50th Anniversary all things Beatles White Album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tinnox, Feb 8, 2018.

  1. Isaac Azimuth

    Isaac Azimuth Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    You're so right. A GREAT present any day of the year, for that matter!
    (sorry to tune in so late, but I was traveling and couldn't sign on).

    From first mid-2000's rumors to placing my eventual order, I knew this was THE book I'd been waiting for and HAD to have. I couldn't believe they were only asking $100 (other people remember $120, and may well be right, but I remember some kind of early-bird special in the first wave of the release). Anyway, moot point now. I bought an original copy the moment it was finally available in the spring of 2006. So I'm the proud/happy/relieved owner of copy #841 (out of how many made, does anyone know?). It's certainly been the single best investment in Beatles-related publishing I've ever made (particularly in the technical sense) (and indeed - it could be used as ballast for an ocean liner, it's so heavy). Overall, it's the technical brilliance of it which made me decide to chime in now. I know it's been said that some of this material may be "too technical" for some readers. But I think the opposite proves true : it's in fact a pleasure to read, a book you return to again and again. The genius of it lies in its format, scale, and overall sensibilities. As deep as you may want to dig, it welcomes you. Non-technical people and recording engineers alike will most certainly enjoy it.

    It's astonishing how much material is crammed between these covers! (I only wish they could've reprinted every single track sheet and session log). Ryan & Kehew break things down so skillfully that the acclimation begins instantly. For those who enjoy such things (who doesn't?), there are gorgeous photos of every single piece of equipment, and every room in the EMI complex. It all has a leisurely, encyclopediac structure, with plentiful side-essays and vignettes. There are detailed flow-charts illustrating how the studio signal-chains functioned, and - most helpfully - they artfully break down the crucial process of "bouncing" tracks. In the Beatles' case, this is perhaps the most important innovation they spearheaded - which process reveals both the limitations of working with, and the ingenious resourcefulness applied to using those "primitive" 4-track recorders they did some of their most ambitious work on. The authors create helpful charts of the constituent tracks which eventually fill a 4-track-tape, for example. Then they both visualize and describe how those 4 discrete tracks got premixed/copied to a second reel. And then what came next : mixing, f/x, the million other steps involved. Soon you're joining in the process, reading along as eagerly and clearly as you would follow a gripping novel, with mental light-bulbs going off continually : "Oh, I see - now that those 4 sounds have been combined onto one track, they have 3 new tracks freed-up to be filled!" How EMI's madly inventive in-house boffins and their devices functioned in treating these developing layers has never been better illuminated. There's nothing like good pictures to bring home the point of such clear-eyed descriptive writing.
    There are times you get overwhelmed and have to put it down. But once these recording concepts come clear, the book is a pure adventure saga. And the authors are just as great writing about the people, aesthetics and ideas at Abbey Road as they are at capturing how necessity IS the mother of invention (and that motherhood took many brilliant guises over the years: guiding-light pioneers like Stuart Eltham, Malcolm Addey, Peter Bown, Ken Townsend, and later, Norman Smith, Geoff Emerick, Ken Scott. And, truly, a cast of hundreds more, right through the present day). It would truly be a Public Service if Ryan & Kehew reprint this book. It is such a beautiful, opulent object, with no production expense spared; in fact, I wonder if they didn't in fact lose money publishing it so lavishly, and maybe that explains the long gap.
    RTB is of the great adventures stories I've ever had the privilege to read, and I do SO hope it can be made available in Kindle or some other pdf format, because all becomes clear reading this masterwork.
    (And yes - the mixing desk poster IS frame-able! I did it myself, and gratefully see it every day.)
    I know I'll have this book open as I explore the WA50th Deluxe, that's for sure!
    Happy hunting, all, and maybe we can take up a petition/collection here to get this back in print!
     
  2. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    I can't plug it enough. Poster ? Not just poster, includes lyrics, photos/postcard and desk charts! Really complements all the rest of The Beatles 50th Anniversaries to come.

    #841 "
    Where's your number located?

    Mines was $100
    August 1, 2006.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2018
    tinnox likes this.
  3. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Mine is #64, signed on the title page. How many copies was the first edition?
     
    alexpop and tinnox like this.
  4. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    :laugh:
     
    tinnox likes this.
  5. The slow Revolution is awesome. They really are two different attitudes. Two different songs.
     
  6. HardTimesRoughLines

    HardTimesRoughLines She learned me life is sweet and God is good

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    You tell him, son. He deserves more actually. Way more.

    Best regards,

    HTRL
     
    stevechang64 and tinnox like this.
  7. jtiner

    jtiner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maine
    I remember when I was about 13, I was playing Revolution 1 and then I switched the turntable speed to 45. I was amazed, and was certain I had discovered a secret.
     
    alx7, jammincrowe and tinnox like this.
  8. YpsiGypsy

    YpsiGypsy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    alx7, Bern and tinnox like this.
  9. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    It would be cool to have the one after 909 :)
     
    alx7, Kim Olesen, alexpop and 2 others like this.
  10. autumn daze

    autumn daze I really don't belong here

    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    The White Album was album of the day on BBC Radio 6 today, I’ve just learned. Did anybody listen in and, if so, were there any tracks from the new set played?

    I’m on a train home with fairly awful internet coverage so can’t check!
     
  11. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Thx for heads up.
     
    tinnox and autumn daze like this.
  12. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Well I got my book with all the goodies on board, but not personalised signed.
    Think I remember a second pressing made shortly after first run. Which would be mine I guess, though no indication I can find it's a second pressing.
     
    Isaac Azimuth and tinnox like this.
  13. numer9

    numer9 Beatles Apologist

    Location:
    Philly Burbs
    Beatlebug, Bern and tinnox like this.
  14. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    How many copies 1000? Signed at least.
     
    tinnox likes this.
  15. Stan94

    Stan94 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris, France
    Sounds better than the one before 911!
     
    blutiga and tinnox like this.
  16. MarkTWIC

    MarkTWIC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bradford
    alx7, Shaddam IV, goer and 3 others like this.
  17. let him run...

    let him run... Senior Member

    Location:
    Colchester, VT USA
    I have #638
     
    Isaac Azimuth and tinnox like this.
  18. beatleroadie

    beatleroadie Forum Resident

    Exactly. I love both. I almost wish they hadn't called it "Revolution 1", because that invites so much undo comparison, but something like "Change Your Head" just to further differentiate the two. Completely different approaches and attitudes in these tracks, and one key lyrical difference, too.

    What's interesting and doesn't get talked about too much is that the Esher demo for "Revolution" is pretty fast, so the single version of "Revolution" was really a return to the original speed of the song after the initial studio session for whatever reason took a slower and experimental turn (probably drug induced as John had gone on a massive acid and mandrax bender right after connecting with Yoko and the Apple launch and just prior to the sessions starting.

    So rather than a radical alteration that John never had in mind but Paul and George made him do like he hinted at in a later interview, the B-side "Revolution" was actually a return to something closer to the original version of the song.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2018
  19. YpsiGypsy

    YpsiGypsy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I have a 1968 US Jacksonville pressing No 2016988
     
  20. Weiland555

    Weiland555 Forum Resident

    A bit OT but I figured the readers of this thread would know better than anyone: Has there ever been talk of an All Things Must Pass remix? I love the songs, but everything sounds so muddled. Some skillful separation of the various sounds would be nice.
     
    tinnox likes this.
  21. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    And don't ever be wrong again. ;)
     
    tinnox and autumn daze like this.
  22. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan

    What orchestral parts is he talking about ?

    Every orchestral part on the White album ? Oh God !

    What exactly would the point of that be ? Only guitars & drums sound good ??? How about vocals can we keep those ?
     
    tinnox and applejam101 like this.
  23. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan

    Actually I prefer the fast one. But with the Shooby Doo wa vocals flown on the fast one

    Like you said, they're so different from each other, it's almost like 2 different songs.

    I got a kick out of some of the alternate takes on Beatles Anthology, some of them were so similar to the official version, you could easily miss what it was !!!

    God bless really good alternates like The 2 Revolutions or the alternate Ob la Di. Stuff that is truly different !
     
  24. autumn daze

    autumn daze I really don't belong here

    Location:
    Milton Keynes, UK
    I love all three Revolutions in different ways, but my favourite is take 20. Take 18 should be wonderful too, just can’t wait to hear it.
     
  25. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Recording The Beatles /Curvebender publishing.
    Amazon has one for $947.00.
    Abebooks ...$989.00

    Not sure if they're numbered.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2018
    tinnox likes this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine