The tracks on the White Album are sacrosanct and not to be added to or subtracted, but remixes are cool because...well...we can have SOME messing around but not TOO much messing around. Too bad for George, John, and George Martin. If Ringo's the last Beatle standing... expect to really hear some loud drums featured in any future new mixes. If Paul is the last one, you'll hear some mighty fine lead bass. Prominent and up front in any new future mixes. Oh yeah. And LOUD. McCartney/Lennon...FINALLY!
"The Beatles" is what it is. If the Beatles and their estates choose to create a different version, so what? They own these recordings and can do whatever they wish with them. If they all agree to wipe everything but Paul and Ringo from a release they can do that. If they want to reverse the running order, sure. Change the songs on it, okay. Replace George and John with Dhani and Sean, have Zak punch it up a bit, sure, whatever. It's their stuff. It wouldn't be the White Album, it would be something different. It will sit beside the originals, not replace them. There's plenty of room for everyone.
If it was good enough for Sir Paul McCartney to call it the White Album, then it's good enough for me to do the same. And maybe generations from now, the future estates will do who knows what to the White Album. And some will STILL be fine with all KINDS of futzing and remixing. As long as they don't DARE add Hey Jude at the end...like some kind of a poser bonus track.
I can understand that point of view though I disagree with it; as the years go by it is far better to position the Beatles albums in the best way possible to attract new, young listeners. The Beatles not putting their hits on their albums is very problematic in this regard. When streaming in one of the popular music services, youngsters search for song titles, not album titles. "Hey Jude" should lead them to the White Album, not Past Masters Vol. 2. Wait. What? Pick one direction and stick with it. Sacrosanct or open season?
I copied the notes directly from the linked website, resisting the urge to modify or editorialize. I wasn't commenting on the accuracy of the observations, just providing what I believe to be the most definitive listing of variant mixes present on The Beatles Box. I think the mix of "I'm Only Sleeping" is the U.S. stereo mix present on later pressings of the album (and on tape releases). Even the U.S. Rarities album included some hyperbole, calling versions "extremely rare" when they were easily available in German record shops or on charting singles.
Yoko rerecording "Goodnight" would be different I assume the demo of "Circles" would be included? Someone ages ago made me a tape of unreleased stuff including "Circles",haven't listened to it in ages
That Esher version of "Circles" is one of the creepiest things the Beatles ever put to tape, IMHO. That song probably would have made the White Album had George not written "Long, Long, Long."
Here's an alternate White Album poster someone (I forget who) put together back in 2010 or so. I liked it so much, I had it printed as a real poster from the PDF file and it's been hanging in my home ever since!
I saw this - or something very much like it, but not the real one - for sale as a poster in a shop in Mathew Street in Liverpool around 1981. There was a pile of them. Why I didn't buy one, I'll never know. (I bought a bootleg Joni Mitchell/James Taylor LP instead - shame on me...)
It must have been one like this as this was created in 2010. I made a "swap" of PDF files with the guy who designed it. In return, he got a McCartney poster I had put together (which is also still hanging in my home):
Thanks, but I'd do it slightly different today. Nine across by eight down would make it easy to do as a 36"x24" poster, for which the frame options become significantly cheaper!
With all due respect, to hell with young listeners (and at 37, I may qualify). We shouldn't re-sequence the movements of a Beethoven symphony, nor add and subtract tracks to In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, and we certainly shouldn't add "Hey Jude" to an album it doesn't belong too. As a bonus track sure. But to replace "Good Night" is an absurd idea. The art stands on its own and attracts who it attracts. The very notion of art being altered to appeal to a younger generation seems antithetical to the purpose of art having significance in relationship to the time period it was created.
I agree wholeheartedly with your logic. But here's the thing: There are already 10,500,000 copies of the White Album in its original configuration. It's out there. It's not like I'm advocating that they all get recalled. My point is that if the Beatles are going through the trouble to re-release the LP in a manner designed to appeal to a younger audience in terms of punch/mixing they might as well go all the way and release it with the singles incorporated. It's easy to just tack them on at the end, but I believe they can actually improve the work by removing weaker songs and making them the bonus tracks instead. And I think as an older, established fan it would be cool to see what Paul and Giles would recommend as an alternate track listing. Better than us guessing individually. "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" are definitely White Album tracks, they were recorded amongst all the other songs, Jude was recorded between "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Mother Nature's Son", quintessential White Album cuts, and "Revolution" was recorded the day after "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da". These aren't nomads. They are integral. This isn't blasphemy. The original works exist in the original configurations. If the Beatles intentions are to re-release all their LP's with more interesting mixes and more punchy sound, well, don't stop there. Do something more important. Make sure the right songs are on there.
