Musically Martha my dear is a masterpiece. I get why it may not be some peoples’ favorite but it’s one of Paul’s most genius tracks from a compositional standpoint and will always be one of my favorites.
Right I just hit that part and I’m like dude not again And it makes the contrast even better, that both Why Don’t We Do It In The Road and I Will are BOTH Paul!!!!
@@rockstarrzz7171 honey pie is such a sweet and simple song, but it makes me smile every time! i think a lot of people interpret them as his songwriting being "inferior" but then neglect to bring in paul's more complex and impactful songs to the conversation
I think it's a brilliant song. I find it so impressive how Paul was able to write rockers like Back in the USSR, Helter Skelter, ballads like I Will and Blackbird, and then completely switch style and write songs like Martha My Dear, Honey Pie and Rocky Raccoon. Just brilliant.
The Beatles always did use overdubbing, right from the very first album. However, their first two albums, released in 1963, were primarily recorded on 2-track equipment, which was much cumbersome to utilize when dubbing, and so they didn't do as much back then. They started using 4-track with their non-album single I Want To Hold Your Hand in late 1963, and they then continued using 4-track with their subsequent recordings, which made overdubbing a lot easier. By the time they started working on this album in 1968, 8-track machines were around, but their record company EMI hadn't yet set theirs up due to their exhaustive and time-consuming testing processes for new equipment. When the Beatles found out the company had an 8-track that wasn't being utilized, they pressed the issue with EMI, and it got set up very quickly. So part of this album was done on 8-track, and that opened the floodgates for them to do anything they wanted with overdubbing. That may be what your brother was referring to.
Don't Pass Me By makes more sense when you understand the vibe Ringo was going for. He was big into old school country, and was trying to capture that. Listening to it with that in mind doesn't make it brilliant, but it definitely improves it.
Also, there's no organ in Don't Pass Me By. It's a piano routed through a spinning Leslie cabinet organ speaker. The drums are routed through the same spinning speaker cabinet, which is why the attacks of each hit sound somewhat muted and the tails of the cymbals and snare hits sound so funky, or 'textured,' as you say. These four ultra-creative kids plus George Martin were a perfect storm in the studio, making even this bland song sound more interesting once you realize what you're listening to :)
@@pemp9606 Yeah I like it. It's genuinely a good song. There's so many stinkers that George made that it doesn't make sense to beat up on Don't Pass Me By.
@@sequence8-y7sI and many friends in my schooldays simply loved it and I can't see why anyone would nitpick it. Just sing along and enjoy and leave it to those audio wankers to ejaculate their dismay ! 😹
@@monovision566he’s not talking about pitch, he’s talking about their tone color and frequency sprectum, and generally he’s right, Paul has more of a bassy quality even when he’s singing high
@@monovision566 Paul does not sing highest all the time, unless you mean when they are singing in harmony with each other,. But on his own, he can sing in a low register all the way to a very high falsetto. He has the widest vocal range of all the Beatles.
@@PattiCrichton Correct. Paul can, and sometimes does, sound like all of the others, because he has the vocal ability to do so and uses that to great effect when blending in backing harmony vocals, for example. He's also the only one who can perform or write absolutely all of the types of music the Beatles ever tried.
I imagin hes reaction about Helter skelter Will be like: Ohhh yeah... This John Lennon song is amazing, it's the best track and o love John Scream in the end when he say that he gotta blist on hes fingers.❤❤❤❤❤
13:20 - I started listening to The Beatles when I was ten years old but even so, I learned to distinguish the four voices from each other *much* faster than you are doing. Get with the program, man!
love this reaction. love your honesty and watching you become a john lennon stan over the course of these albums. looking forward to part 2! I think you’re right in thinking some of these tracks are funny. the beatles had a good sense of humor!
You got it exactly right with your interpretation of Glass Onion. John was getting annoyed at the over analyzing of their songs. Ironically the Manson family read all sorts of crazy things into the lyrics from this album.
Nooo u did dirty on my boy Ringo with his first single-composition "Don't Pass Me By"😭😭😭 And i mean get why but honestly it just grew on me for some reason hah
I like that comparison to Zappa. His first album, released by The Mothers Of Invention, was Freak Out! in 1966, and probably his best known works would have been during the late 60's and 70's.
The 'White album' does have a unique feel, after their trip to India together they had a wealth of material they wrote there. The accommodation was spartan concrete bungalows which could get unbearably hot. The idea was it was a retreat away from all the madness to concentrate on mediation, but they just couldn't stop the creativity and all they had were acoustic guitars. The singer/songwriter Donovan (who was initially very influenced by Bob Dylan's music) was one of the other stars to join them and he showed them folk style finger picking techniques, songs like 'Julia' and 'Dear Prudence' came out of that. Mike Love of The Beach Boys was also there and it was his suggestion to do a pastiche of 'Back in the U.S.A', but with a Soviet perspective. The reason more of the songs on this album were overdubbed and some sound like sketchy demos was because they began recording songs without all the band members being present, even working on songs in different studios at the same time. The idea of presenting a new song to the whole band, or a song being vetoed or saved for some time later if they didn't all like it, was fading. Even producer George Martin no longer held any sway over them as to what would be on an album, he always felt 'The White album' could have been a much stronger single album and that some songs were underworked or just not up to standard. However that is one of the appeals to a lot of fans, this was the band back to basics and dropping most of the clever production artifice, John in particular being scornful and dismissive of the majority of 'Sgt. Pepper' and 'Magical Mystery Tour' which he saw as mostly driven by Paul. Desperately trying to enthuse John and George and keep the band together, even though they really no longer needed the affirmation or collaboration of each other. John would now seek Yoko's opinion before Paul's, and her constant presence in the studio alienated the rest of the band, the circle was broken. The friction did not stop them creating great music, but it was more like a compilation album of solo artists than a true band album. It begs the question what these songs may have been like had they co- operated as they used to in the past.
Oh, and you were so sure of yourself too. Excellent reactions, I enjoyed that so much. BTW I was 15 years old when this came out and I devoured this album and eventually memorized every note, squawk and siren in it.
Well, you've certainly found a way to increase engagement in the comments. Been following you since 'tricks of the week' Kendama videos. I'm enjoying your journey discovering new music. I was your age (20-21?) when I FINALLY came around to The Beatles and it was this record, and specifically Rocky Raccoon, that provided my breakthrough moment. I love whimsy, and this album is full of it. The creativity and free flowing ideas are just brimming on this one. This reaction is a great reminder I'm ready to revisit this masterpiece.
What many people don't know is that it was Paul who introduced The Beatles to avantgarde music, to Musique Sèrielle and composers like Karl-heinz Stockhausen, Arnold Schoenberg, Luciano Berio and others. He had a small room in the house of his girlfriend Jane Ashers parents and he supported Peter Asher (her brother), John Dunbar and Barry Miles when they opened The Indika Bookshop in 1965, which housed a counterculture art gallery where John met Yoko Ono for the first time during her exhibition in november 1966! Another huge influence was the avantgarde composer John Cage, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg! The backwards tapes, the cut up technique and idea of using the studio in more radical way, were among the things Paul McCartney introduced to the other bandmembers! Of course the classical trained producer George Martin had a huge influence too! The story told by John Lennon (when he had issues with Paul) but especially Yann Wenner from Rolling Stone Magazine (he blamed Paul for breaking up The Beatles!) and other young rebellious reviewers from middleclass backgrounds, that Lennon was the creative, inspirational genius in the band, the true intellectual, the rebel, "the working class hero" and that McCartney was only good for "granny music" and "silly love songs" is a grave simplification of both John and Paul and the creative relations between them! There were George and Ringo too, both geniuses in their own right. Never forget; the Beatles were described by a member of another band (don't remember whom) as a "Fourheaded monster"! But this was about John and Paul both of whom I love and admire!
McCartney does a musical joke on Rocky Racoon. As Rocky starts saying "I'll be better ...", the drums get hopeful sounding, only to flop when the end of the line turns out to be "as soon as I am able", which is pretty much tautological.
I sometimes think of this entire album as parodies of different styles of music, the styles are so widely divergent. It's not fair to call of them parody, but it is a kind of tour of all the music that was and some which were soon to be. Some of them are more comic than others. Some of them do feel like parodies, and some like homages.
you mentioned zappa, his first band "the mothers of invention" (which initially made him popular) first album was in 1966 and mccartney himself said it influenced sgt.peppers, so they were aware of zappa You should totally listen to their albums
That's Paul singing "I Will" Its also one of my favorite tracks because it harkens back to Paul's early Beatles sound (Help, Hard Days Night, Rubber Soul etc) when they were doing just absolutely some of the prettiest, simple love songs and the sweetest melodies that you'll ever hear even to today! Paul is a master with melodies ! You'll see that as you listen to more of his stuff. He's also the most experimental and creative musically as you'll hear when you start reacting to his later solo stuff. He just has a feel for what works which is why he was so successful as a solo artist out of all of them.
The White Album is my favorite album, by far! Beatles or non-Beatles. Ringo had quit briefly so Paul played drums (and bass, and guitar) on Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence. While the Sgt Pepper album is considered the biggest turning point in Rock and Roll, The White Album is also a big turning point, and gave birth to many new styles of Rock music (as did all of their albums), up to and including heavy metal (Helter Skelter)! The Beatles were, and always will be, the best and the biggest influence to all (good) Rock and Roll bands!
please listen to let it be before abbey road once you get to it all the songs were recorded before abbey road and abbey road is the definitive ending to the beatles discography
@@UettiI think that may have just been putting finishing touches to it. It features in the film, so they were definitely rehears8ng it at least in that period.
@tonydalton459 Yes, but it was never properly recorded until 1970. They just ran through it a couple of times in 1969 and that was it, they left the song even unfinished. Only in January 1970 George ended writing it and the band refinished it in tue studio
Fun fact 1: The artist Donovan taught Paul and John the guitar pattern which they use in Julia, Dear Prudence and Blackbird (if you pay attention it's the same rythm of the picking). And he showed George the descending chord progression used in While My Guitar Gently Weeps (and also Something from Abbey Road). At least according to Donovan himself. Fun fact 2: They wrote a lot of songs for this album, some very short and strange, because they had a contract that would end either after a certain time or a certain amount of songs, and they wanted it to end. This is according to their producer George Martin, who found out about it years later.
Very true. If the White Album didn't have Revolution 9 or Wild Honey Pie then it wouldn't nearly have the reputation it does have, and I mean that as someone whose fav album is this
@adrianhughes7515 yeah I think that as a whole artist including everything paul was more complete and better than john, but he was special too and I understand how some people prefer his songs and style
@@reylui0250imo Paul is a magical sorta music genius that comes every few decades (Mozart is similar) and John feels more like a tortured artist. Hard to properly explain, but John's moments of genius shine so bright, In My Life above all imo, but his musicality never really reached Paul's level.
Came across this video and thought you looked familiar, haven’t seen you in years since the dama videos. Watched a few album reactions and if you haven’t already heard it, logics under pressure album would be a sick reaction video. His music is so overlooked and it’s just not the same anymore but this album changed me and I think you’d love it. Emotional roller coaster for sure
Right I just hit that part and I’m like dude not again And it makes the contrast even better, that both Why Don’t We Do It In The Road and I Will are BOTH Paul!!!!
You really should consider a career as a music critic. I’ve seen so many reaction videos that are so lacking in substance but you offer a lot of valuable insight. I find your comments on this album to be spot on.
When I was a new fan, I also couldn’t tell their voices apart all the time, so don’t feel too bad about it. I think that’s why their harmonies are so good: Their voices are unique the more you listen, but they blend together seamlessly.
Totally - this is also I think why George is so hard to tell apart from the other two sometimes, because he share similarities with both of them - which makes them all blend so seamlessly
2:00 - Back In The USSR is a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back In The USA," as suggested by The Beach Boys' Mike Love. 3:00 - The Escher Demo Tape version of Dear Prudence is killer. Do a UA-cam search for: Dear Prudence (Esher Demo) 12:20 - that's George singing. And Eric Clapton is one of the guitar players on the song. No worries on getting them confused - though if you ever think that Ringo's singing sounds like any of the other three, you're out of the club. lol 21:35 - George is referencing The Rich (oligarchy) -- the Pigs metaphor is related to George Orwell's book, "Animal Farm." 25:00 - Ringo. Enough said. ;-) 26:00 - Charlie Manson thought this song was talking about murder. If you haven't, you might ("might") want to take a deep-dive about how this album inspired Charlie Manson and his cult.
Make sure you listen to Let It Be before Abbey Road if you want to listen to them in Chronological order of record date. It was recorded in Jan 1969 and released in 1970 after the breakup.
This album becomes much better when the context is really appreciated. It is the first traditional album they did after Pepper (Yellow Submarine is a soundtrack and MMT is half singles) and it truly shows their artistic tendencies. Defining what a cohesive album sounds like with Rubber Soul -> Revolver -> Sgt Pepper INSANE evolution to dropping the first playlist-esque album and disregarding any attempt at making it a single sound while showcasing the sheer musicianship and creativity they had as a group makes it my favourite album they did. And whats so crazy is that they barely did it as a group, it was the most hostile they were with each other pre breakup.
Dear Prudence refers to Prudence Farrow, actress Mia Farrow's sister, who was also in India at the time the Beatles were there. She got so involved in the meditation, that she sometimes didn't come out of her bungalow for days.
The versatility of the Beatles, especially as displayed on this album, is astonishing. You've already had surf-rock, pseudo reggae, baroque rock, folk, country, blues....just amazing.
I was in junior high (middle school) when this album was released. We had an assignment to each select a current popular pop/rock song and give an oral report analyzing the lyrics. No restrictions or conditions were included. Of course I selected "Why don't we do it in the road" and gave it the mature, in depth analysis it deserved. The teacher wasn't thrilled but she let it go, and the class seemed to enjoy it! 😊
I am a huge don’t pass me by defender but there is a huge case for it being bad. I just don’t think it’s much “worse” or self-satirizing as the rest of the whole album. I wish it was 90 seconds. Also justice for Martha my dear!
Loved your reaction. When this album first appeared people were surprised by some of the 'throwaway tracks...and then it started sinking in how many absolute classics there were.
Frank Zappa had made five albums by the end of 1968, including one of the first, if not the first rock double albums, Freak Out, in 1966, and a parody of Sgt Pepper's called We're Only In It For The Money in 1967.
I'm guessing someone's pointed out that the great solo on While My Guitar... is Eric Clapton. Thanks for your analysis! Fun listening to you mix the guys up
Brian Wilson was said to have commented that The Beatles could do a Beach Boys song better than they could. Bungalow Bill was a person who was meditating in India with the Marhaishi when The Beatles were there. The protaganist would take time out to go and shoot a few tigers, John took the opportunity to take the pi55 out of the great white hunter's spritualism.
Back in the USSR might be a fun, light-hearted song on the surface, but when you consider this was in the middle of the Cold War - to do a Beach Boys-esque song about the Soviet Union is pretty bold, in a way. I saw a documentary about how they used to sneak in Beatles records into the Soviet Union on X-ray plates, for example - 'cause you couldn't get them there, they were banned - so they'd just etch the grooves on the plate like you would on vinyl. I also think it's very interesting how the Beatles were like a litmus test of what was going on in culture.. if you looks at Sgt. Pepper's, the summer of love was in full swing, and the album is very colorful and unified - on the inside of the sleeve is a picture of them, where they apparently were trying to look as lovingly as they could at the camera - and then '68, a year of violent protests and so on, they just have a white album cover with numbers on the bottom, according to the pressing (the Beatles had the first four), and everybody writing their own little songs, in their own little corners, about all different topics, and finally just putting them all in a big pile; it doesn't make for a very cohesive whole, but that's kind of the point. You can see the same with Radiohead, when they kind of had found themselves on OK Computer and Kid A (like the Beatles had on Revolver [the cover of which was a kind of sketch of what they would become] and Sgt. Pepper's), they turned their eyes to the fractured nature of the world around them; that's what happens when you discover yourself: you become aware of what's around you - what you'd never seen, because you were so focused on yourself - and that's why you have all those different little boxes on the cover of Hail to the Thief, about all different things in the world; those to me are equivalent to the songs on the White Album.. and then slowly you piece them together and create something, where you merge yourself with the outside world - as the Beatles did with Abbey Road, and Radiohead with In Rainbows. And that's kind of the beginning of the end.. you do one more album to kind of finish things off, and then you're done.
Back In The USSR is a mish mash of Chuck Berry's Back In The USA and the Beach Boys' California Girls but transferred to the Soviet Union. The intro and the verses are Chuck Berry, and the choruses are the Beach Boys. Chuck Berry sang about all the places he liked to get back to when he got back "from over the seas", such as New York, Los Angeles, Chattanooga, and Baton Rouge. The Beach Boys sang about the eastern, northern, and southern girls, as well as the mid-West farmer's daughters, but didn't mention any place names except California. The Beatles brought the two ideas together and sang about Ukraine girls, Moscow girls, and Georgia girls (that's Georgia the country, not the US state). I guess that most people who were in their teens or older when this record was released would have recognised those influences immediately as Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys were popular at the time.
Paul was singing I WILL. He wrote the song as well. And that makes Paul's ability to change up his sound dramatically very evident. Helter Skelter on this album will show his versatility even more. On a sidetone, some people have trouble distinguishing their voices and others don't. For whatever reason, I have always been able to know who of the four are singing the song. They all sound very different to me.
- Slango!!! Ha! Did you make that up?! We heard it hear first! Brilliant! - Excllent commentary, man! On an album that invites commentary! No wonder why Charles Manson built his cult around it. An album so great....it created evil! 😆 -This is actually four albums.....each side has it's own character. Side 1 is the weird, quirky, fun, all-over-the-place intro to the album. Side 2 is mostly acoustic, with animal song titles, lol. I'll leave it to you to discover Sides 3 and Sides 4. But in the vinyl days, each side gives you an opportunity to enter and exit. Grab a listener's attention, and leave 'em with a buzz. - You got Glass Onion, 100%. - It's ok to mix up George and John! George is not as distinctive a singer as the other three, and he can sometimes sound like John....especially when his writing is closer to John's than Paul's. - Ha, but Paul fooled you again: that's him singing "I Will!" So you're totally right: the contrast between those two songs is genius! That's what the album is about! But Paul sings both songs! So that makes it even cooler, HIS contrast, as a vocalist! - But then John one-ups him with the WAY cooler acoustic song: "Julia". The last song recorded for The White Album, incidentally. - I'll take "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" any day over "Don't Pass Me By", or "Rocky Raccoon"! - I see this album as a scrapbook of songs, showing the scope of their songwriting. It's like....we can do anything on this album. Lots of quirky, funny stuff, as you say. - Lastly, I don't know if you misheard your brother or maybe he was just erroneous: but this isn't where they started overdubbing, it's more the opposite. We've been listening on the channel to their most overdubby stuff, the psychedelic era. This is the ending era, and it's more stripped down and back to basics, and playing together as a band. It has overdubs, but deftly employed. Everything we have heard up to this point was done on 4-track. Half of The White Album was done on 4-track, and the rest on 8-track. The Beatles never recorded on anything more than 8 tracks. And their most complex studio work was done on 4-track. Thanks, bro! That was a BLAST!!!!
Fun fact: the solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps (considered the best song on The White Album) was done by Eric Clapton. Paul and John didn’t take While My Guitar Gently Weeps seriously, so George brought in his good buddy, Eric, to participate…which got John and Paul to act in line Edit: you said everything I just said at the end of that segment. Haha
Just watched a great video on the true story behind the Bungalow Bill lyrics on the Lyristoric UA-cam channel. Highly recommend. Great reaction vid, bro!
Fun facts: that's Eric Clapton playing the guitar solo in While My Guitar Gently Weeps. The mumbling after I'm So Tired, if played backwards, sounds like, "Paul is dead, man. miss him, miss him, miss him" which fed into the Paul Is Dead conspiracy theory. And lastly, the animals are all together: Blackbird, Piggies and Rocky Raccoon.
It's not correct that this was the first album where they moved away from live sounds in the studio. Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and Pepper were all heavily overdubbed
Note the return to guitar based music after Sgt Pepper's/MMT. That the biggest rock band ever stopped basing their music on guitars at the height of their popularity is fascinating and not talked about enough. The Flaming Lips also did so in purposeful emulation of The Beatles resulting in their best album, Soft Bulletin.
More specifically than “people trying to read too much into lyrics,” a rumor came and was fed that Paul had died in an accident with a rabid hitchhiker fan who wrecked them when she realized who it was. They replaced him with an Irish lookalike contest winner. There were more than several “clues” identified to support the theory, ironically supplied by the band on album covers and in lyrics, presumably because they couldn’t contain themselves otherwise. “Here’s another clue for you all” is a direct reference to the rumor.
I mean, maybe it’s just what I want to hear, but I personally have played the part at the end of I’m So Tired backwards, and it says “Paul is dead now, miss him miss him miss him.” (Ie it’s backwards nonsense when you play it normally but says words played backwards!!). Again, try it for yourself and tell me what YOU hear. Some of the joke may have been that the Beatles indeed DID place clues, just to have fun like an Easter egg hunt with their fans.
Up until the White Album, the Beatles were recording on a 4-track deck. On Sgt Pepper, they took their 4--track recording and dubbed it on to one track of a new 4-track tape to have three new tracks to record on. On Revolver, they created tape loops to add to the sound. What you may be thinking of as overdubs, really don't exist. They did have instances where they removed the erase head and dubbed directly over a previous recording but for obvious reasons, they wouldn't want to do this. Overdubs are really just recordings on new tracks that are mixed in. About half-way through this album, they switched to an 8-track machine. That said, most people would say Sgt Pepper was the most dubbed album.
They were broadly still laying down the basic takes playing together as a group, but with the move to eight-track tape, they were able to capture each instrument in those takes to separate tracks on the tape, which is why the sound quality takes a massive step up. When they were working on four-track, the basic take was usually captured to one (mono) track on the tape, which is why a large part of the instrumentation is all locked together in the stereo mixes on the albums prior to this. So it's certainly not entirely true to say that they were actually recording most of these songs separately, even if the songs are more clearly identified as John songs, Paul songs, George songs, and that Ringo effort. That said, Wild Honey Pie is just Paul messing about on his own. And on two consecutive tracks (Don't Pass Me By and Why Don't We Do It In The Road?), Paul and Ringo are the only Beatles present. I think Julia was John's first solo performance too. Blackbird is also Paul solo, that tapping being his foot (John's foot was more nasal). I believe Beyonce was allowed to use the guitar track straight off this record for her version. If you understand the impact that the arrival of Yoko had on relationships within the band, and if you read between the lines of the entry for Martha My Dear in Paul's 'The Lyrics' book, then it seems likely that this song in three parts, recorded a week after Lennon's song in three parts (Happiness Is A Warm Gun), is not really addressed to his dog, Martha.
I think the most notable thing about the White Album in their catalog is it’s probably the most disassociated. They were all in their own worlds, and as noted did not record much live together. Someone had a song, would say what they wanted and everyone else would put their part down. (I think Ringo would probably lay down basic tracks with everyone, he got along with everyone at the time, but I don’t know for sure. Can’t see how they’d do it otherwise).So that the tracks are as cohesive as they are is testament to their collaborative talent even when they weren’t collaborating per se.
Hi, love the White Album. Apparently Paul had wanted to call the song I'm Backing the USSR, but eventually settled on the current title. The song was recorded as a three piece as Ringo had left the group because of Paul's criticism of drumming. * Prudence was a real person, Mia Farrow's sister who was on their 1968 trip to India. She was super dedicated and spent all her time studying and meditating. That was where "Won't you come out to play?" came from. * Glass Onion was John wanting to screw with people making all of these claims about song meaning (one example is, "Here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul" - John was the Walrus). * When Paul was vacationing in Jamaica everyone was saying Obladi-Oblada, meaning it is what it is; after Paul wrote the song the guy who claimed to have come up with the phrase sue Paul to get money. * Buffalo Bill was based on a guy with them in India intending to meditate, but he just wanted to go shoot things. * When it came time to record While My Guitar Gently Weeps George thought that Paul and John did a half-assed job, so he asked Eric Clapton to come in and the two of them with George Martin "fixed it." * Paul wrote Blackbird in reference to black girls protesting the the American South ("bird" being British slang for "girl"). * While "Pigs" was a popular derogatory term for police in the early to mid-1960's by the late 60's it had become a counter-culture term denouncing consumerism and establishment figures generally.
GUYS I SWEAR I'LL BE ABLE TO TELL JOHN AND PAUL APART EVENTUALLY... maybe in a couple years. You'll have to live with my stupidity for now though.
Wouldn’t mind so much if you didn’t literally have Genius right there to check first😭
Dear prudence….my fave bass line of all time….also….its very easy & fun to play: )
“That was kind of insane….but, I loved it”…..welcome home, sir…with that brief utterance, u are officially one of us now.
You were spot on with your interpretation of Glass Onion! Loving these reactions! Would love to see Let It Be or Help next!
Hey, no issue....love that analysis. The White Album's diversity is the strength of the album.
I Will is Paul
yep
HE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS
So is the walrus apparently
That song was my husband & I’s first dance at our wedding in 2006. ❤🌹
I will be Paul
Musically Martha my dear is a masterpiece. I get why it may not be some peoples’ favorite but it’s one of Paul’s most genius tracks from a compositional standpoint and will always be one of my favorites.
Your reactions are very fun. Also that was Paul singing “I Will”.
Right I just hit that part and I’m like dude not again
And it makes the contrast even better, that both Why Don’t We Do It In The Road and I Will are BOTH Paul!!!!
Bro did it again 💀
It took me years to tell their voices apart... Don't worry... That's the magic!
OMG I'M SO DUMB HOW DID I DO IT AGAIN 💀
@@DAVECHER AT LEAST YOU DIDN'T DO IT AGAIN IN THE ROAD.
On Revolver everyone was waiting for your review of Tomorrow Never Knows, this time we're waiting for Revolution 9. 😅
😄 🤣 😂
And Helter Skelter
While my guitar gently weeps is the best song on the album
numba nein
not martha my dear being done dirty.... i adore how that song gradualy builds itself up from the understated piano to the horns and claps ; ;
One of my favs off White Album, got a soft spot for that and Honey Pie which both dont get alot of love
Yes, and it’s so sweet being written about his dog! 🥹
Such a fantastic song
@@rockstarrzz7171 honey pie is such a sweet and simple song, but it makes me smile every time! i think a lot of people interpret them as his songwriting being "inferior" but then neglect to bring in paul's more complex and impactful songs to the conversation
I think it's a brilliant song. I find it so impressive how Paul was able to write rockers like Back in the USSR, Helter Skelter, ballads like I Will and Blackbird, and then completely switch style and write songs like Martha My Dear, Honey Pie and Rocky Raccoon. Just brilliant.
How anyone could not love "Martha My Dear" is beyond me. It's such a cool song build up that keeps adding more and more. It's delicious.
It's one of my Beatles'favourites.
Literally....
The Beatles always did use overdubbing, right from the very first album. However, their first two albums, released in 1963, were primarily recorded on 2-track equipment, which was much cumbersome to utilize when dubbing, and so they didn't do as much back then. They started using 4-track with their non-album single I Want To Hold Your Hand in late 1963, and they then continued using 4-track with their subsequent recordings, which made overdubbing a lot easier. By the time they started working on this album in 1968, 8-track machines were around, but their record company EMI hadn't yet set theirs up due to their exhaustive and time-consuming testing processes for new equipment. When the Beatles found out the company had an 8-track that wasn't being utilized, they pressed the issue with EMI, and it got set up very quickly. So part of this album was done on 8-track, and that opened the floodgates for them to do anything they wanted with overdubbing. That may be what your brother was referring to.
hearing "we haven't got a George track yet, which is strange" while knowing that While My Guitar Gently Weeps is up next is cinematic suspense
True cinema
Best moment in the video lmao
Having learned Martha My Dear on the piano gave me such a DEEP adoration for its beauty
the tapping on 'blackbird' is Pauls shoe miced up tapping the floor to keep the rhythm :D
Don't Pass Me By makes more sense when you understand the vibe Ringo was going for. He was big into old school country, and was trying to capture that. Listening to it with that in mind doesn't make it brilliant, but it definitely improves it.
It’s a good song bro
Also, there's no organ in Don't Pass Me By. It's a piano routed through a spinning Leslie cabinet organ speaker. The drums are routed through the same spinning speaker cabinet, which is why the attacks of each hit sound somewhat muted and the tails of the cymbals and snare hits sound so funky, or 'textured,' as you say. These four ultra-creative kids plus George Martin were a perfect storm in the studio, making even this bland song sound more interesting once you realize what you're listening to :)
@@pemp9606 Yeah I like it. It's genuinely a good song. There's so many stinkers that George made that it doesn't make sense to beat up on Don't Pass Me By.
@@sequence8-y7sI and many friends in my schooldays simply loved it and I can't see why anyone would nitpick it. Just sing along and enjoy and leave it to those audio wankers to ejaculate their dismay ! 😹
There’s a great cover of Don’t Pass Me By done by Georgia Satellites with a really great new arrangement❤
i think the way i differentiate them is john is nasally, paul is generally bassy, george sounds like their child, and ringo is ringo
I think of George as the nasally one. 🤷♂️
Paul is “bassy?” He literally sings highest for them all the time.
@@monovision566he’s not talking about pitch, he’s talking about their tone color and frequency sprectum, and generally he’s right, Paul has more of a bassy quality even when he’s singing high
@@monovision566 Paul does not sing highest all the time, unless you mean when they are singing in harmony with each other,. But on his own, he can sing in a low register all the way to a very high falsetto. He has the widest vocal range of all the Beatles.
@@PattiCrichton Correct. Paul can, and sometimes does, sound like all of the others, because he has the vocal ability to do so and uses that to great effect when blending in backing harmony vocals, for example. He's also the only one who can perform or write absolutely all of the types of music the Beatles ever tried.
Be ready for “Helter Skelter” in the second disc, you will be shocked 😂
I imagin hes reaction about Helter skelter Will be like:
Ohhh yeah... This John Lennon song is amazing, it's the best track and o love John Scream in the end when he say that he gotta blist on hes fingers.❤❤❤❤❤
he'll be like "that's the best John Lennon sogn I've heard"
@@silvesterlanga5374 Paul's the lead singer on Helter Skelter, and it was Ringo who hollered "I've got blisters on my fingers!"
@@JM-iv1ke it's a Joke Bro...
Relax.😂😂😂😂😂
@@silvesterlanga5374 Nah... definitely George with the blisters... 😀
13:20 - I started listening to The Beatles when I was ten years old but even so, I learned to distinguish the four voices from each other *much* faster than you are doing. Get with the program, man!
love this reaction. love your honesty and watching you become a john lennon stan over the course of these albums. looking forward to part 2! I think you’re right in thinking some of these tracks are funny. the beatles had a good sense of humor!
While my guitar gently weeps... Writen by George, sung by George, and guitar solo by Eric Clapton...
Dear Prudence is way up there for me.
Totally 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 this whole album is GENIUS
You got it exactly right with your interpretation of Glass Onion. John was getting annoyed at the over analyzing of their songs. Ironically the Manson family read all sorts of crazy things into the lyrics from this album.
Nooo u did dirty on my boy Ringo with his first single-composition "Don't Pass Me By"😭😭😭
And i mean get why but honestly it just grew on me for some reason hah
JUSTICE FOR MARTHA MY DEAR
I like that comparison to Zappa. His first album, released by The Mothers Of Invention, was Freak Out! in 1966, and probably his best known works would have been during the late 60's and 70's.
the tapping in blackbird is paul tapping his foot on the floor
George sings and wrote Guitar Weeps. Their voices blend so well because they can sound so much alike.
Dear Prudence is absolutely brilliant
The 'White album' does have a unique feel, after their trip to India together they had a wealth of material they wrote there. The accommodation was spartan concrete bungalows which could get unbearably hot. The idea was it was a retreat away from all the madness to concentrate on mediation, but they just couldn't stop the creativity and all they had were acoustic guitars. The singer/songwriter Donovan (who was initially very influenced by Bob Dylan's music) was one of the other stars to join them and he showed them folk style finger picking techniques, songs like 'Julia' and 'Dear Prudence' came out of that. Mike Love of The Beach Boys was also there and it was his suggestion to do a pastiche of 'Back in the U.S.A', but with a Soviet perspective. The reason more of the songs on this album were overdubbed and some sound like sketchy demos was because they began recording songs without all the band members being present, even working on songs in different studios at the same time. The idea of presenting a new song to the whole band, or a song being vetoed or saved for some time later if they didn't all like it, was fading. Even producer George Martin no longer held any sway over them as to what would be on an album, he always felt 'The White album' could have been a much stronger single album and that some songs were underworked or just not up to standard. However that is one of the appeals to a lot of fans, this was the band back to basics and dropping most of the clever production artifice, John in particular being scornful and dismissive of the majority of 'Sgt. Pepper' and 'Magical Mystery Tour' which he saw as mostly driven by Paul. Desperately trying to enthuse John and George and keep the band together, even though they really no longer needed the affirmation or collaboration of each other. John would now seek Yoko's opinion before Paul's, and her constant presence in the studio alienated the rest of the band, the circle was broken. The friction did not stop them creating great music, but it was more like a compilation album of solo artists than a true band album. It begs the question what these songs may have been like had they co- operated as they used to in the past.
I don't think ANY songs on the White Album sound like sketchy demos. Such a bad take.
Oh, and you were so sure of yourself too. Excellent reactions, I enjoyed that so much. BTW I was 15 years old when this came out and I devoured this album and eventually memorized every note, squawk and siren in it.
Yep…me too. And with my 2 older sisters we read the lyrics on the back of the enclosed poster. Still know all of the lyrics❤
Well, you've certainly found a way to increase engagement in the comments.
Been following you since 'tricks of the week' Kendama videos. I'm enjoying your journey discovering new music.
I was your age (20-21?) when I FINALLY came around to The Beatles and it was this record, and specifically Rocky Raccoon, that provided my breakthrough moment. I love whimsy, and this album is full of it. The creativity and free flowing ideas are just brimming on this one. This reaction is a great reminder I'm ready to revisit this masterpiece.
"John Lennon fan absolutely desperate to give him credit for Paul's songs."
I've always felt what you said about Why don't we do it in the road back to back with I Will! Both Paul singig!
I will...do it in the road with Paul😂!
I cannot wait to hear your reaction to the song ‘Helter Skelter’ in part 2!
wiiii!!! I've been waiting for this video 😁
You missed that "Julia, " the last track on your "Part 1," is about John's mother, who died when he was about 16, I believe.
It’s also about Yoko, but yeah it’s about his mom, too.
@@beatlesnqueenwell, Julia is his mother's name!
@@clarisseferreiradasilva9287 Yes, but "Ocean's Child" is the literal translation of the name Yoko Ono in English, so she's there as well
Yes he's like saying he only has so much love he can give so he is passing the love for his dead mother now to his new love Yoko.
@@Uetti exactly
What many people don't know is that it was Paul who introduced The Beatles to avantgarde music, to Musique Sèrielle and composers like Karl-heinz Stockhausen, Arnold Schoenberg, Luciano Berio and others. He had a small room in the house of his girlfriend Jane Ashers parents and he supported Peter Asher (her brother), John Dunbar and Barry Miles when they opened The Indika Bookshop in 1965, which housed a counterculture art gallery where John met Yoko Ono for the first time during her exhibition in november 1966! Another huge influence was the avantgarde composer John Cage, a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg! The backwards tapes, the cut up technique and idea of using the studio in more radical way, were among the things Paul McCartney introduced to the other bandmembers! Of course the classical trained producer George Martin had a huge influence too!
The story told by John Lennon (when he had issues with Paul) but especially Yann Wenner from Rolling Stone Magazine (he blamed Paul for breaking up The Beatles!) and other young rebellious reviewers from middleclass backgrounds, that Lennon was the creative, inspirational genius in the band, the true intellectual, the rebel, "the working class hero" and that McCartney was only good for "granny music" and "silly love songs" is a grave simplification of both John and Paul and the creative relations between them! There were George and Ringo too, both geniuses in their own right. Never forget; the Beatles were described by a member of another band (don't remember whom) as a "Fourheaded monster"! But this was about John and Paul both of whom I love and admire!
Great perspective and background! It’s so important to correct the misapprehensions about who was bringing what.
McCartney does a musical joke on Rocky Racoon. As Rocky starts saying "I'll be better ...", the drums get hopeful sounding, only to flop when the end of the line turns out to be "as soon as I am able", which is pretty much tautological.
Is it Paul's joke, or ringing joke? Or did they workshop the joke together?
@@battyjr It sounds like the jokes that Paul comes up with.
I sometimes think of this entire album as parodies of different styles of music, the styles are so widely divergent. It's not fair to call of them parody, but it is a kind of tour of all the music that was and some which were soon to be. Some of them are more comic than others. Some of them do feel like parodies, and some like homages.
you mentioned zappa, his first band "the mothers of invention" (which initially made him popular) first album was in 1966 and mccartney himself said it influenced sgt.peppers, so they were aware of zappa
You should totally listen to their albums
"Julia" is a song to John's mother, who struck and killed by a car when he was 18. A beautiful tribute.
Great review brother!
Respect "Martha My Dear". Have we created a generation incapable of enjoying a melodic, sweet song?
That's Paul singing "I Will" Its also one of my favorite tracks because it harkens back to Paul's early Beatles sound (Help, Hard Days Night, Rubber Soul etc) when they were doing just absolutely some of the prettiest, simple love songs and the sweetest melodies that you'll ever hear even to today! Paul is a master with melodies ! You'll see that as you listen to more of his stuff. He's also the most experimental and creative musically as you'll hear when you start reacting to his later solo stuff. He just has a feel for what works which is why he was so successful as a solo artist out of all of them.
The White Album is my favorite album, by far! Beatles or non-Beatles.
Ringo had quit briefly so Paul played drums (and bass, and guitar) on Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence.
While the Sgt Pepper album is considered the biggest turning point in Rock and Roll, The White Album is also a big turning point, and gave birth to many new styles of Rock music (as did all of their albums), up to and including heavy metal (Helter Skelter)!
The Beatles were, and always will be, the best and the biggest influence to all (good) Rock and Roll bands!
please listen to let it be before abbey road once you get to it
all the songs were recorded before abbey road and abbey road is the definitive ending to the beatles discography
I think he's stated that he's already listened to Abbey Road before and won't post a reaction
This
I Me Mine was recorded after Abbey Road, so your sentence is wrong
@@UettiI think that may have just been putting finishing touches to it. It features in the film, so they were definitely rehears8ng it at least in that period.
@tonydalton459 Yes, but it was never properly recorded until 1970.
They just ran through it a couple of times in 1969 and that was it, they left the song even unfinished. Only in January 1970 George ended writing it and the band refinished it in tue studio
While My Guitar Gently Weeps is my favourite song on the album. Harrison was writing some of the best songs in late-stage Beatles.
Fun fact 1: The artist Donovan taught Paul and John the guitar pattern which they use in Julia, Dear Prudence and Blackbird (if you pay attention it's the same rythm of the picking). And he showed George the descending chord progression used in While My Guitar Gently Weeps (and also Something from Abbey Road). At least according to Donovan himself.
Fun fact 2: They wrote a lot of songs for this album, some very short and strange, because they had a contract that would end either after a certain time or a certain amount of songs, and they wanted it to end. This is according to their producer George Martin, who found out about it years later.
I actually love Wild Honey Pie. Its perfect as an album track. Not too long, and actually sounds intereting musically. Love that its just Paul
Very true. If the White Album didn't have Revolution 9 or Wild Honey Pie then it wouldn't nearly have the reputation it does have, and I mean that as someone whose fav album is this
Him with John's songs: 😄
Him with Paul's songs: 😡
If he realised a lot of "John's" tracks were actually Paul's, he'd realise he's been backing the wrong horse.
@adrianhughes7515 yeah I think that as a whole artist including everything paul was more complete and better than john, but he was special too and I understand how some people prefer his songs and style
@@reylui0250imo Paul is a magical sorta music genius that comes every few decades (Mozart is similar) and John feels more like a tortured artist. Hard to properly explain, but John's moments of genius shine so bright, In My Life above all imo, but his musicality never really reached Paul's level.
Came across this video and thought you looked familiar, haven’t seen you in years since the dama videos. Watched a few album reactions and if you haven’t already heard it, logics under pressure album would be a sick reaction video. His music is so overlooked and it’s just not the same anymore but this album changed me and I think you’d love it. Emotional roller coaster for sure
27:54 Nooooooo that's Paul!!!!
Right I just hit that part and I’m like dude not again
And it makes the contrast even better, that both Why Don’t We Do It In The Road and I Will are BOTH Paul!!!!
My reaction : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AGAIN NOOOOOOOOO 😞
@@slidenaway I saw the other comment where you said that exact same thing (no hate)
@ eh, it was 2 of the same comment basically so I copied and pasted my reply 😁😁
@ fair enough
Julia is John's mother who died when he was 16. Give it a listen again with that in mind~
You really should consider a career as a music critic. I’ve seen so many reaction videos that are so lacking in substance but you offer a lot of valuable insight. I find your comments on this album to be spot on.
When I was a new fan, I also couldn’t tell their voices apart all the time, so don’t feel too bad about it. I think that’s why their harmonies are so good: Their voices are unique the more you listen, but they blend together seamlessly.
Totally - this is also I think why George is so hard to tell apart from the other two sometimes, because he share similarities with both of them - which makes them all blend so seamlessly
Ive been a huge beatle fan for about 40 years and still have trouble on their first album occasionally
2:00 - Back In The USSR is a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back In The USA," as suggested by The Beach Boys' Mike Love.
3:00 - The Escher Demo Tape version of Dear Prudence is killer. Do a UA-cam search for: Dear Prudence (Esher Demo)
12:20 - that's George singing. And Eric Clapton is one of the guitar players on the song. No worries on getting them confused - though if you ever think that Ringo's singing sounds like any of the other three, you're out of the club. lol
21:35 - George is referencing The Rich (oligarchy) -- the Pigs metaphor is related to George Orwell's book, "Animal Farm."
25:00 - Ringo. Enough said. ;-)
26:00 - Charlie Manson thought this song was talking about murder. If you haven't, you might ("might") want to take a deep-dive about how this album inspired Charlie Manson and his cult.
Make sure you listen to Let It Be before Abbey Road if you want to listen to them in Chronological order of record date. It was recorded in Jan 1969 and released in 1970 after the breakup.
This album is one that kind of grows on you, it’s so amazing, but I remember being more underwhelmed the first time I heard it also.
Dear Prudence the standout for me (so far).
This album becomes much better when the context is really appreciated. It is the first traditional album they did after Pepper (Yellow Submarine is a soundtrack and MMT is half singles) and it truly shows their artistic tendencies. Defining what a cohesive album sounds like with Rubber Soul -> Revolver -> Sgt Pepper INSANE evolution to dropping the first playlist-esque album and disregarding any attempt at making it a single sound while showcasing the sheer musicianship and creativity they had as a group makes it my favourite album they did. And whats so crazy is that they barely did it as a group, it was the most hostile they were with each other pre breakup.
Dear Prudence refers to Prudence Farrow, actress Mia Farrow's sister, who was also in India at the time the Beatles were there. She got so involved in the meditation, that she sometimes didn't come out of her bungalow for days.
The versatility of the Beatles, especially as displayed on this album, is astonishing. You've already had surf-rock, pseudo reggae, baroque rock, folk, country, blues....just amazing.
I was in junior high (middle school) when this album was released. We had an assignment to each select a current popular pop/rock song and give an oral report analyzing the lyrics. No restrictions or conditions were included. Of course I selected "Why don't we do it in the road" and gave it the mature, in depth analysis it deserved. The teacher wasn't thrilled but she let it go, and the class seemed to enjoy it! 😊
I am a huge don’t pass me by defender but there is a huge case for it being bad. I just don’t think it’s much “worse” or self-satirizing as the rest of the whole album. I wish it was 90 seconds.
Also justice for Martha my dear!
I’m 30 years in and still get their voices confused sometimes. You’re doing great 👍
Loved your reaction. When this album first appeared people were surprised by some of the 'throwaway tracks...and then it started sinking in how many absolute classics there were.
Frank Zappa had made five albums by the end of 1968, including one of the first, if not the first rock double albums, Freak Out, in 1966, and a parody of Sgt Pepper's called We're Only In It For The Money in 1967.
"Dear Prudence" is, for my money, the most beautiful song on the album
I'm guessing someone's pointed out that the great solo on While My Guitar... is Eric Clapton. Thanks for your analysis! Fun listening to you mix the guys up
The great contrast is among Paul's two completely opposites, vocally and atmospherically-wise, between Why Don't We Do It In The Road and I Will
6:20 I will never get tired of LeonardoDiCaprioPointingMeme whenever I discover where a sample came from in the wild.
Brian Wilson was said to have commented that The Beatles could do a Beach Boys song better than they could. Bungalow Bill was a person who was meditating in India with the Marhaishi when The Beatles were there. The protaganist would take time out to go and shoot a few tigers, John took the opportunity to take the pi55 out of the great white hunter's spritualism.
Back in the USSR might be a fun, light-hearted song on the surface, but when you consider this was in the middle of the Cold War - to do a Beach Boys-esque song about the Soviet Union is pretty bold, in a way.
I saw a documentary about how they used to sneak in Beatles records into the Soviet Union on X-ray plates, for example - 'cause you couldn't get them there, they were banned - so they'd just etch the grooves on the plate like you would on vinyl.
I also think it's very interesting how the Beatles were like a litmus test of what was going on in culture.. if you looks at Sgt. Pepper's, the summer of love was in full swing, and the album is very colorful and unified - on the inside of the sleeve is a picture of them, where they apparently were trying to look as lovingly as they could at the camera - and then '68, a year of violent protests and so on, they just have a white album cover with numbers on the bottom, according to the pressing (the Beatles had the first four), and everybody writing their own little songs, in their own little corners, about all different topics, and finally just putting them all in a big pile; it doesn't make for a very cohesive whole, but that's kind of the point.
You can see the same with Radiohead, when they kind of had found themselves on OK Computer and Kid A (like the Beatles had on Revolver [the cover of which was a kind of sketch of what they would become] and Sgt. Pepper's), they turned their eyes to the fractured nature of the world around them; that's what happens when you discover yourself: you become aware of what's around you - what you'd never seen, because you were so focused on yourself - and that's why you have all those different little boxes on the cover of Hail to the Thief, about all different things in the world; those to me are equivalent to the songs on the White Album.. and then slowly you piece them together and create something, where you merge yourself with the outside world - as the Beatles did with Abbey Road, and Radiohead with In Rainbows. And that's kind of the beginning of the end.. you do one more album to kind of finish things off, and then you're done.
I Will was the song to which my wife and I danced our first dance at our wedding. Just a beautiful track.
Back In The USSR is a mish mash of Chuck Berry's Back In The USA and the Beach Boys' California Girls but transferred to the Soviet Union. The intro and the verses are Chuck Berry, and the choruses are the Beach Boys. Chuck Berry sang about all the places he liked to get back to when he got back "from over the seas", such as New York, Los Angeles, Chattanooga, and Baton Rouge. The Beach Boys sang about the eastern, northern, and southern girls, as well as the mid-West farmer's daughters, but didn't mention any place names except California. The Beatles brought the two ideas together and sang about Ukraine girls, Moscow girls, and Georgia girls (that's Georgia the country, not the US state). I guess that most people who were in their teens or older when this record was released would have recognised those influences immediately as Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys were popular at the time.
Paul was singing I WILL. He wrote the song as well. And that makes Paul's ability to change up his sound dramatically very evident. Helter Skelter on this album will show his versatility even more. On a sidetone, some people have trouble distinguishing their voices and others don't. For whatever reason, I have always been able to know who of the four are singing the song. They all sound very different to me.
Did you notice that I Will features no bass guitar? Go back and check it out - Paul sings the bass part!
Dear prudence is one of the best song ever
just the fact that paul's voice used as bass in song i will is so fascinating.
- Slango!!! Ha! Did you make that up?! We heard it hear first! Brilliant!
- Excllent commentary, man! On an album that invites commentary! No wonder why Charles Manson built his cult around it. An album so great....it created evil! 😆
-This is actually four albums.....each side has it's own character. Side 1 is the weird, quirky, fun, all-over-the-place intro to the album. Side 2 is mostly acoustic, with animal song titles, lol. I'll leave it to you to discover Sides 3 and Sides 4. But in the vinyl days, each side gives you an opportunity to enter and exit. Grab a listener's attention, and leave 'em with a buzz.
- You got Glass Onion, 100%.
- It's ok to mix up George and John! George is not as distinctive a singer as the other three, and he can sometimes sound like John....especially when his writing is closer to John's than Paul's.
- Ha, but Paul fooled you again: that's him singing "I Will!" So you're totally right: the contrast between those two songs is genius! That's what the album is about! But Paul sings both songs! So that makes it even cooler, HIS contrast, as a vocalist!
- But then John one-ups him with the WAY cooler acoustic song: "Julia". The last song recorded for The White Album, incidentally.
- I'll take "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" any day over "Don't Pass Me By", or "Rocky Raccoon"!
- I see this album as a scrapbook of songs, showing the scope of their songwriting. It's like....we can do anything on this album. Lots of quirky, funny stuff, as you say.
- Lastly, I don't know if you misheard your brother or maybe he was just erroneous: but this isn't where they started overdubbing, it's more the opposite. We've been listening on the channel to their most overdubby stuff, the psychedelic era. This is the ending era, and it's more stripped down and back to basics, and playing together as a band. It has overdubs, but deftly employed.
Everything we have heard up to this point was done on 4-track. Half of The White Album was done on 4-track, and the rest on 8-track. The Beatles never recorded on anything more than 8 tracks. And their most complex studio work was done on 4-track.
Thanks, bro! That was a BLAST!!!!
11:45 - "we haven't gotten a George track yet"... oh man, we all knew what was coming next
Dear Prudence is definitely within my top 5 beatles songs
Your interpretation of Glass Onion was spot on!
I dislike Don't Pass Me By too, so it's absolutely fine anyway. It's a skip.
Fun fact: the solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps (considered the best song on The White Album) was done by Eric Clapton. Paul and John didn’t take While My Guitar Gently Weeps seriously, so George brought in his good buddy, Eric, to participate…which got John and Paul to act in line
Edit: you said everything I just said at the end of that segment. Haha
11:39 oh that makes me smile knowing what's songs coming up next
Nearly everything was written in India, and there are interesting stories about each song in a few "making of" docus on UA-cam.
You got it right with your Glass Onion suspicions.
Just watched a great video on the true story behind the Bungalow Bill lyrics on the Lyristoric UA-cam channel. Highly recommend. Great reaction vid, bro!
Fun facts: that's Eric Clapton playing the guitar solo in While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
The mumbling after I'm So Tired, if played backwards, sounds like, "Paul is dead, man. miss him, miss him, miss him" which fed into the Paul Is Dead conspiracy theory.
And lastly, the animals are all together: Blackbird, Piggies and Rocky Raccoon.
The monkey got left out!
It's not correct that this was the first album where they moved away from live sounds in the studio. Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour and Pepper were all heavily overdubbed
Right?! How is that not obvious? There's no way to record all that live.
Also when you hear Revolution 9. Give it a chance. Its 8 minutes of chaptic sound, but i think its really cool and makes the album cooler
Funny how the White album sees the highest tensions producing their best work. Incredible pressure = diamonds 💎 😊
Ringo trying his best: "What is this shite?"
WHY DON'T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD x20: "HELLL YEAHHHHHH"
Note the return to guitar based music after Sgt Pepper's/MMT. That the biggest rock band ever stopped basing their music on guitars at the height of their popularity is fascinating and not talked about enough. The Flaming Lips also did so in purposeful emulation of The Beatles resulting in their best album, Soft Bulletin.
What was that at the end?
It was John saying, "Paul is dead. Miss him! Miss him! Miss him!" played in reverse.
People get this wrong a lot, it was actually "Hey, Paul, let's get rid of Clarence. and steal all his good ideas.".
More specifically than “people trying to read too much into lyrics,” a rumor came and was fed that Paul had died in an accident with a rabid hitchhiker fan who wrecked them when she realized who it was. They replaced him with an Irish lookalike contest winner. There were more than several “clues” identified to support the theory, ironically supplied by the band on album covers and in lyrics, presumably because they couldn’t contain themselves otherwise. “Here’s another clue for you all” is a direct reference to the rumor.
I mean, maybe it’s just what I want to hear, but I personally have played the part at the end of I’m So Tired backwards, and it says “Paul is dead now, miss him miss him miss him.” (Ie it’s backwards nonsense when you play it normally but says words played backwards!!). Again, try it for yourself and tell me what YOU hear. Some of the joke may have been that the Beatles indeed DID place clues, just to have fun like an Easter egg hunt with their fans.
Up until the White Album, the Beatles were recording on a 4-track deck. On Sgt Pepper, they took their 4--track recording and dubbed it on to one track of a new 4-track tape to have three new tracks to record on. On Revolver, they created tape loops to add to the sound. What you may be thinking of as overdubs, really don't exist. They did have instances where they removed the erase head and dubbed directly over a previous recording but for obvious reasons, they wouldn't want to do this. Overdubs are really just recordings on new tracks that are mixed in. About half-way through this album, they switched to an 8-track machine. That said, most people would say Sgt Pepper was the most dubbed album.
Zappa's first album Freak Out was 1966 and I understand was an influence on the Beatles.
George wrote, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," upon his guitar being stolen. This should answer some lyrical questions.
They were broadly still laying down the basic takes playing together as a group, but with the move to eight-track tape, they were able to capture each instrument in those takes to separate tracks on the tape, which is why the sound quality takes a massive step up. When they were working on four-track, the basic take was usually captured to one (mono) track on the tape, which is why a large part of the instrumentation is all locked together in the stereo mixes on the albums prior to this. So it's certainly not entirely true to say that they were actually recording most of these songs separately, even if the songs are more clearly identified as John songs, Paul songs, George songs, and that Ringo effort. That said, Wild Honey Pie is just Paul messing about on his own. And on two consecutive tracks (Don't Pass Me By and Why Don't We Do It In The Road?), Paul and Ringo are the only Beatles present. I think Julia was John's first solo performance too. Blackbird is also Paul solo, that tapping being his foot (John's foot was more nasal). I believe Beyonce was allowed to use the guitar track straight off this record for her version. If you understand the impact that the arrival of Yoko had on relationships within the band, and if you read between the lines of the entry for Martha My Dear in Paul's 'The Lyrics' book, then it seems likely that this song in three parts, recorded a week after Lennon's song in three parts (Happiness Is A Warm Gun), is not really addressed to his dog, Martha.
I think the most notable thing about the White Album in their catalog is it’s probably the most disassociated. They were all in their own worlds, and as noted did not record much live together. Someone had a song, would say what they wanted and everyone else would put their part down. (I think Ringo would probably lay down basic tracks with everyone, he got along with everyone at the time, but I don’t know for sure. Can’t see how they’d do it otherwise).So that the tracks are as cohesive as they are is testament to their collaborative talent even when they weren’t collaborating per se.
Can't wait for the part 2 reaction!!
Hi, love the White Album. Apparently Paul had wanted to call the song I'm Backing the USSR, but eventually settled on the current title. The song was recorded as a three piece as Ringo had left the group because of Paul's criticism of drumming. * Prudence was a real person, Mia Farrow's sister who was on their 1968 trip to India. She was super dedicated and spent all her time studying and meditating. That was where "Won't you come out to play?" came from. * Glass Onion was John wanting to screw with people making all of these claims about song meaning (one example is, "Here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul" - John was the Walrus). * When Paul was vacationing in Jamaica everyone was saying Obladi-Oblada, meaning it is what it is; after Paul wrote the song the guy who claimed to have come up with the phrase sue Paul to get money. * Buffalo Bill was based on a guy with them in India intending to meditate, but he just wanted to go shoot things. * When it came time to record While My Guitar Gently Weeps George thought that Paul and John did a half-assed job, so he asked Eric Clapton to come in and the two of them with George Martin "fixed it." * Paul wrote Blackbird in reference to black girls protesting the the American South ("bird" being British slang for "girl"). * While "Pigs" was a popular derogatory term for police in the early to mid-1960's by the late 60's it had become a counter-culture term denouncing consumerism and establishment figures generally.
I agree with you. I think Don’t Pass Me By is the worst and sloppiest thing they ever recorded.