…of one of the most electric pop performances you’ll ever hear.

1968. I still remember going into Boston with Ron Martin and a few of my DeMolay chapter friends to go record shopping (back in those pre-mall days, you went “into town” to go shopping for anything truly significant!) and picking up the new Beatles 45 RPM “Hey Jude” / Revolution” – in my view the greatest double-side any pop band has ever released – for just 99 cents (!) at the Jordan Marsh.

Sh*t, I’m dating myself, aren’t I?

I had heard “Hey Jude” on the radio and remember feeling both mesmerized and entranced by its exotic nature (a 7:06 song played in its entirety, even on AM stations in the era of the two-minute one-hit wonder!) and its crystal-clear arrangement. And whether it was the times, the raging hormones (I was thirteen), or both, it was songs like “Hey Jude”, “Soul Coaxing”, Herb Alpert’s “Flamingo”, and The Ronettes’ “Do I Love You”) that led me into seeking a deeper appreciation and understanding not just for music, but the arrangements behind the music.

But I digress.

It wasn’t until I brought the “Hey Jude” 45 home that I heard its B side for the first time. Talk about jaw-dropping!

What is it about “Revolution” I liked from the start? Sure, that unearthly dirty fuzz guitar that opened and then drove the song had a lot to do with it – I’d heard nothing like it until that time – but what really sealed the deal was the fact that my parents didn’t like it at all. I can still remember to this day playing it on my little turntable in my bedroom and my mom telling me that while “Hey Jude” was OK, she didn’t like “Revolution” at all, and I should turn it down.

I was hooked.

“Turn it down.” When you’re thirteen all you really want to do is find things that you know your parents will object to in some form or another. And it was John Lennon and that unbelievably dirty fuzz guitar and chaotic, yet controlled, arrangement that led me into that oh-so-precious adolescent realm. It’s still one of my favorite Beatles tunes, guaranteed to perk my ears up whenever I hear it.

Just goes to show just how eclectic – and electric – The Beatles were.