What say you???
It
would have been fine as a three- sided album ...
The
first two sides I wouldn't touch ...
If I had to, I'd take out Helter Skelter and Revolution Number 9 for twelve minutes or so …
Actually, I think I did on a mix tape of mine!
Renfield
If I had to, I'd take out Helter Skelter and Revolution Number 9 for twelve minutes or so …
Actually, I think I did on a mix tape of mine!
Renfield
Well
of course!!! Damn, why didn't I think of that?!?! A Three-Sided Album
would have done the trick! (lol) Thanks, Gary! (kk)
I absolutely agree that The White Album
has too much fluff.
Here’s how I would pare it down from 30 songs to 16:
BACK IN THE USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di,
Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar
Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A
Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
I Will
Julia
Birthday
Mother Nature’s
Son
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Good Night
Ian N. Berger
Hi Kent …
Thanks for asking me this question!
The purist in me says ... NO, I can't get the White Album
down to 16 tracks. Impossible for me. But ... I would definitely leave off
"Revolution #9" and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road." They
would have been great additions to the unreleased material on the Anthology
albums! But let's face it. Back then, if we would have heard about 18 unreleased
Beatles tracks from the White Album sessions, we would have all been looking
for Bootlegs of those recordings just to own them. So, by releasing all of the
material, The Beatles actually saved us that effort!
Mitch Schecter / The Rip Chords
I'm looking forward to hearing what they found in the vaults. George Harrison’s stripped-down, acoustic version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was an absolute highlight of the third Anthology CD. Each of the main three writers did so many sessions on their own it’d be cool to see what other ideas were kicked around before the released version was zeroed in. Between the original demos they shared with each other ... and the working versions the developed once they hit the recording studio in earnest, this should be a fascinating insight into their whole process, circa 1968. (And I believe they felt the pressure was on, this being their first release on their own record label!)
Mitch Schecter / The Rip Chords
I'm looking forward to hearing what they found in the vaults. George Harrison’s stripped-down, acoustic version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was an absolute highlight of the third Anthology CD. Each of the main three writers did so many sessions on their own it’d be cool to see what other ideas were kicked around before the released version was zeroed in. Between the original demos they shared with each other ... and the working versions the developed once they hit the recording studio in earnest, this should be a fascinating insight into their whole process, circa 1968. (And I believe they felt the pressure was on, this being their first release on their own record label!)
I
remember the AM Top 40 stations in town playing select tracks before
the album came out ... "Rocky Raccoon" and "Back In The U.S.S.R." in
particular. I already knew these songs by heart by the time I got my LP
for Christmas! Thanks, Mitch! (kk)
Hi Kent:
I'm enjoying your blog as always. I'm looking forward to
the 50th anniversary release of the Beatles' White Album, as you and many of
your readers are.
As far as cutting the original album down to just sixteen
tracks, I think it's not possible. I feel the following 23 tracks are all
essential Beatles. Even the closing track. It's the perfect end to this
album.
1. "Back In The U.S.S.R."
2. "Dear Prudence"
3. "Glass Onion"
4. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
5. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
6. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"
7. "Martha My Dear"
8. "I'm So Tired"
9. "Blackbird"
10. "Don't Pass Me By"
11. "I Will"
12. "Julia"
13. "Birthday"
14. "Yer Blues"
15. "Mother Nature's Son"
16. "Sexy Sadie"
17. "Helter Skelter"
18. "Long, Long, Long"
19. “Revolution 1”
20. "Honey Pie"
21. "Savoy Truffle"
22. "Cry Baby Cry"
23.
"Good Night"
Not much filler, but the seven songs not on my list that
were on the original album are truly not up to the high level the Fab Four were
capable of.
Santi Paradoa
Miami, Florida
Yes, but you've GOT to get it down to just sixteen tracks!!! (I'm granting you a do-over!) kk
Hi Kent,
As for me, I wouldn't change a thing about the Beatles' White Album.
It has its quirky numbers, but its uniqueness is what makes it so cool.
Sometimes I skip over Revolution #9, but other times it captivates me. I have a
copy on the Apple label and one on Capitol on white vinyl and treasure them
both. IMO, no changes.
Dube
Kent,
First time contributor
here…
Some people believe
the White Album would be better as a single LP instead of a double, and try to
make it a single.
IMPOSSIBLE. It’s
wrong.
Instead, we should be
working on making a better Double LP.
Remove some of the
“weaker tracks” (all debatable) and I’d add in the five songs recorded and
released within the White Album time frame (unfortunately, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
doesn’t make it even though recorded in 1968, but John never pushed for it to
be released until late 1969).
And of course, we have
to keep it in the Vinyl-setting timings.
Added are:
· Hey Bulldog (inserted into the animal songs
of Side 2 replacing Don’t Pass Me By)
· Hey Jude (replacing Revolution 9)
· Revolution (replacing Revolution 1)
· The Inner Light (fading in-from the “Brama
can you take me back” part of Cry Baby Cry) … this gives George five songs!
· Lady Madonna (replacing Honey Pie)
Discuss!
|
Side one
|
||||
|
No.
|
Title
|
Lead vocals
|
Length
|
|
|
1.
|
McCartney
|
2:43
|
||
|
2.
|
Lennon
|
3:56
|
||
|
3.
|
Lennon
|
2:18
|
||
|
4.
|
McCartney
|
3:08
|
||
|
5.
|
McCartney
|
0:52
|
||
|
6.
|
Lennon
|
3:14
|
||
|
7.
|
Harrison
|
4:45
|
||
|
8.
|
Lennon
|
2:43
|
||
|
Total
length:
|
23:39
|
|||
|
Side two
|
||||
|
No.
|
Title
|
Lead vocals
|
Length
|
|
|
9.
|
McCartney
|
2:28
|
||
|
10.
|
Lennon
|
2:03
|
||
|
11.
|
McCartney
|
2:18
|
||
|
12.
|
"Piggies" (George Harrison)
|
Harrison
|
2:04
|
|
|
13.
|
McCartney
|
3:33
|
||
|
14.
|
"Hey
Bulldog"
|
Lennon
|
3:14
|
|
|
15.
|
McCartney
|
1:41
|
||
|
16.
|
"I Will"
|
McCartney
|
1:46
|
|
|
17.
|
"Julia"
|
Lennon
|
2:54
|
|
|
Total
length:
|
22:01
|
|||
|
Side three
|
||||
|
No.
|
Title
|
Lead vocals
|
Length
|
|
|
1.
|
"Birthday"
|
McCartney with
Lennon
|
2:42
|
|
|
2.
|
Lennon
|
4:01
|
||
|
3.
|
McCartney
|
2:48
|
||
|
4.
|
Lennon
|
2:24
|
||
|
5.
|
Lennon
|
3:15
|
||
|
6.
|
McCartney
|
4:29
|
||
|
7.
|
"Long, Long, Long" (George
Harrison)
|
Harrison
|
3:04
|
|
|
Total
length:
|
22:43
|
|||
|
Side four
|
||||
|
No.
|
Title
|
Lead vocals
|
Length
|
|
|
8.
|
“Hey Jude”
|
McCartney
|
7:11
|
|
|
9.
|
“Revolution”
|
Lennon
|
3:21
|
|
|
10.
|
"Savoy Truffle" (George
Harrison)
|
Harrison
|
2:54
|
|
|
11.
|
Lennon, with
McCartney
|
3:02
|
||
|
12.
13.
|
“The Inner Light”
(George Harrison)
“Lady Madonna”
|
Harrison
McCartney
|
2:36
2:16
|
|
|
14.
|
Starr
|
3:13
|
||
|
Total
length:
|
24:22
|
|||
Sincerely,
Scott Siegel
It's funny because the first time I ever played The White Album all the way thru my IMMEDIATE reaction to "Revolution 9" was "Why didn't they just replace this indulgent piece of crap with 'Hey Jude' if they had a 7-9 minute slot to fill?" Plus it probably would have helped the album sell even more copies than it already did!
Now I know The Beatles didn't really like to include singles on their LPs ... they looked at them as two separate entities for two completely different markets ... but "Revolution 9" was just SO bad I couldn't believe they'd include it (or that the other three went along with it in their so called "all in favor or it doesn't pass" method of operation.)
And now, looking at the long list of other material worked on and then left off the two-record set, it's unthinkable to me that they couldn't have come up with something better. (I know the John dynamic was the strongest ... and maybe they just didn't want to make waves during the whole "newness" of John and Yoko ... but still, put the music ... which this is not ... and your legacy ahead of any vanity project. That's what SOLO albums are for!!!)
As for the single version of "Revolution" vs. the LP slowed-down take, I was completely blown away by "Revolution 1" the first time I heard it. It just showed the versatility of the band and how a song as powerful as that could work on two completely different levels. (Years later I would feel the same way after hearing George's stripped down, acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the Anthology 3 album.)
My only objection to "Lady Madonna" and "The Inner Light" was that by November of 1968, these songs were already too old and well known for consideration ... and they pre-dated The Beatles' Apple Records label. (Besides, this is the kind of stuff that Capitol Records liked to do, thus the "The Beatles Again" / "Hey Jude" album slipped in between releases as a way of featuring some tracks that never made their way to an LP here in The States ... much the way "Past Masters" would do when The Beatles' catalog was finally released on CD many years later.
I have to admit, however, that I really DO like your way of thinking ... make the existing album an even better one!
As a first time contributor, welcome to the fold! Hope to hear more from you in the future. Thanks, Scott! (kk)
Ready to weigh in with your picks?
More tomorrow in Forgotten Hits!
