radio loways – november 2013

Low-quality monitor mixes of the full-length version of Revolution appeared on various bootlegs, such as From Kinfauns to Chaos, throughout the 90s.[16] Then in 2009, a high-quality version labeled “Revolution Take 20” appeared on the bootleg CD Revolution: Take…Your Knickers Off![17][18] The release triggered great media fanfare and activity among fans. This version, RM1 (Remix in Mono #1) of Take 20, runs 10 minutes 46 seconds (at the correct speed) and was created at the end of the 4 June session, with a copy taken away by Lennon.[19] It was an attempt by Lennon to augment the full-length version of “Revolution” in a way that satisfied him before he chose to split the piece between the edited “Revolution 1” and the musique concrete “Revolution 9”.

The bootlegged recording starts with engineer Geoff Emerick announcing the remix as “RM1 of Take…” and then momentarily forgetting the take number, which Lennon jokingly finishes with “Take your knickers off and let’s go,” hence the name of the bootleg CD.[20] The first half of the recording is almost identical to the released track “Revolution 1”. It lacks the electric guitar and horn overdubs of the final version, but features two tape loops in the key of A (same as the song) that are faded in and out at various points.[19] After the final chorus, the song launches into an extended coda a la “Hey Jude”. (The album version only features about 40 seconds of this coda.) Beyond the point where the album version fades out, the basic instrumental backing keeps repeating while the vocals and overdubs become increasingly chaotic: Paul McCartney and George Harrison repeatedly sing “dada, mama” in a childlike register; John Lennon’s histrionic vocals are randomly distorted in speed (a little of this can be heard in the fade of “Revolution 1”); and radio tuning noises à la “I Am the Walrus” appear.[21] Several elements of this coda appear in the officially released “Revolution 9”. Throughout the body of that song, Lennon’s histrionic vocal track periodically appears (albeit minus the speed distortion), as do the tape loops.

After the band track ends, the song moves into avant-garde territory, with Yoko Ono reciting some prose over an unknown, vaguely operatic recording (possibly captured live from the radio). Yoko’s piece begins with the words, “Maybe, it’s not that…” with Yoko trailing off at the end; John (or George) jokingly replies, “It is ‘that’!” As the piece continues, John quietly mumbles “Gonna be alright” a few times. Then follows a brief piano riff, some comments from John and Yoko on how well the track has preceded, and final appearances of the tape loops.[19] Most of this coda was lifted for the end of “Revolution 9”, with a little more piano at the beginning (which monitor mixes reveal was present in earlier mixes of “Revolution”[22]) and minus Lennon’s (or Harrison’s) joking reply.