White Album CD came..

[linclink]

I was just talking to a musical partner of mine about this today. She is more an early Beatles fan, though she adores lots of late period Beatles as well. We saw McCartney together this last Summer. She was just listening to The White Album...couldn't get the chorus to "Bungalow Bill" out of her head & it was driving her crazy...also mentioned that "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" was a theme song to some network series about a developmental disabled boy ("Life Goes On" maybe?) years ago & that that version affects her appreciation of that track...she noticed lots of darker energy about the album that she resonated with less. In other words she is one of those "The White Album would have made a GREAT single album" type of folks. I filled her in on the long running debate (George Martin being the first & foremost in that single album camp), and let her know that I am staunchly in the, "It IS the GREATEST double album of all-time, arguable the GREATEST album of all-time even & I wouldn't change a thing except to maybe ADD track & make it into Rock's first great triple album" camp. And so I am, and so I always have been, always will be, and happily ever after ameth....

[lorenzo]

George Martin also thought the White Album would have made a great "single" album.... Paul, on the other hand, says he likes the double format.... (Source: Beatles Anthology)

[Jeff in Ohio]

Rather than wishing they took songs away, I wish they'd put MORE on there. To me, the more the better. If there are certain songs I don't like, I can always burn myself my own CD with only the tracks I like. But I want them to give me ALL the material, so I can choose for myself what to listen to.

I know there's still stuff in those vaults. I was so pumped when the anthology CD's came out in the mid 90's, it was amazing how good the so called "cut out / demo" versions are. I'm especially fond of the 1968 stuff, which I personally think was their peak of creativity. Anyway, to each his own...what a band either way!

[EddieV]

It sounds so fresh this album. It has aged well!! Damn it is a great album!!

[dylankyra]

Will go out on a limb here and say that after listening to the White Album for about 35 years now, I see a whole new 'sound picture' within 'side four' of the White Album regarding Revolution 9. I have a new appreciation for it!

Many have commented about the juxtaposition of the sequence of Revolution 9 right into Good Night. To take this further, as a youngster I found the grouping of Cry Baby Cry >> Can You Take Me Back? >> Revolution 9 >> Good Night to be quite dramatic as sort of a "suite" of songs. At times, downright scary. With headphones on, I would have jumped a mile if someone snuck up on me and said 'boo' during the moments of quietness as "Brother, can you take me back?" trails off into the brief spoken word prior to the piano intro to Revolution 9 (all that reverb on Paul's voice like he's walking through an empty cathedral at night with the lights out). I doubt that this was intended as such although sometimes I wonder.

I have read that John and Paul labored intensively over the running order of the album. I have released CD's myself and understand how crucial (but often unnoticed by the general public) the running order can be. Can't imagine what it would've been like to arrange the order of 30 songs. That is one of the factors that makes this album such a winner!

[ahawk66]

You're right, "Not Guilty" would've fit in on that one. I've said this before, but I think "Long Long Long" is actually a beautiful song, but the mix on it completely derails its impact. The only thing I can figure is that George wanted the vocals buried, because this would be an interesting song to re-mix. I know there are purists who wouldn't want to hear anything different, and I can respect that, but I'd really love to hear a re-mixed & re-mastered Beatles catalog using what they know about mixing today. Back then, they didn't know much else other than pushing things to one side or the other...