John did do more in the same vein, but had to release them under POB.I guess they were more of a pop band than we want them to be. (but really, what does pop mean? Hey Jude isn't a pop single, but Hello Goodbye was)

i always thought it was paul....he was always the screamer...

John's song, John's scream I say.

The story behind the clip is that the Beatles were doing what they could to avoid the miming ban on British TV.
The clips from Hello Goodbye were not shown because, although they made an effort and played in a theater setting, it was too obvious they weren't playing.
Hey Jude and Revolution were filmed in controlled conditions again to make it appear they were playing.The clip was first shown on the David Frost show where Frost talked to them at first to make it appear they were playing live but in fact the songs had been taped earlier.

Quoted from Kevin

Not sure what you mean. It was only a b side. Only A sides chart
John wanted it as a single, but Hey Jude was deemed better. John did do more in the same vein, but had to release them under POB.I guess they were more of a pop band than we want them to be. (but really, what does pop mean? Hey Jude isn't a pop single, but Hello Goodbye was)

I thought the Beatles had a few B-sides that charted in the top ten and a few that hit number one. Eleanor Rigby was a B-side wasn't it? And Revolution was in the top ten, so it had a good chance. This is the Beatles after all.

When I talk about them being considered more of a pop group, I'm going by personal experience not stating it as fact. Growing up liking them and having friends that were into 'harder' music, I had to hear how soft they were all the time. Not that they were, but it's the perception of a lot of people who only hear the radio stuff. Plus, pop then doesn't mean what it does now, so it wasn't always an insult. Basically, I wish they did have more songs that were hard rock. And yes, I know they do have some. I know solo John had other songs that were heavier as well, but I was really talking about the Beatles. I just like that side to them is all. I'm not criticizing. They have more then enough to keep me happy for 10 lifetimes.

Quoted from Sandra

I thought the Beatles had a few B-sides that charted in the top ten and a few that hit number one. Eleanor Rigby was a B-side wasn't it? .

No, it was an a side. We Can Work It Out began life as a b side, but was flipped. Still didn't chart as a b side.
What do you mean when you say Revolution was in the top ten? Which chart was that?
I hear you about the pop stuff. It's a hard label to define.

Quoted from Sandra

I can't believe this song wasn't a number 1. It's one of their best I think. It's one of the least dated.

I totally agree!!!!   Very underrated, but still among their best songs!

Concerning to the scream, it's Paul I think.

Quoted from Kevin

What do you mean when you say Revolution was in the top ten? Which chart was that?

In the US Revolution charted as did most beatles B sides.
It made N°12 on Billboard.

In the US Eleanor Rigby was a B side.It made N°11.
Yellow Submarine, the A side, made N°2.

Rigby and Submarine are on ONE beacause they were a double A side N°1 in the UK.

Cool. Fair enough. Crazy American charts.
They should be made to be sensible, like British ones.

I agree.
Then we'd have Strawberry Fields on ONE.

Quoted from zipp

In the US Revolution charted as did most beatles B sides.
It made N°12 on Billboard.

In the US Eleanor Rigby was a B side.It made N°11.
Yellow Submarine, the A side, made N°2.

Rigby and Submarine are on ONE beacause they were a double A side N°1 in the UK.

So it was in the top 20 then. It still should have made it to number 1!!!! I don't know which charts to use when talking about these things. I guess I'll stick with the US charts since I'm in the US. This A and B side thing is also getting confusing.

Quoted from Wordno

I think you're watching the video from the anthology. That video shows the David frost preformance with the record over it. Watch this version, its the one with the real vocals. You'll notice Paul's scream is way different than the record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf-Q2rDd6Tw


This is the one you might have been watching. Its definately dubbed with the record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7394eK_v1I

The David Frost one is on Anthology.They're doing live vocals hence the 'Shooby-doo-wahs'.But the music ISN'T live.That's easy to tell because there's a piano on there and nobody's playing piano!

Ok so Paul does the scream here but that doesn't mean it's him on the record.I think they did it to give Lennon time to come in strong on his vocal.
The other video is just someone putting the record over the original video.Not of much interest IMHO.

So I STILL say it's John on the record.And it's an overdub.Who says so?
Lewisohn : Wednesday 10th July 1968 : "A reduction mix took the song into takes 11 to 13, the latter being deemed best, and onto this John superimposed a venomous lead and, on another vocal track, a second vocal take...In this second overdub John also gave the song a screaming introduction."

I figured as much. I knew it wasn't Paul doing the scream on the record. It sounded too much like John(because it is). I had heard that Paul did the scream on the preformance so that John had enough breath for the beginning vocal.

The only thing live on the David Frost preformance was the vocals and Paul's bass playing.

Quoted from Wordno

I think the reason they did it was to promote Hey Jude/Revolution as singles(I think they were singles). If thats not the reason then it was probably to just preform live infront of an audience for the hell of it.

I think together we've answered most of the original questions.
Just one clarification.
These clips were definitely to promote the single.There was no real audience.
For Revolution it was cameras only and for Hey Jude they brought in those people who get up on the stage at the end.It wasn't spontaneous even if they were obviously pleased to do it!
The last real audience was I think Candlestick Park.

i wonder if revolution is what inspired dee snider to write we're not gonna take it.....i once had them recorded on a cassette and they do play well together on a compilation...

Quoted from pc31

i wonder if revolution is what inspired dee snider to write we're not gonna take it.....

I don't think Dee Snyder has that much depth.

Quoted from zipp

I think together we've answered most of the original questions.

I think the only question I have left is did I actually read something about how John got the guitar effect on the intro or was it just regular use of distortion? I thought I read that he did something different. But it could have been about some other song.  BTW, thanks guys.

Quoted from Sandra

I think the only question I have left is did I actually read something about how John got the guitar effect on the intro or was it just regular use of distortion? I thought I read that he did something different. But it could have been about some other song.  BTW, thanks guys.

Two distorted lead guitars were put through the recording console.It completely overloaded the channel and produced the fuzz sound.

Incidentally I watched the video again on Anthology.You can hear the Lennon scream begin just before Paul screams, but the camera is on Paul.I think this is done on purpose because they were worried that Lennon would come in wrong and would give the game away that they were more or less miming even if their vocals were picked up.
I also watched Hey Jude where it's even more obvious since Paul is double-tracked for most of the song.That is to say he's singing with himself!

Lennon mess up a vocal? Never!

I wonder why they felt the need to do that anyway. These songs could be played live pretty well. I mean, there were no special effects and stuff like on other songs. I guess it was acceptable back then. Now people who do that get ragged on because they come off as looking like they don't have the talent to play live. I know it was different in the sixties though so I'm sure there are many reasons for it.

Quoted from zipp

Two distorted lead guitars were put through the recording console.It completely overloaded the channel and produced the fuzz sound.

Incidentally I watched the video again on Anthology.You can hear the Lennon scream begin just before Paul screams, but the camera is on Paul.I think this is done on purpose because they were worried that Lennon would come in wrong and would give the game away that they were more or less miming even if their vocals were picked up.
I also watched Hey Jude where it's even more obvious since Paul is double-tracked for most of the song.That is to say he's singing with himself!

I think they just put the record with the live version of Revolution for the anthology video. The link I provided before shows Paul screaming without Lennon's screaming. Plus the vocals sound live, they sound different to be the record version.  Like I said, this is the live version with live vocals and live bass playing lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf-Q2rDd6Tw

Quoted from Sandra

Lennon mess up a vocal? Never!

I wonder why they felt the need to do that anyway. These songs could be played live pretty well. I mean, there were no special effects and stuff like on other songs. I guess it was acceptable back then. Now people who do that get ragged on because they come off as looking like they don't have the talent to play live. I know it was different in the sixties though so I'm sure there are many reasons for it.

No, there was a miming ban on British TV but the Beatles knew they couldn't reproduce their studio sound, so they had to pretend to be as live as possible.
Nobody can do a live version of Revolution with the strength of that distorted guitar and the Beatles knew it.Sixties or no sixties.

Quoted from Wordno

I think they just put the record with the live version of Revolution for the anthology video. The link I provided before shows Paul screaming without Lennon's screaming. Plus the vocals sound live, they sound different to be the record version.  Like I said, this is the live version with live vocals and live bass playing lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf-Q2rDd6Tw

No, no, no.Listen to Anthology, Lennon's scream comes in just before.You hear the live vocals above the recorded version, or maybe one track of the recorded version, burt the fabs were taking no chances.

On the promo videos I have you do not hear the recorded sceam at all. You also hear a lot of noise from Paul that you don't hear on Anthology. They definitely cleaned it up and added something. I'd prefer to hear it as it was. I also think they could have done a fine job reproducing Revolution live. It didn't have to sound exactly like the record. That's why live is so great. Also, why the live bass playing then? They should have just sucked it up and done it all live.

Quoted from zipp

No, there was a miming ban on British TV but the Beatles knew they couldn't reproduce their studio sound, so they had to pretend to be as live as possible.
Nobody can do a live version of Revolution with the strength of that distorted guitar and the Beatles knew it.Sixties or no sixties.

Bang on Zipp. And lets face it, even now its rare for a band to go on TV to promote a new single and risk it by playing live.

Quoted from Sandra

On the promo videos I have you do not hear the recorded sceam at all. You also hear a lot of noise from Paul that you don't hear on Anthology. They definitely cleaned it up and added something. I'd prefer to hear it as it was. I also think they could have done a fine job reproducing Revolution live. It didn't have to sound exactly like the record. That's why live is so great. Also, why the live bass playing then? They should have just sucked it up and done it all live.

Well I'll have another listen but if you have Lewisohn's Chronicle then the filming of the Revolution and Hey Jude clips is fascinating reading.
They took place in Twickenham Film Studios on Wednesday 4th September.David Frost went there to present them and pretend they were on his show live.(The show actually went out the following Sunday!).
Lewisohn says :
"The two clips for Revolution were largely identical to each other but had some lighting differences.These were exciting versions,the Beatles ADDING A NEW VOCAL TRACK TO THE PRE-RECORDED EMI BACKING TRACK, blending the fast style of vocals from the B-side version with the lyrics from the slow White Album recording."

He doesn't mention Paul's bass being recorded live.
Where do you have that information from?

This from Wikepedia:

(The scream was an overdub added when Lennon double tracked his vocal. Paul McCartney performed the scream on the 'David Frost Show' semi-live television performance, because Lennon could not deliver the scream and catch his breath again in time to launch into the first verse.)

As a comparison here's The Stones on TOTP in '69. Also an instrumental backing track (I'm pretty sure. I hope ) from what was supposed to be the best live band in the world
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Jbi7iDNA0

Quoted from Kevin

As a comparison here's The Stones on TOTP in '69. Also an instrumental backing track (I'm pretty sure. I hope )* from what was supposed to be the best live band in the world
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Jbi7iDNA0

*It is. No leads

Thanks for that Kevin.
They showed Revolution on Top Of The Pops too (once!).
So they must have been taken in by the live vocals.
It seems silly now.The two best groups in the world having to use such subterfuge.

Quoted from zipp

Well I'll have another listen but if you have Lewisohn's Chronicle then the filming of the Revolution and Hey Jude clips is fascinating reading.
They took place in Twickenham Film Studios on Wednesday 4th September.David Frost went there to present them and pretend they were on his show live.(The show actually went out the following Sunday!).
Lewisohn says :
"The two clips for Revolution were largely identical to each other but had some lighting differences.These were exciting versions,the Beatles ADDING A NEW VOCAL TRACK TO THE PRE-RECORDED EMI BACKING TRACK, blending the fast style of vocals from the B-side version with the lyrics from the slow White Album recording."

He doesn't mention Paul's bass being recorded live.
Where do you have that information from?

I got that info from a previous post. Someone said the only thing live was the singing and Paul's bass playing. I don't know where they got it from.

Also, about the blending of the vocals thing. I think what he's saying is that they sang it in the style of the B side track but added the shoobie doo wops. I don't think it implies that they used their prerecorded voices at all. It says they used the pre-recorded backing track. Doesn't that mean just the music? Anyway, I'll listen to the promo version I have again, but I know I don't hear the John scream. It's just not there. They put it in for the Anthology or maybe when the Frost show went out they added it or something. Either way, I think they could have pulled off a pretty good live version of Revolution. I think most bands these days are expected to play live. If they start using pre-recorded stuff then it turns into something like that Ashley Simpson fiasco. They've got enough electronic things to supplement their sound now anyway, so it's not necessary to do what the Beatles did.

I thought everyone lip-synched on TOTP. Perhaps just nowadays. Cause I remember when Avril Lavigne was on TOTP (Or maybe it was All That) and she refused to lipsynch. There was a bit of ruckus over it.

Quoted from Sandra

1.Also, about the blending of the vocals thing. I think what he's saying is that they sang it in the style of the B side track but added the shoobie doo wops. I don't think it implies that they used their prerecorded voices at all. It says they used the pre-recorded backing track. Doesn't that mean just the music?

2.They put it in for the Anthology or maybe when the Frost show went out they added it or something.

3.Either way, I think they could have pulled off a pretty good live version of Revolution.

1.No.it's even clearer when Lewisohn talks about Hey Jude : "Paul sang live to his own PRE-RECORDED VOCAL during the body of the song then sang entirely live in the long refrain."

2.The whole point is that Frost had nothing to do with the music here.The Beatles controlled the whole thing.

3.They didn't want a 'pretty good' version of Revolution.They were perfectionists and wanted the best version.

I'm not trying to start anything here or act like I'm an expert when I'm clearly not. I was just going by what I can actually hear on the promo video. I really cannot hear pre-recorded vocals, but maybe it's very subtle. If Lewisohn says that they are there, then they're there. Although the paragraph from before sounded ambiguous to me. Like it could mean one or the other. That's all I was pointing out. I don't think it was necessary to put "pre-recorded vocals" in all caps. That was kind of condescending. As if I couldn't comprehend otherwise. The other paragraph didn't say that, so I was pointing that out as a possibility. I don't have the book, so I haven't read about it indepth. Which is why I posted here in the first place. Maybe I should just get the book and not worry about having actual discussions. Also, sorry to sound ignorant, but are Lewisohn's statements absoulutely undebatable? I'm not being sarcastic, I really don't know. I supposed I could just look it up.
I know Frost didn't have anything to do with the music, I said maybe they fixed it up before it went out. Again, the version I have is very raw. You hear feedback a few times, talking, and breathing. I don't hear that on the Anthology at all. So I figu