The Beatles' legendary 1966 album "Revolver" will be released this Friday in a completely new mix.
An icon of pop music - also visually.
The cover of the LP comes from a man who now lives on Lake Starnberg.
In an interview, Klaus Voormann (82) remembers revolutionary music, John Lennon on the phone and Paul McCartney on the toilet.
Reporters from all over the world are currently in the studio at Klaus Voormann in Tutzing.
"It's a bit much for a rock grandpa," he says with a smile.
The 82-year-old with the white-grey Don Quixote hair has so much to do because the pop-interested part of humanity knows one of his works quite well – and it is once again prominently in the shops.
In 1966 Voormann designed the cover of his friends from Liverpool's LP "Revolver".
Now the album has been extensively remixed and expanded.
For us, the man who met the Beatles in Hamburg in 1960 remembers how “Revolver” burst into his life and changed it ever since.
How did you get the news that you should design the new record of the most famous band in the world?
I was in the bath.
There used to be no mobile phones, I had to get out of there first.
My wife at the time picked up the phone and said, "There's a John on it." I said, I don't know what kind of John?
It was Lennon.
And he was like, "Hey man, don't you get it?
We'd like you to do our next cover.
You know, for us, the little Pipifaxband Beatles, who don't know a damn, apparently not even our friend Klaus?" When I didn't spontaneously have an idea, he said: "Come to the studio tomorrow and listen to the stuff, then you'll think of something." I was living in London at the time...
A very casual approach – but also scary, right?
First yes.
Because I had no idea.
But I thought it was great that they didn't dictate anything to me.
They let me listen to the stuff and then said: Now go home.
We're still working on it for a few weeks, come back later.
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The Beatles, George Harrison (from left), Paul McCartney, John Lennon and in the background Ringo Starr on drums, perform in Munich's Circus Krone-Bau
© Gerhard Rauchwetter / dpa
You knew the Beatles from the days when they played rough Rock'n'Roll in Hamburg's basement bars. How did what you heard in the studio affect you?
Overwhelming.
By that time I had already seen how they write songs.
I was involved in the filming of "A Hard Day's Night".
I'd also stayed with George and Ringo on Green Street - so I'd seen Beatlemania first hand.
But this was something absolutely new.
What was the first "Revolver" song you heard?
"Tomorrow never knows".
I loved it.
But then I thought: What are all the fans who liked "I wanna hold your hand" supposed to think of that?
(Laughs.) I was a bit nostalgic because I got to know them as a live band and realized: what the guys recorded here could hardly be re-enacted on stage.
What did that mean for you as a cover artist?
I realized it has to have both: It has to be avant-garde, surrealistic, but at the same time it has to appeal to the fans who wanted the old Beatles.
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In the late 1960s, Klaus Voormann was sitting amidst sketches.
© Private
How did you come up with the collage?
Exactly.
I was wondering what people associate with the Beatles: the mushroom heads.
So it was clear: the main thing is that there is a lot of hair on it!
But fans always want to see photos of their heroes.
You're so good at illustrating.
So: photos.
And thirdly, everything had to be colorful back then.
But what the guys recorded was revolutionary - so the cover had to be black and white.
I'm still proud that it works: that it transports what's on the LP.
They didn't draw George Harrison's eyes, they pasted in photos of them. It acts like a mask.
That was random.
I'm not a good portrait painter - I did all the others well except George's face.
So I just tried it: took a magazine, cut out the eyes, glued them in – and thought: man, that looks good.
I heard: There are people who find it creepy.
How did the Beatles react when you showed them the draft?
Nowadays, umpteen people from the record company come together and babble on.
That wasn't the case with me.
My four friends sat in the EMI canteen, looked at my sketches and said: great!
I said: Your name doesn't have to be on it.
They thought so too.
At the time, everyone knew where the new Beatles LP was in the record store.
Just Paul sitting on the toilet - I had to remove the photo.
It was in the top left.
Paul thought it was funny.
But producer George Martin spoke to his conscience.
The name "Revolver" is not reflected in the cover - because it has not yet been decided?
It's correct.
Eventually John called me and told me.
I first thought of a gun.
Then I realized: That's not what he meant at all.
Revolving means it rotates.
Everything is a cycle: the world, life, a record player.
You got a Grammy for the cover. At that time you were known as a musician - you were very successful with Manfred Mann.
Yes.
I had studied graphic design but never done anything.
I first had to buy new ink and pens for “Revolver”.
Interestingly, even after the success of the cover, I hardly made any graphics, but continued to make music.
And that very successfully! You've played bass for Lou Reed, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson and on most Beatles' solo albums.
And it was fun!
This is the dichotomy of my life: I can only really devote myself to one thing at a time.
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Klaus Voormann and Paul McCartney in the studio.
© Private
Does it annoy you that people sometimes refer to you as the "fifth Beatle" and that you are repeatedly asked about this time?
You have to say: I'm not a Beates fan.
I love their music, but I couldn't tell what color Paul's shirt was when he was doing this or that.
I know the people, I've had many personal experiences with them.
But I was busy with my own stuff in the sixties.
And today? Are you still in contact with the two living Beatles?
When Paul is in Germany, his company calls and asks if I can come by.
And when I meet Ringo we always have a great time.
We could be together every day, I know that.
But the gentlemen have their lives and I have mine.
You were paid £50 for Revolver. Have you sometimes thought that it could have been a bit more?
No, it was a friendship service.
They were the most famous band ever and they asked me to do their covers.
I've been incredibly lucky.
Johannes Löhr conducted the interview.