The Beatles White Album 40 Years Old

[seti]

40 years old and still rocking. One of the hardest working bands of all time. I tried to pick a favorite song of the 2 LP album release but just can't so many great songs.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/special/section/the-beatles-white-album-40th-anniversary/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album)

Side one
#	Title	Length
1.	"Back in the U.S.S.R."	2:43
2.	"Dear Prudence"	3:56
3.	"Glass Onion"	2:17
4.	"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"	3:08
5.	"Wild Honey Pie"	0:52
6.	"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"	3:14
7.	"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (George Harrison)	4:45
8.	"Happiness Is a Warm Gun"	2:43

Side two
#	Title	Length
1.	"Martha My Dear"	2:28
2.	"I'm So Tired"	2:03
3.	"Blackbird"	2:18
4.	"Piggies" (Harrison)	2:04
5.	"Rocky Raccoon"	3:32
6.	"Don't Pass Me By" (Starkey)	3:50
7.	"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"	1:41
8.	"I Will"	1:46
9.	"Julia"	2:54

Side three
#	Title	Length
1.	"Birthday"	2:42
2.	"Yer Blues"	4:01
3.	"Mother Nature's Son"	2:48
4.	"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"	2:24
5.	"Sexy Sadie"	3:15
6.	"Helter Skelter"	4:29
7.	"Long, Long, Long" (Harrison)	3:04

Side four
#	Title	Length
1.	"Revolution 1"	4:15
2.	"Honey Pie"	2:41
3.	"Savoy Truffle" (Harrison)	2:54
4.	"Cry Baby Cry"	3:01
5.	"Revolution 9"	8:22
6.	"Good Night"	3:11

[BigStewMan]

it was much easier for me....While My Guitar Gently Weeps wins by a landslide.

[seti]

it was much easier for me....While My Guitar Gently Weeps wins by a landslide.

I thought that was a Clapton song []

Yeah Ob La Di, Don't Pass Me By, Savory Truffle, Cry Baby Cry, Wild Honey Pie all brilliant. The Caribbean feel of Ob La Di really cool.

[bhenry]

40 years old and sounds better than the crap they keep trying to shove down our throats as music (Taylor Swift)!!!!

[RichardP]

A news item today reported that the Vatican also thinks along those lines:[:|]

Vatican: Beatles music better than today's songs

VATICAN CITY – Vatican media are praising the Beatles' musical legacy and sounding philosophical
about John Lennon's boast that
the British band was more
popular than Jesus.

Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore
Romano recalls that Lennon's comment outraged many when he made it in
1966.

But it says in its Saturday edition that the remark can be written off now as
the bragging of a young man wrestling with unexpected success.

The newspaper as well as Vatican
Radio last week noted the 40th
anniversary of the Beatles' "White Album."

It said the album demonstrated how creative the Beatles were, compared with
what it called the "standardized, stereotypical" songs being produced today.

[russ69]

Guitar Gently Weeps for me also but I'm a big sucker for Ringo songs so Good Night is another top one for me.

Thanx, Russ

[Buddy72079]

OK let me be the first to put this thread in the ditch,,"Why don't we do it in the road"?

[Marvel]

I just heard "Piggies" on the radio last week. They were such clowns...and to think a friend of mine thinks that U2 is the greatest band ever. I don't think anyone had or has the variety put forth by the Beatles.

[Mallette]

Some of you may recall that I posted recently about recording a complete performance of "White Album." To my knowledge, no one has attempted a complete performance of a Beatles studio album, but I can tell you the charts were awesome and it was a marvelous experience. The recording turned out to be a document...I discovered a new use for SoundCube as a diagnostic tool. Performers never get to hear what the audience heard but SoundCube solves that. I'd strongly recommend some Klipsch to them next time and a lot of changes to the way the instruments were miked. OTOH, the audio engineers were total pros and there was not a hint of hum in a very complex setup. Balance was good, but the speakers they used and the mikes really made the strings and other acoustic instruments tubby and not "audiophile" quality. I am sure they could care less, but I will tell them anyway.

It's trully cool to sync up the HD video I shot from the mike position and listen. The surround is completely accurate and I hear conversations and such from precisely where I heard them that night.

The whole affair started as and continued as a party, with laughing, clapping, hooting and hollering throughout. Bars remained open and free as long as the music played. It took over 2 hours to get through the album, then they played a 30 minute plus encore with "All You Need is Love, some other stuff from MMT, and ending with Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band played and sung by the entire cast, which was 6 or 7 local bands plus 40 or so orchestra musicians.

A heckuva evening. I was rather disappointed to find that they were neither videoing or recording as I simply assumed they would be. It was a historic (OK, minor, but still historic to Beatles history) event.

Dave

[artto]

Yes, one of the best of all time IMHO also.

Has anyone heard the "far away" ~ "explosion"........almost like a nuclear blast 20 miles away, somewhere near the end of Dear Prudence? (I think thats where its at) It seems to be coming more from the left side. It's a very "erry" sound.

[seti]

OK let me be the first to put this thread in the ditch,,"Why don't we do it in the road"?

Hell I like that song the stinker to me is Long long long. It is painful to my ears. I have the first recording of the white album at another studio in London with different songs. It is pretty good but you couldn't beat emi. They were audio scientist. I've been collecting beatle bootlegs for years and they have some great unreleased works.

[Marvel]

A heckuva evening. I was rather disappointed to find that they were neither videoing or recording as I simply assumed they would be. It was a historic (OK, minor, but still historic to Beatles history) event.

I can't believe they wouldn't do a video, even if only for themselves. I think history will show the Beatles to be one of the best groups, if not THE best.

Have you heard "A Concert for George"? I think it is really good in two channel. It is available as a DVD release as well, but I only have the CD version. Most of the songs sound just like George Harrison and the rest. A two CD set, the first being mostly/all with sitar and orchestra, which is pretty astounding in and of itself.

Bruce

[Mallette]

Bruce, I don't know what they were thinking. It was a charity event for Texas Children's Hospital, and you'd think selling DVD's would have provided value added to the whole enterprise.

I had a 1080i camcorder with a wide angle lens that covered the stage, though there are times when it is reminescent of MST3K with silhouette heads in front.

Some friends came over and we watched/listened to about an hour of it last night. I am going to author a BluRay with the video and 4X24/96 audio just for grins when I get a little time after the holidays.

Dave

[jdm56]

I don't think "The White Album" really holds up as well as most other Beatles albums. It would have been a killer if trimmed down to a single album, though. Revolution 9 is the very epitome of wretched, self-indulgent excess. And Paul McCartney had some of the most trite, throwaway stuff of his career on there. I admit there is still a lot of good stuff, though. Rev 1 is a fave and I just love "Why Don't We Do It In The Road".

And speaking of which...Why don't we do it in the road?

[seti]

I don't think "The White Album" really holds up as well as most other Beatles albums. It would have been a killer if trimmed down to a single album, though. Revolution 9 is the very epitome of wretched, self-indulgent excess. And Paul McCartney had some of the most trite, throwaway stuff of his career on there. I admit there is still a lot of good stuff, though. Rev 1 is a fave and I just love "Why Don't We Do It In The Road".

And speaking of which...Why don't we do it in the road?

Trimmed down to one album.........NNNNOOOOOOOOOooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

To come off of Sgt.Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, and Yellow Submarine to do the White Album shows amazing versatility. I mean they went from psychedelic experimentalism straight into for them a more traditional album. I can see why many do not like Revolution 9 or Tomorrow Never Knows but they were cacaphonus experiments much like some of the music happening in the avant garde german music scene. I love the acoustic version of Revolution it chills you out from the first chord unlike 9 which just makes you feel twitchy.

Not off the White Alubum but it shows having a blast. Hey Bulldog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGrEZH7j1bQ

[seti]

Yes, one of the best of all time IMHO also.

Has anyone heard the "far away" ~ "explosion"........almost like a nuclear blast 20 miles away, somewhere near the end of Dear Prudence? (I think thats where its at) It seems to be coming more from the left side. It's a very "erry" sound.

Is that one of the tidbits that didn't make it to the cd version of the song. I'll have to go back and give it a listen.

[garymd]

I don't think "The White Album" really holds up as well as most other Beatles albums. It would have been a killer if trimmed down to a single album, though. Revolution 9 is the very epitome of wretched, self-indulgent excess. And Paul McCartney had some of the most trite, throwaway stuff of his career on there. I admit there is still a lot of good stuff, though. Rev 1 is a fave and I just love "Why Don't We Do It In The Road".

And speaking of which...Why don't we do it in the road?

I couldn't disagree more. Maybe it could have been trimmed down to 1 1/2 sides but there's just too much genius to go beyond that IMHO. I love the side with "Martha My Dear" (nice use of the tuba!), "I'm So Tired," etc. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" would be one song I'd get rid of along with "Revolution 9."

I have a MOFI pressing that I play all the time. I also have an original pressing with the serial # stamped on the cover. It's by far my favorite Beatles LP and that's saying something!

[jcmusic]

I don't think "The White Album" really holds up as well as most other Beatles albums. It would have been a killer if trimmed down to a single album, though. Revolution 9 is the very epitome of wretched, self-indulgent excess. And Paul McCartney had some of the most trite, throwaway stuff of his career on there. I admit there is still a lot of good stuff, though. Rev 1 is a fave and I just love "Why Don't We Do It In The Road".

And speaking of which...Why don't we do it in the road?

I couldn't disagree more. Maybe it could have been trimmed down to 1 1/2 sides but there's just too much genius to go beyond that IMHO. I love the side with "Martha My Dear" (nice use of the tuba!), "I'm So Tired," etc. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" would be one song I'd get rid of along with "Revolution 9."

I have a MOFI pressing that I play all the time. I also have an original pressing with the serial # stamped on the cover. It's by far my favorite Beatles LP and that's saying something!

Hey Gary,

I have an original pressing as well, also a very early reissue. How does your orignal compare to the mofi?

Jay

[fini]

Did you just call Gary a "mofi?!?"

I love the white album! Growing up in the 60s, I couldn't have cared less about the Stones, Led Z...but I adored the Beatles, as did my brother and sister. Heh, I liked Simon and Garfunkel, too.

FWIW, if any of y'all have a chance to see Neil Young in upcoming performances, he's been diong an amazing rendition of A Day In The Life (from Sgt. Peppers, y'know). I saw him do it a month ago at Shoreline Amphitheater, and I was blown away!

[seti]

When was the white vinyl white album released?