ABSTRACT
The Beatles begin to create a space for an unfolding conversation between East and West. Between 1965 and 1967, the scope of the Beatles’ musical language had been growing by leaps and bounds. Clearly, George Harrison’s role in mixing process was essential. Harrison quietly counts in the tabla player for the third and final verse, again in the original sixteen-beat cycle. Revolver was also an indication of Harrison’s rising creative status within the band. Harrison’s explorations of Eastern music and culture were, once again, an essential part of the process. Combining gestures derived from both Eastern and Western musical practice, the song accesses a remarkable amount of latent energy within the two styles, which finds its release through the musical form. One senses that in the space, personal matters can be shared, explored, and potentially resolved. Extending this idea, one might also consider the space as an emerging metaphor regarding the intertwining of Eastern and Western musical forms.
