Slowly Digesting The White Album

sounds like you're doing now what I was doing Christmas day 1968. Enjoy.

 

For quickly digesting the White Album.....

 

It's the only Beatle album I can't seem to play to death. It has so much diversity and depth that it always feels fresh to me. Probably the only album in my collection that is eternally fresh and vibrant from first listen to most recent listen.

 

I've had a copy since December 1968. I do have memories of the anticipation, after hearing a few tracks on the radio, of which Obladi-Oblada, Birthday and Back in the USSR come to mind. I listen to it once in a while. You certainly can't complain about a lack of variety on this one!

 

Fascinating to hear the Beatles beginning to fall apart.

 

exactly! And making songs that are their best solo-songs in a way: Paul makes his breeziest pop on "Martha My Dear" and John is at his most vulnerable in "Julia", George finds his connection with rock-music again and Ringo has a country-ditty and a ballad. The unity isn't there anymore, but the talent's still there!
And indeed it makes more sense on vinyl.

 

I'm with all those people who rate it as an epic, rambling, spooky...add any other 'rock review' sounding words...album. It's awesome. Really groovy man.

 

Same here, I'm beginning to think there's a name for this malady... 'Double album agitation syndrome'. In other words, it's like some are asking a lot to devote an hour and a half a go and sit through the whole thing! I've mentioned before, how these days I almost never listen to The Wall, Quadrophenia and The Lamb too (even though Genesis are a top band of mine) because none of these are exactly happy little affairs!

The difference is, that The White Album isn't a concept album - although it can strangely feel that way, it's a heck of a roller coaster ride for certain.. From when I first heard it (bought the double cassette in the early 90s and played it to death - thankfully, being a later issue, it had the correct running order) I could see songs on there that I perceived were quite 'dark' and I don't think that others would agree with this.. but something like Dear Prudence- nice, mellow (after Back in the USSR) and with its delicate intro and almost childlike innocent lyrics - I just felt from the start that there was something there that was maybe a little sinister. Impossible to explain, but it may just have been the tension of the time showing themselves in the music. Or just my imagination running riot. Well, it IS an album for that and I'd say moreso than Pepper.

I didn't get into all the tracks at first- but ones like Back In The USSR, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Helter Skelter and Birthday, that I already knew helped me along the way. As it was split over 4 sides on cassette, it was like having the LP and soon decided that 'side 3' was my favourite. Yer Blues just floored me. Never had much of a problem with Revolution 9 - I'd just let it play though if I played the album regularly, it'd wear thin sometimes. Revolution 1 though - that was one of my least favourite, I'd be hankering for the rocky version though I like it better now and the unedited version is stunning; wish they'd have put that on! Some real oddities on there- Why Don't We Do It In The Road, I thought was hilarious. Martha My Dear and Honey Pie- well, I just thought of Queen when I heard those.

There's a LOT of music on this album and no, it's NOT perfect. But it's a collection or compilation even, of where their heads were at and yes, I've know the album for a fair time now, but I remember how I felt when I first was getting into it. Excitement (as it almost all new to me and I was getting heavily into The Beatles by then) trepidation (on first hearing, would it be a total shambles and half full of garbage?) In time, a lot of it will grow on you- it has to. That's the way their (or ANY) music works - on me, anyway!

 

It contains the extremes of the times. People that don't like it get a big 'whatever' from me! It was a terrible year for me and many other people, riots, extreme generation gap, assassinations...it was awful to live through! There was a 'this could be end times' vibe. So different from '67!

One of my most cherished childhood memories. Bought after pleading with dad the moment I saw it, $10.94 which was super expensive, couldn't wait to get it home to open it so I did that in the car on the way, when my home was less than a mile away Day after Thanksgiving 1968.

The Beatles, along with a few other classic artists of the era, made that year a lot more joyful than it would have been otherwise.

 

I won't say it's my favorite disc by them (I like Revolver a tiny bit more) but it is an absolutely almost perfect album. I still listen to it a lot (almost always on lp). I've never thought of it as 4 solo records glued together. It still sounds like the best band ever to me.

Bobby Sutliff

 

It is a bit dark, but a lot of The Beatles work is, if you care to look closer. One of their songs can appeal to one listener as a happy joyous thing, to another as a dark, foreboding event, and so on. Their darkest album though, is Revolver, where nearly every song is about death. Strangely, it's basically a happy listen. Go figure.

 

Agree! My wife and I were on a long drive the other day and played the album in full. I found it amazing that, on a good day and in a good mood, we would hum and sing every song on it in succession... We didn't go as far as humming "Revolution #9" (the musical bits of course), but it may have been because of the ambiant driving noise more than anything, so we skipped to "Goodnight"... and loved it!... Even the odd tracks we are usually critical of and skip, now after decades of exposure, found us defenseless!

When I was a 12-year old getting into music, in 1970, this album creeped me out a little bit in the shops! I had never seen a white jacket album before (with no "directions for use", so to speak, and sealed) and found it ghostly and scary... When I finally played it, it was even more ghostly and scary! Now it's my favorite Beatles album!

 

I've never looked at it that way before, but mentally going through the tracklisting and lyrics of Revolver...

 

I probably play it more than any Beatles album other than Revolver...........it's less 'of its time' than any other..............I love Revolver to bits, but it is very 1966.............

 

good point...it seems on "Revolver" the characters in the songs are dying and on "The Beatles" The Beatles are dying

 

HA!
I got it for Christmas 1968 too.
Still have my beat up original but I've had several more copies since then.
There are about 8 and a half minutes on side four that manages to stay pristine on each copy ... weird huh?

 

The first time I heard The White Album I was in 8th grade and borrowed it from one of the girls in my class (it had just come out). "Revolution #1" had a skip in it (the girl tried to "fix" it and ended up gouging the guitar intro, adding fuzz). It turned out not to be a skip at all, but the pop from the studio talk-back mic . The first time I heard "Revolution #9" followed by "Goodnight" I cried (the "Paul is dead" rumors were at it's peak at the time) .

Since that time I'd listen to it off and on, now owning 2 copies (one Apple from ~'71 and a purple Capitol in mint condition). I like most of it, but don't listen to Rev#9 too much (although I'd play it backwards on occasion - try doing that on a CD).

 

One thing that's little remarked upon with this LP is it represents really the only time from 1967 on that John Lennon was fully invested and engaged in a Beatles project. As he's noted in interviews, he'd awoken out of his acid-induced slumber and was pretty much back to his old, active self in the sessions, which I think is largely responsible for the tension evident in the tracks. And though this didn't prevent miscalculations like the inane "Bungalow Bill", with tracks like "Dear Prudence", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "I'm So Tired", "Julia" and "Yer Blues" especially, you have John's strongest and most sustained set of great work since Revolver.

 

When it came out originally, my friends and I listened to almost nothing but this album daily for at least 6 months. It was beautiful, dangerous, curious, funny, and simply fantastic. Still one of my favorite Beatles albums.

 

I have always looked at this album a bit differently than other people do. While I do love the album, I certainly agree with George Martin that it should have been pared down to a good single album. This album, especially when I first heard it, has always had a scary vibe to it. They seem completely out of control, STONED out of their minds, especially John, who was on Heroin at this point, and it shows in the music. To me, it shows just how much the dope was taking control over them, and you say to yourself :"This is the same band that recorded Rubber Soul...let alone I want to hold your hand??"

 

anybody who knows me knows that i worship the Beatles as the most important act in the history of popular music bar none and by quite a long way but the WA is not one of my favourites. Side one is as good as anything they did in my opinion but the rest lacks cohesion and its not tight despite many other great songs. However i discount Revolution 9 from either criticism or praise as it can not really counted a song but yet another great groundbreaking effort in innovation, this time it did not work but i applaud the effort and do not criticise it. It was a sign of the times within the group that this LP was not tightened up pre-release, yes i agree that it would have made a great single LP but there are too many good tracks just for one disc and yet not quite enough for two imho....

 

In my opinion the album gave them back some of their edginess/street cred and made them cool again.

It also has some of their best sounding drums and bass on any of their albums.