The Year Of Revolt & Other Changes (Godfather Records GR650)
(60:42) Peter Sellers Tape: Back In The USSR, Rocky Racoon, Wild Honey Pie, Mother Nature’s Son, Sexy Sadie, Don’t Pass Me By, Yer Blues, Good Night, Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Blackbird, Not Guilty. Bonus tracks: Down In Havana, Step Inside Love, Los Paranoias, The Way You Look Tonight, Can You Take Me Back, I Will, I Will (partial), I Will, Dear Prudence (alt. mono mix), Yer Blues (acetate), “jamming”
The Year Of Revolt & Other Changes contains the famous tape of early White Album era early mixes given to the actor Peter Sellers by his friend Ringo in 1968. It surfaced twenty-one years later, in 1989, when it was put up for auction by a close relative after Peter’s death.
Possibly one of the most important tapes of studio sessions to surface from that time it first appeared on CD in 1990 on Unsurpassed Masters Vol.4 from Yellow Dog, but has been issued in much improved sound quality in many editions in the intervening twenty years.
The sound qualty of Godfather is excellent. Several massive editions of Beatles White Album outtakes and demos have surfaced which include the Sellers tape among many other sources. It’s nice to have a release which focues upon the Sellers tape alone.
Many of the differences between the mixes on this and the final version are slight but interesting to hear nontheless. “Back In The U.S.S.R.” is Take 6 RM1 on which a tape rewind can be heard briefly at the start and jet noise at the end is a bit longer with no segue into “Dear Prudence.”
“Rocky Raccoon” is Take 10 RM1 on which a ontrol room call at start, “Rocky Raccoon, this is RM1” is clearly audible. One word can be heard at the start as the first note plays. “Wild Honey Pie” is Take 1 RM6 and has a control room call at start, “Wild Honey Pie, this is RM6.” Four taps of the beat can be heard before the start.
“Mother Nature’s Son” is Take 26 RM8. “Sexy Sadie” has an extended ending and “Don’t Pass Me By” has the bass guitar playing over the opening notes, then pronounced bass in first verse. At the end clapping is audible and Ringo says “what a show,” and saying “if you want to hear some more you’ve got to turn the tape over.”
“Yer Blues” has strange music for the intro and a variety of sound effects before the song starts. “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey” starts with a count-in, “1-2-3-4” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da has odd sounds and an extra piano before the beginning. Paul says “thank you…damn sure” at the end. “Blackbird” has an overdub of bird noises and “Not Guilty” has a count-in at start: “1-2-3-4.”
The bonus tracks, included to fill out the disc and give value, are various outtakes and rarities from the same sessions in 1968. All are in excellent sound quality. The Year Of Revolt & Other Changes is another excellent quality release by Godfather Records. They include an eight page booklet with all the track information and historic background of the sessions in general.
