Pepper, Abbey Road, the White Album, Rubber Soul—each a fan favorite and critically acclaimed. But in recent decades, it's Revolver that seems to have topped most lists of the greatest albums of all time. Along with its attendant single, it's certainly groundbreaking in many ways—outlandish lyrics sung beautifully ("Taxman"!); incredible guitar, drums and bass playing ("Rain"!); innovative engineering ("Paperback Writer"!) and sound effects ("Yellow Submarine"!); imaginative harmonies ("Doctor Robert"!), rich melody ("For No One"!), infectious and ingenious rhythms ("She Said She Said"!); unprepared dissonance ("I Want to Tell You"!), more comprehensive forays into soul ("Got to Get You Into My Life"!), non-Western ("Love You To"), music hall ("Good Day Sunshine"!), and classical ("Eleanor Rigby"!) possibilities than ever before; and of course drug-inspired trips ("Tomorrow Never Knows"!). The late-2022 Deluxe box set adds a revelatory new stereo mix as well as several never-before-heard drafts and outtakes to the hundreds of mixes already available for study and enjoyment.
In our January - February, 2023, RPM course, we focus on Revolver. All tracks are up for discussion, demonstration,, and performance, but special attention will be given to Paul's favorite Beatle track, "Here, There and Everywhere," George's album opener, "Taxman," John's two gems, "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "I'm Only Sleeping," and Paul's masterpiece, "Eleanor Rigby."
Choose your level of involvement: just enjoy online lecture-demonstrations, or stay on afterwards for a discussion seminar or a small-group “virtual band” recording project.
Each session starts with All Together Now––a live multimedia presentation exploringexploring the writing and recording of Revolver, and unpacking the musical structure of that masterpiece.
For a deeper dive, stay on after All Together Now for Seminar, for study and discussion with Walter Everett, or Virtual Band, where you'll learn songs that inspired the Beatles and record your own versions together with a small group of musicians at your level, led by Jack Petruzzelli or Cameron Greider.
FACULTY
One of the foremost authorities on the music of the Beatles, Walter Everett is Professor of Music at the University of Michigan. His two-volume study The Beatles as Musicians (Oxford University Press) has been hailed as “a milestone in Beatles research” and “without a doubt, the most important work on the Beatles to date”.
One of New York’s most sought-after session and touring musicians, Jack Petruzzelli has played with Patti Smith, Joan Osborne, Ian Hunter and Rufus Wainwright, to name a few. A multi-instrumentalist triple threat on guitars, vocals and keyboards, he is also a founding member of the world’s foremost band for the Beatle-obsessed, The Fab Faux.
Guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Cameron Greider has worked with artists like Joan Baez, Sean Lennon and Chris Cornell as well as top-tier producers
T Bone Burnett and Steve Lilywhite. He is also a dedicated teacher of guitar, bass and piano.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
The class was amazing. Challenging and at the same time accommodated all kinds of level of play.
I’d take it again in a heartbeat.
I came to the class thinking I knew so much….wrong! They pulled out all the stops for us. Music, history, class materials, guest speakers…They truly put the Beatles in context both musically and everything else. It’s an excellent deep dive.
Singing and playing for anyone else besides myself is a BIG stretch out of my comfort zone. One of the (many) terrific things about your class is how genuinely non-judgmental it was. Just pure encouragement.