Revolver Trivia

1. George Sings! No stopping George Harrison on this album. The Beatles' "Revolver" kicks off with "Taxman". Which two British Prime Ministers are mentioned in this song?

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: Mr. Wilson/Mr. Heath

Written and sung by George Harrison, "Taxman" was an angry response to the 95% super-tax that The Beatles were paying in the UK under the Labour government of Prime Minister Mr. Wilson. Prime Minister Harold Wilson did however recommend The Fab Four to The Queen for the MBE, (Member of the Order of the British Empire) which they were awarded in 1965. Mr. Heath was leader of the opposition at the time "Revolver" was released. John Lennon had earlier embarrassed "Good old Mr. Wilson" at the 1964 Variety Club showbiz awards ceremony in London when he jokingly thanked them for the Purple Hearts (a stimulant drug) instead of the Silver Heart award that The Beatles received. Mr. Neville Chamberlain was British Prime Minister from 1937-1940. Mr. Winston Churchill was British Prime Minister from 1940-1945 and 1951-1955. Mr. Clement Attlee was British Prime Minister from 1945-1951. Mr. Anthony Eden was British Prime Minister from 1955-1957. Mr. Harold Macmillan was British Prime Minister from 1957-1963. Mr. Douglas-Home was British Prime Minister from 1963-1964. Mr. Harold Wilson was British Prime Minister from 1964-1970 and 1974-1976. Mr. Edward Heath was British Prime Minister from 1970-1974.

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Five

George Harrison wrote this song out of protest when he realized that the government was taking most of his vast earnings in taxes. He summed up his contempt in the line "Should five percent appear too small, be thankful I don't take it all, 'cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman."

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "here"

From the song "Here, There and Everywhere". Paul McCartney first started writing this song while sitting around John's pool. It's supposedly a response to the Beach Boys song "God Only Knows".

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: For No One

This song was recorded by only two of the Beatles - Paul, who sang and played the bass and keyboard, and Ringo, who played percussion. The French horn was played by a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: Eleanor Rigby

"Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby" was number one for four weeks on the UK chart in 1966. "Yellow Submarine" reached number two and "Eleanor Rigby" reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. "Yellow Submarine" was the only Beatles record sung by Ringo Starr to reach number one in the UK. It completed a record-breaking 11 consecutive UK number one hits for The Beatles. The song was written by Paul McCartney but was credited to Lennon/McCartney. It received an Ivor Novello award for the highest sales for a single in the UK in 1966. Among the objects used for special effects on the record were chains, a ship's bell, wind and thunderstorm machines and a tin bath filled with water. A cash register which would later be used by Pink Floyd for the track "Money" on their 1973 album "Dark Side Of The Moon" was also used on "Yellow Submarine"... "Eleanor Rigby" was another Paul McCartney song credited to Lennon/McCartney. There is always speculation about Beatles songs and this one is no different. One theory is that the name McKenzie (Father McKenzie) was found in the telephone book. Eleanor was named after the actress Eleanor Bron who starred in The Beatles movie "Help". Rigby was named after a wine and spirit shipper in Bristol, UK, Rigby and Evans Ltd. There are other theories, like the one about the graveyard of St. Peters Church in Woolton Village, Liverpool, UK, where John and Paul first met in 1957. It has a gravestone with the name of an actual Eleanor Rigby on it. Father McKenzie may refer to the then compere of Northwich Memorial Hall in Cheshire, UK, Tommy McKenzie. I think we should just enjoy the music.

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Father McKenzie

One version of the story of how Paul McCartney got the name for this song was from a graveyard headstone in a church where he and John Lennon met when they were youths.

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "pick you up"

From the song "Doctor Robert". This song was written about a German doctor named Robert Freymann who was known to give large amounts of prescription drugs to celebrities.

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: Love You To

This song was written by George about more of his wisdom from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was recorded on April 11 and 13, 1966.

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: John Lennon

"Please don't wake me, no don't shake me, leave me where I am, I'm only sleeping" sings John Lennon who wrote the song but which is credited to Lennon/McCartney. "Revolver" entered the UK album chart just as the controversy broke in the US about John Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remarks. When the article containing these remarks was first published in The London Evening Standard in March 1966 there was no reaction to them at all. When it was published in the US teen magazine "Datebook" in August 1966 anti-Beatles protests broke out in the US and Mexico and countries as far apart as South Africa and Spain. Their music was banned from the radio and their records were burned. "Revolver" was number one on the UK album chart for seven weeks and spent 34 weeks on the chart.

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "the heat"

From the song "Taxman". George Harrison was inspired to write this song after hearing the theme song from Batman. Basically, it's George complaining about the amount of taxes on the money that the Beatles were making, and how these taxes lowered their income considerably.

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: And Your Bird Can Sing

John described this song as "full of fake wisdom, of those philosophically lightweight days when it seemed as if the world could be turned on its axis by a tab of acid and a few seconds thought".

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: Klaus Voormann

Klaus Voormann won a Grammy for his design work on the "Revolver" album cover. He also designed the art work for The Beatles "Anthology" albums in the '90s. Klaus Voormann first saw The Beatles at the Kaiserkeller club in Hamburg, Germany. He tried to introduce himself to John Lennon who gave him the brush off but he did meet the then Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe. They became friends and Voormann's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr became Sutcliffe's girlfriend. He moved to London and lived with George and Ringo in the early '60s while working as a graphic artist. He returned to Germany were he formed the band Paddy, Klaus and Gibson. While designing the "Revolver" album cover he became a member of Manfred Mann after turning down The Hollies and The Moody Blues. His name and face can be seen on the cover of "Revolver", entangled in the hair of George Harrison on the the left side of his head.

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Wave of a hand

Paul McCartney considered this song one his best love songs. He was inspired by The Beach Boys and tried to capture the mood of their song "God Only Knows". "To lead a better life, I need my love to be here. Here, making each day of the year, changing my life with a wave of her hand. Nobody can deny that there's something there."

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "mad"

From the song "She Said, She Said". The idea for this song came from an acid trip taken by George, John, actor Peter Fonda and more. Fonda apparently said he knew what it was like to be dead because he had been shot in the stomach when he was young and his heart had stopped beating.

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: Taxman

Another George song, he complains about the British taxes, which was believed to have taken away most of the Beatles' earnings.

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: Love You To

"Love You To" is the second George Harrison composition on The Beatles "Revolver" album. With Anil Bhagwat on tabla and other Indian musicians on sitar and tambura (although it may have been George Harrison on sitar), "Love You To" is recognized as the first Beatles song to fully incorporate Indian classical music. The only other Beatle to play on the track is Ringo Starr on tambourine.

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Green

Originally written as a children's song to be sung by Ringo, "Yellow Submarine" spawned an animated feature film and solved the Beatles' contractual commitment to United Artist for a third movie. "So we sailed up to the sun, till we found a sea of green, And we lived beneath the waves, in our yellow submarine."

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "weigh you down"

From the song "And Your Bird Can Sing". It was written by John Lennon, but he wasn't a big fan of it. He wrote it about Mick Jagger's endless chatter about Marianne Faithful. (Thanks, mnbates!)

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: Good Day Sunshine

This song, written by Paul, was based on a few songs by The Lovin' Spoonful. One band member said that when the Beatles "copped an idea from somebody else, it never occurred to you".

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: She Said She Said

"She Said She Said" is another song written by John Lennon credited to Lennon/McCartney. The line "I know what it's like to be dead" was inspired by remarks made by actor Peter Fonda. In 1965 The Beatles were on tour in the US and Brian Epstein rented a house at 2850 Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills so they could rest between gigs. Guests they invited included The Byrds, Peter Fonda and Joan Baez. Some of The Beatles and guests were using certain pharmaceuticals. Peter Fonda was telling them about and showing them his self-inflicted gunshot wound and told them that he knew what it was like to be dead. Apparently The Beatles thought he was a bore and kept trying to get away from him.

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Dead

Reliable sources claim that John Lennon was inspired to write this song after experimenting with LSD with actor Peter Fonda. Fonda allegedly told Lennon that he knew what it was like to be dead. "She said I know what it's like to be dead, I know what it is to be sad, and she's making me feel like I've never been born. I said who put all the things in your head, things that make me feel that I'm mad."

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "a dream"

From the song "I'm Only Sleeping". John Lennon wrote this song during a lazy period of his life where he hardly left his bed.

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: Got To Get You Into My Life

For this song, Paul wanted to incorporate some Motown sounding instruments in. The brass instruments were limited to give the song a different sound.

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Foot

It is said that Paul McCartney was inspired for this song by the music of John Sebasitan of the Lovin' Spoonfuls. "We take a walk, the sun is shining down, burns my feet as they touch the ground. Good day sunshine, good day sunshine, good day sunshine."

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "the void"

From the song "Tomorrow Never Knows". The working titles of this song were "Mach 1" and "The Void". It was eventually named for a phrase coined by Ringo: "Tomorrow never knows."

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: Here, There, and Everywhere

Paul also wrote this song, while he was sitting around John's swimming pool. It was supposed to be a reply to the Beach Boys song, "God Only Knows".

From Quiz Anatomy of an Album: "Revolver"

Answer: Doctor Robert

Paul McCartney once suggested that the song had been inspired by a Doctor Robert that The Beatles had been told about in New York, who supplied any pills that you wanted. What did he mean? "My friend works for the national health, Doctor Robert Don't pay money just to see yourself with Doctor Robert Doctor Robert, you're a new and better man He helps you to understand He does everything he can, Doc. Robert"

From Quiz Remembering the Beatles - "Revolver"

Answer: Nothing

This song, written by Paul McCartney, was recorded by only two of the four Beatles. Paul sang, played the keyboards and bass, while Ringo played the drums. A French horn heard in the recording was provided by a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. "And in her eyes, you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears, cried for no one, a love that should have lasted years. You want her, you need her, and yet you don't believe her, when she says her love is dead, you think she needs you."

From Quiz "Revolver" Lyrics

Answer: "speak my mind"

From the song "I Want To Tell You". Written by George Harrison, this song was an attempt of his to let out his frustration at not being able to get his point across when he spoke. This song's working title was "I Don't Know".

From Quiz Revolver Lyrics

Answer: I'm Only Sleeping

John wrote this song to celebrate the use of his bed. He would use it, even when he wouldn't sleep in it.

This is category 12428

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.