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White Album as a single disc?
14 August 2019
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Jules
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Mine goes like this. Mind you, I’m obeying the rules. That goes: 14 tracks, two singed by Harrison, one by Ringo. Also, no Hey Jude or Revolution , and no unreleased tracks. Just tracks from the actual White Album . It ended up being 44:43 minutes long so right on timepaul-mccartney-thumb_gif

 

Side A = 22:12

1) Back In The USSR  = 2:43

2) Dear Prudence = 3:56

3) Glass Onion = 2:18

4) Blackbird = 2:18

5) While My Guitar Gently Weeps = 4:45

6) Sexy Sadie = 3:15

7) Julia = 2:57

 

Side B = 22:31

8) Savoy Truffle = 2:54

9) Yer Blues = 4:01

10) I’m So Tired = 2:03

11) Helter Skelter = 4:30

12) Happiness Is A Warm Gun = 2:47

13) Cry Baby Cry = 3:02

14) Good Night = 3:14

 

First off, I know there are 8 tracks by John and just 3 by Paul. There’s a reason for that. And that is… plainly… John’s musicianship on this album shines more. And not because Paul’s melodies aren’t as sharp as always. But because Paul is always going silly on the White Album , whilst John’s version of the White Album is a more serious one, which I appreciate way more, and I think makes for a very seriously thrilling experience. That’s why I can’t include Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da , Honey Pie , Rocky Raccoon  or Martha My Dear . If they are not together, they don’t add to the album. And I can’t put those four tracks inside the single LP, because it takes too much room that should instead be filled by John’s serious writing. Besides, I structured the listing so John doesn’t have more than two spots in a row. So it goes Paul, John, John, Paul, George, John, John, George, John, John, Paul, John, John, Ringo.

Then, the order. The first three tracks I don’t need to change. Back in the U.S.S.R. dissolves perfectly into Dear Prudence , and after Dear Prudence , Glass Onion shakes the listener again for the rest of the album, besides, its lyrics get the listener invested, referencing previous albums. It’s a perfect post-opener. I think those three tracks are the only ones that transitioning from a double album to a single album, they don’t lose their pace.

Then, Blackbird . Which I think comes perfectly after the descending string of Glass Onion . If I put it after Dear Prudence , it goes guitar with guitar, and it sounds monotonous. It already sells the variety of the album, as it is not only hard rock tunes, if Dear Prudence didn’t sell that already. That invests the listener even more, unpredictability.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps has to be on side A, because it’s a classic that everybody loves, including the Eric Clapton feature to get them all excited. While My Guitar Gently Weeps is perfect after Blackbird , because even though it is predominantly en electric song, I don’t know, it just sounds similar. I know it’s in a different key but it kind of sounds like they are connected if you play one after the other. It has the same pace and it starts with a piano added to an acoustic guitar. As if it was a reprise, or a recontinuation of Blackbird , taking it to somewhere different. Seriously, try it out, they go pretty well back to back.

Sexy Sadie is one of the tracks I put in as a deflexer. To me it’s one of the better tracks on the full album, and it works perfectly as a transition to Julia . Also, it sketches what Cry Baby Cry will reprise on side B.

Oh, that. I arranged it in a way so side A and side B mirror each other. For example, the only two tracks that have reprises within them are Blackbird and Helter Skelter . They are also the softer and louder tracks on the album, so they are both on 4th position. Also, Sexy Sadie and Cry Baby Cry sound alike, so they are both the 6th track on their respective sides. Also, Julia and Good Night are both quiet endings, both 7th place. Back in the U.S.S.R. and Savoy Truffle are hard hitting beginnings, both 1st place.

Savoy Truffle to me is the most Beatlesque song on the album, and it is paradoxically written by our boy George. I think it starts up side B better than Birthday does on the double album. Then after it, Yer Blues comes along: a blues tune, with an  entirely new sound, also a jam session, which I think I think confirms the ways this album manages to reinvent itself time and time again. Then, just like in side A the chilling songs make some sort of medley (Blackbird , While My Guitar Gently Weeps , Sexy Sadie , Julia ), in side B the protagonism goes to the hard rock tunes, and they also create a short vignette soup.

That is: Yer Blues , I’m So Tired , Helter Skelter and Happiness Is A Warm Gun . This four tracks flow like a river on that order. I’m So Tired feels like a melancholic interlude, one of my favourite tracks. This is because Helter Skelter can’t just appear from nothing, and it also feels like a continuation of I’m So Tired , being on the same scale as well. Happiness Is A Warm Gun enters softly after Helter Skelter . So you get ‘I GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERRRSshe’s nooot a giiirl

Then, finally, Cry Baby Cry and Good Night . Cry Baby Cry feels to me like the Carry That Weight of the White Album , so it should be included as a pre-closer. You know, a catchy refrain, sung by more than one member of the band. To me it’s the final climax before the ending. The lyrics sound like a combination of the irony on Happiness Is A Warm Gun and the sweet lullaby of Good Night . It’s a key transition point in the album. Sadly not one of the most beloved tracks on the original album, but it makes perfect sense to me in here. It slows down the pace of Happiness Is A Warm Gun , it prepares you for the slow beautiful fairy-like ending Good Night . Also, it includes Can’t You Take Me Back, which works as a replacement for Revolution 9 . In fact, it is a better interlude at that, given it only lasts 30 seconds, instead of 8 minutes.

And well, Good Night is a perfect closer, that, alone, turns the album into a beautiful experience that means everything other than if it just abruptly ends with no Ringo voice. Also, Ringo is perfect for closing the album. As, if the White Album (single LP) was a studio concert/jam session of a lot of different genres and unresolved ideas, after Cry Baby Cry , all of the members of the band are tired and want to go to sleep, and while they pack everything up and leave the room and turn off the lights slowly, Ringo sings the last lullaby, orchestrated by George Martin. Beautiful. This is how I’ve always seen this closer, probably one of my favourite closers, along with every other closer on the Beatles discography lol.

 

—Tracks I didn’t include.—

 

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da / Martha My Dear / Rocky Raccoon / Honey Pie

Too corny. Paul being silly, even thought it improves the double album, it harms the single version.

 

Wild Honey Pie / Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? / I Will / Revolution 9

Interludes, that don’t make sense on a 14 track album. And Revoultion 9 even thought it’s particular and it could give personality to the album, it’s too damn long!

 

The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill / Piggies / Don’t Pass Me By / Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey / Long, Long, Long

Truthfully, not good enough. I mean, I like some of these songs but it’s the White Album and we have to keep it tight.

 

Birthday : there’s already Back in the U.S.S.R., better, and not in need of a reprise.

Mother Nature’s Son : there’s already Blackbird , better, and not in need of a reprise.

Revolultion 1: speaking in context, with the Revolution single already out, it is a waste of space that could be filled with better, brand new songs. Still a very good version.

 

I think I covered everything. The album value, the point of the tracks, cohesion, diversity, hit tracks like While My Guitar Gently Weeps , Blackbird and Helter Skelter , which are beautiful tracks on their own. And also, filler songs that work in context such as Glass Onion , Sexy Sadie , I’m So Tired and Good Night . That’s my single LP White Album , tell me what you think of it.

EDIT:

@CakeMaestor said

However I think that either “Yer Blues ” or “Helter Skelter ” should be the opening track to start Side 2, instead of “Savoy Truffle “. I think it will be a better transition to place “Savoy Truffle ” in between the two as a sort of charming interlude too both tracks. But that’s just my opinion.

I thought about it. But in the end I think Savoy Truffle would make a better opener for two reasons:

One of them would be that it’s not as good a song as Yer Blues and Helter Skelter are (purely on their own). What I mean is that making it the opener empowers it enough to be paid enough attention to. I think the chants of “CREEME TANGERINE AND MONTELIMAR” are great pump-up opener lyrics. And the pace of the song is fast enough to mimic Back in the U.S.S.R. on side A.

If you open up with Helter Skelter or Yer Blues you’re giving to heavy a material to soon. Savoy Truffle is a great way to not only give protagonism to George (instead of “just a transition”) but also save the best for later.

The other reason has to do with the structuring of side B regarding side A. I clarified that I was trying to mirror both sides. Helter Skelter fits the mirroring of Blackbird better because it has a reprise. Savoy Truffle sounds more like Back in the U.S.S.R. in that regard. And I already clarified that putting the songs in side B fulfill a specific purpose.

Savoy Truffle – soft rock

Yer Blues – hard rock

I’m So Tired – soft rock

Helter Skelter – hard rock

Happiness Is A Warm Gun – soft rock

Also the initial drums/organ on Savoy Truffle are a great combination of softness and groove. Listen to it, I think it sounds great.

Although if I were to make the change you proposed I’d go for Helter Skelter . Because if you’re gonna go unapologetically hard, go all the way. But I’d stick with Savoy Truffle for now.

Btw:

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15 August 2019
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@Jules I find your list incredibly interesting, and I mostly agree with it. However I think that either “Yer Blues ” or “Helter Skelter ” should be the opening track to start Side 2, instead of “Savoy Truffle “. I think it will be a better transition to place “Savoy Truffle ” in between the two as a sort of charming interlude too both tracks. But that’s just my opinion.

A very nice track-list you’ve got here, though I would’ve changed a few things. Nevertheless, still very good.

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11 September 2019
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Just for fun, I tried to pick out the 14 “worst” tracks, just to see what kind of album it would make.  You might say it breaks the rules, because there are two Ringo songs on there.  So if you have a problem with that, substitute Birthday .

Some of these songs I love, but I included them for various reasons.  Ob-La-Di is arguably commercial, but a lot of people don’t like it (John included).  Revolution I is awesome, but the Revolution single had already been out, so some say it doesn’t need to be on there.  Looking at it, the album still looks pretty strong.

 

Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don’t Pass Me By

Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?
I Will
Long Long Long
Revolution 1
Honey Pie
Revolution 9
Good Night

28 October 2019
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This is my final version.  In fact, I have the songs in a folder on my PC and it’s all I ever listen to for the White Album .  I only have 12 songs for two reasons.  First, I’m not fond of the remainder of the LP.  Secondly, it clocks in at roughly the same amount of time as Revolver , Rubber Soul , etc., like their usual 14 song albums. 

Also, the order is just as they appear on the album.  So, you get a nice opening and closing to the album.  And, the pace/flow of the album is excellent too. 

1) Back In The USSR

2) Dear Prudence

3) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

4) Martha My Dear

5) Blackbird

6) Julia

7) Yer Blues

8) Mother Nature’s Son

9) Helter Skelter

10) Revolution 1

11) Savoy Truffle

12) Good Night

I also like the fact that there are 5 Lennon songs, 5 McCartney songs, and 2 Harrison songs.  It’s a good balance.  I just now noticed that there are 3 songs from each side.  This was not intentional.  But, I think they’re the 3 best songs from each side.

I welcome your thoughts.  Thanks!

If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one album with me, it would be Revolver. 

I just hope that I would have some means of playing it.  Ha ha!

28 October 2019
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I’d swap Julia for Birthday because the former is like the disc 1 equivalent of Good Night whereas Birthday is this upbeat energetic song that transitions into Yer Blues very well.

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28 October 2019
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For me:

1. Back In The USSR (a great rocking start to any album)

2. Dear Prudence

3. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da

4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

5. I’m So Tired

6. Blackbird

7. Piggies

8.Don’t Pass Me By

9. I will

10. Julia

11. Birthday

12. Helter Skelter

13. Long long long

14. Revolution 1

The only problem being that we would all want the other tracks released somewhere else (Rarities, Anthology, etc.)

Turn off your stream, relax and float down mind

29 October 2019
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Dark Overlord said
I’d swap Julia for Birthday because the former is like the disc 1 equivalent of Good Night whereas Birthday is this upbeat energetic song that transitions into Yer Blues very well.

  

LOL!  I think Birthday is one of the worst Beatles songs ever!  Julia is a much better composition, in my opinion.

If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one album with me, it would be Revolver. 

I just hope that I would have some means of playing it.  Ha ha!

30 October 2019
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Emmett said

Dark Overlord said

I’d swap Julia for Birthday because the former is like the disc 1 equivalent of Good Night whereas Birthday is this upbeat energetic song that transitions into Yer Blues very well.

  

LOL!  I think Birthday is one of the worst Beatles songs ever!  Julia is a much better composition, in my opinion.

  

Birthday is kinda weak, but it’s a fun song.  Nowhere near their worst.

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Emmett said

Dark Overlord said

I’d swap Julia for Birthday because the former is like the disc 1 equivalent of Good Night whereas Birthday is this upbeat energetic song that transitions into Yer Blues very well.

  

LOL!  I think Birthday is one of the worst Beatles songs ever!  Julia is a much better composition, in my opinion.

  

Gasp! Certainly not! Birthday is good fun. 

Your disc looks very nice, though, I applaud you for including Savoy Truffle .

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Okay, here goes my first “proper” forum post!

I actually made a single-album playlist awhile ago, and it goes like this:

1. Back In The USSR

2. Dear Prudence

3. Glass Onion

4. Ob-La-Di, Ob La-Da

5. Wild Honey Pie

6. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

8. Happiness Is A Warm Gun

9. Mother Nature’s Son

10. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide

11. Blackbird

12. Sexy Sadie

13. Long Long Long

14. Helter Skelter

Now, before anyone says anything: yes, I realize I didn’t even slightly alter the order of the first 8 songs. Even I found this suspicious, and I was the one who made the selection. Perhaps it’s because I heard those songs more than the rest of the album when I was younger, I don’t really know. I can’t give a good reason for keeping Wild Honey Pie either–I guess I can’t imagine Bungalow Bill without that song preceding it.

As for the list as a whole–it has the virtues of having a perfect balance of John and Paul songs, as well as two stunning George pieces. The problem is the lack of Ringo. Does his part in the Bungalow Bill chorus count?

I think Good Night is an amazing album closer, but once I hit upon Helter Skelter as the album closer, I fell in love with the idea. It’s a perfect closer: loud, climactic, with Ringo’s scream completing the whole experience. It shows how, despite many of his other contributions to the album, Paul was still the most forward-thinking of the Fab Four in many ways. 

I originally had Birthday on the list instead of Mother Nature’s Son , until a friend of mine reminded me how great the latter is, and I don’t regret that decision at all.

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First post here! I tried doing this recently following the “14 songs, 2 for George, 1 for Ringo” rule and this is what I came up with. About as close as I think I’m ever gonna get to a tracklisting I’m happy with.

  1. Back In The USSR
  2. Dear Prudence
  3. Glass Onion
  4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
  5. Don’t Pass Me By
  6. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
  8. Revolution 1
  9. Martha My Dear
  10. I’m So Tired
  11. I Will
  12. Helter Skelter
  13. Long, Long, Long
  14. Julia
1 March 2020
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You know, as I keep reading this lists, and revisiting my own, I realize how much better the White Album would’ve been if it was tighter. A lot of people defend its variety, but I personally find it annoying. Like, if I could get to Helter Skelter without listening to Wild Honey Pie and Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? it would be so much better. I feel everybody on this subtopic is struggling to cut down the track listing to a 14 track album. I personally found it pretty easy.

I just want to find some agreement, among so many 30-track White Album lovers. Are there any people that agree the White Album is kind of tedious because of some bad songs? Are there any people who can honestly thoroughly enjoy and stand by the 30 tracks the same way they would with a Magical Mystery Tour or a Rubber Soul ? Please feedback if so, tell me some of your favorite tracks, and if not, what cuts would you skip?

I, for example, can’t stand Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da , it’s too sloppy of a recording. I can’t stand The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill , I think the chorus is obnoxious even if the verses are OKAY. Piggies has overall poorly executed baroque instrumentation. Don’t Pass Me By must be to me the worst Beatles song ever made, sorry Ringo. I Will I used to like but now it’s just not good enough. Birthday it’s corny. Long, Long, Long , is alarmingly unimpressive considering how much I love George’s solo career. And honestly, Revolution 9 was a bad idea, and I don’t think anyone truly likes it, they must be full of sh*t; if anyone else made that, they would’ve been butchered, it’s anti climatic and longer than life.

My point, though, is that this album has music that turned the entire music industry on its head. Some of the best recorded music The Beatles ever put out. My life wouldn’t be the same without for example Dear Prudence , probably my favourite Beatles song. Happiness Is A Warm Gun , one of the strongest writing points for John. I’m So Tired , one of my favourite Beatles songs ever, has one of the best progressions and refrains I’ve ever heard. Blackbird , the sweetest thing ever. Yer Blues , hard as f*ck. Sexy Sadie , underrated. Savoy Truffle , George’s funniest. And Cry Baby Cry , one of their best ballads and also underrated; all of them priceless.

Then there’s some personal favourites such as Martha My Dear , Rocky Raccoon , Mother Nature’s Son , Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey and Honey Pie , most of them silly Paul ballads. This songs I like, but I wouldn’t include them on my single version because they’re good on their own, but are kind of a mood-killer inside of a track-listing, and for most people are just not that good. Regardless, inside of the 30 track album I feel they’re out of place and I would prefer them as singles or inside of a postumous album or whatever, they don’t collide with John’s seriousness and George’s edgyness, which to me are key characteristics of the White Album .

Also, some of my not-favorites are still great to sit through because of how important they are. Back in the U.S.S.R. is not my favourite, but it is one of the funniest rock tunes they ever made. Glass Onion is not a great track for me, but it revolutionized meta-writing, self-referencing lyrics, and it is short and plain, which makes it to me a highlight. While My Guitar Gently Weeps is really a moment of redemption for George, and a track even though I don’t appreciate as much as others, you have to respect it for how melodic and grand it manages to be. Julia is also a song I don’t particularly love, but it’s still such an important song for John and his development as an artist overall, that I wouldn’t take it out off the album. And of course, Helter Skelter , which I find over-long, is the hardest song The Beatles ever did, it is said to have invented the basis for heavy metal, which is something I buy, because I can’t find a harder song before it: it made The Kinks and The Who look like wusses at the time lol; so it does have listening value, I would keep it in the album. Finally Good Night I love as a concept-closer, maybe not as much as an individual track, but the fact that a plain orchestra along with Ringo’s voice ends the album to me is pricelessly charming, so that’s a keeper.

So this album is pretty much the most torn I’ve been on an album, like, ever.

Take Revolver , for example, one of my favourites. If the White Album where just the right songs it could be as good as Revolver to me. Imagine if The Beatles released Revolver but instead of that 14 track bliss that is Revolver , we got Revolver but in between every track we got a sub-par recording/leftover from the studio. It would be angering, wouldn’t it be? That is basically what I feel about the White Album . Could you say every track in here is as good as every track on Revolver ? Could you say the worst song on Revolver is worst than, say, the 3rd worst song on the White Album ? Could you make a better album off of Revolver including worst tracks than the ones on it to the tracklist?

I appreciate the structure of the album as an influential milestone. My favorite Beatles albums are Abbey Road and Revolver , because of how consistently good they are; yet I think the most INFLUENTIAL Beatles albums are Sgt. Pepper and the White Album . Sgt. Pepper because of the concept album. And the White Album as a consistently imitated formula across the board: a double album consisting on hit and misses of the artist. Without it, we wouldn’t get albums structured like Physical Graffiti and The Life of Pablo, which are also masterpieces. That doesn’t mean I have to listen through Don’t Pass Me By and ignore that it’s just a troubling red light in the middle of a Beatles album, as many tracks in here.

Please respond with respect and constructive points. Wanna know your thoughts because this is something I’ve always find troubling! For further thoughts on my single LP White Album , read my post from 6 months ago, as well as my 30 track ranking at the sub-post of “Ranking 30 tracks from White Album “.

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1 March 2020
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White Album is fine the way it is 

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1 March 2020
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The problem is cutting it down to a point where everyone agrees or is willing to compromise on a final 14, and due to the vast differences in the material it would never happen. Most folk would demand Ringo gets a track but I’d willingly omit both of his numbers if the choice had to be made and then be stubborn and forever point to ‘AHDN ‘ and ‘LIB ‘ for such an outcome to be possible.

I cannot say I have any interest in ever seeking out ‘Bungalow Bill’ (the best part is the outro, the rest is pretty crap – and it was a crap demo and take 2 is a crap outtake) but then I’d happily dump ‘Helter Skelter ‘ (it’s noise at the end of it all with abysmal lyrics), ‘Sexy Sadie ‘, and replace ‘Savoy Truffle ‘ with ‘Long Long Long’, which @Jules would probably kill me over. ‘I Will ‘ would definitely be in. 

Revolution 9 ‘ is the biggest issue as it is not and was never meant to be a standard Beatles song (intro, verse, chorus etc) so should never be taken as such. Does that merit it to be removed immediately? On listening pleasure alone then yes, but that’s approaching the track wrongly from the outset and my stubborn side kicks in. And regardless of whether you hate it with a deep fiery passion or not ‘The White Album ‘ would not be the same album without it (I don’t believe for a second anyone would ever deliberately seek it out to hear due to liking it so much like the rest of their favourite songs). So what the hell do you do with it? Most folk would immediately vote to bin it, and understandably so, but ‘CYTMB’ is so intrinsically linked to ‘Cry Baby Cry ‘ and moving into ‘R9’ but with the latter gone does ‘CYTMB’ go? If so I think some of the eeriness of ‘CBC’ is immediately lost to the detriment of the track (and ‘CBC’ one of my favourites).  

Basically, I don’t think it’s as simple as pick 14 and it’s a masterpiece. John, Paul and George M worked for 24 hours straight to get the album as they wanted it, to start ripping out over half of the tracks automatically only rips out so much of its bizarre unexplainable appeal, regardless of how much people hate some of the numbers. It’s probably like ‘Pepper’ and the ‘Abbey Road ‘ medley, start looking too deep and wanting to change it will only screw it up and take away that which makes it ultimately so good; the whole far outweighs the parts.

So I’m with Paul on this but I get why the issue is so hotly debated/contested.

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"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

1 March 2020
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Jules
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I loved your reply @meanmistermustard specifically because it was more elaborate than @Dingle Lad ‘s

I totally agree with most of what you’re saying here, and the clip you put along was something I’ve seen before but I forgot about it. And maybe I agree with Paul too.

Here’s the thing. I don’t think the White Album should be changed or literally re-released as a single album, that’s not my opinion, that would be stupid. The White Album has come to be so perfect for so many people because most just listen all the way through because they like a couple of tracks, and in the end they end up loving every single one, good or bad, just for the sheer heavy value it either has to you personally, or to the music industry as a whole.

I personally have sit and enjoyed the entire album without skipping tracks a number of times to really get a grip of the sensation the album caused on rock history, and personally I found it to be an enriching experience.

The same has happened to me with a number of albums, like Velvet Underground & Nico. You start liking just two tracks, then you like the experience as a whole. I get how most people would feel weird not listening to Wild Honey Pie after Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da or, for that matter, With A Little Help From My Friends without the Billy Sheers before it.

That’s the same reason people think Let It Be Naked was such a failure. Maybe it was a better album, it had the ‘better’ versions of Across The Universe and The Long And Winding Road , Don’t Let Me Down , and there was no Dig It or Maggie Mae : but after 30 years of putting on the record and listening to “‘I Dig a Pygmy‘, by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids” before Two of Us started, loosing that feels like loosing a part of yourself, wether it’s good or bad, it just doesn’t feel right. “It’s great, it sold, it’s the bloody Beatles’ White Album , shut up”. He’s probably right, but then why did he changed LIB so much? Where is Doris and her oats?

A couple of things besides:

Yes, I would kill you for putting Long, Long, Long over Savoy Truffle , bruh you killing me (I don’t care, man taste is subjective)

I love the Abbey Road Medley how it is way more than I love the tracklist on the White Album , so I would disagree to change it way more strongly. The point of the Medley was that every song summed to it because they where connected and on the same scale. I definitely feel more reluctant about the White Album ‘s progression. But I agree with you on this quote: “start looking too deep and wanting to change it will only screw it up and take away that which makes it ultimately so good”, which I particularly think is an awesome quote and I loved the way you phrased it. You’re a great writer you know. This is because what makes it so good is no longer the fact that the music is consistently good, is because you have consistently heard the album that way, and any other way would just feel like a brand new album that it would take the same amount of time to get into as it took with the original album.

And finally, to close my point and answer to @Dingle Lad and everyone who thanked him [who none of them thanked me ;(]. I wouldn’t agree the White Album is fine. It isn’t fine. This is the album that has Happiness Is A Warm Gun in it, after While My Guitar Gently Weeps , followed by Martha My Dear . This album is awesome. And as you can see in my entire track-count, I love or at least appreciate most of it. My point isn’t that is fine, my point is (and the point of my comparison to Revolver , the best album ever made) that there’s a possibility it could’ve been better.

The White Album has something to me like a fetish value: you don’t love it for what it is anymore, but you love it for what it has been for so damn long. An album that has passed generations and decades of artists and still has some of the best songs ever made in it, and most devoted musicians can name you the entire tracklist of the top of their head. People have seen that tracklist so many times, and they know what songs go where and what role plays in the album, even if it doesn’t play any role, over the year you just accept is there and learn to love the whole package, even if you have to ignore a few things. That’s the thing about albums like Magical Mystery Tour and Revolver , or, I don’t know, In a Silent Way, Illmatic, The Dark Side of the Moon / Animals, Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Thriller, Sticky Fingers, Ziggy Stardust, is that, I don’t have to make that effort. I love every track in every album I just mentioned. I just wish I could say the same about the White Album because there is the potential. And it would probably be the best one on the list if I’m being honest, and it feels like such a waste sometimes. I don’t have to put up with anything until I like them. Think of a White Album that worked that way. I would be willing to sacrifice the value of random bloated albums inspired by the real White Album , just to get another 40-minute masterpiece like Revolver , MMt, Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road (even though I have my issues with Pepper but the tracklist is way more reachable than the White Album ).

What I’m posing is the following:

Imagine you had a time machine and a neuralyzer (the things from Men in Black that erase your memory). And be honest, put aside the love you hold for the current tracklist. You have two options: The White Album , a 44-minute album with 14 tracks, all of them originals, no interludes, all of them classics, this might be the second coming of Sgt. Pepper , you love every single f*cking track on it, it just doesn’t get better, it’s an explotion of music, even if some of your favourites ended up as singles (Hey Jude was a single, so who cares). On the other hand, you have the White Album , a 70-minute experience that contains all of those tracks, but also some whacky interludes that aren’t that creative, at least five more songs you don’t like, other three you think are okay, and other five songs that you don’t like yet but with time you will learn to appreciate once you’ve heard the record fifty times or so, plus an eight-minute cacophony at the end for no particular reason. This is what I think about constantly when I listen to the White Album .

Don’t you think a 14 track White Album would fit The Beatles discography like a cherry on top of a massive cake of pure music genius just a little bit? Like a 45-minute album of pure quality, just pure quality. I don’t think the White Album should be changed by any means, I just can’t shake this feeling off my head that, if we’re allowed to fantasize, I think then the White Album would undoubtedly be my favourite Beatles album. Just the idea that there could be a better Beatles album than Revolver , Abbey Road or Magical Mystery Tour blows my mind. Doesn’t it blow yours? I sometimes listen to my Single Version Playlist on Spotify and get the chills, but is not the same. And that sometimes makes me feel like I’m stuck with the 70-minute White Album instead. Not that I can’t appreciate how beautiful the album is already, I wanna leave that clear.

Anyway thank you for taking the time to answer. Peace and love and keep the replies coming if possible, loving your insight.

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1 March 2020
3.48pm
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The problem is that no album is ever flawless and it is those flaws that often what make the great albums everyone agrees on. ‘Revolver ‘ is not 14 tracks of pure perfection despite how it sometimes appears to be made out (there are discussions even on here on ditching tracks for ‘Paperback Writer ‘ and/or ‘Rain , and I think most would say its better than ‘Pepper’). I don’t believe for a single second therefore that changing history and releasing a 14-track ‘White Album ‘ back in November 1968 would change it as all that would happen is the other side of the debate – which of the other 16/18/20 tracks from the sessions would make the 14 better if changed to make an even better ‘White Album ‘ (or whatever it would have been called). We’re always looking for better because of the flaws but that leads us back to the what I wrote at the beginning.

As for ‘LIBN’, I agree about how the changes made would alienate how people felt due to their emotional attachment to the original but there are massive problems on that due to Apple doing so much to get it right. I really don’t want to turn this into a ‘LIBN’ discussion (there are specific threads for that elsewhere) but in my opinion, Paul and Apple totally fucked that up and it remains one of the biggest pieces of bullshit ever released officially by the Beatles. It’s filled with shitty edits and fixes yet we were endlessly told it was how it should have originally been but wasn’t because of that bad man Phil. You mentioned ‘TLAWR’ and ‘ATU’, well, I find Billy’s solo to be embarrassing on the former (it’s not even the right fucking take!) and there are far superior mixes of ‘ATU’ out there on bootleg. Even the album cover is appalling. I find very little of ‘LIBN’ appealing, as you can see by my tone.

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Jules, lovelyritametermaid

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

1 March 2020
4.15pm
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Jules
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@meanmistermustard I don’t appreciate LIBN either, I hope I made that clear, but it isn’t because of the takes or the music itself in general, I personally love Don’t Let Me Down on that album, for example. I don’t like the idea of re-releasing an album 30 years later, that’s why I totally don’t want another White Album , the same way I know Let It Be Naked is a stupid idea.

As to Revolver , I think we can disagree. I think it’s perfect. I don’t have to do any effort going into that album, I love every single track from top to bottom, and I could tell you why in a very detailed way, and I’m not joking, but I’m guessing I’d do that some other day on a Revolver thread or something. Same with MMT and Abbey Road , and probably most of Pepper (Within You Without You is the mood killer for me). I’m not saying everyone likes Revolver from top to bottom, there’s people that honestly only like half of the tracks, or every track, but only half of each one, and I get it. I’m talking about my vision, and what I envisioned as the non-existent White Album .

Anyway, I still really appreciate your time answering and I mostly agree with everything you just said, my 44-minute White Album is just a freaky idea I get sometimes, and when I really get into it I can’t stop wondering, I’m sure you’ll forgive me for that. Whenever you wanna discuss anything else about the subject or any other subject for that matter on this forum I’m your man, you are really my type of Beatles fan @meanmistermustard , a pleasure.

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1 March 2020
4.52pm
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Obviously reducing the White Album to a single does it a disservice, but it’s still a fun exercise.

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1 March 2020
7.38pm
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sigh butterfly
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Hi @Jules, you can’t really judge the White Album by any standard of quality, artistry, or thematic consistency that exists now. By the end of 1968 the Beatles were like a religion. Their fans wanted to hear everything they recorded or were working on, to see every picture taken of them, to read every word written by or about them. Proof of this is the fact that every song left off of the White Album became the stuff of legend and is still sought after to this day. Even better proof, here we are discussing this albums contents more than 50 years after its release. For myself, I never skipped a song when playing this album. In fact, I never once turned off a Beatle song that was playing on the radio until 1972. I realize this sounds like psychosis (John said as much) but the whole Beatles phenomenon you read about now really happened. 

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3 March 2020
12.11am
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sigh butterfly
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hi.gifImage Enlarger

Hi @Jules – it’s me again sigh. Hey I promise I don’t go around stalking new members, just wanted to explain my post a bit. Yesterday in another thread I read a post from someone who wrote that one of the songs on the White Album practically ruined their life. My thought was “I bet if that song was unreleased in would be one of the most sought after songs on earth”. Then I came to this thread and read all the passionate discussions regarding songs that could have been pulled from the album. My brain began to download and fingers started typing it out. I realize this is a fantasy thread utilizing opinions of the songs to create a single disk. Anything and everything is valid, so please carry on and I apologize for the brief interlude.

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lovelyritametermaid, Jules

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