A few days ago, I actually got a request from a friend to write a blog about the “perfect” White Album. Ever since its release in November 1968, Beatlemaniacs have debated what the album should have contained. Should it have been a double album? Should it have been two separate albums – the “White” Album and a “Whiter” Album [as Ringo Starr once suggested]? Or should the Beatles heeded producer George Martin’s advice and distill all the songs down to a single album with all the best songs? I’m going to play record executive and come up with a single LP White Album, then I’ll create a two-LP White Album that looks a little different from what came out in 1968.
First of all, the Beatles recorded two singles in 1968. The first, Lady Madonna, was recorded in February 1968 and released while they were trying to find themselves in India. The second single, Hey Jude [A-side]/Revolution [B-side], was recorded during sessions for the White Album but not included on the album in accordance with standard English record company practice of the day. I never liked that practice. Sgt Pepper would have been much better if Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane stayed on the album for which they were intended. Standard practice was also 12-14 songs per album. The Beatles themselves had a couple of rules – two of George’s songs, and one for Ringo. I’ll stick with that rule. I’m going with the three single songs and keeping ten others from the original White Album. So here’s my running order for the single LP:
Side 1:
Back in the USSR / Dear Prudence / Glass Onion / Lady Madonna / Revolution / While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Helter Skelter - 23 min. 50 sec.
Side 2:
Hey Jude / Birthday / Yer Blues / Savoy Truffle / Julia / Good Night - 22 min. 58 sec.
Now for the double LP:
Side 1:
Back in the USSR / Dear Prudence / Glass Onion / Lady Madonna / Revolution / While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Helter Skelter - 23 min. 50 sec.
Side 2:
Birthday / Yer Blues / I’m So Tired / Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey / Sexy Sadie / Blackbird / Piggies / Julia – 21 min. 43 sec.
Side 3:
Hey Jude / Revolution 1 / Savoy Truffle / Cry Baby Cry / Good Night – 21 min. 34 sec.
Side 4:
Helter Skelter [Take 2 – Anthology 3] / Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da [Anthology 3 version] / Across the Universe [Anthology 3 version] / While My Guitar Gently Weeps [Take 1 – Anthology 3] / Not Guilty [Anthology 3] / What’s the New Mary Jane [Anthology 3] – 24 min. 2 sec.
For my single LP I kept the first three songs [Back in the USSR, Dear Prudence, Glass Onion] as is. I like them just the way they are. I like hearing Revolution [the single], While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Helter Skelter in that order. Plus I don’t have too many “John” or “Paul” songs bunched together. I slipped Lady Madonna between Glass Onion and Revolution for that reason – and John name checks Lady Madonna on Glass Onion anyway. I have Hey Jude to kick off Side 2 because I can. I can follow Hey Jude with anything, so why not Birthday and Yer Blues? Savoy Truffle is here because it’s another “George” song. It fits better in this running order than Long Long Long or Piggies. I wanted to keep one acoustic song – I chose John’s Julia. The “Ringo” song is Good Night, a lullaby written by John. It was a good closer for the original White Album, and it reprises its roll here.
I carved out most [but not all] of the acoustic songs because I wanted something more hard-edged. That way I cut the songs to three sides with one side left over for “extras” like what you would find on “deluxe editions” of re-released albums today. That’s what takes up Side 4. The Anthology 3 version of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is a complete take. IMHO it’s much better than what came out. This one’s a perfectly good take. It’s no wonder the rest of the group couldn’t stand the song and Paul’s “perfectionism.” Across the Universe was first done before the Beatles went to India. Take 1 of While My Guitar Gently Weeps is an acoustic demo, but it’s good enough for release. It even includes an extra verse that didn’t make the final version. George’s Not Guilty took over 100 takes and just missed the final running order. It didn’t see the light of day until George recorded it for his self-titled album release in 1979. John’s What’s the New Mary Jane was an experimental “song” kind of like Revolution #9, only much more listenable. Since Revolution #9 was already on the album, they wouldn’t have two “songs” like that, so What’s the New Mary Jane stayed unreleased until 1996. Take 2 of Helter Skelter is included to show how the song progressed from beginning to release. What a pity they didn’t release the 22-minute version.
So there they are, my perfect White Albums.
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