"Rain"

Title: “Rain”

Album: (Not released on LP)

Lennon’s “Rain,” which B-sided 1966’s “Paperback Writer,” was recorded during the Revolver sessions. It’s widely considered the Beatles’ finest B-side. The song was written following a particularly rainy stint the band had in Australia. John said it was “about people moaning about the weather all the time.” It’s musically simple, but technically impressive and highly experimental, containing a slowed down rhythm track and backward-played vocals, which foreshadowed things to come on Revolver (released later the same year). Also notable on the track is Paul’s complex basssline and Ringo’s drumming, which Starr himself (as well as many critics) consider his finest recorded performance. The performances and the technical effects pioneered in this song cannot be overstated. And the three promotional films shot for "Rain" (one of which can be seen below) marked another way in which the Beatles influenced the emergence of the music video (again, well over a decade before MTV was launched).