The “fillers” give the album the chaotic personality. In a way choosing your own favourite tracks from the album and making it your own is the part of the charm of this album.
The brilliance of the White Album is that everyone thinks it should be a single album, but no one can agree on which songs to keep. So it stays a double album.
I actually think that it should have been a triple album with all the material unreleased like What's The New Mary Jane, and singles not on the double album like Hey Jude, Lady Madonna, and B sides like The Inner Light, and Revolution, and different versions of songs on the double album like the acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and others that haven't been on any album.
I read an anecdote somewhere once, and I have no idea if it's true or if I'm remembering correctly, so take it with a grain of salt. But for a while in Russia it was illegal to buy Western albums, so people would take the material old X-rays were printed on and make bootleg records with them. They were terrible quality, but they were all that was available. One Russian man had the single of "I Will" and played it over and over again. It was his favourite song. Then, later in life, he moved to the US, and heard the song for the first time from a real record. His copy had been so bad that he hadn't even realized that Paul and John sang harmony for part of it. He thought it was so beautiful he wept.
@@rebeccamaracle2878 sounds correct from what I’ve heard about the Soviet era. Soviet citizens were very innovative about getting Western goods and music and getting round restrictions. They managed to make alcohol from shoe Polish at one point 😊
As Paul said “It’s the white album” and it is what it is! I love it all. Yes you could make a super single album….but you’d still leave off some amazing songs.
I’m So Tired is EASILY Lennon’s best recorded vocal performance of all time. It just goes through the whole range of his vocal quirks and power. It’s be my first pick for a must-stay on a one album White Album. (And also definitely keep Martha My Dear, Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, and Sexy Sadie and cut Mother Nature’s Son and everybody’s got something to Hide and on la di on la da!)
Considerations at the time of the album's release would've included not just overall length, but also making the A and B sides of the record approximately equal in length, starting the B side with a good song, and not putting a loud song as the last track on each side, as that would make the inner groove distortion more noticeable. (For that reason, most albums from the vinyl era end with a ballad as the last track on each side.)
On a related note, Techmoan once showed off a record of Ravel's _Boléro_ and _La Valse_ that plays from center to edge (instead of the usual edge-to-center) for that reason. Both pieces start quiet and get louder as they go. So the record has the quiet parts of the music toward the center and the loud parts toward the outside. ua-cam.com/video/5Afikv6k1-c/v-deo.html
Well, not quite. There are dozens of albums from that time period that had loud songs at the ends of sides, regardless of possible sound quality issues. The Beatles' own catalog bears that out. "I'll Be Back," "Michelle" and arguably "A Day in the Life" are really the only ballads that ended Beatles' LP sides pre-1968. In fact most of their album sides ended with "potboilers," as George Martin liked to call them.
it wouldn't be as good if it wasn't a weird album I like when things are not as symetrical and clean and crispy it's my favorite album you only get a Helter Skelter by experimenting a lot I actually made for a friend a triple White Album with songs that were later I remixed the songs with the original demos 1968 was a fertile year for the Beatles
I think so too. And in that vein, I'd add two more songs that would complete this whacky set for me: 'What's the New Mary Jane' and 'Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias' [from Anthology 3]. 😂 Whacky Beatles are the best Beatles.
I kind of agree, but to be honest: I'm glad that most of the novelty songs are quite short. I definitely would skip a 2-minute version of "Wild Honey Pie" any day. ;-) I think, the White Album contains some of the - in my opinion - best as well as the worst stuff they ever recorded (Revolution #9, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da), which makes it interesting. I wouldn't weed out as many songs as David did, but I'm sure the Beatles could have replaced some songs with better ones that they had recorded but didn't include (e.g. Not Guilty). But who am I to say that, it's the Beatles, ffs! ;-)
@@olivermueller1979 and also that not everybody agrees wich songs are the worst. I love Ob-La-Di and hate to death Why Don't We Do It and Don't Pass Me By! other people on this comment section are quite the opposite. that's the beauty of the White Album. the songs are very out there and end up being quite divisive.
It’s a sprawling masterpiece as a double album, an intricate and intimate snapshot of a band trying everything and anything in the studio in the midst of their most prolific period as songwriters. Sexy Sadie, I’m So Tired, Yer Blues, Monkey, and Bungalow Bill are top notch Beatles songs and I’m So Tired is one of my favorite songs of all time of any band ever.
That's right. The bohemian, sloppy pastiche stood in contrast to Sgt. Pepper. If not for the presence of those less than perfect numbers, it would have not been the White Album - it would occupy a different place in the collective consciousness. As is, the White Album is beloved, an archetype, and a harbinger of experimentation and solo work.
Indeed. They totally could have released a "normal" album like they were "supposed to" (like the one in this video), but the point of the white album is basically that they're the Beatles, so they can do whatever they want.
I have kind of a "yes and no" answer to this question - would the white album have been a more consistent and high quality album as a single disc? Yes, probably true (and I agree with most of your choices of songs for it!). But I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much. A lot of what I love about the white album is the mixture of really good tracks (While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, etc.) with the weird/stupid ones (Why Don't We Do it in the Road, Bungalow Bill, etc.). For me it gives the album a lot of character that I'm not sure it would have had if it only included the "good" songs!
Pretty good selection, but IMO a hypothetical "single record" should be limited to 14 songs to match the rest of their catalog. Also, I personally think it's better as a double album. Because of its length, the "White Album" stood out and established a rich tradition of 70's bands releasing their own uneven but endlessly fascinating double albums. Without that length, it'd just be an average Beatles album rather than one of their most famous.
If it had to be a single album then including the singles Hey Jude and Revolution would have been a must for me. Some of the goofy songs that give it it’s charm would be out. I don’t know how that would’ve made the time run but what a single album that would be. Having said that I wouldn’t change a thing.
One of my friends used to call me up on my birthday, and as soon as I got on the phone he'd start up "Birthday". I think it's good that we have at least *one* rocking song to use as an alternative to "Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You".
That middle part where they vamp on I think it’s the E chord - I rate that, along with the short section from Sgt Pepper when they do the Sgt Reprise, as their hardest rocking moments.
The White Album is my personal favorite Beatles album so trying to reduce this to one disc was very difficult for me, and the runtime ended up still being too long
I could not imagine the album without Birthday. I've woken to it on my own birthday every year for 50 years. Also, Why Don't We Do It In The Road is important if for no other reason that, when leading into I Will, it showcases the extremes of Paul's formidable vocal range like no other song combo in their catalogue. Hard to believe it's the same person singing both.
As a thought experiment, it is interesting. As an after-the-fact exercise in choosing one's favourite tracks, it isn't, in my view because the songs chosen for such an 'ideal version' would have been different from what people would now choose. "Helter Skelter", for instance, would definitely not have made it onto the album as no one in 1968 could have known about its significance (or reference point) for heavy metal (and they saw it as a big, elongated form of noise) while "Birthday" would have been included as they thought it might have become the rock version of "Congratulations". The attempt to reduce the album to a single LP also backgrounds the fact that the importance of the White Album does not lie in it being a collection of 14 perfect pop songs, but in the sheer exuberance of ideas of what pop music could be. So even though I don't like "Revolution 9" or "Wild Honeypie" as songs proper (even though I do enjoy the latter because it creates all kinds of imagery in my head), listening to the White Album would not be the same if there, for instance, wasn't this moment of confusion at the beginning of "Goodnight" about whether the string orchestra was still part of the collage.
I really think revolution 9 gets too many hate of what it really Should. Idk, I have allways seen it as a very amazing and really fun to listen in a technical level Also, in my opinion, it fits perfectly with the Good Night song at the end, is like a wait you have to go through to enjoy the happy sunrise at the end that actually sounds kind of depressing for the way it was recorded so is really up to your interpretation and thats facinating too imo. One can't exist without the other in my ears, it reminds me of the chemistry between "Sweet Moonchild" and "The Court of the Crimson King" from In The Court of the Crimson King it has the same wait and payoff efect that I really love and appreciate in my music.
Should have been a triple album with all those unrecorded Harrison songs and many other songs in the Lennon/McCartney works. And the original album artwork, which they didn't use, by John Byrne was incredible. As it is, it's a phenomenal record.
I like your choices, David. Martha My Dear is a great example of Paul's magic. It's a sophisticated song with inventive orchestration, but it sounds simple and natural.
Every real Beatles album must have a song for Ringo to sing. Also, you can’t have 3 John songs together. The official white album never has more than 2 songs by any Beatle together…
Almost... On paper, John has three songs together, but you could make a solid argument against that. He wrote Cry Baby Cry, Revolution 9, and Good Night. If you count Can You Take Me Back as a separate piece from Cry Baby Cry, then Paul has a mini song between that and Revolution 9. You could also argue that Revolution 9 isn't strictly a Lennon composition, but was John and Yoko with some contributions from George. That leaves Good Night as the only numbered track penned by Lennon alone, yet it's sung by Ringo and has George Martin written all over it.
I’d keep it a double album, but modified. Here is my modified version: Dropped songs - 1. Wild Honey Pie 2. Bungalow Bill 3. Revolution 1 4. Revolution no. 9 5. Piggies I’d make it an EP, called the Addendum or, as stated, the Whiter Album. I’d add the following: 1. Anthology version of Junk 2. Anthology version of Not Guilty 3. Revolution (single) 4. The Inner Light 5. * maybe add the New Mary Jane as a avant-garde replacement for Revolution 9
Maybe worst 3 or so, but then it might start getting heated. I submit nobody wants Rev9. Wild Honey Pie is so short (though I don't actually hate the weirdness) it can disappear. Do It in The Road has some powerful vocals but you know... I think most would have these 3 in their worst 5 list. To round it out my other two would probably have to be Longx3 and Birthday. How bout your worst 5?
@@SelfPropelledDestiny I love Long Long Long and Birthday. Rev 9 is a mess and a hard listen but worst is comparative, compared to the genius there. I love …Every body has something to hide and Happiness is a Warm Gun the most. The first is just a wild ride, the second just a wild high.
@@SelfPropelledDestiny My worst 5 would be similar to that, and I agree that I wouldn't include any of the 5 songs that you mentioned on a 15 song single disc White Album. I also agree with George Martin that "Rocky Raccoon" isn't one of their better efforts, and with David that "Revolution I" is so inferior to the version on the B-side of "Hey Jude" that I can do without it as well.
@@SelfPropelledDestiny Rev9, Wild Honey Pie, Don’t Pass Me By, Savoy Truffle, Honey Pie. I actually really like Rocky Racoon. Do it in the Road is catchy and hard to hate, imo.
Songs I can easily live without: Happiness Is A Warm Gun Wild Honey Pie Bungalow Bill Rocky Raccoon While My Guitar Gently Weeps Piggies Do It In The Road Julia Sexy Sadie Helter Skelter Honey Pie Revolution 9 There are a few others I can go either way with.
I pretty much agree with your choices, except I would’ve had Sexy Sadie in there (not sure instead of what though), and I wouldn’t have hesitated to put in Ob-La-Di.
Would've changed Sexy Sadie for Longx3 for sure. Honestly don't understand so many people's problem with Savoy Truffle. It's a much stronger song to me than Longx3 or Piggies. I probably would've preferred Honey Pie over Ob La, only because the latter is kind of played out.
The White Album wouldn't be nearly as significant and groundbreaking as it is without Revolution 9, which was the rare occurence of one of the most popular bands in the world releasing a musique concrete record.
Also it's funny to me how you dismiss Sexy Sadie but praise Cry Baby Cry as a sort of Britpop blueprint when to me both sound quite similar (both are good and influential)
"The Rutles: Archaeology" has a song on it called "Easy Listening", which has what is probably my favourite Rutles line: "Why don't we do it in the middle of the road?"
Broke: White Album is too long Woke: White Album has ups and downs but still builds to be a great piece of art and it's meant to be a journey Bespoke: White Album should've been a live action movie
A lot of people say the same exact thing about Physical Graffiti, but honestly some of my favorite songs of all time are lesser-known tracks from that album such as "In The Light" and "Ten Years Gone."
Fun video but the album is perfect the way it is. It's a hodge podge of styles and ideas thrown at the wall in a way that was counter to the highly considered approach of Sgt Pepper before it, and that's its identity. The fact this album has both Rocky Raccoon and Revolution 9 is exactly why it's so mesmerising and enjoyable to me.
My son's idea for the album - "Clear the Clutter White Album" :). We wrote down 15 songs (before we knew the time constraint). 13 out 15 were on your list! Rocky Racoon just seems to resonate with us (couldn't leave it off!). My wife is mad because you left out good-hearted Ringo (for a little extra flavor to the mix).
Oh man, this is going to be a tough video for me to watch. I love this album. It was the first Beatles album I heard and it was a revelation to me. It became an essential part of the soundtrack of my life for a time. I know it's imperfect, but it's the imperfections that make it so special for me. I love the silliness of it, the humour, as well as all the great songs. I wouldn't change a second of it. Maybe if I'd come to it later in my journey through the Beatles discography, I might feel differently about it, but for me it's my favourite Beatles album, and always will be.
I discovered it a few months ago and have to also agree. I love the weird interludes like wild honey pie. It's the kind of thing blur would always popin their albums. Now I can see the influence
Ditching favourite songs is difficult, obviously. My selection includes 9 songs by John, 3 songs by George, and only three songs by Paul. This does not mean that I think that John´s songs are better than Paul's songs generally (I think that Paul's songs will go down in music history to a greater extent than John´s songs), but on the white album I just happen to like these songs better. Ob-la-di-ob-la-da was easy to skip: along with Yellow Submarine it's more of a joke (perhaps a good sing-along song?). The reason why I have included three songs written by George is that I think he used to be greatly underestimated as a song writer, always dwarfed by the two giants. This is my list: 1. Back In the USSR 2. Dear Prudence 3. Glass Onion 4. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill 5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps 6. Happiness Is a Warm Gun 7. I´m So Tired 8. Blackbird 9. Piggies 10. Julia 11. Yer Blues 12. Sexy Sadie 13. Helter Skelter 14. Savoy Truffle 15. Cry Baby Cry Total time: 46.39
Any album with "Yer Blues", "Sexy Sadie", "Birthday" and "Savoy Truffle" on it is going to be a great album. Funny how tastes differ. I think you have to keep the Revolution #9 and Good Night closing sequence from the original album, just as you kept USSR and Prudence together on your first album.
@@oldccd6349 tbh Revolution 9 and Good Night should have been a 12" EP with Piggies, Sexy Sadie, and The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill/Rocky Racoon
I wouldn't change anything, but I would absolutely not remove Glass Onion and Savoy Truffle. That said, it might have been interesting to insert Hey Jude and Revolution as you (sort of) suggested. Simply replacing Revolution 9 with Hey Jude and Revolution 1 with Revolution, and kept it as a double album, might have been the way to go.
My aunt gave me the White Album for Christmas in the early 80' years, when I wasn't a teenager yet. My aunt was a big fan of the Beatles because she was born in 1945 one month before the WW 2 was ended and grew up with the music of the Beatles in the 60'. Her intention was certainly that I would also be enthusiastic about the Beatles. I had to get a little older to recognize the potential of the white album. It is also an interesting fact that I was born the same year as the white album was produced. Today I am very happy that I still own it and hear it in special life situations or quiet hours because my beloved aunt died of cancer in the mid-90s. I think many people have these small very personal stories that connect them to certain music or entire albums. This is what makes music so special.
While it’s always nice to reorder/change albums I think it’s important to remember part of what makes an album an album rather than a collection of songs are the tracks that, taken out of that context, may not be as strong as your stone cold classics. That’s why listening to a well sequenced album gives you a different emotional reaction than, say, a greatest hits which, by its very nature is just a group of songs.
Side 1: Back in the USSR Dear Prudence Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da While my Guitar gently weeps (acoustic Version) Martha my Dear Good Night - blend into: Helter Skelter
Side 2: Revolution (Single Version) Happiness is a warm gun Julia Blackbird A Beginning + Don't Pass Me By Hey Jude
I'm with Paul on this one. The White Album is my favourite Beatles album, even above a more cohesive album like Abbey Road. It's a tapestry of a time and a place, both for the band and the world as a whole - they were, of course, on the verge of collapse, and the album shows that. Yet the songs still have this strange, mosaic-like quality where they form a connective tissue in spite of themselves. Really, Revolution 9 is the thesis statement - The White Album is an enigmatic collage of sounds and styles that contains such an overwhelming range of emotions, tones and textures, it's absurd.
In a way that "strange" quality was always there - certainly after Rubber Soul. It is a strange mystery why we were so enthralled as much of the subject matter concerns alienation, longing, loss or even death . Stuart Maconie has written a very good retrospective review of it - he calls it "Diffuse, sinister, rocking, childlike, funny, unhinged, scary, beautiful. A rambling rickety charming, frightening old house of a record. They wanted to call it A Doll's House which would have been perfect but Kraftwerk beat them to it." And maybe The Beatles were just echoing back to us the mix of uncertainty, angst and excitement of the times. It certainly felt like that. So I think David is missing a dimension in this exercise - they were always about more than just music.
@@martifingers Totally agreed with your last paragraph. As the Beatles evolved in the 60s from ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ which I listened to live on Ed Sullivan’s Show to “Number nine, number nine, number nine,” which I heard for the first time while stoned, The White Album was part of the times. Although I remember most of the songs on the Albums the only one that I could name off the top of my head is #9, #9, #9, etc.. I forgot the name was really “Revolution Number 9” or that it was being played backwards to hear the secret messages.
Kraftwerk didn't form until 1970 and they never had an album called Dolls House. The prog rock band Family released Music From A Dolls House earlier in 1968 .
"Why Don't We Do It in the Road" might be extremely simple and kind of dumb, but it's not a throwaway due to the fact that it's incredibly catchy, Paul's vocals are f**king amazing, and it's just generally awesome and fun. IMHO. Also, everyone I know who loves The Beatles loves it. Granted, that's like three people, but still...
My only change would be removing wild honey pie, having a shorter Rev 9( or use the longer take 18) and putting Not Guilty on it. I love Glass Onion and Sexy Sadie
The thing to keep in mind is that George Marin suggested a single album after hearing the songs in their initial form, as he stated in one of the interviews about this. So take a listen to the so called The Esher Demos and try picking the songs based on that! One of the main reasons for them recording a lot of songs was to fullfill the renewed contractual obligations faster.
Though I LOVE Sexy Sadie AND Glass Onion… I don’t disagree much with your choices. Great order of selected tracks on both White Album (prime) and White Album B-sides.
You got it wrong. Ringo has to sing on at least one song and it wouldn't have been Don't Pass Me By. Adding Good Night would be the closer. John and Paul would then have an equal number of songs. That means that George would only get two songs
1968 was such a confusing year, one that began with high psychedelia then became hard rock. It was (at least in America) the year of the Great Schism, when FM rock radio emerged leaving AM pop and R&B to itself. There was social unrest and assassinations. So, in its confusing, let's just put it all on there, way, The White Album reflected its time. Add the tensions within the group, like Lennon rebelling against the high production values of Sgt. Pepper, and this is what we got. Your list is absolutely great for a tighter album and I could not improve upon it.
I think that having the single “Hey Jude”/“Revolution” on the album would have been better. “Revolution” could replace “Revolution 1” and “Hey Jude”, which is a quite long track, could replace “Revolution no. 9”. Other than that I would leave it as it is. The quirky things is part of the albums charm. But I do think that Johns sound collage would have been more well placed on one of his spaced out experimental records of the time. The records he made with Yoko. Off cause that means that one of Johns tracks would be replaced with one of Paul’s. Would John have put up with that...?
Love these kinds of fun thought-exercises! I'm also glad that we do have a double album, even though there are "skippable" tracks... it really does leave room for people to have personal favorite oddities from The Beatles (that might have otherwise been lost on the cutting room floor).
I agree with you and I'm really glad The White Album was released as it was but on the other hand - it's not like David Bennett is making the actual white album disappear with this conjecture about what a one LP white album would be like. this has been a discussion/argument since I can remember. as a bit of a hypothetical I don't see how it's hurting anything. But ... as I said in another comment; and I think I'm really agreeing with you in spirit - I love the eclectic nature of the White Album and it's why it's always in the running for my favorite Beatles album ever. to me this version of the White Album which cuts out the "weird" tracks destroys the spirit of it. there are a couple of the songs on The White Album I don't really care for ("Don't Pass Me By" and "Goodnight" come to mind) but even they I don't really want cut out . oh man. this comment is too long and contradicts himself too many times. this guy is crazy. Jonny Kaine, what's the matter with you. the dude makes no sense.
Funny the tastes. I love Birthday and Bungalow Bill and Sexy Sadie is my favourite track on the White Album. I often find while everyone agrees that The White Album could be one perfect singel album, few agree on what it should actually have.
Of course this is all hypothecated but I find it hard to cut more than 5-7 songs out of the 30. They all kind of have their place in the album sequencing. Even if I cut the songs I feel are weaker, I would still end up with about 23-25 songs, which still makes a double album. So I’m left with my original feeling that it’s best the way it is and wouldn’t have been better by cutting half of the songs. It’s still my favorite Beatles album, even if it has a few weak songs.
A few years ago, I thought about what my track list would be if the White Album were a single album. My list: Side 1 Revolution (the acoustic demo that was recorded at Kinfauns) Blackbird Glass Onion Sexy Sadie I Will Julia Hey Jude (but cut the coda in half) Side 2 Back in the U.S.S.R. Dear Prudence While My Guitar Gently Weeps Happiness Is a Warm Gun I'm So Tired Helter Skelter Revolution (the single version, not 1 or 9) You'll notice that side 1 is more acoustic and pleasant, while side 2 is more electric and moody. I got rid of some of the bad filler, but I did notice that I seemed to prefer disc 1 of the album. I wanted the album to open and close with Revolution, to show how revolutions come full-circle. I added Hey Jude to close side 1, but I cut it down for the time limit, and because it goes on too long anyway.
Good stuff, although it feels a little wrong to not have a Ringo tune or Long Long Long, haha. And a bit John-heavy for my taste. I might swap out “Glass Onion” for “Martha My Dear” and “I’m So Tired” for “Long, Long, Long.” That makes it 6-6-2 (still no Ringo :[) Could argue for keeping “Hey Jude” as a single and having “Don’t Pass Me By” as the end of the A Side.
@@conner.j.a.wilson I kind of wanted to remove the "granny music" for this one. It was a bit tricky, since there are songs I liked that I had to leave off.
I really like this track list! The only change I'd make would be to switch Helter Skelter with Hey Jude and put Hey Jude at the end of side two. Keeping the coda just as long and slowly fading out into a secret track, like Sgt. Peppers, or a mini song like Her Majesty on Abbey Road Edit : I also would like to add that the remaining tracks could easily have been released as a "rare cuts" album of previously unreleased songs. I could see the Beatles being of the cutting edge of this type of marketing as they always seemed to be ahead of their time.
I think a better solution would be for revolution 9 to be reduced to 2 - 3 mins and then Hey Jude (the white album's single) added to 4th side. I think it would be a shame to remove revolution 9 or good night etc, part of The Beatles' charm is that they were willing to do lullabies (good night), children's songs (yellow submarine), avant garde (revolution 9), jokey songs (Maggie may) and the White Album contains many of these elements (plus loads of great tracks). Admittedly, I love the first 3 sides and find little reason to listen to the 4th side (there are good songs but nothing amazing to make it necessary to turn over). However, including Hey Jude would solve that!
Thanks David - this is an interesting experiment. The truth is that while I much prefer 'Rocky Raccoon' (and 'Bungalow Bill' to a lesser extent) to 'Cry Baby Cry' and 'Piggies', I think the inclusion of the former would be more difficult to justify on a more streamlined and focused single album.
David, I love your down-to-earth genius. I was going on 16 when the White Album was released, and I was mesmerized by it, which of course sticks with me and colors my perspective. But I love your matter-of-fact approach - by now, having watched so many of your videos, I expect no less! - and your curation makes so much sense, especially your reordering of the tracks. Just absolutely brilliant, insightful, and so much fun! Thank you for your awesome work!
I kind of like the excess of it, especially considering the vinyl format of the time (and psychedelics etc). You would just put it on and have a meandering journey randomly punctuated by weird moments, pointless moments, and lots of all time classics. It makes less sense with an unlimited digital library always one click away
The White album (stereo) is 93 minutes long which is 15/20 minutes longer that most 60s double albums which were almost always between 70-80 minutes (Tommy was only 74 minutes, Blonde on Blonde was 72), So you can cut _Revolution 9, Why Don't We Do it In The Road, Don't Pass Me By_ and _Wild Honey Pie_ . and it's still a good value double album that would as long than any preceding two Beatles albums stuck together (no album prior to 1968 had run as long as 40 minutes). I think stronger set of rules needed to be applied: 14 songs (as was the case most preceding Beatles LPs) One Ringo vocal, 2 Harrisons, and as close to an equal split between John and Paul leads, and one of the Pauls needs to be a granny song, personally I picked Honey Pie, only because I really like John Lennon's little jazz guitar Solo, possibly a sort of tribute to his hero Toots Thielemans. I don't think you can cut Sexy Sadie, as if you do so then you erase Karma Police from history, and you're fucking up the time stream.
Thing is the Beatles would never have released an album of "sub standard " material. So these songs would have not been released until Anthology which would have been a great shame. It was also one of the first double albums and the Beatles liked to be pushing new ground. It could have been a better single album but I'm glad it was released as it was.
I think they should've cut out "Live and Let Die" and the superfluous second version of "Don't Cry" with alternate lyrics. Also, "You Could Be Mine" was already on the soundtrack for Terminator 2. Why repeat it here?
There may have been crafty contractual implication of doing a double album. Supposedly their contract with Parlephone/EMI was for a certain number of songs and they were trying to get rid of their contractual obligations as quickly as possible. George Martin mentioned this is an interview. He suspected John and Paul were using it as a way of getting out of their contract. I don't how accurate that is. As usual, Beatles leave us with these tantalising mysteries! Incidentally, a band I was in years ago did "Why don't we do it in the road" as a funk/blues type song and it was real fun and it went down very well.
great video man, loved seeing your thought process behind your picks and what you ended up on. I had my own White album single disc tracklist figured out before this but you actually got me to reconsider some of my picks lol. Here's what I've landed on after making a few adjustments: White Album 1 Disc Tracklist Side 1: Back in the USSR Dear Prudence While My Guitar Gently Weeps Happiness is a Warm Gun Martha My Dear Dont Pass Me By I Will Julia Side 2: Black Bird Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da I'm So Tired Helter Skelter Glass Onion Long, Long, Long Revolution 1 Here you get a pretty solid spread of McCartney and Lennon songs to satisfy both egos, Ringo gets a track and George gets his standard two tracks, and it flows quite nicely. I really like the end of the second half tbh, the run of helter skelter > Glass Onion > Long Long Long > Revolution 1 is incredible if I do say so myself. If you wanted to make it the standard 14 tracks you could probably cut Martha My Dear since side 1 runs a bit long but I think it's fine. But yeah it's definitely a fun little thought experiment to work out what a single disc version could sound like!
If you watch the get back episode that premiered today, you can see that they were able to produce these type of “filler” songs, that appear a lot on the white album, pretty much by the minute
@@SceneComparisons yeah there were always sparks of brilliance in the mix of all the throwaway songs. But is only one of probably 10 that were shown in the documentary. Its just an observation tho. They can be playing percussion with spoons and I would still give it a listen just because its them
I'll take ANY Beatles filler song(s) over anything thats on the radio nowadays (or whatever souless popular garbage Auto Tune Pop/ Hip Hop foul 'Shite' thats mass produced)
single White Album tracks: side one: 1. Back in the USSR 2. Dear Prudence 3. Glass onion 4. I'm so tired 5. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da 6. Mother nature's son 7. While my guitar gently weeps 8. Happiness is a warm gun side two: 9. Martha my dear 10. Everybody's got something to hide 11. Blackbird 12. Helter skelter 13. I will 14. Julia 15. Savoy truffle 16. Cry baby cry 17. Good night
I'm 36 and I've only started to pay REAL attention to the Beatles a week ago (no kidding). I was kind of surprised when I realized a lot of their hits were not on the albums. But after thinking about it makes sense. The time is limited on a LP, and if Paperback Writer would have been on Revolver, it would have been even more amazing, but then what other song do you remove? Same with Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.
If Paperback Writer and/or it's superior b side Rain were on Revolver then we would have been deprived of the best Beatles single. Regarding Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever I'm almost with George Martin who when Parlaphone came demanding a single three songs into the Sgt.Pepper's sessions suggested Penny Lane for the a side with When I'm 64 as it's b side. Sgt.Pepper's is great but I think unarguably including Strawberry Fields Forever in place of When I'm 64 would have improved it. It would have deprived us of their second best single (using the original UK pairings anyway) but the Beatles LPs are stuffed with songs that deserved to be singles so no big deal. Also, Only a Northern Song should have been included on Sgt.Pepper's instead of Within You Without You.
it's insane how different everyone's opinions are when it comes to Bealtes songs. Not a single artist's fanbase is this diverse in what their favorite songs are. I completely disagreed with about half of what he said in this video 💀
the whole project felt like the auditory equivalent of “quantity over quality”. It has some great highlights, but to me, lacks the kind of finesse shared by albums like Abbey Road.
Sexy Sadie is not a great song!?!?!?! OMG, that's one the finest songs on the album! And it's sacrilege to omit Honey Pie and Savoy Truffle or Glass Onion. They are all so delicious. Bungalow Bill is also a unique and interesting tune that adds so much colour to the album with it's skipped beats which I figured you would particularly appreciate. I think you have removed 5 of the most defining and awesome songs on the album!! Yikes. I would ALSO keep Why Don't We Do It In the Road OVER Ob-la-di-Ob-la-da or Piggies.
I don't think splitting the album like thisbwoukd work, it would make one fantastic album, but also one sort of weird album where most people might not want to buy it, or if they do feel ripped off. I think it's good if album's follow roughly a 50/50 split of "songs for the audience" and "songs for the musicians", as in, about half should be stuff that's made with the audience in mind to appeal to what they have expressed interest in so far, and half should be just stuff the musicians want to try using their artistic freedom and experimentation and whatnot. Not only for music, but for a lot of content I think that's a good approach to balance cultivating an audience and making the stuff you really want to make as an artist. Too much for the audience, and you feel like you're just being a tool for giving the audience what they want. Too much for the artist, and people lose interest and you lose the audience that you depend on in order to live off your art. As a sidenote: I absolutely love Revolution 9, it would be an utter shame if that hadn't been on the White Album.
What makes the White Album so good is the lesser songs against the classics. Yes there are probably 10 songs that would be classed as lesser songs but they bring a charm to the album and why not be there as much as not be there. It's a great album with tracks that a lot of people would not know and I love it
Nothng charming about crappy , lazy songs. It show their arrogance that the fans will put up with anything regardless of quality. Judging by the comments, they were right. I hold the Beatles to a higher standard. They don’t get a pass on an album that is just okay even in a single version. There is more Beatles charm on Meet the Beatles and Hard Day’s Night.
@@Dex619 Happiness is a Warm Gun Dear Prudence Back in the USSR Blackbird While my Guitar Gently Weeps Yer Blues Mother Nature's Son Helter Skelter All the above alone are better than most band careers never mind most bands albums. To say they White Album is nothing more than a great album is crazy talk. Most bands albums have fillers
@@michaelzzzzzzzzzzzz it's okay to admit the Beatles weren't at the top of their game. Most of the songs you mentioned were either okay not poorly recorded. It's bores me.
David, hello there! You have some good points. I recently just listened to all of the Beatles albums from start to finish and was surprised to find songs I didn’t even know. It’s interesting that Rocky raccoon is one of my favorites and you’re not that keen on it. That’s fine, to each his own!
Interesting choices that you have made. The one point that I have to make is that if you are trying to make it an album that The Beatles would have actually released back in late 1968... then it absolutely would have had a song that Ringo sang on it. And I'd say that the album would almost surely have ended with the track "Goodnight". My second point is... that their album would definitely had included "Yer Blues". John chose that song to perform live in the "Rock And Roll Circus" just shortly after the White Album was released. It was obviously one of his favorites of that period. Lastly... I would personally include "Birthday" on a single disc version - probably starting side two with it. The one track that I definitely would not have included that you selected - is "Me and My Monkey". Always fun to see others thoughts on this.
I wish some streaming service would take the Beatles Anthology rights and remaster it it for streaming. It's a shame this great documentary isn't on any streaming services.
the Beatles Anthology series is due for a re-release as a streaming video deal isn't it? kind of surprised they haven't gotten around to that. maybe it'll be the next Beatles project with Peter Jackson's Get Back out now.
So for a boomer's point of view in this thought experiment (I've been listening to this album before you were born!) I would say skip Monkey and put back Birthday - for me that tune was very much part of my generation. I used to sing Good Night to my babies - so I would definitely keep that one as well. I could take or leave Piggies, but I've always enjoyed singing Rocky Raccoon as a sing-along during my University years.
I'm firmly in pro double album side of this argument; so much of The White Album's unique charm would have been lost if it had been cut down to a single album. I love all of the weird songs like "wild honey pie" and "revolution #9" that they wouldn't have included if it were a single album. not saying I listen to "Revolution #9" every time I put the White Album on, in fact I often stop it at "Cry Baby Cry" and skip both "Revolution #9" and "Good Night" - still I think it's a fascinating listen when I'm in the mood.
Hi David - one of the rare times I have disagreed with your opinion. The White Album is perfect "as is"; I still listen to it often, the sales figures back it. And many, many, many Beatles fans back it too. The wrinkles are like age-lines in a face that has lived a fascinating life-time, and we lose something vital by thinking we should be better to iron (botox) them out...
@@marguskiis7711 I agree but I really did struggle to listen all the way through Goodnight.... it wasn't Ringo per se as I adore "With a little Help from my Friends".
This was fun! I thought Sexy Sadie would be a shoo-in, it's one of my favorite tracks on the album. I'd ditch Piggies and Helter Skelter for it. The Anthology versions of both are better than the album cuts. Cheers!
Walter Everett, in his book "The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology" actually tried to speculate on what George Martin would have went with for a single LP White Album. Based on his knowledge of George Martin's preferences & constraints, this is what Everett guessed Martin's version of the album may have looked like: Side 1: Back in the U.S.S.R. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill I Will Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da Blackbird Not Guilty While My Guitar Gently Weeps Happiness is a Warm Gun Side 2: Birthday Sexy Sadie Julia Martha My Dear Long Long Long Honey Pie Goodnight Admittedly, some things may be a bit unexpected (Bungalow Bill instead of Dear Prudence, for example). This list definitely wouldn't be _my_ top preference. But it's the only list I've found where someone's tried to guess as what _George Martin_ would have done, rather than someone giving _their own_ preference.
Sadly for George Martin though choosing track listings was nothing to do with him by this point. John and Paul spent a 24 hour session compiling this album.
The great album is great for two reasons...The songs that are just great Beatles stuff like Dear Prudence, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, Yer Blues etc. and the crazy and random stuff... Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Bungalow Bill, Why Don't we Do It On the Road, Piggies even Revolution 9... That's why the white album is great and unique. You keep everything ! Everything's great !
As many people have commented before, I think the album's 'filler' tracks gives it a chaotic personality, and leaving tracks out would've been a loss of music history, so I think a double album was the right decision. However, I came up with my own selection of songs for the fun of it: Side 1 "Back in the U.S.S.R." 2:43 "Dear Prudence" 3:56 "Julia" 2:57 "Martha My Dear" 2:28 "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" 2:47 "Honey Pie" 2:41 "Sexy Sadie" 3:15 "Blackbird" 2:18 Side 2 "Good Night" 3:14 "Revolution 9" 8:15 "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" 4:45 "Long, Long, Long" 3:08 "Helter Skelter" 4:30 -- TOTAL 46:57 I like the idea of Ringo closing the album with his blisters scream, and I enjoy the chaos caused by him singing us to sleep in Good Night only to have a nightmare in Revolution 9.
I always thought it was Ringo too; but I think it is George. Guitar players are the ones who get blisters too (of course drummers can too). I think it is George tho.
my take on any band's attempt at a double album, is not that every single song needs to be a hit or a classic, but rather that the album should explore the full range & diversity of the artist. fast slow, long short, experimental commercial, simple complex, heavy light, loud soft and so on. in that regard i think the beatles white album is a magnificent masterpiece. it's the diverse range & variety that makes it so great.
White Album is such a showcase of Paul’s vocal versatility. I just adore how the album goes “wHy DoNt We Do It In ThE rOaD” “… Who knows how long I’ve loved you?”
It's a fun idea to toy around with, but the interesting thing is how whenever people try to compile an album out of the tracks from the released double album, everyone seems to get different results. Several of my favorite songs by The Beatles are on this album, most of which were not included on David's version of this album.
I was nine when the Fab Four disbanded, and I only started listening seriously around 1972 - but even for a kid it was obvious that the White Album had more the usual number of throwaways. "Do It in the Road", "Revolution 9", "Yer Blues", "Honey Pie", "Don't Pass Me By", "good Night", "Wild Honey Pie". Actually, only seven garbage songs out of 30 is not too bad. Anyhow, in the digital age, none of this matters anymore - it's just a nostalgia thing for us pre-internet dinosaurs... "Revolution 1" is obviously good but also obviously the single was much better. ""Bungalow Bill", "I'm So Tired", "Sexy Sadie" and "Piggies", "Long, Long, Long" and 'Savoy Truffle" are classic songs though and all make my cut. "Birthday" is one of rock and roll's most classic guitar riffs and also features amazing drumming by Ringo - thousands of garage rock bands have played this.
See, the way you said, “I like (insert song), but…” about a few, then being a bit pained leaving them off just goes to show why the full, bloated version works. You lost me as soon as you skipped Glass Onion, one of my favorites. Even the weirder tracks have great personality, provide fun detours, segues, breaks, and transitional moments. And for the record (pun intended), while something like Wild Honey Pie is likely no one’s favorite, Rocky Raccoon is a stone cold classic. Anyone who’s like me who’s listened to The Beatles’ records for most of his or her life will probably agree that Glass Onion starts playing in your head as Dear Prudence is ending because it’s firmly set in the proper sequence, just as all the other albums are. It’s an interesting exercise chopping it down to a single LP, but make no mistake, the legacy and brilliance of the original White Album cannot be improved. All due respect to the legendary Sir George Martin, he got it wrong and Sir Paul got it right.
The “fillers” give the album the chaotic personality. In a way choosing your own favourite tracks from the album and making it your own is the part of the charm of this album.
That's on point
Yes, is a double album that is a multitude of virtual singular albums.
Whenever I try to whittle it down I can't.
The 'filler' tracks all have a purpose.
Yeah. Great. When the Nachtwacht of Rembrandt didn't fit in an Amsterdam room they decided to cut of two pieces of it.
Who in his right mind would want to cut half a Beatles album?!
The brilliance of the White Album is that everyone thinks it should be a single album, but no one can agree on which songs to keep. So it stays a double album.
That is demonstrably true.
Well said
I actually think that it should have been a triple album with all the material unreleased like What's The New Mary Jane, and singles not on the double album like Hey Jude, Lady Madonna, and B sides like The Inner Light, and Revolution, and different versions of songs on the double album like the acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and others that haven't been on any album.
Haha, true (Honey Pie should be in the LP)
“I Will” is one of Paul’s best songs and nobody seems to give it the love it deserves.
I like I Will, one of the best from the White Album🙂
You're so right George! Better than Episode 1 even?
I read an anecdote somewhere once, and I have no idea if it's true or if I'm remembering correctly, so take it with a grain of salt. But for a while in Russia it was illegal to buy Western albums, so people would take the material old X-rays were printed on and make bootleg records with them. They were terrible quality, but they were all that was available. One Russian man had the single of "I Will" and played it over and over again. It was his favourite song. Then, later in life, he moved to the US, and heard the song for the first time from a real record. His copy had been so bad that he hadn't even realized that Paul and John sang harmony for part of it. He thought it was so beautiful he wept.
@@rebeccamaracle2878 sounds correct from what I’ve heard about the Soviet era.
Soviet citizens were very innovative about getting Western goods and music and getting round restrictions. They managed to make alcohol from shoe Polish at one point 😊
@@MsNickybee lol 😆😆😆😆
As Paul said “It’s the white album” and it is what it is! I love it all. Yes you could make a super single album….but you’d still leave off some amazing songs.
“It’s great, it sold, it’s the bloody Beatles White Album! Shut up!”
I’m So Tired is EASILY Lennon’s best recorded vocal performance of all time. It just goes through the whole range of his vocal quirks and power. It’s be my first pick for a must-stay on a one album White Album. (And also definitely keep Martha My Dear, Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, and Sexy
Sadie and cut Mother Nature’s Son and everybody’s got something to Hide and on la di on la da!)
It's a great one
Wow, didn't know chef Kenji likes the beatles too :P this man has great taste in so many diffrent fields. Love i"m so tired" too
cut Mother Natures Son and keep Honey Pie and Savoy Truffle?! ARE YOU MAD??!
I'd keep it just for "and curse Sir Walter Raleigh he was such a a stupid get"
Hey, my favorite UA-cam chef watches also my favorite UA-cam music channel?! We’re in good company here!
Considerations at the time of the album's release would've included not just overall length, but also making the A and B sides of the record approximately equal in length, starting the B side with a good song, and not putting a loud song as the last track on each side, as that would make the inner groove distortion more noticeable. (For that reason, most albums from the vinyl era end with a ballad as the last track on each side.)
Facts! This is the physical programming stuff that people often forget.
Wow thats super interesting. I always assumed that they ended sides with a ballad for the emotional statement. Maybe a bit of both?
@@thomaswidmer2169 by the time it became common practice it became a sort of natural thing to do with arranging the tracklist
On a related note, Techmoan once showed off a record of Ravel's _Boléro_ and _La Valse_ that plays from center to edge (instead of the usual edge-to-center) for that reason. Both pieces start quiet and get louder as they go. So the record has the quiet parts of the music toward the center and the loud parts toward the outside. ua-cam.com/video/5Afikv6k1-c/v-deo.html
Well, not quite. There are dozens of albums from that time period that had loud songs at the ends of sides, regardless of possible sound quality issues. The Beatles' own catalog bears that out. "I'll Be Back," "Michelle" and arguably "A Day in the Life" are really the only ballads that ended Beatles' LP sides pre-1968. In fact most of their album sides ended with "potboilers," as George Martin liked to call them.
it wouldn't be as good if it wasn't a weird album
I like when things are not as symetrical and clean and crispy
it's my favorite album
you only get a Helter Skelter by experimenting a lot
I actually made for a friend a triple White Album with songs that were later
I remixed the songs with the original demos
1968 was a fertile year for the Beatles
I think so too. And in that vein, I'd add two more songs that would complete this whacky set for me: 'What's the New Mary Jane' and 'Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias' [from Anthology 3]. 😂 Whacky Beatles are the best Beatles.
I agree! My favourite Beatles album BECAUSE of the experimentation, weird and jokey, novelty songs.
I kind of agree, but to be honest: I'm glad that most of the novelty songs are quite short. I definitely would skip a 2-minute version of "Wild Honey Pie" any day. ;-) I think, the White Album contains some of the - in my opinion - best as well as the worst stuff they ever recorded (Revolution #9, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da), which makes it interesting. I wouldn't weed out as many songs as David did, but I'm sure the Beatles could have replaced some songs with better ones that they had recorded but didn't include (e.g. Not Guilty).
But who am I to say that, it's the Beatles, ffs! ;-)
@@olivermueller1979 and also that not everybody agrees wich songs are the worst. I love Ob-La-Di and hate to death Why Don't We Do It and Don't Pass Me By! other people on this comment section are quite the opposite. that's the beauty of the White Album. the songs are very out there and end up being quite divisive.
@@TheMentalblockrock Me too. I always say I love the White Album BECAUSE of Revolution 9!
It’s a sprawling masterpiece as a double album, an intricate and intimate snapshot of a band trying everything and anything in the studio in the midst of their most prolific period as songwriters. Sexy Sadie, I’m So Tired, Yer Blues, Monkey, and Bungalow Bill are top notch Beatles songs and I’m So Tired is one of my favorite songs of all time of any band ever.
Yep defo. Agree with you on all of those.
Uh, Bungalow Bill sucks.
@@curly_wyn nah, music is just subjective.
the chaos and variety across the 30 tracks is what makes it so brilliant
It fit the times.
That's right. The bohemian, sloppy pastiche stood in contrast to Sgt. Pepper. If not for the presence of those less than perfect numbers, it would have not been the White Album - it would occupy a different place in the collective consciousness. As is, the White Album is beloved, an archetype, and a harbinger of experimentation and solo work.
Indeed. They totally could have released a "normal" album like they were "supposed to" (like the one in this video), but the point of the white album is basically that they're the Beatles, so they can do whatever they want.
@@joanneolive7128 Exactly, the White Album is impossible to edit from a 21st century point of view. It is definitely of its time.
This entire album is made up of Paul's George's John's and Ringo's individual composing styles. It's brilliant
I'll probably be alone but The White Album is the best album in muisik(imho)
thats why "The Beatles" is the perfect title for it
I have kind of a "yes and no" answer to this question - would the white album have been a more consistent and high quality album as a single disc? Yes, probably true (and I agree with most of your choices of songs for it!). But I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much. A lot of what I love about the white album is the mixture of really good tracks (While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, etc.) with the weird/stupid ones (Why Don't We Do it in the Road, Bungalow Bill, etc.). For me it gives the album a lot of character that I'm not sure it would have had if it only included the "good" songs!
agree 100%
I love Bungalows Bill, but yeah, the sex in the road song is very meh.
Paul's voice is so soulful and powerful on Why Don't We Do It In The Road. It strikes me as iconic and I can't imagine life without it.
@@MarkMikelVideos comic/iconic but anyway it really sets up "I Will" so it stays.
I'd lose piggies , 'monkey & I will for glass onion , yer blues & goodnight ! The White Album was on Rolling Stones top all time albums @10 !
Pretty good selection, but IMO a hypothetical "single record" should be limited to 14 songs to match the rest of their catalog. Also, I personally think it's better as a double album. Because of its length, the "White Album" stood out and established a rich tradition of 70's bands releasing their own uneven but endlessly fascinating double albums. Without that length, it'd just be an average Beatles album rather than one of their most famous.
If it had to be a single album then including the singles Hey Jude and Revolution would have been a must for me. Some of the goofy songs that give it it’s charm would be out. I don’t know how that would’ve made the time run but what a single album that would be.
Having said that I wouldn’t change a thing.
Very reasonable list. The only sticky point for me is Birthday. I think it’s an outstanding rocker.
Horrible list of slick songs.
It's great. Much better than Happy Birthday.
One of my friends used to call me up on my birthday, and as soon as I got on the phone he'd start up "Birthday". I think it's good that we have at least *one* rocking song to use as an alternative to "Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You".
For me, Piggies is way down the list, certainly Glass Onion is much better.
That middle part where they vamp on I think it’s the E chord - I rate that, along with the short section from Sgt Pepper when they do the Sgt Reprise, as their hardest rocking moments.
The White Album is my personal favorite Beatles album so trying to reduce this to one disc was very difficult for me, and the runtime ended up still being too long
I'd never throw away "Why don't we do it in the road?", it's one of my favorites!
Sure is. It's my ringtone too
Also, Sexy Sadie being left out, with Ob-la-di in? That wouldn't happen on my watch. Solid choices otherwise, though :)
I could not imagine the album without Birthday. I've woken to it on my own birthday every year for 50 years.
Also, Why Don't We Do It In The Road is important if for no other reason that, when leading into I Will, it showcases the extremes of Paul's formidable vocal range like no other song combo in their catalogue. Hard to believe it's the same person singing both.
I knew what it meant when i first heard it at 11 years old. And THAT made it cool!
❤
As a thought experiment, it is interesting. As an after-the-fact exercise in choosing one's favourite tracks, it isn't, in my view because the songs chosen for such an 'ideal version' would have been different from what people would now choose. "Helter Skelter", for instance, would definitely not have made it onto the album as no one in 1968 could have known about its significance (or reference point) for heavy metal (and they saw it as a big, elongated form of noise) while "Birthday" would have been included as they thought it might have become the rock version of "Congratulations".
The attempt to reduce the album to a single LP also backgrounds the fact that the importance of the White Album does not lie in it being a collection of 14 perfect pop songs, but in the sheer exuberance of ideas of what pop music could be. So even though I don't like "Revolution 9" or "Wild Honeypie" as songs proper (even though I do enjoy the latter because it creates all kinds of imagery in my head), listening to the White Album would not be the same if there, for instance, wasn't this moment of confusion at the beginning of "Goodnight" about whether the string orchestra was still part of the collage.
The White Album is a masterpiece!! I'm with Paul! Leave it alone!
I really think revolution 9 gets too many hate of what it really Should. Idk, I have allways seen it as a very amazing and really fun to listen in a technical level
Also, in my opinion, it fits perfectly with the Good Night song at the end, is like a wait you have to go through to enjoy the happy sunrise at the end that actually sounds kind of depressing for the way it was recorded so is really up to your interpretation and thats facinating too imo. One can't exist without the other in my ears, it reminds me of the chemistry between "Sweet Moonchild" and "The Court of the Crimson King" from In The Court of the Crimson King it has the same wait and payoff efect that I really love and appreciate in my music.
Should have been a triple album with all those unrecorded Harrison songs and many other songs in the Lennon/McCartney works. And the original album artwork, which they didn't use, by John Byrne was incredible. As it is, it's a phenomenal record.
This is the most typical Beatles fan opinion.
No matter how much there is, more is demanded. 😂
Yeah, but Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Ob La Di, Wild Honey Pie, Savoy, Don't Pass Me By - there's some sheer bollocks on it.
@@tonybates7870 I agree about Don't Pass Me By and Wild Honey Pie
John Byrne’s artwork was awful. The white cover is way more iconic imo
Everyone wants to have more of "The Beatles". No matter how long it lasted, it was never long enough.
I like your choices, David. Martha My Dear is a great example of Paul's magic. It's a sophisticated song with inventive orchestration, but it sounds simple and natural.
It’s in my Top 5 favorite Beatles songs. I like your word: magic. Because it is.
Magick more like it@@thesilvershining
Every real Beatles album must have a song for Ringo to sing.
Also, you can’t have 3 John songs together. The official white album never has more than 2 songs by any Beatle together…
Almost... On paper, John has three songs together, but you could make a solid argument against that. He wrote Cry Baby Cry, Revolution 9, and Good Night. If you count Can You Take Me Back as a separate piece from Cry Baby Cry, then Paul has a mini song between that and Revolution 9. You could also argue that Revolution 9 isn't strictly a Lennon composition, but was John and Yoko with some contributions from George. That leaves Good Night as the only numbered track penned by Lennon alone, yet it's sung by Ringo and has George Martin written all over it.
The end of the White Album is 3 John songs together in a row
Hard days night has no Ringo vocals, but I agree with you. Don’t pass me by should’ve been there :)
I’d keep it a double album, but modified. Here is my modified version:
Dropped songs -
1. Wild Honey Pie
2. Bungalow Bill
3. Revolution 1
4. Revolution no. 9
5. Piggies
I’d make it an EP, called the Addendum or,
as stated, the Whiter Album.
I’d add the following:
1. Anthology version of Junk
2. Anthology version of Not Guilty
3. Revolution (single)
4. The Inner Light
5. * maybe add the New Mary Jane as a avant-garde replacement for Revolution 9
With a couple of notable exceptions, most people don’t agree on what the worst tracks are.
Maybe worst 3 or so, but then it might start getting heated. I submit nobody wants Rev9. Wild Honey Pie is so short (though I don't actually hate the weirdness) it can disappear. Do It in The Road has some powerful vocals but you know... I think most would have these 3 in their worst 5 list. To round it out my other two would probably have to be Longx3 and Birthday. How bout your worst 5?
@@SelfPropelledDestiny I love Long Long Long and Birthday. Rev 9 is a mess and a hard listen but worst is comparative, compared to the genius there. I love …Every body has something to hide and Happiness is a Warm Gun the most. The first is just a wild ride, the second just a wild high.
@@SelfPropelledDestiny My worst 5 would be similar to that, and I agree that I wouldn't include any of the 5 songs that you mentioned on a 15 song single disc White Album. I also agree with George Martin that "Rocky Raccoon" isn't one of their better efforts, and with David that "Revolution I" is so inferior to the version on the B-side of "Hey Jude" that I can do without it as well.
@@SelfPropelledDestiny Rev9, Wild Honey Pie, Don’t Pass Me By, Savoy Truffle, Honey Pie.
I actually really like Rocky Racoon. Do it in the Road is catchy and hard to hate, imo.
Songs I can easily live without:
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Wild Honey Pie
Bungalow Bill
Rocky Raccoon
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Piggies
Do It In The Road
Julia
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Honey Pie
Revolution 9
There are a few others I can go either way with.
Martin was insane for wanting to leave Rocky Raccoon out specifically, such an underrated track
Yessssss
And it perfectly leads into one of my favorite Ringo songs with Don't Pass Me By
I pretty much agree with your choices, except I would’ve had Sexy Sadie in there (not sure instead of what though), and I wouldn’t have hesitated to put in Ob-La-Di.
You have horrible taste imho
Would've changed Sexy Sadie for Longx3 for sure. Honestly don't understand so many people's problem with Savoy Truffle. It's a much stronger song to me than Longx3 or Piggies. I probably would've preferred Honey Pie over Ob La, only because the latter is kind of played out.
The White Album wouldn't be nearly as significant and groundbreaking as it is without Revolution 9, which was the rare occurence of one of the most popular bands in the world releasing a musique concrete record.
Also it's funny to me how you dismiss Sexy Sadie but praise Cry Baby Cry as a sort of Britpop blueprint when to me both sound quite similar (both are good and influential)
"The Rutles: Archaeology" has a song on it called "Easy Listening", which has what is probably my favourite Rutles line: "Why don't we do it in the middle of the road?"
Long Long Long it’s one of the most beautiful songs I ever heard in my life.
George's finest Beatles song, imo.
Broke: White Album is too long
Woke: White Album has ups and downs but still builds to be a great piece of art and it's meant to be a journey
Bespoke: White Album should've been a live action movie
Stroke: White Album is their best album
Toke : White Album is the quintessential album to get high to
Pink Floyd: the W(hite album)all
A lot of people say the same exact thing about Physical Graffiti, but honestly some of my favorite songs of all time are lesser-known tracks from that album such as "In The Light" and "Ten Years Gone."
Fun video but the album is perfect the way it is. It's a hodge podge of styles and ideas thrown at the wall in a way that was counter to the highly considered approach of Sgt Pepper before it, and that's its identity. The fact this album has both Rocky Raccoon and Revolution 9 is exactly why it's so mesmerising and enjoyable to me.
My son's idea for the album - "Clear the Clutter White Album" :). We wrote down 15 songs (before we knew the time constraint). 13 out 15 were on your list! Rocky Racoon just seems to resonate with us (couldn't leave it off!). My wife is mad because you left out good-hearted Ringo (for a little extra flavor to the mix).
Oh man, this is going to be a tough video for me to watch. I love this album. It was the first Beatles album I heard and it was a revelation to me. It became an essential part of the soundtrack of my life for a time. I know it's imperfect, but it's the imperfections that make it so special for me. I love the silliness of it, the humour, as well as all the great songs. I wouldn't change a second of it. Maybe if I'd come to it later in my journey through the Beatles discography, I might feel differently about it, but for me it's my favourite Beatles album, and always will be.
I discovered it a few months ago and have to also agree. I love the weird interludes like wild honey pie. It's the kind of thing blur would always popin their albums. Now I can see the influence
Ditching favourite songs is difficult, obviously. My selection includes 9 songs by John, 3 songs by George, and only three songs by Paul. This does not mean that I think that John´s songs are better than Paul's songs generally (I think that Paul's songs will go down in music history to a greater extent than John´s songs), but on the white album I just happen to like these songs better.
Ob-la-di-ob-la-da was easy to skip: along with Yellow Submarine it's more of a joke (perhaps a good sing-along song?).
The reason why I have included three songs written by George is that I think he used to be greatly underestimated as a song writer, always dwarfed by the two giants.
This is my list:
1. Back In the USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
6. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
7. I´m So Tired
8. Blackbird
9. Piggies
10. Julia
11. Yer Blues
12. Sexy Sadie
13. Helter Skelter
14. Savoy Truffle
15. Cry Baby Cry
Total time: 46.39
Agree with you. I’m not as big a fan of McCartney’s sappier songs. Anything by Ringo is filler.
Any album with "Yer Blues", "Sexy Sadie", "Birthday" and "Savoy Truffle" on it is going to be a great album. Funny how tastes differ.
I think you have to keep the Revolution #9 and Good Night closing sequence from the original album, just as you kept USSR and Prudence together on your first album.
Revolution #9 doesn't belong anywhere other than in the garbage bin.
@@bunpeishiratori5849 yeah but the chaos of Revolution 9 makes Good Night so much more impactful
@@oldccd6349 tbh Revolution 9 and Good Night should have been a 12" EP with Piggies, Sexy Sadie, and The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill/Rocky Racoon
I wouldn't change anything, but I would absolutely not remove Glass Onion and Savoy Truffle. That said, it might have been interesting to insert Hey Jude and Revolution as you (sort of) suggested. Simply replacing Revolution 9 with Hey Jude and Revolution 1 with Revolution, and kept it as a double album, might have been the way to go.
My aunt gave me the White Album for Christmas in the early 80' years, when I wasn't a teenager yet. My aunt was a big fan of the Beatles because she was born in 1945 one month before the WW 2 was ended and grew up with the music of the Beatles in the 60'. Her intention was certainly that I would also be enthusiastic about the Beatles. I had to get a little older to recognize the potential of the white album. It is also an interesting fact that I was born the same year as the white album was produced.
Today I am very happy that I still own it and hear it in special life situations or quiet hours because my beloved aunt died of cancer in the mid-90s.
I think many people have these small very personal stories that connect them to certain music or entire albums. This is what makes music so special.
I'm gonna be honest, i LOVE white album in it's entirety. The chaotic nature of it all is just great.
I actually like Wild Honey Pie
While it’s always nice to reorder/change albums I think it’s important to remember part of what makes an album an album rather than a collection of songs are the tracks that, taken out of that context, may not be as strong as your stone cold classics. That’s why listening to a well sequenced album gives you a different emotional reaction than, say, a greatest hits which, by its very nature is just a group of songs.
Side 1:
Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While my Guitar gently weeps (acoustic Version)
Martha my Dear
Good Night - blend into:
Helter Skelter
Side 2:
Revolution (Single Version)
Happiness is a warm gun
Julia
Blackbird
A Beginning + Don't Pass Me By
Hey Jude
I'm with Paul on this one. The White Album is my favourite Beatles album, even above a more cohesive album like Abbey Road. It's a tapestry of a time and a place, both for the band and the world as a whole - they were, of course, on the verge of collapse, and the album shows that. Yet the songs still have this strange, mosaic-like quality where they form a connective tissue in spite of themselves. Really, Revolution 9 is the thesis statement - The White Album is an enigmatic collage of sounds and styles that contains such an overwhelming range of emotions, tones and textures, it's absurd.
In a way that "strange" quality was always there - certainly after Rubber Soul. It is a strange mystery why we were so enthralled as much of the subject matter concerns alienation, longing, loss or even death . Stuart Maconie has written a very good retrospective review of it - he calls it "Diffuse, sinister, rocking, childlike, funny, unhinged, scary, beautiful. A rambling rickety charming, frightening old house of a record. They wanted to call it A Doll's House which would have been perfect but Kraftwerk beat them to it."
And maybe The Beatles were just echoing back to us the mix of uncertainty, angst and excitement of the times. It certainly felt like that. So I think David is missing a dimension in this exercise - they were always about more than just music.
@@martifingers Totally agreed with your last paragraph. As the Beatles evolved in the 60s from ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ which I listened to live on Ed Sullivan’s Show to “Number nine, number nine, number nine,” which I heard for the first time while stoned, The White Album was part of the times. Although I remember most of the songs on the Albums the only one that I could name off the top of my head is #9, #9, #9, etc.. I forgot the name was really “Revolution Number 9” or that it was being played backwards to hear the secret messages.
Kraftwerk didn't form until 1970 and they never had an album called Dolls House. The prog rock band Family released Music From A Dolls House earlier in 1968 .
@Dennis.
It would have been great if they had done Revolution#9 on Ed Sullivan.
"Why Don't We Do It in the Road" might be extremely simple and kind of dumb, but it's not a throwaway due to the fact that it's incredibly catchy, Paul's vocals are f**king amazing, and it's just generally awesome and fun.
IMHO.
Also, everyone I know who loves The Beatles loves it. Granted, that's like three people, but still...
My only change would be removing wild honey pie, having a shorter Rev 9( or use the longer take 18) and putting Not Guilty on it. I love Glass Onion and Sexy Sadie
Yes!!! Take 18 is AWESOME!!! As well as Not Guilty.
and the album NEEDS "Sexy Sadie" to set up "Helter Skelter"
The thing to keep in mind is that George Marin suggested a single album after hearing the songs in their initial form, as he stated in one of the interviews about this. So take a listen to the so called The Esher Demos and try picking the songs based on that! One of the main reasons for them recording a lot of songs was to fullfill the renewed contractual obligations faster.
Though I LOVE Sexy Sadie AND Glass Onion… I don’t disagree much with your choices. Great order of selected tracks on both White Album (prime) and White Album B-sides.
You dont like The Beatles. You like sweet pop, nothing more.
@@marguskiis7711 oh thanks, interesting point of view
I love both honey pie and birthday. Go figure!
You got it wrong. Ringo has to sing on at least one song and it wouldn't have been Don't Pass Me By. Adding Good Night would be the closer. John and Paul would then have an equal number of songs. That means that George would only get two songs
1968 was such a confusing year, one that began with high psychedelia then became hard rock. It was (at least in America) the year of the Great Schism, when FM rock radio emerged leaving AM pop and R&B to itself. There was social unrest and assassinations. So, in its confusing, let's just put it all on there, way, The White Album reflected its time. Add the tensions within the group, like Lennon rebelling against the high production values of Sgt. Pepper, and this is what we got. Your list is absolutely great for a tighter album and I could not improve upon it.
Yeah, by the time this album came out (November 1968) everything had happened. This album fit that year.
I can't believe anyone wud prefer piggies over Yer Blues or Glass Onion or for that matter Honey Pie !
I think that having the single “Hey Jude”/“Revolution” on the album would have been better.
“Revolution” could replace “Revolution 1” and “Hey Jude”, which is a quite long track, could replace “Revolution no. 9”.
Other than that I would leave it as it is. The quirky things is part of the albums charm.
But I do think that Johns sound collage would have been more well placed on one of his spaced out experimental records of the time. The records he made with Yoko.
Off cause that means that one of Johns tracks would be replaced with one of Paul’s. Would John have put up with that...?
I think the white album has such a good flow where I’m okay with hearing all the songs on the album as long as I’m listening to it in order
canyou speak sense plea
"Why don't we do it in the road?" is a classic miniature! And shows how raunchy McCartney can be.
Love these kinds of fun thought-exercises! I'm also glad that we do have a double album, even though there are "skippable" tracks... it really does leave room for people to have personal favorite oddities from The Beatles (that might have otherwise been lost on the cutting room floor).
The reason this is the favourite album of so many alternative rock musicians is the volume and eclectic nature.
Leave it alone.
I agree with you and I'm really glad The White Album was released as it was but on the other hand - it's not like David Bennett is making the actual white album disappear with this conjecture about what a one LP white album would be like. this has been a discussion/argument since I can remember. as a bit of a hypothetical I don't see how it's hurting anything.
But ... as I said in another comment; and I think I'm really agreeing with you in spirit - I love the eclectic nature of the White Album and it's why it's always in the running for my favorite Beatles album ever. to me this version of the White Album which cuts out the "weird" tracks destroys the spirit of it. there are a couple of the songs on The White Album I don't really care for ("Don't Pass Me By" and "Goodnight" come to mind) but even they I don't really want cut out . oh man. this comment is too long and contradicts himself too many times. this guy is crazy. Jonny Kaine, what's the matter with you. the dude makes no sense.
Funny the tastes. I love Birthday and Bungalow Bill and Sexy Sadie is my favourite track on the White Album.
I often find while everyone agrees that The White Album could be one perfect singel album, few agree on what it should actually have.
I feel that it would have left much to be desired if it was a single LP.
Maybe im just a biased ringo fan but i would have to include Don't Pass Me By, you've gotta have your ringo song on the album
Love this album. The variety and degree of moods and eclecticism are enchanting!
Of course this is all hypothecated but I find it hard to cut more than 5-7 songs out of the 30. They all kind of have their place in the album sequencing. Even if I cut the songs I feel are weaker, I would still end up with about 23-25 songs, which still makes a double album. So I’m left with my original feeling that it’s best the way it is and wouldn’t have been better by cutting half of the songs. It’s still my favorite Beatles album, even if it has a few weak songs.
A few years ago, I thought about what my track list would be if the White Album were a single album. My list:
Side 1
Revolution (the acoustic demo that was recorded at Kinfauns)
Blackbird
Glass Onion
Sexy Sadie
I Will
Julia
Hey Jude (but cut the coda in half)
Side 2
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Helter Skelter
Revolution (the single version, not 1 or 9)
You'll notice that side 1 is more acoustic and pleasant, while side 2 is more electric and moody. I got rid of some of the bad filler, but I did notice that I seemed to prefer disc 1 of the album. I wanted the album to open and close with Revolution, to show how revolutions come full-circle. I added Hey Jude to close side 1, but I cut it down for the time limit, and because it goes on too long anyway.
I'll make this a playlist
Good stuff, although it feels a little wrong to not have a Ringo tune or Long Long Long, haha.
And a bit John-heavy for my taste. I might swap out “Glass Onion” for “Martha My Dear” and “I’m So Tired” for “Long, Long, Long.”
That makes it 6-6-2 (still no Ringo :[) Could argue for keeping “Hey Jude” as a single and having “Don’t Pass Me By” as the end of the A Side.
@@conner.j.a.wilson I kind of wanted to remove the "granny music" for this one. It was a bit tricky, since there are songs I liked that I had to leave off.
I think Hey Jude would make a great ending. Like common it fades out for 3 minutes and leaves you on a loop. A perfect ending! :D
I really like this track list! The only change I'd make would be to switch Helter Skelter with Hey Jude and put Hey Jude at the end of side two. Keeping the coda just as long and slowly fading out into a secret track, like Sgt. Peppers, or a mini song like Her Majesty on Abbey Road
Edit : I also would like to add that the remaining tracks could easily have been released as a "rare cuts" album of previously unreleased songs. I could see the Beatles being of the cutting edge of this type of marketing as they always seemed to be ahead of their time.
I think a better solution would be for revolution 9 to be reduced to 2 - 3 mins and then Hey Jude (the white album's single) added to 4th side. I think it would be a shame to remove revolution 9 or good night etc, part of The Beatles' charm is that they were willing to do lullabies (good night), children's songs (yellow submarine), avant garde (revolution 9), jokey songs (Maggie may) and the White Album contains many of these elements (plus loads of great tracks). Admittedly, I love the first 3 sides and find little reason to listen to the 4th side (there are good songs but nothing amazing to make it necessary to turn over). However, including Hey Jude would solve that!
Thanks David - this is an interesting experiment. The truth is that while I much prefer 'Rocky Raccoon' (and 'Bungalow Bill' to a lesser extent) to 'Cry Baby Cry' and 'Piggies', I think the inclusion of the former would be more difficult to justify on a more streamlined and focused single album.
David, I love your down-to-earth genius. I was going on 16 when the White Album was released, and I was mesmerized by it, which of course sticks with me and colors my perspective. But I love your matter-of-fact approach - by now, having watched so many of your videos, I expect no less! - and your curation makes so much sense, especially your reordering of the tracks. Just absolutely brilliant, insightful, and so much fun! Thank you for your awesome work!
Personally I think it works fine as a double album, gives it variety, and I have grown enjoy some of the more strange tracks after several listens.
This was quite possibly my favorite UA-cam video of all time. I feel like you planned it just for me, so thank you!
I kind of like the excess of it, especially considering the vinyl format of the time (and psychedelics etc). You would just put it on and have a meandering journey randomly punctuated by weird moments, pointless moments, and lots of all time classics. It makes less sense with an unlimited digital library always one click away
The White album (stereo) is 93 minutes long which is 15/20 minutes longer that most 60s double albums which were almost always between 70-80 minutes (Tommy was only 74 minutes, Blonde on Blonde was 72), So you can cut _Revolution 9, Why Don't We Do it In The Road, Don't Pass Me By_ and _Wild Honey Pie_ . and it's still a good value double album that would as long than any preceding two Beatles albums stuck together (no album prior to 1968 had run as long as 40 minutes).
I think stronger set of rules needed to be applied:
14 songs (as was the case most preceding Beatles LPs) One Ringo vocal, 2 Harrisons, and as close to an equal split between John and Paul leads, and one of the Pauls needs to be a granny song, personally I picked Honey Pie, only because I really like John Lennon's little jazz guitar Solo, possibly a sort of tribute to his hero Toots Thielemans.
I don't think you can cut Sexy Sadie, as if you do so then you erase Karma Police from history, and you're fucking up the time stream.
Thing is the Beatles would never have released an album of "sub standard " material. So these songs would have not been released until Anthology which would have been a great shame.
It was also one of the first double albums and the Beatles liked to be pushing new ground.
It could have been a better single album but I'm glad it was released as it was.
youprobably listen to the beatles
I think they should've cut out "Live and Let Die" and the superfluous second version of "Don't Cry" with alternate lyrics. Also, "You Could Be Mine" was already on the soundtrack for Terminator 2. Why repeat it here?
There may have been crafty contractual implication of doing a double album. Supposedly their contract with Parlephone/EMI was for a certain number of songs and they were trying to get rid of their contractual obligations as quickly as possible. George Martin mentioned this is an interview. He suspected John and Paul were using it as a way of getting out of their contract. I don't how accurate that is. As usual, Beatles leave us with these tantalising mysteries! Incidentally, a band I was in years ago did "Why don't we do it in the road" as a funk/blues type song and it was real fun and it went down very well.
'glass onion' 'savoy truffle' and 'birthday' are all essential tracks to include IMO
...and i could do without 'piggies' and 'long long long' being on it
I wouldn’t change anything about it, even Revolution 9.
great video man, loved seeing your thought process behind your picks and what you ended up on. I had my own White album single disc tracklist figured out before this but you actually got me to reconsider some of my picks lol. Here's what I've landed on after making a few adjustments:
White Album 1 Disc Tracklist
Side 1:
Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
Dont Pass Me By
I Will
Julia
Side 2:
Black Bird
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
I'm So Tired
Helter Skelter
Glass Onion
Long, Long, Long
Revolution 1
Here you get a pretty solid spread of McCartney and Lennon songs to satisfy both egos, Ringo gets a track and George gets his standard two tracks, and it flows quite nicely. I really like the end of the second half tbh, the run of helter skelter > Glass Onion > Long Long Long > Revolution 1 is incredible if I do say so myself. If you wanted to make it the standard 14 tracks you could probably cut Martha My Dear since side 1 runs a bit long but I think it's fine. But yeah it's definitely a fun little thought experiment to work out what a single disc version could sound like!
If you watch the get back episode that premiered today, you can see that they were able to produce these type of “filler” songs, that appear a lot on the white album, pretty much by the minute
I thought the same
they made a lot of throwaway songs on the spot but one of them ended up being Get Back
@@SceneComparisons yeah there were always sparks of brilliance in the mix of all the throwaway songs. But is only one of probably 10 that were shown in the documentary. Its just an observation tho. They can be playing percussion with spoons and I would still give it a listen just because its them
I'll take ANY Beatles filler song(s) over anything thats on the radio nowadays (or whatever souless popular garbage Auto Tune Pop/ Hip Hop foul 'Shite' thats mass produced)
single White Album tracks:
side one:
1. Back in the USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass onion
4. I'm so tired
5. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
6. Mother nature's son
7. While my guitar gently weeps
8. Happiness is a warm gun
side two:
9. Martha my dear
10. Everybody's got something to hide
11. Blackbird
12. Helter skelter
13. I will
14. Julia
15. Savoy truffle
16. Cry baby cry
17. Good night
I'm 36 and I've only started to pay REAL attention to the Beatles a week ago (no kidding).
I was kind of surprised when I realized a lot of their hits were not on the albums. But after thinking about it makes sense. The time is limited on a LP, and if Paperback Writer would have been on Revolver, it would have been even more amazing, but then what other song do you remove?
Same with Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.
Good point!
@@hannahbarrah6312 I know that was another example.
You remove Yellow Submarine
If Paperback Writer and/or it's superior b side Rain were on Revolver then we would have been deprived of the best Beatles single.
Regarding Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever I'm almost with George Martin who when Parlaphone came demanding a single three songs into the Sgt.Pepper's sessions suggested Penny Lane for the a side with When I'm 64 as it's b side. Sgt.Pepper's is great but I think unarguably including Strawberry Fields Forever in place of When I'm 64 would have improved it. It would have deprived us of their second best single (using the original UK pairings anyway) but the Beatles LPs are stuffed with songs that deserved to be singles so no big deal. Also, Only a Northern Song should have been included on Sgt.Pepper's instead of Within You Without You.
Cmon, listen the US issues instead if you want albums filled with hits.
it's insane how different everyone's opinions are when it comes to Bealtes songs. Not a single artist's fanbase is this diverse in what their favorite songs are.
I completely disagreed with about half of what he said in this video 💀
the whole project felt like the auditory equivalent of “quantity over quality”. It has some great highlights, but to me, lacks the kind of finesse shared by albums like Abbey Road.
You, sweet pop fans are so boring.
@@marguskiis7711 I never said that I wanted slick production or more accessible pop tracks. Just a better standard of song writing.
@@srirachanoodles6914 Music is not only songwriting
Lil David Bennett Piano careening down a hill screaming "WANNA DIE"
Sexy Sadie is not a great song!?!?!?! OMG, that's one the finest songs on the album! And it's sacrilege to omit Honey Pie and Savoy Truffle or Glass Onion. They are all so delicious. Bungalow Bill is also a unique and interesting tune that adds so much colour to the album with it's skipped beats which I figured you would particularly appreciate. I think you have removed 5 of the most defining and awesome songs on the album!! Yikes. I would ALSO keep Why Don't We Do It In the Road OVER Ob-la-di-Ob-la-da or Piggies.
Finally some one who makes sense to me here in the comments. Thank you.
I don't think splitting the album like thisbwoukd work, it would make one fantastic album, but also one sort of weird album where most people might not want to buy it, or if they do feel ripped off.
I think it's good if album's follow roughly a 50/50 split of "songs for the audience" and "songs for the musicians", as in, about half should be stuff that's made with the audience in mind to appeal to what they have expressed interest in so far, and half should be just stuff the musicians want to try using their artistic freedom and experimentation and whatnot.
Not only for music, but for a lot of content I think that's a good approach to balance cultivating an audience and making the stuff you really want to make as an artist.
Too much for the audience, and you feel like you're just being a tool for giving the audience what they want.
Too much for the artist, and people lose interest and you lose the audience that you depend on in order to live off your art.
As a sidenote: I absolutely love Revolution 9, it would be an utter shame if that hadn't been on the White Album.
What makes the White Album so good is the lesser songs against the classics.
Yes there are probably 10 songs that would be classed as lesser songs but they bring a charm to the album and why not be there as much as not be there.
It's a great album with tracks that a lot of people would not know and I love it
Nothng charming about crappy , lazy songs. It show their arrogance that the fans will put up with anything regardless of quality. Judging by the comments, they were right. I hold the Beatles to a higher standard. They don’t get a pass on an album that is just okay even in a single version. There is more Beatles charm on Meet the Beatles and Hard Day’s Night.
@@Dex619
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Dear Prudence
Back in the USSR
Blackbird
While my Guitar Gently Weeps
Yer Blues
Mother Nature's Son
Helter Skelter
All the above alone are better than most band careers never mind most bands albums.
To say they White Album is nothing more than a great album is crazy talk.
Most bands albums have fillers
@@michaelzzzzzzzzzzzz it's okay to admit the Beatles weren't at the top of their game. Most of the songs you mentioned were either okay not poorly recorded. It's bores me.
@@Dex619
But they were
That is a poor excuse for putting out inferior material. The Beatles were just people, it's okay to admit they weren't perfect.
David, hello there! You have some good points. I recently just listened to all of the Beatles albums from start to finish and was surprised to find songs I didn’t even know. It’s interesting that Rocky raccoon is one of my favorites and you’re not that keen on it. That’s fine, to each his own!
Interesting choices that you have made. The one point that I have to make is that if you are trying to make it an album that The Beatles would have actually released back in late 1968... then it absolutely would have had a song that Ringo sang on it. And I'd say that the album would almost surely have ended with the track "Goodnight". My second point is... that their album would definitely had included "Yer Blues". John chose that song to perform live in the "Rock And Roll Circus" just shortly after the White Album was released. It was obviously one of his favorites of that period. Lastly... I would personally include "Birthday" on a single disc version - probably starting side two with it. The one track that I definitely would not have included that you selected - is "Me and My Monkey". Always fun to see others thoughts on this.
I love 'Good night'. I think it's the only song with women's voices on it, and has a neat harmonic structure.
I wish some streaming service would take the Beatles Anthology rights and remaster it it for streaming. It's a shame this great documentary isn't on any streaming services.
the Beatles Anthology series is due for a re-release as a streaming video deal isn't it? kind of surprised they haven't gotten around to that. maybe it'll be the next Beatles project with Peter Jackson's Get Back out now.
So for a boomer's point of view in this thought experiment (I've been listening to this album before you were born!) I would say skip Monkey and put back Birthday - for me that tune was very much part of my generation. I used to sing Good Night to my babies - so I would definitely keep that one as well. I could take or leave Piggies, but I've always enjoyed singing Rocky Raccoon as a sing-along during my University years.
I'm firmly in pro double album side of this argument; so much of The White Album's unique charm would have been lost if it had been cut down to a single album. I love all of the weird songs like "wild honey pie" and "revolution #9" that they wouldn't have included if it were a single album. not saying I listen to "Revolution #9" every time I put the White Album on, in fact I often stop it at "Cry Baby Cry" and skip both "Revolution #9" and "Good Night" - still I think it's a fascinating listen when I'm in the mood.
Hi David - one of the rare times I have disagreed with your opinion. The White Album is perfect "as is"; I still listen to it often, the sales figures back it. And many, many, many Beatles fans back it too. The wrinkles are like age-lines in a face that has lived a fascinating life-time, and we lose something vital by thinking we should be better to iron (botox) them out...
Exactly
@@marguskiis7711 I agree but I really did struggle to listen all the way through Goodnight.... it wasn't Ringo per se as I adore "With a little Help from my Friends".
Well said
The song 'I Will' belongs on Wings Wildlife.
This was fun! I thought Sexy Sadie would be a shoo-in, it's one of my favorite tracks on the album. I'd ditch Piggies and Helter Skelter for it. The Anthology versions of both are better than the album cuts. Cheers!
I couldn't believe it when he ditched Sexy Sadie !
So glad you went back and put I'm So Tired on there. Hands-down great song! Short, moody, and powerful.
Walter Everett, in his book "The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology" actually tried to speculate on what George Martin would have went with for a single LP White Album. Based on his knowledge of George Martin's preferences & constraints, this is what Everett guessed Martin's version of the album may have looked like:
Side 1:
Back in the U.S.S.R.
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
I Will
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
Blackbird
Not Guilty
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Side 2:
Birthday
Sexy Sadie
Julia
Martha My Dear
Long Long Long
Honey Pie
Goodnight
Admittedly, some things may be a bit unexpected (Bungalow Bill instead of Dear Prudence, for example). This list definitely wouldn't be _my_ top preference. But it's the only list I've found where someone's tried to guess as what _George Martin_ would have done, rather than someone giving _their own_ preference.
Thats very interesting, but Not having Dear Prudence on the track listing is just flat out WRONG!
Sadly for George Martin though choosing track listings was nothing to do with him by this point. John and Paul spent a 24 hour session compiling this album.
The great album is great for two reasons...The songs that are just great Beatles stuff like Dear Prudence, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, Yer Blues etc. and the crazy and random stuff... Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Bungalow Bill, Why Don't we Do It On the Road, Piggies even Revolution 9... That's why the white album is great and unique. You keep everything ! Everything's great !
As many people have commented before, I think the album's 'filler' tracks gives it a chaotic personality, and leaving tracks out would've been a loss of music history, so I think a double album was the right decision. However, I came up with my own selection of songs for the fun of it:
Side 1
"Back in the U.S.S.R." 2:43
"Dear Prudence" 3:56
"Julia" 2:57
"Martha My Dear" 2:28
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" 2:47
"Honey Pie" 2:41
"Sexy Sadie" 3:15
"Blackbird" 2:18
Side 2
"Good Night" 3:14
"Revolution 9" 8:15
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" 4:45
"Long, Long, Long" 3:08
"Helter Skelter" 4:30
-- TOTAL 46:57
I like the idea of Ringo closing the album with his blisters scream, and I enjoy the chaos caused by him singing us to sleep in Good Night only to have a nightmare in Revolution 9.
I always thought it was Ringo too; but I think it is George. Guitar players are the ones who get blisters too (of course drummers can too). I think it is George tho.
Revolution 9 is a RUBBISH, not a a song. Shame to John.
my take on any band's attempt at a double album, is not that every single song needs to be a hit or a classic, but rather that the album should explore the full range & diversity of the artist. fast slow, long short, experimental commercial, simple complex, heavy light, loud soft and so on. in that regard i think the beatles white album is a magnificent masterpiece. it's the diverse range & variety that makes it so great.
As silly as “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” is, I think it’s one of Paul’s best vocal performances.
White Album is such a showcase of Paul’s vocal versatility. I just adore how the album goes “wHy DoNt We Do It In ThE rOaD”
“… Who knows how long I’ve loved you?”
Similar, but I love Paul's vocals in Oh! Darling.
This was toooo much fun!!!
It's a fun idea to toy around with, but the interesting thing is how whenever people try to compile an album out of the tracks from the released double album, everyone seems to get different results.
Several of my favorite songs by The Beatles are on this album, most of which were not included on David's version of this album.
Fascinating discussion.
I was nine when the Fab Four disbanded, and I only started listening seriously around 1972 - but even for a kid it was obvious that the White Album had more the usual number of throwaways. "Do It in the Road", "Revolution 9", "Yer Blues", "Honey Pie", "Don't Pass Me By", "good Night", "Wild Honey Pie". Actually, only seven garbage songs out of 30 is not too bad. Anyhow, in the digital age, none of this matters anymore - it's just a nostalgia thing for us pre-internet dinosaurs...
"Revolution 1" is obviously good but also obviously the single was much better.
""Bungalow Bill", "I'm So Tired", "Sexy Sadie" and "Piggies", "Long, Long, Long" and 'Savoy Truffle" are classic songs though and all make my cut. "Birthday" is one of rock and roll's most classic guitar riffs and also features amazing drumming by Ringo - thousands of garage rock bands have played this.
“It’s great, it sold, it’s the bloody Beatles white album. Shut up”
-Paul McCartney
See, the way you said, “I like (insert song), but…” about a few, then being a bit pained leaving them off just goes to show why the full, bloated version works. You lost me as soon as you skipped Glass Onion, one of my favorites. Even the weirder tracks have great personality, provide fun detours, segues, breaks, and transitional moments. And for the record (pun intended), while something like Wild Honey Pie is likely no one’s favorite, Rocky Raccoon is a stone cold classic. Anyone who’s like me who’s listened to The Beatles’ records for most of his or her life will probably agree that Glass Onion starts playing in your head as Dear Prudence is ending because it’s firmly set in the proper sequence, just as all the other albums are.
It’s an interesting exercise chopping it down to a single LP, but make no mistake, the legacy and brilliance of the original White Album cannot be improved. All due respect to the legendary Sir George Martin, he got it wrong and Sir Paul got it right.
How is Revolution 9 "forgetable"?