The White Album - Everybody Has A Different Set Of Favorites

I never skip a song.
Never.
Nope....not one.

 

One of my favorite Beatles tunes period.

 

For those of us who appreciate "Revolution 9", are you familiar with John Cage's Rozart Mix? That was a big influence on it:

 

It reflects the year it was made, 1968 so well....the good and the bad. ....and there was a LOT of Bad. very bad.
So, it is a mirror of the times.

 

I love it and usually play it straight through. However, over the years, I've noticed that my favorite sides are 1, 2, 3 & 4, in that order. I do love the sequencing - all the 'animal' songs on a single side; Rev 9 straight into Good Night, The descending ending of Martha going right into the ascending beginning of I'm So Tired; USSR 'fading' into Dear Prudence, A birthday celebration followed by the blues, etc. All the transitions work wonderfully. But I can't help but feel the album is front-loaded. Doesn't matter though - I still love it.

And yes, the first time listening to it at the age of 13 (in the mid 1970s) was weird. Not just because of Rev 9 either. There's a lot of characters on the album. Prudence, Desmond, Molly, Bungalow Bill, Dylan's Mr Jones, Julia, Martha, etc. There's Savoy Truffle and Wild Honey Pie. There's jet airplanes and fire bells. Someone was in a car crash and lost their hair! There's Blackbirds, Piggies and Raccoons. I don't care who you are - that's a lot of seemingly random and weird stuff! Of course that's part of what makes it great too.

 

Yep, Something for Everyone, and it's not comedy
Want metal? Helter Skelter. Acoustic: Many choices Old Fashioned Rock: USSR Obtuse LKennin Lyrics: many picks Silly love songs: many many picks
Even a guest star.

 

It's kind of more McCartney granny music, but I actually think it's a pretty good, jaunty song overall. Very tight arrangement.

My favorites in no particular order:

Prudence
Gently Weeps
Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Sadie
Skelter
Long Long Long
Cry Baby Cry

I find Lennon's contributions are outstanding in particular. Harrison's are very good. Paul's are a mixed bag.

I think it's the first Beatles album I would reach for at this point, to listen to at about any time, along with Magical Mystery Tour and Abbey Road.

***On another note--I'm looking to purchase the vinyl finally. Can anyone speak to the quality of the most recent remaster / re-release? At about $23 USD, that's right in my price range currently.

 

It's really a somewhat tenuous connection at best - and as you say, no fault of the Beatles themselves. Far creepier is the Beach Boys (Dennis in particular, but others in the band also had some exposure) hanging out with and to some degree indulging the guy.

That being said, there is something about the 'sound' and production of the LP that at times comes off a bit ominous and foreboding. It certainly does make for an interesting journey over the course of its four sides.

 

What makes it work is the diversity and the randomness of the whole thing. When you try to pare it down to one great album you start to see, "oh, this bunch of songs are just Ok," and "this bunch of songs are really solo songs," and "these particular songs don't go together." In a tight, single album format all these things are glaring. When you take the whole thing and it becomes this varied, sometimes rough, rambling journey it works better. The White Album des not contain the best Beatles songs yet it ranks among their best albums. Plus everyone gets to have the ones they like, which would be a real problem if we tried as group to pare it down,

 

"Granny music" is some of the best stuff. Excellent pop songwriting in that realm, which is why so many of those tunes wound up becoming jazz standards--the melodies and changes are so rich.

 

I love the White Album. Especially Sour Milk Sea.

 

I've never found Honey Pie corny at all. To me it's a song full of humour, like several Paul songs on this album (Back to the USSR, Rocky Racoon). I always smile when I hear it.

Agree there's a certain creepy vibe to some of the album lol

 

Mike Love was upset after learning Dennis let the Manson family babysit his kids, according to his book.

Ringo Starr said In the 95 Anthology

" That's a lot of information ( the white album) it should have been 2 albums, white & whiter" said Ringo...

I agree with him, on the other hand, one of the big reasons the Beatles endure now, is all the people who think white album is their best, for some it's the only Beatles they're into.

 

some real tuff stuff to get through.....no doubt.

 

This is one of "those" albums. I turned 17 in 1968 and this album was part of the soundtrack to one of the very best years of my life.
I can not listen to these songs objectively. I listen to this, close my eyes and I'm transported. Bittersweet, magical.

 

The first time I heard "Goodnight" I was 13. I had borrowed a copy from one of the girls in my class. It was one of the very first Beatles albums I listened to all the way through. The effect of "Goodnight" after hearing the complete "Revolution #9" for the very first time made me cry. This was at the height of the "Paul is dead" rumors. Hearing Ringo singing a melancholy ballad (OK it's a lullaby) made me think that Paul was supposed to be singing this (at the time I had no idea it was actually John's song).

 

... Except for Me & My Monkey.

We like the whole thing and prefer to listen to it all the way through.

 

...the baby crying is quite weird...for me, the scary part is the section with the reverberated priestly chant and a moan in the foreground...nightmarish, to be sure.

 

Sorry about this...

 

Me and My Monkey is not much of a "song" but it's a great performance/recording/imo. I love it for the bass lines and razor sharp lead guitar tones during the verses.

 

This!

 

Amen m'brothers. And if I don't have time for the entire album, I always do a complete side at a time.

 

I guess we could pick a favorite side. I think mine is side two!

 

Excellent point.

 

I had such a visceral dislike of Revolution 9 from the moment the White Album came out and my sister bought it (and I sneaked it away from her when she wasn't home). It wasn't till the '80s that I listened to that song all the way through, and probably another 10 years before I listened to the entire White Album from start to finish. Definitely needs to be heard as a whole, the same way I never listen to Dark Side of the Moon anymore unless I have enough time, privacy and focus to listen from start to finish. An entirely different experience from hearing a song or two.