Harisongbook:
"Love You To"
(by George Harrison,
April 13th 1966, EMI Studios, London)
April 13th 1966, EMI Studios, London)
All these Beatle scientists are right which are stating, Revolver was the first Beatles album in which there was only one criterion: to sound as good as possible. Revolver is such extraordinary adventure in sound that the great songwriting, from which all these soundscapes arose, almost is covered. Of course Revolver was also part of a whole project. But more than any other Beatles album, it provides the foundation for all future developments of this legendary band that was already completely unique. Revolver was the starting point for the next five years of its mission, namely to penetrate galaxies that had never seen by a band before.
With George Harrison's acoustic sitar flourishes, which subsequently became a hallmark of the psychedelic music of the mid-sixties, everything started to develop. LSD not only refined the hearings, but also the consciousness of the day tripper, and by the trippy, exotic ideas of "Love You To", of course India as well got a whole new significance for the listeners of this song.
("Love you to" at YouTube)
With a text that has definitely cutting its umbilical cord of normal Pop romance, regarding substance, and contains a healthy shot of proto-hippie, wise instructions, such as - "to make love all day long, make love singing song there's people standing round, who'll screw you in the ground , they'll fill you in with all there sins, you'll see. " - the psychedelic time of the Beatles began to unfold in a breathtaking style. You can divide Revolver neatly: into songs that sound like a Beatles rock band, but have been revised in the studio in such a kind that the Beatles judged a live performance of course as impossible, and into soundscapes having absolutely nothing in common with the band's sound on stage.
George Harrison recalls in an interview with Charles Murray:
"With the technology we used back then in the studio, we could not bring many songs on stage any more. We were only a small dance band (super understatement, isn't it?) , that never thought to increase. We always said that we get the best out of our abilities, until we reach a point where it simply no longer works -. and then we would just quit."
Sir George very significantly states in the Beatles Anthology on page 209, "I wrote Love You To on the sitar, because it sounded so beautiful and I have been interested more and more. I wanted to write a tune specifically for the sitar. The piece also had an tabla part, it was the first time that we used tablas."
Sir Paul said in the same book,
"The Indian sounds are mainly Georges thing. In the beginning, we just heard Indian music, and we liked it. The droning buzz had something, even because we had done something similar in previous songs already, to some extent. But George was very interested in it and also went to a few concerts by Ravi Shankar, then he also met Ravi Shankar and said 'wow I was blown away by him, only by his personality. He is an incredible guy. He is certainly one of the best.' Ravi Shankar did not know that George is serious, and when he found out that it cut him down as well. They had so much fun together.! And so the Indian songs were created. It's nice when you start to connect the two types of music. The beginnings were quite simple, and then the LP became a bit more demanding. It reminds a bit more about Indian music and helps people to understand it - because it is very difficult to understand. But if empathize with it, Indian music is the greatest "..
("Love you to" at YouTube)
Sir John also added something to the topic in the same book: "It's amazing - so cool. Don't the Indians turn up cool to you, too? This music is thousands of years old, I find it really ridiculous that the English go over there and tell the Indians what they should do, unbelievable."
George Harrison: "For me it is currently the only really good music, and beside it western stuff in three-four-four beat appears dead somehow. You can pull out so much more of this music, if you're really ready to focus on that and listen to it. I hope more people will engage in it."
Well, as a devout Beatles- and George Harrison fan, I can calm him, after "Love You To" the world was no longer the same. The taste for Indian music spread like wildfire among a certain part of Beatles fans. Sir George was to receive its very special fans from now on, who dared to start with him into spiritual worlds, and also remained loyal to him during all his trips to the ancient Indian mysticisms and yoga philosophies. For that, dear George, we are loving and respecting you, and yes, we all love you to, really.!