THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY EP FIVE

EPISODE FIVE

On August 15, 1965, The Beatles play Shea Stadium in New York, in front of an estimated crowd of 56,000. It’s the first stadium concert played by any band, and a mind-boggling experience for all four of them. But amid the footage of the huge crowd and The Beatles’ hyperactive performance, Ringo expresses a downside that was becoming more and more apparent: “The realisation was really kicking in that nobody was really listening.”

By now, the studio is a sanctuary, and the setting for more musical breakthroughs. “The work they were giving me was much more interesting,” says George Martin. “They were finding new frontiers all the time. And their success gave them confidence to do things that they wouldn’t dare do before.”

Two albums embody this part of the story and, in The Beatles’ memories, combine into one boundarypushing whole. “’Rubber Soul’ really was a matter of [us] all having experienced the recording studio,”says John, “and having grown musically as well, but mainly having experienced the studio and knowing the possibilities.”

As Ringo sees it, both that record and “Revolver”—released less than a year later—were the product of the same attitudes and approaches: “It was getting more experimental: the songs were getting better, more interesting, so that’s where we were going.”

For George, there was one big new development: his immersion in Indian music, first heard on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).” “I went out and bought a record,” he says, “and that was it. It felt very familiar to me, to listen to that music. And it was around that time that I bought a sitar… When we were working on ‘Norwegian Wood,’ it just needed something. I picked up the sitar and found the notes—and I just kind of played it.”. Songs that represent big steps forward are all over both albums: “Girl,” “Nowhere Man,” “If I Needed Someone,” “I’m Looking Through You,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “And Your Bird Can Sing,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” “Taxman” and “Tomorrow Never Knows,” written by John and then developed by all four Beatles into a completely unprecedented piece of music. Most of their listeners don’t know it yet, but that track highlights the influence of a new source of mind-expansion: lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.

Amazingly, no sooner is “Revolver” completed than they are back on tour. As they are reminded when they arrive in Japan—where the usual screams are replaced by a strange silence—their new songs’complexity and ambition is increasingly impossible to replicate onstage. And the old frantic excitement is giving way to a much darker, threatening mood, which rises to the surface when they arrive in the Philippines.

Imelda Marcos, the wife of the country’s ruling dictator, invites them to an official function, which they decline to attend. And at that point, all their usual protection is withdrawn, and they find themselves harassed and threatened. Increasingly, one thought is becoming unavoidable: if this is the price to be paid for the touring life, is it worth it?