Would the White Album Have Worked Better as the "Kinfauns Basement Tapes"?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mbleicher1, May 16, 2018.

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  1. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    I think you are correct on all fronts. Now...what we need to focus on from here on out is figuring out how to tap the fabric of the worm hole that will take you back in time to 1968 London to save the horribly uninspired 'White Album'. If you are able to complete this mission, the importance of it is not that you can be the first human to travel back in time, it is that you saved the 'White Album'. On this important undertaking, we may ask you to take as your second in command Mr. Johnny Moondog who also lives in this parallel universe. If you are successful, we may actually witness 'The White Album' rise to its rightful place in Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 10 rather than in the Eternal Dungeon of Forgotten Albums, where it resides now. Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Albert Einstein, Ethel Merman, Charles Nelson Reilly will be footnotes to science and human history once you complete this important mission.
     
  2. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Interesting. I've never done LSD, and I didn't know this was an effect. It does seem to me that the effect of frequent tripping is kind of understated or not looked into when authors investigate the Beatles breakup. Even accounting for John's exaggerations, he did a lot of LSD, even by 1967 standards, and George did a fair amount too. I don't know if I've ever seen a Beatle historian explore what that might have done to their outlook on life generally, or their close relationships specifically. It usually just is presented as something that happened in 1966 and 1967, then stopped. First, that's not true--according to Tim Riley, when John started doing heroin, some of the Beatles' broader circle thought it was great that he was finally off LSD, and that was mid-1968--and second, given how much we know that LSD affected John's work, it's worth exploring how it affected his thinking about other aspects of his life.
     
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  3. TS582

    TS582 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Central MA
    Exactly.

    Yes it was.

    Why does it matter to so many Beatles fans after all these years if they were having fun? Many artists have incredibly dark albums that are fantastic. I really don't get that 50 years on people still discuss the what ifs of the White Album, but I get it that it's your right. Do you like it? Great! Not? Well it's 50 years on.
     
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  4. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    I get that it's discussed but I do think - based on this thread no less - that for some, the stories and legends affect the way they hear the music. Personally, I just don't bring any of that stuff to my listening experience.
     
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  5. mlew

    mlew Pub Rocker

    And the other 60% think it's their worst album :)
     
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  6. One thing I will say for the Kinfauns tapes is that there's a palpable comaraderie and spontaneity in the proceedings that by the time of the rancorous actual White Album sessions seems to have been more or less permanently lost. And some of the lesser songs on the album - to my mind things like "Rocky Raccoon", "Piggies", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" - actually gain in charm with a less fussed over presentation. But at the same time, the more major songs to emerge from the sessions certainly gained from a full band treatment; i.e. "Back In the USSR", "Dear Prudence", "Yer Blues" - so who's to say really. Would be cool if the full demos finally did see release in optimum sound, of course...
     
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  7. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    You said what I’ve been trying to say better than I’ve been able to.

    And to the earlier poster, I don’t care if they were having fun or not, but the album is, to me, more strained, and less fun, to listen to. I still enjoy it, but I don’t feel as good listening to it. I get “weird vibes.” Let It Bleed is dark, but it’s fun to listen to. My question is whether cutting the whole thing at Kinfauns over a couple weeks could have preserved that atmosphere that seems to be permanently lost by the time the Abbey Road sessions are done.
     
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  8. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Put another way, the Beatles’ albums up through MMT make being a Beatle seem like the greatest job in the world. Being a Beatle on the White Album doesn’t seem that great.
     
  9. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Cold Turkey..food poisoning ?
    Got me on the run :D
     
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  10. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    John Bonham did get to play with McCartney > Rockestra.
     
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  11. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    I'm just not hearing the bad vibes on this album. Yes they had a couple of spats I guess, but they all liked the album and enthused about playing as a group again (Ringo), said it had their best material (John), etc.

    It's not my favorite Beatle album, but honestly, if someone asked me "What's their most fun album?", this is the one I'd recommend. A lot of people think that fun is *the* defining characteristic of the WA. It's like a cliche to even say that.

    I'm not doubting what anyone's hearing, but I do believe what's being heard is coloured by the stories. I just don't think it's there in the grooves. I'd love to hear which specific tracks, and what percentage of the album, is strained, or acrimonious sounding, or whatever. Some details!

    As Ringo says in the Anthology (going by memory): it didn't matter what we were going through as persons, when we were working on a track, and the track was good, the bullsh*t went out the window.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2018
  12. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    TWA is not a kiddies album that honor goes to YS. :)
     
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  13. Yovra

    Yovra Collector of Beatles Threads

    Interesting question. The White Album is the third Beatles-album I bought and I was struck by its darkness. Where many of the other Beatles albums sound like a party, here even upbeat tracks like Obla Di Obla Da sound a bit hollow. At the time I consumed this album it fitted my mood perfectly: a confused 17-year old listening to a disjointed band....
    I think if and when the 50-year-box set gets a release Beatles-fans may well be in the position to compile a nice ‘unplugged’ version of the album, leaving out pop-art freak-outs like Helter Skelter or Revolution # 9 and focus on the folksy/country/r&b-tunes and go for the acoustic versions...
     
  14. davenav

    davenav High Plains Grifter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY USA
    With the Vietnam Nam War, Civil Rights, riots in the streets, and protest in the air - people want a fun album?????

    Give me a ****ing break!!!!!
     
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  15. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    One thing you can't say about The Beatles Sgt Pepper on, they weren't stingy with LP packaging. Cept Abbey Road snapshot. ;)
     
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  16. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    What's your top three Beatles albums then ?
     
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  17. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Count me out/in.
     
  18. Shaddam IV

    Shaddam IV Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ca
    "Rubber Soul" easily and with no hesitation at #1, always.

    After that, it becomes more difficult. Today I'll say "Revolver" and "For Sale". But that's today.
     
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  19. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    The White Album doesn’t comment on any of those things, though. What’s weird about the White Album is that lighthearted songs sound forced, like Ob-la-di, or strained, in a way that feels dark. The actually-dark songs like Gun are great, I think. It’s that half of the album is comprised of slapdash songs that sound labored. Rocky Raccoon doesn’t say anything about civil rights or the Vietnam War; Bungalow Bill doesn’t reflect any aspect of society specific to 1968. A Day in the Life offered multitudes of darkness while still brimming with this confidence and cohesiveness the White Album never has. That’s what I miss
     
  20. Neonbeam

    Neonbeam All Art Was Once Contemporary

    Location:
    Planet Earth
    Don't mess with perfection! Unless you need an excuse to start yet another Beatles threat thread! :biglaugh:
     
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  21. Chris M

    Chris M Senior Member In Memoriam

    You should fix that soon! Be careful with Revolution #9 though....listening to it in a dark room in a psyhedelic state is something I won't soon forget.
     
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  22. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Lennon on Abbey Road rooftop.
     
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  23. davenav

    davenav High Plains Grifter

    Location:
    Louisville, KY USA
    There is a world of difference between Revolver and The White Album. Hell, between Kinfauns and the White Album there was a lot of change - the Chicago primary, for instance, is right in that period.

    To pretend that The Beatles, or anyone, lived in isolation from current events is mind-boggling.

    They never took on current events head-on. When Lennon did get political in the ‘70’s he was lambasted.

    Times were changing fast in the year of 1968, and songs like Helter Skelter, Happiness is A Warm Gun, Everybody’s Got Something To Hide reflect that, though not overtly. Songs like Revolution were more bang on the money, but Goodnight and Rocky Raccoon can be seen as reactions to the horrors in the news as well. In their own way, they were dealing with theretofore unfathomable crises.

    It’s fine to sit back in 2018 and judge what they should have done, and how they should have written their music to satisfy a generation two generations away from their own. But, Just so, I can say —

    **** it, I can tell already I’m pissing in the wind.
     
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  24. Chris M

    Chris M Senior Member In Memoriam

    I think Revolution #9 cast a long shadow over the entire album where even the lightweight songs take on a slightly sinister vibe. You don't have to listen to Revolution #9....just the knowledge that it is there colors everything around it.
     
  25. Cymbaline

    Cymbaline Shiny Dog

    Location:
    Buda, TX
    It's great, it sold, it's the bloody Beatles White Album, shut up!

    -Paul McCartney
     
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