The Beatles - The White Album
The White Album
The Beatles
Released: November 22, 1968
Genre: Rock
Record Label: Apple
The White Album is debatably The Beatles greatest Album of their career. It has music for everyone in it, Rock, Blues, Metal, Acoustic, it has everything. Also, it is the only Double-Album the Beatles ever released. In this Review, I hope to shed light on this album, a long one if I may add, the Album is 1 hour 30 minutes long, not quite your typical album.
The White Album was mostly conceived during the trip to India the band took in the late 60’s. They only had basic instruments available to them (Drums, Acoustics, Sitars) and because of this, many excellent songs were formed, and the creative juices of the band were exploited completely. McCartney comes out Strong, Ringo manages to put on a few good songs, Harrison has a stroke of Brilliance, Lennon releases a heavy load of emotion.
Many people don’t know that George Martin and Ringo were dissatisfied with the Album. They wanted the White Album to have only the strong songs (Back in the USSR, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Yer Blues etc) only about 10 songs on it. They believed it would make the album very, very strong, and then they should release the other 20 or so songs later. McCartney, Harrison, & Lennon didn’t agree, and they overruled it. Looking back on the Anthology DVD set, the surviving Beatles seemed to agree it would have been much stronger had it been the way Martin & Starr wanted it.
The White Album starts off with “Back in The U.S.S.R” , a song conceived as a parody to Chuck Berry’s ‘Back in the USA” and the Beach Boys “California Girls”. This song actually features McCartney on drums, something very, very rare indeed. I enjoy the song a lot, it is a nice piece of work. The next song which stands out is “Ob La Di, Ob La Da” a favourite of McCartney’s, but Lennon despised. Supposedly, they did 40 takes of it, the last one being the most unique. After a night of heavy drinking at a pub, a completely drunk Lennon went into the Studio and said “let’s get this ********* finished” and they made the song.
After That, Harrison’s musical genius comes into play. The Song “While My guitar Gently Weeps” , possibly one of their greatest songs, and a masterpiece of Harrison. What many people don’t know is, on one version (Unreleased version) Harrison is actually on lead guitar, not Secondary/Rhythm. The other version, the more popular and well known, features Eric Clapton on guitar, a masterful combination. Happiness is A Warm Gun is the next song, and it shows the emotional lyrical talent of Lennon, not one of my favourites, but I enjoy it none the less.
Martha My Dear was written about McCartney’s Sheep dog, named Martha. It is funny once you listen to the song, and think it was written about his dog. I’m So Tired is personally of my most listened to on the Album, the longer the song goes on, the better it seems to get. Piggies helped inspire Charles Manson, somehow. I honestly don’t know how though, as it is an innocent song by Harrison about, you guessed it, Pigs.
Rocky Raccoon is a decent song in it’s own write, McCartney showing his talents once again. Starkey comes into play after it with “Don’t Pass me By” which is good, though towards the end it starts getting a little weak.
Side Three of the Album (Or Side one of Vinyl #2) could be called the strongest side of the Album, though it is all a matter of personal preference. It opens with “Birthday” a good song in it’s own right, I enjoy it, except for one nagging detail. Pattie Boyd-Harrison & Yoko Ono are on backing vocal’s, how utterly, uhg, words are not enough to describe my disgust. After Birthday , “Yer Blues” comes out, this is definitely a song worth listening to. Lennon comes out with heavy, very heavy as a matter of fact, Blues, with some rock influence into it. An Example of the Lyric’s:
Yes I'm lonely wanna die
Yes I'm lonely wanna die
If I ain't dead already
Ooh girl you know the reason why.
I would suggest downloading it, or listening to it, it is heavy Blues… and no, it is not Emo, trust me on that. Mother Natures son reminds us of the simpler things in Life, a favourite of our very own Siblesz I’ve heard!
“Everybody’s got something to Hide except for me and my Monkey” is nice, although it subtly mentions Ono (The Monkey, Japanese.. yeah, see the mention ). Finally, Helter skelter is born out of the depths of the Minds of McCartney & Harrison! In the Credits, it says McCartney-Lennon, but Harrison was actually working with McCartney on developing a heavier song than the recent heavy Song released by “The Who”. Helter Skelter is the first heavy metal song recorded.
Finally, last but not Least, is the Fourth Side. Much quieter than the other sides, it also has some jewels in it. Revolution 1, a different take of “Revolution” (and less to my liking, not as heavy) fairs well enough, just not an absolute great for me. Honey Pie though, written by Macca (Paul’s nickname) is great, and will remind some of us of those old fashioned Variety Shows. Cry Baby Cry is one of my top three songs on the whole album though. Something about it just attracts me. Maybe it is the Lyrics:
Cry baby cry
Make your mother sigh
She's old enough to know better.
The king of Marigold was in the kitchen
Cooking breakfast for the queen
The queen was in the parlour
Playing piano for the children of the king.
The tune, instrumentally, is addicting though, a real beatles fan MUST listen to this song. Sadly though, that song ends the greatness of the Album. Good Night by Ringo is actually very good, well written by the famous duo, sung by Ringo. It just doesn’t match up to the rest. Revolution #9 is a disgrace to the Beatles, and music in General. I’m sorry, but this song made me despise Yoko Ono, and made me disappointed in Lennon. Though, if you are talented with recording equipment, take apart all 16 Tracks of overdubs, split the conversations and “music” into separate parts, and you’ll learn some interesting stuff.
Facts about the White Album:
The album's cover was designed by Richard Hamilton, a notable pop artist who had organised a Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Tate Gallery the previous year. Hamilton's design was in stark contrast to Peter Blake's vivid cover art for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and consisted of a plain white sleeve. The band's name was discreetly embossed in the middle of the album's right side, and the cover also featured a unique stamped serial number, in Hamilton's words, "to create the ironic situation of a numbered edition of something like five million copies." Later vinyl record releases showed the title in grey letters. Early copies on compact disc were also numbered. Later CD releases rendered the album's title in black or grey.
The album's inside packaging included a poster, the lyrics to the songs, and a set of photographs taken by John Kelley in Autumn of 1968 that have themselves become classic.
Two re-issues in 1978 (one by Capitol Records, the other by Parlophone) saw the album pressed on white vinyl, completing the look of the "white" album. In 1985, Electrola/EMI released a DMM (direct metal mastered) white vinyl pressing of the album in Germany, which was imported to the United States in large numbers. Another popular white vinyl pressing was manufactured in France. The 1978 Parlophone white vinyl export pressing and the German DMM pressing are widely considered the best sounding versions of the album. This is due to the use of the famed Neumann lathe on the 1978 export pressing and the use of the DMM process on the 1985 pressing.
The White Album was the last Beatles album to be released with a unique, alternate mono mix, albeit one issued only in the UK. Twenty-nine of the album's thirty tracks ("Revolution 9" being the only straggler) exist in official alternate mono mixes, all of which are popular items amongst Beatles fans.
Beatles albums after The Beatles occasionally had mono pressings in certain countries, but these editions – of Yellow Submarine, Let It Be, and Abbey Road – were always mono fold-downs from the regular stereo mixes.
In the USA, mono records had already been phased out so the USA release of The Beatles( The White Album) was the first Beatles LP issued in the USA only in stereo.
It was originally supposed to be called “A Doll’s House”.
"Hey Jude" was originally intended to be included on the album, but was instead released as a stand-alone single. "Revolution", a much tighter version of "Revolution 1" was recorded and released as the B-side to "Hey Jude."
Songs not released on the White Album (rejects):
• What's The New Mary Jane"
• "Not Guilty"
• "Junk" (known at the time as 'Jubilee')
• "Circles"
• "Sour Milk Sea
• "Mean Mr. Mustard"
• "Polythene Pam"
• "Step Inside Love"
• "Los Paranoias"
• "The Way You Look Tonight"
• "Down In Havana"
• "Etcetera" - this song carries a strong air of mystery, as no one outside the band seems to have heard it.
• "I Hate To See The Evening Sun Go Down"
• "Brian Epstein Blues"
• "**** A Duck" - recorded during the sessions for 'Sexy Sadie', it is *extremely* unlikely that either this song or 'Brian Epstein Blues' were considered for inclusion on the album.
• "Summertime"
• According to the book "The 100 Greatest Beatles Songs," It's All Too Much was slated for inclusion at one point. However, being from outside the White Album era, this seems very unlikely.
In all, 5/5 a Masterpiece.
I Hope you Enjoyed the long review, I know my fingers are tired !
Originally Posted by PyrrhusIV
