the beatles, including john lennon, paul mccartney, george harrison and ringo starr playing instruments; red, white and blue circles with question marks surround them; black background

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Take Our Beatles ‘Revolver’ Quiz

See how well you score on our music trivia test about the band’s iconic album

Jayme Deerwester,

AARP

Published October 28, 2022

8 Questions

Attention, Beatles fans: A special edition of the album Revolver drops today. The record helped usher in a period of peak creativity for the band, prompting John Lennon to infamously proclaim the band was “more popular than Jesus.” See how much you remember about this seminal 1966 album, which Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed as “the sound of the future” in its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time rankings.

Take Our Beatles ‘Revolver’ Quiz

[ {
 "question" : "“Revolver” was released between these two Beatles albums:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "“Yellow Submarine” and “Abbey Road”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Rubber Soul” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Beatles for Sale” and “Help!”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Abbey Road” and “Let It Be”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "“Revolver,” the band’s seventh album, was released on Aug. 5, 1966, sandwiched between “Rubber Soul” (Dec. 3, 1965) and “Sgt. Pepper’s” (June 1, 1967).\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which “Revolver” track got its trippy sound from accidentally running the tape backwards?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "“Yellow Submarine”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“And Your Bird Can Sing”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Got to Get You Into My Life”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Tomorrow Never Knows”",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "According to The Beatles official website, Paul McCartney recalled, “One day, [the tape operator] got the tape on backwards, went to play it and it ... ‘Bloody hell, it sounded Indian!’” Lennon even claimed “Tomorrow Never Knows” was the first record with backward music on it, “before Hendrix, before The Who, before any [expletive].” “I’m Only Sleeping” also benefited from the audio trick.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Who wrote “Taxman,” the track we often hear leading up to April 15?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "George Harrison",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "John Lennon",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Paul McCartney",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Ringo Starr",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Harrison wrote or co-wrote three tracks on the album: “Taxman,” “I Want to Tell You” and “Love You To,” with “Taxman” arguably being the biggest hit. The tune was inspired by his own financial situation. At the time, he was a bit salty about how much of his money was going to the British tax authorities. “I had discovered I was paying a huge amount of money to the taxman. You are so happy that you’ve finally started earning money — and then you find out about tax,” Harrison recalled in “The Beatles Anthology.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Though “Revolver” was a major step in the band’s creative progression, the record had a link back to their early days in Hamburg, Germany. What was it?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "There was a 45 included with a German version of “Yellow Submarine.”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "They wrote the album on tour in Germany.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "The cover art was drawn by an old pal from Hamburg.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "There was a hidden live track at the end of the album recorded at the bar where they used to play.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The black-and-write cover illustration was drawn by an old Hamburg pal, graphic designer Klaus Voormann. According to “New Music Express,” Voormann was paid 40 British pounds (worth about $90), but the gig paid big dividends in prestige when it won a Grammy for best album cover.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "The central theme of “Eleanor Rigby” is this emotion:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Jealousy",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Loneliness",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Regret",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Betrayal",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "It’s right there in the lyrics: “Ah, look at all the lonely people!” The track tells the tale of two specific lonely individuals: the titular Eleanor Rigby, who picks up rice in the church after a wedding, and Father McKenzie, a clergyman whose sermons no one comes to hear. At the end of the song, he officiates at her funeral, which no one attends.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Instead of “Revolver,” the album almost shared the same title as this Steve Miller Band song:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "“Take the Money and Run”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Jet Airliner”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "“Abracadabra”",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "“The Joker”",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "According to “New Music Express,” the album was originally going to be named “Abracadabra,” but in the end, it didn’t reach out and grab them. Other names in the mix: “After Geography” (a nod to the Rolling Stones album “Aftermath”), “Pendulums” and “Beatles on Safari.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What 1960s celebrity didn’t sing backup vocals on “Yellow Submarine?”\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Donovan Leitch",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Brian Jones",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Marianne Faithfull",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Grace Slick",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Pattie Boyd, George Harrison’s first wife, is one of several uncredited vocals on “Yellow Submarine,” along with then-Rolling Stones member Brian Jones, singer Marianne Faithfull (then girlfriend of Mick Jagger) and “Mellow Yellow” artist Donovan Leitch. But as far as we know, Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick was not in the chorus.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "True or false: “Revolver” was once reported to be the Vatican’s favorite rock album.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "True",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "False",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "It’s true! In 2010, the Vatican’s official newspaper, “L’Osservatore Romano,” ranked “Revolver” number 1 on its top 10 list, beating out Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and U2’s “Achtung Baby.” Perhaps the most surprising detail: The list, which feels like it could have been written by Pope Francis, actually came out during Pope Benedict XVI’s tenure.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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Take Our Beatles ‘Revolver’ Quiz

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Jayme Deerwester is an editor and writer with two decades of experience at USA TODAY, where she covered entertainment, travel, personal finance and technology. When not in front of a computer, she can be found rowing, kayaking or playing with her dog.