Reverse

Audio played or recorded in reverse for psychedelic or abstract effects

songs

From 1966 to 1968, nine recordings were made with it, and 1967 has more of them than any other year, with four. Nothing before 'Tomorrow Never Knows' has it, and nothing after 'Revolution 9'. 'Rain' (reversed vocal in the coda) and 'I'm Only Sleeping' are two of them. Geoff Emerick engineered nine of them, with Ken Scott on three. John takes the lead on five of them, against one for George. On 'Baby, You're a Rich Man', McCartney overdubbed a second piano part backwards, audible over the third verse from about 1:45. On 'Blue Jay Way': stereo mix only - backwards passages absent from mono. Among them, 'Strawberry Fields Forever' has swarmandal, and only one other recording does.

9 Beatles tracks feature audible backwards-tape effects (guitar, vocal, or solo).

Analysis

Song count per year

% of each member's catalogue with this tag (by writing credit)

Early0 · 0%

Mid-period7 · 88%

Late1 · 13%

Software

iZotope RX / Ozone / Neutron

iZotope

Software

Waves Abbey Road Reverb Plates

Waves Audio

Course

Timbaland – Teaches Producing and Beatmaking

MasterClass · Modern production – contrasts with Beatles/Martin studio innovations.

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Year

Album

Writer

Lead vocal(s)

#	Title	Year	Album	Lead Vocal(s)	Notes
1	Rain	1966	Past Masters	John	Reversed vocal in the coda
2	Tomorrow Never Knows	1966	Revolver	John	Reversed guitar and reversed sitar loop
3	I'm Only Sleeping	1966	Revolver	John	Harrison perfected the part playing along to the reversed tape so it would resolve correctly when flipped
4	Strawberry Fields Forever	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	Reversed cymbals in second half
5	Baby, You're a Rich Man	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	McCartney overdubbed a second piano part backwards, audible over the third verse from about 1:45
6	Flying	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	-	Reversed organ and Mellotron in coda loops
7	Blue Jay Way	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	George	Stereo mix only - backwards passages absent from mono
8	Revolution 9	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	-	Reversed source tapes intercut with forward audio
9	Free as a Bird	1995	Reunion singles	John, Paul, George	Reversed Lennon spoken phrase in outro