Rank the White Album

1. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
2. Sexy Sadie
3. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
4. Cry Baby Cry
5. Helter Skelter
6. Yer Blues
7. Glass Onion
8. Back In The USSR
9. Birthday
10.Dear Prudence
11.Savoy Truffle
12.Long, Long, Long
13.Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
14.I'm So Tired
15.Rocky Raccoon
16.While My Guitar Gently Weeps
17.Blackbird
18.Julia
19.Revolution 1
20.Good Night
21.Martha My Dear
22.The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
23.Piggies
24.Why Don't We Do It In The Road
25.Mother Nature's Son
26.Honey Pie
27.Wild Honey Pie
28.I Will
29.Revolution 9
30.Don't Pass Me By

He's positively eggwhisk.

1. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
2. Sexy Sadie
3. Dear Prudence
4. Helter Skelter
5. Back In The USSR
6. Julia
7. Mother Nature's Son
8. Cry Baby Cry
9. I'm So Tired
10.Revolution 1
11.Blackbird
12.Yer Blues
13.Savoy Truffle
14.Glass Onion
15.Martha My Dear
16.Piggies
17.Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
18.Birthday
19.Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
20.The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
21.Rocky Raccoon
22.Revolution 9
23.Good Night
24.While My Guitar Gently Weeps
25.Long, Long, Long
26.Honey Pie
27.Wild Honey Pie
28.I Will
29.Why Don't We Do It In The Road
30.Don't Pass Me By

1. "Helter Skelter"
2. "Happiness is a Warm Gun"
3. "Glass Onion"
4. "Savoy Truffle"
5. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide `cept for me and my monkey"
6. "Why Don't We Do it In the Road"
7. "Revolution #9" (for the creep-out factor)
8. "Happy Birthday"....

...and then everything else.

"Goodnight" and "Long, Long, Long" should've been stricken from the final mix. Come to think of it, there's an awful lot of filler on this album.

that's about it, the rest, blehh. Would've made a nice EP, that album. It does have a creepy air about it I like but I mean, what I am I, crazy? I haven't listened to the goddam thing in ten-fifteen years and have no intention of doing so.

"His inside is out/And his outside is in,
His outside is in/When his inside is out,
So come on/Come on"

And "Not Guilty" is a white album Harrison outtake that's much, much better than "Long, Long, Long" though the end oscillating moaning part used to scare me, too. ("Used to...", who am I kidding?)

The worst stretch for me has always been those animal songs: "Blackbird", "Piggies", and "Rocky Raccoon" leading right into that prize-winner of "Don't Pass Me By". Yech.

the rest can go to hell. especially the Honey Pies

Long, Long, Long is lovely

2 was the bass in Dear Prudence. Even though it's Paul

The rest I can't be bothered to rank it's so mediocre.

It is a mess and that is why it is brilhant There is no filler - the sequence is responsible for the enjoyment - you have to hear "revolution 9" before "good night" to understand the beauty of these song.

My favorite beatles album.

I could do it in a life or death situation but would under no other circumstances.

AWESOME
Savoy Truffle
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Sexy Sadie
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Julia
Helter Skelter
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I Will
I'm So Tired
Piggies
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
Birthday
Wild Honey Pie

OK
Long, Long, Long
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Blackbird
Revolution 1
Back in the USSR
Good Night
Revolution 9

SUCK
Martha My Dear
Mother Nature's Son
Cry Baby Cry
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Yer Blues
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass Me By
Honey Pie

1. Julia
...
30. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

It kind of seemed there was regarding two tracks. Until I Billy Dods' list that is :-)

1. Julia
2. Long, Long, Long
3. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
4. Revolution 9
5. Martha My Dear
6. Dear Prudence
7. Cry Baby Cry
8. Glass Onion
9. Helter Skelter
10. Birthday
11. I'm So Tired
12. I Will
13. Good Night
14. Why Don't We Do It In The Road
15. Don't Pass Me By
16. Mother Nature's Son
17. Sexy Sadie
18. Yer Blues
19. Rocky Raccoon
20. Blackbird
21. Back In The USSR
22. Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
23. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
24. Revolution 1
25. Savoy Truffle
26. Piggies
27. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
28. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
29. Wild Honey Pie
30. Honey Pie

BEST

1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
28.Helter Skelter
12.Happiness Is a Warm Gun
19.Revolution 1
9. Julia
7. I'm So Tired
6. I Will
...and then there's a bunch of average stuff I can't be bothered to rank...
23.Don't Pass Me By
25.Why Don't We Do It In The Road
20.Birthday
Wild Honey Pie
10.Martha My Dear
29.Revolution 9
3. Honey Pie

WORST

As the years have gone by, my personal faves have remained:

1. I'm So Tired
2. Glass Onion
3. Sexie Sadie
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
5. Why Don't We Do It In The Road
6. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
7. Blackbird
8. Back In The USSR
9. Revolution 1 (which really belongs at # 1 but I'm too lazy to edit)
10. Martha My Dear

And most of the rest fall into line

The worst track/s by far is one, if not both of, the Honey Pies.

GOOD:
Blackbird
Long, Long, Long
Julia
Dear Prudence
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Mother Nature's Son
Sexy Sadie
Rocky Racoon
Cry Baby Cry
Back In The USSR
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Helter Skelter

FAIR TO MIDDLING:
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I'm So Tired
Martha My Dear
Glass Onion
Birthday
Wild Honey Pie

NOT MUCH COP:
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Honey Pie
I Will
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
Savoy Truffle
Revolution 9

FOUL:
Piggies
Revolution 1 (so dreary and plodding compared to the single)
Good Night
Don't Pass Me By
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Yer Blues

.... which is pretty good for a Beatles album. Overall, I'd say "Rocky Racoon" is probably my favourite track and that I prefer McCartney to Lennon - sorry Beatlefans!

Yeah, come on Rockers! Open your minds!

1. Because
2. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. Strawberry Fields Forever
4. It's Only A Northern Song
5. Penny Lane
6. She's Leaving Home
7. What's The New Mary Jane
8. Revolution (single version)
9. Wah Wah
10. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
11. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
12. Flying
13. Hey Jude
14. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
15. I Am The Walrus
16. Carnival Of Light
17. Long Long Long
18. The Inner Light
19. Revolution 9
20. Good Night
21. My Mummy's Dead

I agree, but I do like that final "AYE-OHH!" from Lennon that segues right into the piano intro of "WHile My Guitar Gently Weeps".

-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), October 15th, 2004.

so true.

Not sure I understand the appeal of "Sexy Sadie".

It lasts for, what, a minute or something, doesn't it? As such, I don't think it fills a lot of space, so it cannot be considered "filler"

However, repeating "Number 9" a zillion times on top of various strange noises for 9 minutes is definitely filler...

It's a great goddamn track -- I always thought it sounded like a runaway fire engine -- all those ringing, siren like guitars. Like so much of this album, it retains a slightly off riff too....hinting indescribably at someting sinister.

hey, the fourth side of this record kind of sucks, don't it?

savoy truffle, revolution 9 & cry baby cry are all pretty good iirc.

also, i once knew a guy whose fave song on the white album was "wild honey pie"!!!! wtf??

"I Will" is a great song!

No one would ever talk about this album if it wasn't wildly uneven.

"i will" is on side two!

kind of wish they would've just released a three-sided record, with some picture etched into side four.

picky picky picky.

Revolution 1 is good

je suis pas d'accord

Still align myself with Ian MacDonald w.r.t "Revolution 9."

I love this record so much. It has to be the weirdest number one album ever.

Too great. I remember once thinking that Album 1 (sides 1 & 2) was boffo and Album 2 had all the filler (I'd just swap "Savoy Truffle" in for "Rocky Raccoon" and be happy) but I put it on the other day in consolation for not being able to source a mono box locally and ... wow! There's hardly a song I'd skip. I must have been going through an extreme popist phase or something.

I agree with above posters that it's a complete work of art - you can't really take it apart and even the sucky bits contribute to the whole. As well, the sequencing is, in the main, masterful. I find "Bungalow Bill" and "Wild Honey Pie" (among others) hard to defend on their own merits but they perform perfectly in their respective places.

I have to rep for "Don't Pass Me By" - it's a plodding, derivative (of Buck Owens, mainly) pedestrian piece of shit that somehow transcends: Ringo's everybloke vocals, Leslie speaker on everything in sight giving the whole track an underwater feeling, the queasy fiddle, and the weird, brassy quality that most of the instruments have... there's something unreconstructable about it; it has an otherworldly inevitability that the Beatles' music (and relatively speaking so little else) often musters. I give thumbs up.

Rocky Raccoon and Honey Pie still don't do it for me, even so.

i like "don't pass me by" as well.

I don't mind playing the album, but can honestly only get behind about five songs (Helter, Happiness, Everybody's, Glass Onion, Dear Prudence). And of those five, four were done better by someone else (counting Tick, Tick as a Glass Onion cover...).

ooh the other week i was wondering how i'd single-albumise this

xpost. Huh? Whose versions are better? Please don't say U2's Helter is better...please? Those 5 songs all kill as originals...oh this makes me sad.

I'm still trying to rank them, but it's just so damn mercenary. Even when I pull that cd off the shelf to hear Prudence or Helter, I have to play it through. So I guess I can't really argue til I can back myself up... harrumph.

i agree that the big sprawling messiness makes the album interesting, but as an exercise here are the songs i'd include in a short, to-the-point single album:

Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Birthday
I Will
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Blackbird
Julia
Rocky Racoon
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Don't Pass Me By

haven't decided on mine beyond the fact that Dear Prudence and Happiness Is A Warm Gun are *definitely* in it

dear prudence is one of my very favorite beatles songs.

this record is such a mess, a wonderful mess. I don't listen to it often anymore.

same here! there is something quintessential about it. quintessentially of its time and yet timeless. that last 30 seconds is just *fuck yes*

xp

but i think 'happiness' is my favourite from the album. mostly for that syncopated bit.

amateurist!

xpost: better versions (this is also probably in another thread) are Helter Skelter (Husker Du), Happiness is a Warm Gun (Breeders), Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Feelies). And when I hear Glass Onion now, I'm always waiting for "the part that sounds like Tick, Tock."

i also prefer the boney m version of "julia" to the original.

see also the new dandy warhols (yes really, suspend your disbelief) cover of blackbird which is eerie awesomeness

no

Maybe I'm just aggravated by talk of Beatles covers since the ungodly Chris Cornell cover of 'Imagine' on Conan the other night. Seriously dude wtf. Can we put a moratorium on Cornell doing any more covers? Or on his career altogether? Fuck.

But that's off topic. My #1 is definitely Happiness is a Warm Gun. I can't get much further than that atm

xpost: better versions (this is also probably in another thread) are Helter Skelter (Husker Du), Happiness is a Warm Gun (Breeders), Everybody's Got Something to Hide (Feelies). And when I hear Glass Onion now, I'm always waiting for "the part that sounds like Tick, Tock."

― dlp9001, Monday, September 14, 2009

I give you credit for iconoclasm but u r soooo wrong

True. It's "Tick, Tick..."

Long, Long, Long
.

.

.
.
.
I'm So Tired
Julia
Dear Prudence
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Mother Nature's Son
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Sexy Sadie
Revolution 1
Helter Skelter
Blackbird
Glass Onion
Cry Baby Cry
I Will
Revolution 9
Martha My Dear
Savoy Truffle
Rocky Raccoon
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Yer Blues
Birthday (ruined by being the birthday song on some early morning news show for years)
Back In The USSR
Honey Pie
Wild Honey Pie
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Piggies
Good Night

Don't Pass Me By

1. Cry Baby Cry
2. Sexy Sadie
3. Back in the USSR
4. Helter Skelter
5. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Cept For Me and My Monkey
6. Happiness is a Warm Gun
7. Mother Nature's Son
8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
9. Dear Prudence
10. Martha My Dear
11. Long, Long, Long
12. Julia
13. Blackbird
14. Rocky Racoon
15. Wild Honey Pie
16. I'm So Tired
17. Glass Onion
18. Yer Blues
19. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
20. Good Night
21. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
22. I Will
23. Revolution 1
24. Don't Pass Me By
25. Savoy Truffle
26. Honey Pie
27. Birthday
28. Revolution 9
29. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
30. Piggies

Rutherford has a unique vinyl collection. He only collects the Beatles first pressing of The White Album.
In this show Chang is creating a record store that stocks only White Albums. But rather than selling the albums, he buys more from anyone willing to part with an original pressing in any condition.

http://www.dustandgrooves.com/rutherford-chang-we-buy-white-albums/

Geir likes I'm so Tired more than stereotypical McCartney tracks Martha My Dear and Mother Nature's Son!

1.Martha My Dear
2.Blackbird
3.Wild Honey Pie
4.Dear Prudence
5.Mother Nature's Son
6.Birthday
7.Long, Long, Long
8.Helter Skelter
9.Back in the U.S.S.R.
10.Glass Onion
11.Sexy Sadie
12.Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
13.Savoy Truffle
14.Honey Pie
15.The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
16.Julia
17.Yer Blues
18.While My Guitar Gently Weeps
19.Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
20.I'm So Tired
21.Revolution 9
22.I Will
23.Cry Baby Cry
24.Revolution 1
25.Rocky Raccoon
26.Happiness Is a Warm Gun
27.Don't Pass Me By
28.Good Night
29.Piggies
30.Why Don't We Do It in the Road?

I was bored, so I went through all the posts that ranked all 30 tracks and assigned points to each track (30 points for first choice, 29 points for second, etc) to see which were the most popular. You're welcome.

1.Happiness Is a Warm Gun- 366
2.Julia- 353
3.Dear Prudence- 350
4.Helter Skelter- 342
5.Sexy Sadie- 339
6.Cry Baby Cry- 328
7.While My Guitar Gently Weeps- 292
8.Long, Long, Long- 291
9.(tie)Blackbird- 285
9.(tie)I'm So Tired- 285
11.Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey- 284
12.Martha My Dear- 283
13.Glass Onion- 280
14.Mother Nature's Son- 256
15.Savoy Truffle- 248
16.Back in the U.S.S.R.- 233
17.Birthday- 220
18.Revolution 1- 208
19.Yer Blues- 189
20.Good Night- 186
21.The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill- 182
22.Revolution 9- 179
23.I Will- 166
24.Rocky Raccoon- 145
25.Piggies- 132
26.Wild Honey Pie- 126
27.Honey Pie- 123
28.Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da- 120
29.Why Don't We Do It in the Road?- 103
30.Don't Pass Me By- 81

(NB Geir only ranked 29 tracks as he said he said he considered 'Wild Honey Pie' to be "an interlude rather than a stand-alone track, and as such... impossible to rank". I have taken this as his de facto number 30 and assigned it one point when adding his ranking to the total.)

Thanks for doing that! Also lol at Geir

Swap Julia and Prudence and that's pretty OTM.

Within their catalog album-wise I place it at top - Revolver's too consistent and brief, the debut lacks drugginess, Abbey Road's too respectable and the rest...whatever.

The fact that Z S responded with 'Thanks for doing that!' makes me worry that people might take my 'You're welcome' in earnest and think that I was looking for people to express gratitude that I had collated information from an ilx thread where people rank the White Album. So for the record my 'You're welcome' was meant to be a joke, the implication being that it would ridiculous to demand gratitude for doing such a thing. Sorry to Z S if his 'Thanks for doing that!' was also sarcastic.

I never realised people like 'Cry Baby Cry' so much, I always just thought of it as 'that one before Revolution 9', it always seemed like filler to me.

'Martha My Dear' is such a sad song! I think sad Paul McCartney is my favourite Paul McCartney mode. I read a discussion on the internet about whether the song is about Jane Asher or about McCartney's sheepdog, but surely the song is 'about' the breakdown of a relationship at some level, even if just subconsciously or whatever? I know some people don't like McCartney's music hall pastiche style songs but it really works here, I think the artificiality of the style captures this sense of communicating with someone you are used to speaking to intimately in a newly formal way that feels somewhat awkward and alien.
And the way the jauntiness of some of the plays against how sad and needy some of the lyrics are- it's no longer appropriate for him to be open about the depth of his feelings with this person but there is this palpable desperation for them to remain on good terms, for the memory of the relationship to not be tainted. 'Don't forget me', there's this simultaneous knowledge that the relationship is over but also desperation for some part of it to be preserved in some way?

The 'When you find yourself in the thick of it, help yourself to a bit of what is all around you, silly girl' bit I always find poignant, it gets across this sense of still caring for someone but struggling to find the appropriate register to express this sentiment? The song makes me think of an awkward last meeting between a couple who are breaking up in a film. Sorry if this is all a bit too emo-Beatles.

martha my dear is garbage

honey pie is even worse

although bends i didn't mean to dismiss your interpretation! it might even help me enjoy the song a little mroe

Abbey Road's too respectable

What does this mean?

It's my favourite, by the way.

Can someone who likes Happiness Is a Warm Gun explain why people seem to like Happiness Is a Warm Gun so much?

I like the last part, the doowop pastiche.

Honey Pie is crap, but Martha's v. good McCartney. Besides being a much better song, the simplicity of the production helps its stature (whereas the high-corn claptrap they saddled Honey Pie with kneecaps it even more). I like bends's analysis.

Happiness is notable for its incredible lyrical creepiness, unparallelled even for Lennon, and the dreamlike way it shifts between sections remains surprising for many listens. It's also an ace performance by the band (love Lennon's tuneful screaming in the final section!). I wouldn't put it tops in my list if I were to make one, and it's lost a bunch of its charm for me in the many intervening years since I first encountered it (as has most of the Beatles' output), but it's a singular performance. I'm not challposing when I say I think Revolution 9 is a catchy little number; it's one of the only tracks I think I'd feel the need to seek out & listen to again on this record, but of course that says more about my current tastes (which are leaning much more toward Tim Hecker than whatever's going on in power pop right now) than it does about the intrinsic worth of the track.

Does anyone know, did Rutherford Chang ever press that collage of hundreds of copies into a double LP like he threatened to do? I can't imagine he'd have succeeded in getting licensing for a commercial release, but I'd damn sure buy it if he did.

"Respectable" in this particular context I would say is referring to the 2nd side, how it's a suite? And there's other stuff as well but hey, AR is totally excellent imo and it's just my own twisted taste in music and misuse of the english tongue.

I normally hate music hall McCartney (as well as actual music hall) but I love 'Martha My Dear', bends otm about the sadness of it aand also the melody is just really good.

I started trying to do my own ranking and nearly all my favourites are Lennon songs, he was on fire around this time.

lol bends, my thanks were sincere. Every once in a while I do something for the internet that takes like 8 hours so I try to acknowledge the effort!

Beenlistening to this recently - it's pretty good!

http://i.imgur.com/CKxQ2rb.jpg

I LIEK IT LIEK THAT!
OOOOOOHHHHHHH HA!
I LIEK THIS KINDA HOT KINDA MUUUUUUSIC! HOT KINDA MUUUUUUSIC!
PLAY IT TO MEEEEEE! PLAY IT TO ME HOLLYWOOD BLUUUUUUES!

^ I remember hearing this part of 'Honey Pie' upon listening to this album for the first time, and, I won't lie: I cringed. I don't mind the song otherwise, it's just this particular bit that I find a touch embarrassing. 'You Gave Me The Answer' from Wings' Venus and Mars does this style much better and in a far less cringey way than 'Honey Pie' or 'When I'm Sixty-Four' ever did.

i love this album start to finish, incl honey pie. the combo of helter skelter paul and music hall paul suggests a kind of derangement that i cant resist

i love this album start to finish, incl honey pie. the combo of helter skelter paul and music hall paul suggests a kind of derangement that i cant resist
--shiny trippy people holding bandz (m bison)

^^^ my new best friend, this guy gets it

I always find 'Birthday' hilarious for reasons I can't quite put into words, I guess because it's so incongruosly amped up and twitchy.

Yeah, extended drum/tambourine break adorned with off-mike whoops and hollers are so weirdly awkward....It's as if they were imagining playing for audiences again, only with more 1968-style stretching out, and that drum break was earmarked as their "come on Cleveland, clap your hands!" moment.

afaic this record is lennon at his best and mccartney at his worst, generally i'm cool with both but paul was really stinking up the joint

'Yeah, extended drum/tambourine break adorned with off-mike whoops and hollers are so weirdly awkward.'

It's fantastic though, especially the bit where McCartney screams 'DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE!' I think it captures this particular type of jittery, giddy excitement really well.

Long, Long, Long

Dear Prudence
Helter Skelter
Blackbird
Cry Baby Cry
Sexy Sadie
I Will
Don't Pass Me By
I'm So Tired
Obla-di Obla-da
Why My Guitar Gently Weeps
Julia
Martha My Dear
Happiness is a Warm Gun
ROCKY RACOON
Revolution 9
Revolution 1
Birthday
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Mother Nature's Son
Yer Blues
Savoy Truffle
Glass Onion
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Honey Pie
Wild Honey Pie
Good Night
Everybody's Got Something to Hide...
Why Don't We Do it in the Road

Piggies

I am with you on the superiority of long long long

However I think you need to reevaluate me and my monkey. It's probably not a top 3 white album track or anything, but definitely one of the better ones

just finished re-listening to it. it's better than i remember, much like most of these songs. i like how the noisy cowbell-thing that plays intermittently through the song.

*i like how the noisy cowbell-thing

I always find 'Birthday' hilarious for reasons I can't quite put into words, I guess because it's so incongruosly amped up and twitchy.

― this is how a punch sounds, like ditch, like quitch (soref), Sunday, October 20, 2013 7:11 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha totally

"Birthday" has the nervous energy of early 80d New Wave power pop. The Cars? Talking Heads? Feel like "I would like you to dance!" is almost on some proto-Devo tip.

The key to "Happiness" is definitely in that last section, with those gorgeous backing harmonies and Lennon doing some classic rock breakdown.

i love this album start to finish, incl honey pie. the combo of helter skelter paul and music hall paul suggests a kind of derangement that i cant resist

― shiny trippy people holding bandz (m bison), Sunday, October 20, 2013 11:00 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM.

It's impossible for me to hate on anything here, though, since I first heard it when I was three. I was scared of side 3, though (because of Ringo's blisters), and didn't hear those songs again until I was in high school.

For whatever reason, I had the idea when I was a kid that self titled albums were greatest hits albums,so when I got the White Album (age 14) I took it as a chronological collection of hit singles. Of course, many of the songs were, but I recall thinking "man, the top 40 was really weird back in the 60s." Love this crazy bitch top to bottom, including the Esher demos.

It's funny, I got this record for a birthday present as a kid, and there happened to be a little bubble in the vinyl that made playing martha my dear impossible... and as a result i ended up not hearing that song until 20+ years later when I was in a thrift store and it came on over the radio station they had playing inside. I was like "gee this is great, which paul mc record is this from?" and then i realized it was martha.

anyways i agree w a lot of what's been said about the album as a whole itt. the sequencing and segues are sooo good. and even though there are a few clunkers, plus some otherwise-good songs that have been kinda spoilt due to overexposure, the entire thing is really surprisingly listenable and also just sounds really good to me at this late date. kudos beatles.

from my perspective as a kid it made for such a cool visual package, too. the poster with the lyrics (I remember poring over them and finding all these references that were completely unfamiliar and mysterious to me -- montelimar, sir walter raleigh, chairman mao) the pictures of them looking all scruffed out and druggy, the collage that was more downtown avant-garde art scene than the bright psychedelia of their previous stuff...

surprised by the high ranking for Julia, that was the one track that made me go "woah.." listening to the Mono remasters through the first time. Anthology version of Cry Baby Cry is better than the album IMO.

I'm trying to do a ranking right now and I'm surprised at how low I'm putting Julia. I used to really like that one but now it sounds a lil too twee for me

Also think I might be the only one who really likes Revolution 1.

i used to love it but now it seems smug and condescending.

I was trying to think of what Long, Long, Long, reminded me of, and then i realized it's basically a blueprint for Third/Sister Lovers

xpost I just really like the weird arrangement. I'm sure the lyrics would be annoying if I thought about them enough

Mother Nature's Son
Martha My Dear
Blackbird
Cry Baby Cry
Long, Long, Long
Sexy Sadie
Revolution 1
Dear Prudence
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Wild Honey Pie
Honey Pie
Helter Skelter
Julia
Rocky Raccoon
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I'm So Tired
Don't Pass Me By
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Glass Onion
Piggies
Savoy Truffle
I Will
Yer Blues
Good Night
Birthday
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Revolution 9

yeah as a song it's pretty good. i think there are interesting things with the tempo and time signature but i no longer have the vocabulary to describe these things. the politics of that song are shit though. misguided as movements like the weather underground and the black panthers were, they were responding to crises and acting out of a sense of urgency. it doesn't make sense to tell these people to "free their mind" because "everything is going to be alright." xp

aw revolution 9 isn't that bad

heh I know, I probably rated it that low b/c I was listening to it on cruddy laptop speakers and the panning stereo effects were annoying. said setup also might explain some of my other choices, oops

other ppl on here could probably explain what was going on in lennon's head when he wrote that song -- i'm sure he must have discussed a bunch in interviews... but w/o researching it, my hunch is that a large part of it was his awareness of the influence he had over ppl at the time, and his uneasiness at them throwing themselves into violent situations, etc.

did anyone genuinely sit down and listen to Revolution 9 again when the remasters came out? have to say i couldn't face it in mono or stereo. i've still no idea what's going on at the start either.

i just listened to it (unremastered stereo mp3) on $10 sony earbuds and it was cool. i mean, it's a sound collage that feels influenced by horror movies. i suspect it would suck in mono.

Revolution #9 is ace. Would be in the top half of my list if I made one.

i actually think the politics of 'revolution' the single are pretty good -- it's the "you can count me out...IN" on the white album version that annoys me. during his embarrassing 'radical' phase a few years later lennon apparently said he regretted writing the line ridiculing maoists, which may be the single most disappointing thing i've ever heard about him.

Well they did the laid-back album version first, and then later went and did the fast punk version. At any rate what's really the difference, Mick Jagger singing Street Fighting Man while living in a mansion, etc.

Laid-back version is dull as ditchwater, single version is great

these days I'd rather listen to "Long Long Long" and "Savoy Truffle" over the two other Harrisongs.

'long long long' is probably in my top 10 beatles tracks. 'savoy' is nice too. much prefer the anthology version of 'guitar' to the sludgy album version.

i just listened to it (unremastered stereo mp3) on $10 sony earbuds and it was cool. i mean, it's a sound collage that feels influenced by horror movies. i suspect it would suck in mono.

― (emphasis Treeship's) (Treeship), Wednesday, October 23, 2013 2:11 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just listened to it in mono this morning, and come to find out it's actually a fold-down mix; the collage was assembled in the studio in stereo. It's not bad in mono, but it loses a lot without the panning. I completely love it, though; can't think of a more perfect climax to this record.

ppl never seem to like 'good night' but i can't imagine any other way to end the album. plus it's kind of the perfect comedown after 'revolution 9' (which i love).

I love it as a gesture and concept but I haven't heard it since 1990.

#9 or "good night"?

I always thought Lennon should have kept Good Night for himself and played it straight, without the Disney orchestration. I've read that McCartney thought hearing John rehearse the song for Ringo was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever heard.

To people who rate Cry Baby Cry, what is the appeal of Cry Baby Cry to you?

(I don't hate it or anything, I just never saw it as one of the standout tracks, whereas a lot of other people do, judging by this thread).

Ooooh, yeah, I can totally hear him singing the stripped down version in my head and it sounds lovely! Rings already had Don't Pass Me By, whadda load of bullshit!

it's weird they let ringo sing anything except "octopus's garden"

Long, Long, Long
Dear Prudence
Julia
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
I'm So Tired
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Mother Nature's Son
I Will
Martha My Dear
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Birthday
Yer Blues
Sexy Sadie
Good Night
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Back in the U.S.S.R.
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass Me By
Helter Skelter
Revolution 1
Piggies
Glass Onion
Blackbird
Honey Pie
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Wild Honey Pie
Revolution 9

The drum sound on "Cry Baby Cry" is terrific, coulda been on Plastic Ono Band. one of the best Ringo drum tracks.

Yeah, it's a great one. The whole arrangement is pretty fascinating, starting out subtly flangey, spiky electric guitar darting in and out, goofy piano asides...

The passion for "Cry Baby Cry" has surprised me. I listen to it (when I listen to the Beatles these days) with that in mind.

I think the Ringo/Disneyness of "Good Night" is perfect. It's not just coming at the end of this epochal album, and right on the heels of what most listeners likely took as their most baffling piece, but it came at the end of 1968. It was almost satirical: "Remember when we did 'Hey Jude' and we promised everything would get better? We lied. But you seem to want us to keep lying to you, so HERE."

I sing "Good Night" to my kids at night, and I suppose I have in mind the reading you're giving, Tarfumes. Almost satirical.

^^^ "Good Night" is one of their best songs period

Helter Skelter
Revolution 9
Sexy Sadie
Long, Long, Long
Yer Blues
Birthday
Rocky Raccoon
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Dear Prudence
Cry Baby Cry
Mother Nature's Son
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Good Night
I'm So Tired
Julia
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Savoy Truffle
Revolution 1
Glass Onion
Martha My Dear
Blackbird
Honey Pie
Wild Honey Pie
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
I Will
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Don't Pass Me By
Piggies
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

ringo-sung songs are awesome -- can hardly think of any i don't like, at least on beatles albums.

Regarding Geir's original posting here:

If someone said to me "While my guitar" was the best track on the album, I'd say yeah, fair play there.

If someone said "The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill" was, I'd be like wo.

Just as well "While my guitar" is on here, then.

I like the Mellotron guitar at the beginning of Bungalow Bill, and the Mellotron trombone at the end, but the rest can take a hike.

Spanish guitar, yeah?

Yeah, the whole part is just a Mellotron tape.

A sample of Spanish guitar, triggered by a mellotron.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe8g1wlNAPo

ob-la-di ob-la-da
happiness is a warm gun
i will
revolution 9
everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey
sexy sadie
the continuing story of bungalow bill
glass onion
julia
martha my dear
savoy truffle
while my guitar gently weeps
cry baby cry
piggies
wild honey pie
honey pie
yer blues
long, long, long
blackbird
back in the ussr
mother nature's son
i'm so tired
dear prudence
birthday
revolution 1
helter skelter
don't pass me by
rocky raccoon
why don't we do it in the road
good night

Was thinking about this while bored at work today funnily enough.

1-30:

Cry Baby Cry
Long, Long, Long
I'm So Tired
Mother Nature's Son
Blackbird
Sexy Sadie
Martha My Dear
Julia
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Revolution 9
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Good Night
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I Will
Birthday
Helter Skelter
Back in the U.S.S.R.
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Revolution 1
Piggies
Don't Pass Me By
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
Rocky Raccoon
Yer Blues
Wild Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Honey Pie

i will
back in the ussr
savoy truffle
good night
everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey
sexy sadie
i'm so tired
dear prudence
happiness is a warm gun
helter skelter
why don't we do it in the road
glass onion
revolution 1
cry baby cry
mother nature's son
revolution 9
while my guitar gently weeps
blackbird
birthday
the continuing story of bungalow bill
yer blues
long, long, long
Julia
wild honey pie
martha my dear
rocky raccoon
piggies
don't pass me by
ob-la-di ob-la-da
honey pie

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

http://manhattman.com/wp-content/uploads/31569.jpg

forgot the cover was white! Pretty dope album imo

sexy sadie
yer blues
i'm so tired
savoy truffle
happiness is a warm gun
helter skelter
glass onion
martha my dear
long, long, long
cry baby cry
birthday
Julia
everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey
rocky raccoon
wild honey pie
while my guitar gently weeps
mother nature's son
dear prudence
why don't we do it in the road
revolution 1
blackbird
back in the ussr
ob-la-di ob-la-da
honey pie
don't pass me by
the continuing story of bungalow bill
revolution 9
i will
piggies
good night

1. Blackbird
2. Dear Prudence
3. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
4. Mother Nature's Son
5. Sexy Sadie
6. I'm So Tired
7. I Will
8. Julia
9. Martha My Dear
10. Glass Onion
11. Back In The USSR
12. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
13. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
14. Revolution 1
15. Piggies
16. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
17. Birthday
18. Long, Long, Long
19. Cry Baby Cry
20. Wild Honey Pie
21. Rocky Racoon
22. Honey Pie
23. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
24. Helter Skelter
25. Good Night
26. Yer Blues
27. Don't Pass Me By
28. Why Don't We Do It In The Road
29. Revolution #9
30. Savoy Truffle

Listened to (most of) the second disc on my way to work today, really sounds like the whole band aged about five years in between Sgt. Pepper and this.

George Clinton noted this, was news to me

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dfh9QIjR3Q

I always figured Lennon was riffing on Elmore James via Chuck Berry, but damn, that shit's verbatim.

white album no. 0000001 up for auction, currently at $50k

http://www.julienslive.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/163/lot/71120/?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F163%2F%3Fpage%3D2%26key%3Dbeatles%26cat%3D%26xclosed%3Dno%26items%3D100

Was digging this all weekend, especially the beautifully creepy Julia. Someone with more musical theory can explain what's going on, but that shift to the bridge is a disorienting plunge.

Main verses and chorus of Julia are in D major. Bridge is in F# minor which is just the third from the main key, with the first chord of the bridge being a C# minor. Nothing particularly unusual about this chord selection.

Is it the melody that makes it sound so strange? The "floating sky" line sounds unmoored until it lands on "shimmering."

JL's (as usual) double tracking his vocals is a large part of the creepiness to me

Agreed. Also the "In the sun" bit prefigures much of what I love about early Genesis.

I would rank the White Album in like maybe 358th place.

Is it the melody that makes it sound so strange? The "floating sky" line sounds unmoored until it lands on "shimmering."

Definitely. It's emphasizing two non-chord tones there.

Nothing particularly unusual about this chord selection.

I don't know, going from D to F# minor is a difference of one more sharp in the key signature. It's not just going to the relative minor key. And when you get to the tonic chord of F#, it doesn't really sound like a tonic. There's no cadence. I think it's a modal passage - C# phrygian.

I don't know, maybe that last statement is wrong. C# doesn't really sound like the tonic. The melody does finally land on F#.

In any case Julia is their most touching song. Actually was there anyone else than John involved in it?

I don't think there is. It's solo. Just like Paul's "I Will" (feat. his mouth bass !), "Blackbird" (feat. the bird's singing) and arguably "Mother Nature's Son" (except the brass part, obviously).

... and Why Don't We Do It In the Road

nah, there's ringo on drums iirc.

oh, I just checked and apparently, John and Ringo were playing percussion on "I Will" !

Oh, I thought Paul played drums on WDWDIITR.

... best drummer in the Beatles after all.

No, it was just the two of them.
that's one of the White album songs that would have benefited a lot from some input from the others because as it is, I find it totally insipid. It might be the worst track on the album !

Julia is the only track w/just John on it iirc

Maybe "revolution 9" !

ah no, apparently, George is on it too !

I'm pretty sure the only White Album songs with Paul on Drums are Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence. I wonder how Ringo felt about the album opening with those two tracks.

No, it was just the two of them.
that's one of the White album songs that would have benefited a lot from some input from the others because as it is, I find it totally insipid. It might be the worst track on the album !

― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, April 19, 2016 6:42 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM. Apparently Paul left John out of the recording of that song as revenge for excluding him from the making of Revolution 9. John or John & Paul singing on WDWDIITR would've made it a great song. as it is, yeah, i think it's totally disposable and insipid

I don't think that anything could salvage WDWDIITR, it is awful. the only thing it has going for it is an amusingly long acroynm, and EGSTHEMAMM already covers this base anyway.

I often wonder "who decided that track was worth recording/releasing??"for many famous or less famous songs.This is one of these cases. It sounds like a (bad) jam/demo that should never have gone further... Yet somehow it's on the Beatles f-ing white album !

it's def one of my least favorites - there's nothing interesting going on compositionally or lyrically within it, all it has going for it is Ringo's drums really.

the whole stretch from Piggies to WDWDIITR feels a lot like bonus tracks pegged to the end of re-released album

yeah seems like at least a few of those could've been swapped out for Child of Nature or Sour Milk Sea or Heather

or Junk! the Esher demo of that song is so gorgeous. that whole collection of demos made me appreciate my favorite Beatles album even more. it even made me come around on Mother Nature's Son.

Harrison said something like the album is the way it is because of "ego" without specifying whose ego. And McCartney bristles at any re-assessments of the White Album. The explanation is that almost all the weak bits about the White Album are McCartney's. I think his songs are the poorest overall, even though he gets more of the album than anyone else. The unfinished, ragged feel of the album is mostly down to his contributions, rather than Lennon or Harrison's. Many of them are either McCartney doing folky solo stuff, or just him laying down tracks while the others were elsewhere and declaring that "this'll do". Other end of the spectrum is the songs that are too contrived and over-worked - also McCartney's fault.

If they had actually settled down to make this a single album then it would be mostly Lennon and Harrison songs, which would be virtually impossible to do due to McCartney's ego.

"Sour Milk Sea" would've been a killer addition, particularly if they used Jackie Lomax' version -- it'd still have more Beatles on it than a bunch of the other White Album songs.

FWIW, here's what Kim Fowley claimed Lennon told him after the 1969 Toronto Concert for Peace:

On TV, Lennon came across as this really intense, verbal guy. In person he was quiet like John Entwistle.... I asked Lennon why The Beatles broke up. The whole room stopped. Lennon said: It wasn't the wives, it was 45rpm singles. This is what the basis of The Beatles was. I'll give you an example "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" Thats our message to Canned Heat and Norman Greenbaum, telling them to put more humour in next time. We didn't steal that song, but we took the premise of it somewhere else. When we stop listening to our favourite records and improving on the techniques, thats when we cease being a band."

Cool story Kim, except the Beatles didn't break up till 6 months after the T.O. Concert.

Many of them are either McCartney doing folky solo stuff, or just him laying down tracks while the others were elsewhere and declaring that "this'll do"

interesting point and it rings true. oddly uncharacteristic for the supposed "perfectionist" of the band to be the sloppy one. what was going on there?

Fowley borderline incoherent as usual, surely he could've thrown in a dog-fucking reference in there for good measure.

xp

I think I may have had the date wrong, that it wasn't after the Toronto concert. Anyway, I think it rings true

i don't know, what's sloppy and throwaway besides WDWDIITR? before anyone brings it up, I love Wild Honey Pie.

I'd break Macca's songs on the record down like this:

Great-to-good:
Back in the USSR
Blackbird
Helter Skelter
I Will
Mother Nature's Son

"eh, I guess that'll do":
Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da
Wild Honey Pie
Honey Pie
Rocky Raccoon

Garbage:
Martha My Dear
Why Don't We Do It In the Road

I don't think either Lennon or McCartney brought in anything that was worse than the songs in those bottom two tiers.

ie any of Harrison/Lennon's songs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Obladi, Oblada, Wild Honey Pie/Honey Pie, Rocky Raccoon, Martha My Dear, WDWDIITR

Harrison, you mean? Xpost

right yeah lol

Well, O-O was famously worked on into oblivion, and Martha's not sloppy really

Lennon's solo on Honey Pie starts off great, but obviously failed off as it gets brutally faded out.

Tailed off, I said..

yeah idk i love both of those songs, WDWDIITR is the only song on the white album that i don't like at all

not the hugest beatles fan and admittedly a McCartney partisan but these are prob my fav 5 songs on the white album:

Back in the USSR
Blackbird
Helter Skelter
I Will
Rocky Raccoon

It took until "Let me roll it"for Macca to do a "Lennon" convincingly.

I never much liked Rocky R, prefer Bung Bill certainly.

ah yeah i forgot i hate rocky raccoon with a passion

totally don't get people bashing Martha My Dear aside for the lyrics possibly

I'm pretty sure the only White Album songs with Paul on Drums are Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence. I wonder how Ringo felt about the album opening with those two tracks

Apparently there's a heated Beatlefreak controversy over whether it's Paul or Ringo playing the drums on the later part of "Dear Prudence" when the drums get all funky and loose. (The earlier drum sections are indisputably Paul)

Well, this was when Ringo "quit" the band, right? I don't think he was happy about it.

seems like it would be a ridiculous and dangerous exercise to overdub the ending drums onto a pre-made backing track. keep in mind they were still working on 4 tracks at this point. even bypassing all the technical issues (bouncing down original tracks to isolate the drums, painstakingly setting up mics to get the exact same sound), having Ringo (or anyone for that matter) play drums that match exactly with the beat of the old take and don't go out of sync would take a million takes.

pretty sure that's Paul.

p sure every assumption yr making about their recording process and capabilities is wrong

in that particular post

lol okay dude.

i have 20 year recording experience myself. who are you, George Martin Jr.?

for one thing, they had an 8-track at that point

that was over at Trident studios, they used it for Hey Jude, most recording at Apple was on 4-track

The Beatles recorded "Hey Jude" and "Dear Prudence" at Trident because it had an 8-track recorder.

syncing and splicing drum takes together is totally something that engineers in lab coats could do w 8-track tape

just check Lewhisohn you are right they recorded Dear Prudence on the 8-track at Trident!

still, seems really tough to record a new drum part the replacing an old one without having it go out of sync w the rest of the song. i have tried this before.

it's a bitch, sure but 1) this is Ringo we're talking about, and 2) the Beatles were getting kinda sloppy at this point and the drum part in question is a bunch of fills and shit at the end so maintaining tempo might not have been foremost in their minds.

that being said I don't really have an opinion on whether or not it *is* Ringo, it does seem like a weird and near pointless thing to do to try and get him on the track, but I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility.

it's feasible that they left McCartney's original drum take and Ringo just added toms/percussion on top after the fact

if it was recorded to a click track they would have an easier time. the song definitely speeds up at the end though.

I have more time for Paul's tossed-off charm than any of George's lame pondering.

they did it in strawberry fields

Not taking a side either but the arguments I've heard that it's Ringo not Paul at the end of Dear Prudence basically boil down to a. Paul wasn't good enough to play that; it doesn't match his usual rudimentary style and b. there are identifiable Ringo-isms in those fills

it really doesn't make any sense at all though. Ringo quit the band bc he "felt unloved and out of it" and they send him flowers and plead to have him back saying "you're the best rock drummer, come on home" then once he's back, "psyche, just need to you do the ending on this one, don't worry about playing on the rest of the track Paul got it right for you".

it's really not that far from "Momma Miss American" imo

John might have said "Blimey Paul, the drumming at the end is a bit lump lump lump, what you think Rings?"

Not getting into the technical aspect but yeah, it would seem very weird to ask Ringo to add to the drum track some fills at the end !
by all accounts, Ringo isn't part of the recording of "Dear Prudence"...

And "Martha My Dear" is nice !
The other "worst track" on the album would be "Bungalow Bill" for me.

my worst tracks: Birthday, Yer Blues, Rocky Raccoon, Piggies, Wild Honey Pie

1. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
2. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
3. Can You Take Me Back?
4. I Will
5. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
6. Dear Prudence
7. Birthday
8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
9. Revolution 1
10. Blackbird
11. Martha My Dear
12. Honey Pie
13. Good Night
14. Julia
15. Don't Pass Me By
16. Piggies
17. Cry Baby Cry
18. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
19. I'm So Tired
20. Mother Nature's Son
21. Back in the USSR
22. Long, Long, Long
23. Helter Skelter
24. Yer Blues
25. Glass Onion
26. Revolution 9
27. Savoy Truffle
28. Sexy Sadie
29. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
30. Rocky Raccoon
31. Wild Honey Pie

apparently Paul plays flugelhorn on Dear Prudence...? I don't hear it, anyone care to point it out to me?

I can't really make it out on the full track, but you can hear it starting around 1:58 here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX4NmRqeHPs

lol what a minor detail

macca is such an incredible bass player.

and flugelhorn player

Wait, Dear Prudence is one of the songs Paul played drums on when Ringo quit, right?

Yes

I guess he's not really the best drummer in the Beatles but damn if that doesn't sound good isolated like that

Well you can totally hear where he speeds up

A flugelman moves...

I can't really make it out on the full track, but you can hear it starting around 1:58 here

Either that or a car just drove by the studio.

The Beatles‘ classic 1968 record ‘The White Album’ is set to be re-released in November to celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary.

The band’s iconic double LP – which was their ninth studio album – features such timeless tracks as ‘Back in the U.S.S.R.’, ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’.

As well as the original tracks, 27 early acoustic demos and 50 session takes – most of which have never been officially released – will also be included in the special re-release.

“In remixing ‘The White Album,’ we’ve tried to bring you as close as possible to The Beatles in the studio,” Giles Martin explains in his written introduction for the new edition. “We’ve peeled back the layers of the ‘Glass Onion’ with the hope of immersing old and new listeners into one of the most diverse and inspiring albums ever made.”

Sir Paul McCartney says of the album’s place in the Beatles’ history: “We had left Sgt. Pepper’s band to play in his sunny Elysian Fields and were now striding out in new directions without a map.”

Find more details about the various releases of ‘The White Album’ below.

Super Deluxe: The comprehensive, individually numbered 7-disc and digital audio collections feature:

CDs 1 & 2: The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 stereo album mix
CD3: Esher Demos
– Esher Demo tracks 1 through 19 sequenced in order of the finished song’s placement on ‘The White Album.’ Tracks 20-27 were not included on the album.
CDs 4, 5 & 6: Sessions
– 50 additional recordings, most previously unreleased, from ‘White Album’ studio sessions; all newly mixed from the four-track and eight-track session tapes, sequenced in order of their recording start dates.
Blu-ray:
– 2018 album mix in high resolution PCM stereo
– 2018 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 album mix
– 2018 Dolby True HD 5.1 album mix
– 2018 direct transfer of the album’s original mono mix

Deluxe: The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 stereo album mix + Esher Demos
The 3CD; 180-gram 4LP vinyl box set (limited edition); and digital audio collections pair the 2018 stereo album mix with the 27 Esher Demos.

Standard 2LP Vinyl: The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 stereo mix
180-gram 2LP vinyl in gatefold sleeve with faithfully replicated original artwork

CD 1: The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 Stereo Mix
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I’m so tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don’t Pass Me By
Why don’t we do it in the road?
I Will
Julia

CD 2: The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 Stereo Mix
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature’s Son
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide
Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Revolution I
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 9
Good Night

CD 3: Esher Demos
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
I’m so tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Julia
Yer Blues
Mother Nature’s Son
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide
Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Revolution
Honey Pie
Cry Baby Cry
Sour Milk Sea
Junk
Child of Nature
Circles
Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam
Not Guilty
What’s the New Mary Jane

CD 4: Sessions
Revolution I (Take 18)
A Beginning (Take 4) / Don’t Pass Me By (Take 7)
Blackbird (Take 28)
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide
Except Me and My Monkey (Unnumbered rehearsal)
Good Night (Unnumbered rehearsal)
Good Night (Take 10 with a guitar part from Take 5)
Good Night (Take 22)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (Take 3)
Revolution (Unnumbered rehearsal)
Revolution (Take 14 – Instrumental backing track)
Cry Baby Cry (Unnumbered rehearsal)
Helter Skelter (First version – Take 2)

CD 5: Sessions
Sexy Sadie (Take 3)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Acoustic version – Take 2)
Hey Jude (Take 1)
St. Louis Blues (Studio jam)
Not Guilty (Take 102)
Mother Nature’s Son (Take 15)
Yer Blues (Take 5 with guide vocal)
What’s the New Mary Jane (Take 1)
Rocky Raccoon (Take 8)
Back in the U.S.S.R. (Take 5 – Instrumental backing track)
Dear Prudence (Vocal, guitar & drums)
Let It Be (Unnumbered rehearsal)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third version – Take 27)
(You’re so Square) Baby, I Don’t Care (Studio jam)
Helter Skelter (Second version – Take 17)
Glass Onion (Take 10)

CD 6: Sessions
I Will (Take 13)
Blue Moon (Studio jam)
I Will (Take 29)
Step Inside Love (Studio jam)
Los Paranoias (Studio jam)
Can You Take Me Back? (Take 1)
Birthday (Take 2 – Instrumental backing track)
Piggies (Take 12 – Instrumental backing track)
Happiness is a Warm Gun (Take 19)
Honey Pie (Instrumental backing track)
Savoy Truffle (Instrumental backing track)
Martha My Dear (Without brass and strings)
Long, Long, Long (Take 44)
I’m so tired (Take 7)
I’m so tired (Take 14)
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (Take 2)
Why don’t we do it in the road? (Take 5)
Julia (Two rehearsals)
The Inner Light (Take 6 – Instrumental backing track)
Lady Madonna (Take 2 – Piano and drums)
Lady Madonna (Backing vocals from take 3)
Across the Universe (Take 6)

Blu-ray: The BEATLES (‘White Album’)
Audio Features:

PCM Stereo (2018 Stereo Mix)
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (2018)
Dolby True HD 5.1 (2018)
Mono (2018 Direct Transfer of ‘The White Album’ Original Mono Mix)
Deluxe [3CD digipak / 180-gram 4LP vinyl box set (limited edition) / digital audio collection]
The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 Stereo Mix
Esher Demos

Standard 2LP Vinyl [180-gram]
The BEATLES (‘White Album’) 2018 Stereo Mix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=78&v=1dhy26KIOEI

https://i.imgur.com/Cro2Zs6.jpg
photo by Rutherford Chang

I was sad to see that Rutherford Chang passed away last month.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/arts/rutherford-chang-dead.html

He revolved around the sun 45 times and then the record stopped.

i will
back in the ussr
savoy truffle
good night
everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey
sexy sadie
i'm so tired
dear prudence
happiness is a warm gun
helter skelter
why don't we do it in the road
glass onion
revolution 1
cry baby cry
mother nature's son
revolution 9
while my guitar gently weeps
blackbird
birthday
the continuing story of bungalow bill
yer blues
long, long, long
Julia
wild honey pie
martha my dear
rocky raccoon
piggies
don't pass me by
ob-la-di ob-la-da
honey pie

― how's life, Thursday, January 9, 2014 2:09 PM (eleven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Did not look back at my old post until I had finished ranking them this time, but happy to see that I've been steadfast to my top 3.

1. I Will
2. Savoy Truffle
3. Back in the USSR
4. Blackbird
5. Dear Prudence
6. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
7. I'm So Tired
8. Good Night
9. Glass Onion
10. Birthday
11. Don't Pass Me By
12. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
13. Sexy Sadie
14. Julia
15. Mother Nature's Son
16. Martha My Dear
17. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
18. Helter Skelter
19. Long, Long, Long
20. Piggies
21. Rocky Raccoon
22. Wild Honey Pie
23. Can You Take Me Back?
24. Revolution 9
25. Revolution 1
26. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
27. Cry Baby Cry
28. Yer Blues
29. Honey Pie
30. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
31. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Blackbird has shot up there!

The Beatles Are Really Good

1. Dear Prudence
2. Helter Skelter
3. Blackbird
4. Revolution 1
5. Glass Onion
6. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
7. Wild Honey Pie
8. Birthday
9. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
10. Revolution 9

The Beatles Are Good

11. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
12. Back in the USSR
13. Savoy Truffle
14. Yer Blues
15. Good Night
16. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
17. I Will
18. Rocky Raccoon

Actually The Beatles Are Bad

19. I'm So Tired
20. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
21. Sexy Sadie
22. Can You Take Me Back?

I Hate The Beatles

23. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
24. Cry Baby Cry
25. Piggies
26. Julia
27. Don't Pass Me By

I Hate Living Please Kill Me

28. Long, Long, Long
29. Mother Nature's Son
30. Honey Pie
31. Martha My Dear

Whoops, swap "Honey Pie" for "Martha My Dear". (Gotta make sure the levels of Hell are ordered correctly)

from 20 years ago, this nails it

1. John
3. George Harrison
4. George Martin
5. Ringo for his rhythms, not his songs
-100. Paul

Goddamn - are there really people who dont rate “Long Long Long” top tier??

Sometimes I don't understand how other people listen to music

This does seem a pretty weak album from the Paul perspective. There a couple of his that I like (Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son) but quite a few of those jokey singalong Paul songs I just can't get on with (Ob-La-Di, Honey Pie, Rocky Raccoon etc)

I guess Helter Skelter's pretty good. But even he said it was his version of a John song.

Goddamn - are there really people who dont rate “Long Long Long” top tier??

― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Monday, February 10, 2025 8:25 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

"Long, Long, Long" was maybe the most difficult nut to crack for me on this album. i think it gets lost because of everything else that came before it, let alone following up "helter skelter". easily top tier for the album.

"Long, Long, Long" is my favourite Beatles song.

Here's what I said 20 years ago(!) Not sure why I rated Rocky Racoon so highly but I don't think I've changed my mind on any of the others... I'd probably drop While My Guitar down too.

GOOD:
Blackbird
Long, Long, Long
Julia
Dear Prudence
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Mother Nature's Son
Sexy Sadie
Rocky Racoon
Cry Baby Cry
Back In The USSR
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Helter Skelter

FAIR TO MIDDLING:
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I'm So Tired
Martha My Dear
Glass Onion
Birthday
Wild Honey Pie

NOT MUCH COP:
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Honey Pie
I Will
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
Savoy Truffle
Revolution 9

FOUL:
Piggies
Revolution 1 (so dreary and plodding compared to the single)
Good Night
Don't Pass Me By
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Yer Blues

Surprised Good Night seems to get a bad rap here. For me, it's got a creepy, proto-Lynchian kind of vibe.

"Long, Long, Long" is my favourite Beatles song.

― Valentijn, Tuesday, 11 February 2025 09:59 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Same

Yes, it's one of their best.

john on this album: im sad af bc of the war but i DO NOT associate with the left
paul on this album: i am going to become a literal communist bc the babes are so hot, stand back im abt to have some mf whimsy *strains, gives birth to metal*

these fuckin go hard:
good night
helter skelter
julia
dear prudence
back in the ussr
blackbird
rev 9

gotta love the emotional range of paul going from risking it all horny to meemaw music to setting off a musical course of events that would fulfill the prophecy of the coming of limp bizkit

'Yer Blues' sounds better live.

I didn't got Long, Long, Long for the, er, longest time, because the original CD had it mixed so low and murky. It sounds amazing on vinyl and on the Mono remastered CDs.

got = get

I like all the silly kidsongs, not so keen on the AOR and hard rock songs. But White Album is only really appreciable as a wart-n-all unit

GOOD:
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Long, Long, Long
Cry Baby Cry
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Rocky Racoon
Blackbird
Piggies
Dear Prudence
Wild Honey Pie
Mother Nature's Son
Don't Pass Me By
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
I'm So Tired

OKAY:
Glass Onion
Revolution 9
Julia
Sexy Sadie
Martha My Dear
Helter Skelter

NOT MY FAVE
Honey Pie
Back In The USSR
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I Will
Birthday
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Savoy Truffle

NOT GOOD:
Revolution 1
Good Night
Yer Blues

When I ranked the album tracks a few years ago, I settled on this:

The Hague

Wild Honey Pie
Piggies
Good Night

Meh

Don’t Pass Me By
Honey Pie
Birthday
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Mother Nature’s Son
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Sound, Solid

Martha My Dear
Yer Blues
Cry Baby Cry
Rocky Raccoon
Revolution 1
Sexy Sadie
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road
Helter Skelter

Good to Great

Happiness is a Warm Gun
Dear Prudence
Revolution #9
I’m So Tired
Savoy Truffle
I Will
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
Back in the USSR
Long Long Long
Blackbird
Julia

People get down on stuff like Bungalow Bill, but I love anything that sounds like a psychedelic collage or an acid-spiked TV theme / ad break. I'd listen to a whole album of weird little vignettes

The Yoko harmony's the best part.

“I didn't got Long, Long, Long for the, er, longest time, because the original CD had it mixed so low and murky.”

Yeah I grew up on the 80s CDs and always just thought it was supposed to sound “barely there” and mega fragile/diaphanous

That's what's good about it.

The Yoko harmony's the best part.

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 February 2025 15:15 (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah it fits broadly int he same category of 'Little Pad' by the Beach Boys or 'The Other Side' from God Bless Tiny Tim; just a weird little stream-of-consciousness in-joke

That's what's good about it.

Yes, but then it's supposed to become massive and on the original CD it never does.

Long long long rules
Used to play it my band as a slow loud electric dirge

Yeah it fits broadly int he same category of 'Little Pad' by the Beach Boys or 'The Other Side' from God Bless Tiny Tim; just a weird little stream-of-consciousness in-joke

Except both of them miles better... and weirder.

they feel more effortless, less toiled-over, less on-the-nose maybe, but Bungalow Bill is a weird song

1. Blackbird
2. Mother Nature's Son
3. Revolution 9
4. Good Night
5. I Will
6. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
7. I'm So Tired
8. Dear Prudence
9. Julia
10. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
11. Long, Long, Long
12. Happiness Is a Warm Gun
13. Birthday
14. Glass Onion
15. Back in the USSR
16. Martha My Dear
17. Revolution 1
18. Helter Skelter
19. Cry Baby Cry
20. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
21. Rocky Raccoon
22. Honey Pie
23. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
24. Savoy Truffle
25. Wild Honey Pie
26. Sexy Sadie
27. Don't Pass Me By
28. Can You Take Me Back?
29.Piggies
30. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
31. Yer Blues

Revolution 9 into Good Night is one of my favourite bits in music hence the high placing.

Sometimes I don't understand how other people listen to music

― H.P

new board description plz

Bungalow Bill was the first -- and for years and years, only -- Beatles song I loved. My older brother and I growing up (and fully grown) were fiends for anything about elephants, Syd's effervescing specimen being another favorite. I always loved that weird moment with Yoko but had no idea what was going on.

+1 for Long, Long, Long being (very nearly) my favorite on here. I brought it in to the first class of a songwriting seminar I once led and blew a bunch of young whippersnappers' minds.

This Paul diehard will just do a top five:

1. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
2. Martha My Dear
3. Long, Long, Long
4. Cry Baby Cry
5. Rocky Raccoon

But my *least* favorite songs (Back to the USSR and Birthday) happen to be Paul's too.

People get down on stuff like Bungalow Bill, but I love anything that sounds like a psychedelic collage or an acid-spiked TV theme / ad break. I'd listen to a whole album of weird little vignettes

My challop (apparently) is that I've always loved "Piggies" for the same reasons - its goofy and queasy and creepy and self-consciously annoying and doesnt outstay its welcome - just what I want from an album like this! I wouldn't pick it as a single, but if I wanted an album of nothing but "Dear Prudence" type songs I'd reach for Abbey Road

xp you are dead to me

One Eye Open - you have a friend in me here. I used to think 'Piggies' was funny when I was, like, 16 and I still like it a lot. You're right, if the White Album didn't have these daft moments it would be a drab old affair. I'd take Piggies over Back In The USSR, even While My Guitar, any day

Abbey Road is full of stupid songs too though.

Actually think Honey Pie is quite masterfully put together and one of Paul’s best on this album.

Piggies is great

I think it is perhaps the worst piece of music ever conceived/recorded

Honey Pie, that is

if you hate retro 20s trad jazz novelty songs, it's probably not for you.

if you quite like 20s trad jazz novelty songs, it's kind of average

That’s saying a lot! I like all that stuff - Your Mother Should Know, You Gave Me the Answer…

xp to FGTI

Just to rep for two that everyone else seems to dislike:

I think Goodnight has a gorgeous melody and I loved singing it to my kid during lockdown bedtimes (they were less than one year old so couldn’t complain, ha). I find it goofy and impossible to dislike.

And (as Tim just noted too!) I think Honey Pie is one of Paul’s best here, and I love the tempo shift (“take a good look around you…”)

The only one I usually want to skip is Piggies (iirc I had to drop one track to fit it on a D90, and that track was Piggies). The harpsichord melody is quite nice though, so I guess it’s fine

Is it really trad jazz? Paul always talked about it in terms of old Hollywood songs, so maybe pre-war-ish American songwriters? Dunno. I love all the nuances of the song - the long intro, the saxes/clarinets, the two different bridges.

it's in the mode of Temperence Seven, New Vaudeville Band, early Bonzos, whatever you call that.

Yeah, I think McCartney had a bit of a different slant. It’s not Winchester Cathedral.

Same ballpark as "Tubas in the Moonlight" by the Bonzos though.

it's not the same song as Winchester Cathedral, but it's the same genre, a mode a lot of bands were adopting in the early-to-mid 60s in the UK. It's an odd genre to pin down as it draws from a variety of 20s/30s popular music, much of it specific to UK dance bands of the time.

Yeah maybe so. Or Hello Mabel! Bonzos were terrific at that.

Ringo's drumming on "Long Long Long" is first-rate.

(xp) I pretty much only like that stuff when the Bonzos do it. They seemed more plugged into the sound and feel.

Andrew Hickey did a bonus podcast episode on Jake Thackray, who I had never heard of before. Super interesting and I guess an influence on Happiness Is a Warm Gun.

John had brought a tape of Thackray to India.

Oh wow, that I didn't know, I love Jake Thackray. How an influence on Happiness Is a Warm Gun though?

I thought maybe it was the winding melody and compressed lyrics on the “She’s well acquainted with the touch…” part?

My appreciation of The White Album shot up considerably when the 50th anniversary box set came out in 2018. It's such an embarrassment of riches - new Giles Martin remix, one disc of Esher demos, three (count 'em) discs of studio outtakes and alternate versions, and a massive hardback book with amazing photos and a great essay by ILM fave John Harris. It's an essential purchase for White Album fans.

The only White Album song that I really have a strong dislike for is "Yer Blues" - a total nothing song and they sound like they dont even want to want to be playing it. Idk if I've ever stayed awake for the whole thing.

That's me and "Glass Onion" and "Mother Nature's Son."

The British equivalent of Vaudeville was known as Music Hall, so that's more likely where Paul, Bonzos, New Vaudeville Band (despite the name) were getting their references from.

Paul's parents and grandparents would have played a lot of this stuff around him when he was growing up, and the psychedelic sixties did a lot to nostalgise notions of Victoriana. The whole look of Sgt Peppers could be seen as technicolour retro, down to their Edwardian military band uniforms

Yer Blues is fucking abominable. Why did bands insist on making songs like this? See also: Student Demonstration Time. You are not good at this

I like it. Lennon’s guitar part is cool on that.

Also a cool recording.

yer blues is an in utero song, it's fantastic...

i'll defend piggies best i can as i don't see anyone else having a go. one of my earliest memories of it is age 15 just getting into this album, playing the tape in 1989 at a friend's house and someone asking to skip to the next song during piggies - i was taken aback, shouldn't we listen to this album like a novel, and trudge through the difficult parts?

it's a song to skip for sure, it grates. but it grates on purpose, like a lot of this album; and grates like a lot of stuff on the albums that influenced it (we're only in it for the money, blonde on blonde, wild honey, satanic majestys). being annoying is a crucial part of youth culture but rarely more so than in this era.

for me it really leaps out contextually as a sincerely anti capitalist song by an absolutely huge artist at the top of their game, written by a rich young man who hates the rich, and is worried about what he's becoming. george's idol dylan had stopped writing political songs, political folk songs were passé - but the beatles felt the need to somehow still talk about relevant topics like war and social issues, although their approach was informed by stream of consciousness psychedelic style and satire rather than the old earnest approach.

it is also one of the songs that links this record to the previous psychedelic sound. unlike all the other back to basics records of 1968, the white album is a blend of the new-old country-rock style with further explorations of curdled 1967 psych. piggies is cellos and harpsichords, bright melody carrying a dark theme, sound effects and fantasy animals, it's a holdover from walrus and blue jay way. it probably suffers today from its placement between the two paul animal songs which are makes you listen to the song hearing its bouncy brightness rather than the creepiness of its animal farm / cannibalism undertone.

when i put together a playlist of an imaginary 1968 george harrison lp adding about half of wonderwall music to the 4 white album songs, not guilty, the two demo tracks (circles and sour milk sea) and the inner light, i was tempted to use the esher demo version of piggies, but in the end i think the sickly sweet production is an important choice you should try to live with. george wrote savoy truffle for a reason.

i couldn't write a mini essay like this for most of the other songs people don't like on the album - although i think the comments about honey pie are spot on, the vaudeville revival style is a pretty interesting psychedelic offshoot. i like the skip spence vaudeville song on the moby grape record.

Good post! I think Cry Baby Cry is still a psychedelic song too.

Couldn't rank all 30, but favourites:

1. "Martha My Dear"
2. "Long, Long, Long"
3. "Don't Pass Me By"
4. "I'm So Tired"
5. "Rocky Racoon"
6. "Mother Nature's Son"

A few other really good ones I've heard too often. Hate "Good Night" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (liked it as a kid); no use at all for "Revolution 9" (would rather listen to Steve Reich or Henry Flynt or "Strawberry Fields Forever").

Good post, mig. George's solo on "Savoy Truffle" beefed up by those horns is a treat.

for me it really leaps out contextually as a sincerely anti capitalist song by an absolutely huge artist at the top of their game, written by a rich young man who hates the rich, and is worried about what he's becoming.

George Harrison never struck me as being political in the slightest, let alone anti-capitalist. Unless you count "Taxman", which is a protest song by a rich man.

I think Sexy Sadie is my favorite song on this album. Just gorgeous, classic Beatles.

Sure he was. When he went solo he wrote "the leaders of nations/They're acting like big girls." xpost

I forgot his support for the Natural Law Party. Who needs socialism when you have yogic flying?

Cry Baby Cry is definitely a psychedelic song.

Funny, but I've never heard White Album as a back-to-our-roots album, even if it may be true. It was always the down-home rockers I used to skip over.

I only learned recently that Sexy Sadie was originally called Maharishi

i love how the savoy truffle horns sound so unnaturally scotch taped on top of the record but sound perfect. like a lot of dylan songs from this era, savoy truffle is baffling thematically until you know the context - george is saying, eric, you're in such danger of becoming rotten and losing all your bite, and really george is worried about himself changing the same way.

I know everyone hates it but I like Obladi Oblada. What is going on in that rhythm? Like, what genre is it meant to be? I know Paul was into reggae before most people, but that's not reggae. When I was young, likely predicated on the fact they made us sing it in school assemblies, I used to think it was a cover of an old spiritual or hymnal or something like Mango Walk or Michael Row The Boat Ashore

It's definitely supposed to be ska or reggae, they just couldn't play it properly.

it's ska like my boy lollipop. they revisit the ska rhythm on an edited out segment of you know my name (the version on anthology 3). i didn't realize til checking wikipedia just now that ob la di was a number one single in so many countries.

I wonder if Desmond was named in honour of Desmond Dekker?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn6gB1RcXlM

Alfred, and also “Now you can make your own H-bomb/Right in the kitchen with your mom.”

I guess it has a very very tenuous similarity to ska. Like Yoko Ono's "Sisters O Sisters", which is also meant to be a ska song but comes off more like a march, the Beatles took a while to really get the knack for that style

John said it was ska.

And (as Tim just noted too!) I think Honey Pie is one of Paul’s best here, and I love the tempo shift (“take a good look around you…”)

think you're mixing it up with Martha My Dear

pretty much love everything on this record. the one or two tracks that don't click with me, i just chalk it up to the crazy, sometimes nauseating, kaleidoscopic journey of the record. i've been listening to this album long enough to learn that as my life changes, i've cooled on certain tracks and opened up to others

George Harrison never struck me as being political in the slightest, let alone anti-capitalist.

he said the song was

*they, sorry

Love the story of Paul driving John and George to death trying to figure out "Ob-La-DI" and John high off his gourd runs to the piano and yells PLAY THIS and it's the opening piano bit.

I've been relistening to The Beatles Anthology Revisted (as I can't read the second volume of All These Years) and do not have a great impression of George at this time I'm afraid, he always has this kind of petulant paranoia that everyone is just out to screw him, and the spiritual stuff only seems to impact on this later, for now it just adds this layer of smugness which makes it even more unappealing. So I don't see Piggies as much more politically sophisticated than Taxman, it's just a song about these bloody suits making poor George go to business meetings and taking a cut from his hard-earned money.

Getting Clapton in to play on the album also seems like a very poor choice on his part.

oh i agree, piggies and taxman are both no more sophisticated than what you'd expect from an undereducated working class introvert kid thrust into incredible wealth and prestige in his early 20s. but that's not what makes piggies interesting. what makes it interesting is it's the effing beatles saying, in what sounds like a kid's song, rich people are pigs that eat their own. it's like the graduate or catch-22 or a few other 60s pop culture items pointing the finger right at society, and thus it's a really crucial part of the impact of this record.

George Harrison was not "undereducated", he went to one of the best grammar schools in Liverpool if not in the North West of England as a whole.

Was reminded just recently how much I like James Taylor’s Apple version of “Carolina in My Mind.” Would fit in great on the White Album with Paul’s bass, the strings, and George and Peter Asher on sped up background vocals.

xp but didn't he hate every second of it, was barely there and left at like age 14 or something? He was definitely a severe underachiever at school.

yeah he was doing fine until he got a guitar, and from then on had zero interest.

He left when he was 16, he might have been an underachiever but he went to a very good school, a far far better school than most kids in Liverpool would ever have attended. McCartney and Harrison were not some slum kids, they came from very respectable working class families, lived in nice houses in nice areas and went to a top grade grammar school.

In other words, they weren't Ringo Starr.

All 30 songs in order

GREAT

Sexy Sadie - Beatles at their best
Yer Blues - I like the In Utero comparison above
Blackbird - can't argue with this
I'm So Tired - John's sleepy songs are best
Helter Skelter - everyone loves this
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey - the rattling stick noise elevates this
Happiness Is a Warm Gun - I have never been able to work out if "She's well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane" is good or shit but it's exciting for sure
Birthday - best of their late-period "woohoo everything is random" songs
Savoy Truffle - never heard the death-or-glory spirit of rock n roll expressed more singularly than "you'll have to have them all pulled out after the savoy truffle" - I would risk it
Revolution 9 - everyone loves this
Glass Onion - hate it when they do this stuff in 90s and more recent videos, but here the scorn saves it
Back in the USSR - such good lyrics
Martha My Dear - pure melody and the way the first "Martha my dear" comes in is transcendent
Dear Prudence - overrated a bit but one of the most White Albumy songs
Long, Long, Long - just this weird ghost song, amazing
Revolution 1 - I think I prefer this neutered version to the single
Julia - another ghost
Wild Honey Pie - genuinely, the first song I heard as a teenager that made me realise there was more to these guys than the stuff you got on the radio

GOOD

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - something irresistable about this but also too corny. Harrison had talent but he was so lazy - if he wasn't he might've had a rhyme rethink
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Paul had a genius for silly songs where the first line (also Martha, USSR) is so lovely you just go with it
Rocky Raccoon - one of many stupid Paul songs that nevertheless has a very lovely tune. Also the first Beatles songs I could play on guitar (it is very basic and based around A minor, which still describes how I play guitar mostly)
Why Don't We Do It In the Road? - I do enjoy this somewhat but so offputting how retrospectively chuffed with this Paul is
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill - makes the Good list mostly for the last few seconds leading into While My Guitar
Cry Baby Cry - sort of While My Guitar lite to my ears, just 1, 2, 3, 4 over and over
Mother Nature's Son - I dislike the arrangement and the oompah ending

NOT SO GOOD

Good Night - it's like they didn't need to make this good to make the point, but I wish they had
Honey Pie - I really hate this, but in the 1990s I did steal the phrase "I'm in Love but I'm Lazy" as the title of a song (which sounded very similar to Miley Cyrus's 2023 hit "Flowers" oddly enough)
Don't Pass Me By - I hate the organ
Piggies - if he'd just done this as a regular song maybe the lyrics would've been tolerable, but the pomposity of the arrangement and the sound effects is a nightmare
I Will - it's the cheek-popping and wobbleboard effects that make this particularly execrable

McCartney and Harrison were not some slum kids, they came from very respectable working class families, lived in nice houses in nice areas and went to a top grade grammar school.

― Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 February 2025 21:30 (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

My family on mum's side are from Speke (where McCartney and Harrison were from) and I spent quite a bit of time there as a child, and thinking how to sum up the vibe of the place. In the 30s it was a beautiful tree-lined new estate, but by the 80s and 90s when I knew it, it was rough and run-down, it was one of the most deprived wards in the North-West then. In the 50s it was somewhere between those two states, but the direction it was going in must have been clear. The McCartney and Harrison families were similar to mine, you could say aspirational working class (people forget that Liverpool was a tory stronghold at that point - Labour didn't overtake them in the Garston constituency until 1974!) and dismayed at how their neighbourhood was going rapidly downhill (none of my mum's generation ended up even living in the north as an adult, let alone Speke). The Harrisons got out as early as they could, Paul McCartney's dad did not. The difference in the way the families related to Speke seems to mirror the Beatle personalities we are used to - introverted, aloof and standoffish vs chummy/sociable/maybe a little big-headed about it. Class is about who you want to be as much as where you come from, isn't it? So yeah, while George came from a working class background, his family seem to have considered themselves upwardly mobile, and took on the values of the middle class, or at least what they imagined those values to be.

It was McCartney's family that moves out of Speke, to an extremely nice looking house in Allerton!

sorry, you're right. scabs!

George's family moved out too mind

John had brought a tape of Thackray to India.

― timellison, Tuesday, 11 February 2025 18:42 (three hours ago)

According to the Jake Thackray biography 'Beware of the Bull', Thackray made a tape for Lennon. Presumably of his work, though knowing Thackray probably some Georges Brassens too. McCartney was a fan too, he says 'he was fascinated by his guitar style'.

xps my grandma lived there until 2009, they should hang their heads in shame

My mother, a notorious hater of music, loves ob-la-do, ob-la-da.

It’s a song that can make music haters love music. Give it some cred folks

The white album is the album where each individual Beatle went off and each did their individual thing, correct? It’s best and worst qualities can be reduced to that fact.

And because of that, we know the George tracks stink except for one, John keeps it mid and self-important except for a few spikes of absolute brilliance, ringo plays it all along and soothes the soul with his child-like earnestness, and then Paul comes along and actually plays the best Beatle.

Fuck them Paul haters

My mother, a notorious hater of music, loves ob-la-do, ob-la-da.

Grannies love it apparently. According to John Lennon.

my mum loves all Beatles apart from Taxman (anti-socialist), ob-la-de-ob-la-da (embarrassing) and Imagine (anti-religious)

Well there might be a few more too

a+ no notes
julia
dear prudence
happiness / gun
im so tired
blackbird
helter skelter
while my guitar
sexy sadie

very good
i will
back in the ussr
revolution 9
obla di
bungalo bill
cry baby cry
long long long

ill take it
rocky raccoon
revolution 1
martha my dear
yer blues
mother natures son
me and my monkey
glass onion

could have been cut
savoy truffle
birthday
good night
why dont we do it
wild honey pie
dont pass me by
piggies

bad
honey pie

Goddamn this revive set people off! I wish I hadn't re-ranked it, because all this discussion is distracting from the news that revived the thread, which is that Rutherford Chang - the artist behind the We Buy White Albums conceptual art piece from 10 years ago - passed away last week. I didn't say it in my post, but I wish to express my admiration for his work. Rest in Peace.

As far as my ranking, I wasn't trying to open a can of worms about which songs rule and which ones suck. Unlike some excruciatingly long albums, I wouldn't try to cut it down to a single LP. I might only rarely listen to it straight through these days, but I like it all. My White Album listening experience ranges on a scale from "YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" to "yeah."

Unlike Abbey Road, which ranges from "YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" to "Is it inappropriate to slap 82-year-old living treasure Sir Paul McCartney for writing and recording Maxwell's Silver Hammer over half a century ago? I guess so, BUT..."

Taking sides: Honey Pie vs. Cherry Pie

It’s a song that can make music haters love music. Give it some cred folks

― H.P,

Vice versa.

Wow, I’m really sorry to hear about Rutherford Chang! I loved the recording from that project.

https://m.soundcloud.com/dustandgrooves/white-album-side-1-x-100

Lol alfred

I like how at the start of Everybody's Got Something To Hide... it sounds like John's just discovered the phrase "Take it easy" and is experimenting with it like a kid who's obsessed with a new word

And because of that, we know the George tracks stink except for one

we do?

Honey Pie

A song about a prostitute (working girl being a 'polite' euphemism) from the north of England (interesting, so not Liverpool but maybe Newcastle) that emigrated to the US and made it big in the movies. But one of her ex-clients wants her back in the back street so he can pay for another shag.

And Paul managed to write all this and get away with it...

not Liverpool but maybe Newcastle

Why? Liverpool is in the North of England.

I'm listening to Honey Pie now and it's really charming. No need to hate. Some great arrangements on there

What is "Hawk-eye music"?

Funny they decided to cram all the songs about animals in one part of the album and all the songs about cakes in another part

The Beatles: More Songs About Creatures And Cakes

I have just put on Honey Pie, Piggies and Good Night back-to-back and I like then all lol

I think Good Night was one of the few tracks I was hostile to, but that is probably the Chocolate Box effect where you've gone through the box and you have tummy ache by the time you get to it.

Good Night rocks, don't know how anyone could hate it. Dreams sweet dreams for me and dreams sweet dreams for ya'll as well

Something annoying I picked up on this run of rocky racoon I hadn't noticed in others: The bass G hit on the guitar (third chords root note) is out of tune. Real bad intonation. The C sounds a little off too

More that I didn't care much for:

- Rocky Raccoon (recalled as something you have to be in the mood for)

- Revolution no 9 (heard a lot of musique concrete)

They are also both v good xp lol

Peace, man otm:

"I might only rarely listen to it straight through these days, but I like it all. My White Album listening experience ranges on a scale from "YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" to "yeah.""

Amazing thing is that there are better albums released that same year.

https://m.soundcloud.com/dustandgrooves/white-album-side-1-x-100

― timellison, Wednesday, 12 February 2025

Thanks

Yeah that's cool!

listening to it now, incredible, think I prefer this version of Dear Prudence to the original. Getting to Ob-la-di Ob-la-da and it's all getting very Caretaker.

Good Night just sounds tossed-off. The lyrics are pure rhyming dictionary, the tune dull and unmemorable. But maybe uncomplicated is best for a song like this. I don't think Lennon was consistently firing on all cylinders lyrics-wise during this period - a lot of his lines sound like placeholders for something else. Paul definitely could have gone back and thought-through some of his lyrical choices but at least they were creatively absurd by comparison

It’s a lullaby. What are you looking for? Pynchon?

McCartney often gets skewered for producing inane flimsy rubbish but Lennon produced his fair share.

H.P., can you explain what you meant upthread about Harrison?

McCartney often gets skewered for producing inane flimsy rubbish but Lennon produced his fair share.

― Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.),

Lennon never denied it; in his last interview he said he was capable of the big sentimental stuff "just as much as Paul."

Paul seemed to understand the vain nature of his sentimental material though, as opposed to John who seemed to take it all too seriously too often. Generalisations with many exceptions of course: I am the walrus rocks because it doesn’t try for gravity.

And sorry Alfred, it seems boring to defend my opinion that George is boring. No explanation forthcoming

For all the George lovers though, Blue Jay Way and Taxman are top-shelf Beatles

"Blue Jay Way" IS boring though!

I am probably being unfair to Lennon, it’s hard to look anything other than serious when you are standing next to Paul. This album in particular is also Lennon at his least serious (and therefore best), so bad thread to make my case

Xp because it drones? That’s the point! The lads finally incorporated their Indian travels to their music in an integrated way. A pop song that works on a singular chord fluctuating between the major to the diminished. The off-kilter vocal phrasing of the verses. Ringo in the 2nd verse playing as good as he ever has. The dirge + double-time of the chorus’s. The poetising of simply sitting in a car waiting for a mate.

Mostly though, it’s just those three melodies. Could carry anything you wrapped around them

He was good with melody.

This has been a great revive. All the George talk made me cue up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyEQeDqIkZ8

Killer song + arrangement both. Those drums are like someone stumbling up a mountain path.

He played an acoustic version on the lawn with Paul and Ringo in Anthology.

because it drones?

No, because it's dreary as hell

I think "It's All Too Much" integrates raga in a more interesting (and kinetic) way.

I've got a particular dislike of "Blue Jay Way" because Colin Newman decided to cover it on his second album (God knows why) all but ruining the second side of the album.

Wire did love their drones.

It’s a lullaby. What are you looking for? Pynchon?

― H.P, Wednesday, 12 February 2025 12:30 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

No but - and I hate to use the word "trite" because that sounds excessively damning - it sounds, quite literally, like something someone would come up with in their sleep. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about "Good night / Sleep Tight / Turn out the light / Close your eyes / Dream sweet dreams" etc - it's just a string of stock phrases over a dot-to-dot melody and a pleasant but by-the-numbers arrangement. Compared to "The End / Her Majesty", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "A Day In The Life" it's a back-of-a-fag packet idea

Blue Jay Way is all vibe, I like it. Also "please don't be long" vs "please don't belong" woah.

"Blue Jay Way" IS boring though!

― Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.), Wednesday, 12 February 2025 12:52 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Nooooo!

No but - and I hate to use the word "trite" because that sounds excessively damning - it sounds, quite literally, like something someone would come up with in their sleep. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about "Good night / Sleep Tight / Turn out the light / Close your eyes / Dream sweet dreams" etc - it's just a string of stock phrases over a dot-to-dot melody and a pleasant but by-the-numbers arrangement. Compared to "The End / Her Majesty", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "A Day In The Life" it's a back-of-a-fag packet idea

― the wedding preset (dog latin), Wednesday, 12 February 2025 bookmarkflaglink

No one cares.

Not liking a goodbye track after spending four sides pastiching these micro genres including a Stockhausen knock off a few years after shit like "Love me Do". Please stop complaining about this.

No, because it's dreary as hell

― Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.), Wednesday, 12 February 2025 14:08 (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'd say dreich over dreary.
Following-on from 'Flying' which I love so much and, in my mind (NB: I've not really seen Yellow Submarine all the way through), takes place far above the clouds, Blue Jay Way is the literal and figurative comedown - the descent through the fog, touching-down in a mysterious and alien land.

Not liking a goodbye track after spending four sides pastiching these micro genres including a Stockhausen knock off a few years after shit like "Love me Do". Please stop complaining about this.

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 12 February 2025 14:24 (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Wow, I thought we were here to talk about the Beatles, guess I'll just fuck off then

shit like "Love me Do".

Not a fan of the early Beatles, I take it.

I like it a lot but its a leap.

Love Me Do is incredible, I can seriously feel the chilly northern wind and smell that seaside stank with that harmonica

Dreary and boring don’t exactly overlap for me.

- it sounds, quite literally, like something someone would come up with in their sleep.

If you don’t like the song that’s fine, it just seems silly to not like a lullaby for having lullaby lyrics.

Xxp another reason to like Rocky Racoon: last John harmonica track

You were right the first tine, "Love Me Do" is shit.

not Liverpool but maybe Newcastle

Why? Liverpool is in the North of England.

― Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.), Wednesday, February 12, 2025 7:53 AM (seven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Oh, yeah. That's a point.

I guess my default for "North" made it "North East".

Then again, Liverpool is more south than Newcastle but point taken anyway...

"Close your eyes and I'll close mine"

Line wins.

Liverpool isn't very far north but then neither is Manchester.

Interesting revive. "Long, Long, Long" is definately the most 21st century song of the batch, but to look at Spotify plays it's down there with the normie-skip stuff. "Blackbird" seems like it's a modern standard a la "Hallelujah" rather than an original top-tier track. "I Will" ranked so high surprises me, is it a youtube cover favorite?

Blackbird 545,934,901.00
While My Guitar Gently Weeps 297,050,157.00
Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da 291,861,412.00
Back In The U.S.S.R. 141,038,742.00
I Will 126,875,583.00
Helter Skelter 88,932,768.00
Dear Prudence 83,434,270.00
Happiness Is A Warm Gun 60,384,306.00
Rocky Raccoon 56,402,552.00
I'm So Tired 43,407,719.00
Julia 41,088,442.00
Glass Onion 40,425,502.00
Martha My Dear 38,526,088.00
Birthday 34,251,311.00
Mother Nature's Son 31,120,152.00
Sexy Sadie 27,385,135.00
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill 25,729,001.00
Revolution 1 25,682,514.00
Yer Blues 25,482,528.00
Why Don't We Do It In The Road? 24,338,284.00
Don't Pass Me By 23,349,333.00
Piggies 22,752,034.00
Wild Honey Pie 21,491,645.00
Honey Pie 21,259,237.00
Long Long Long 20,805,681.00
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey 20,109,368.00
Cry Baby Cry 19,601,881.00
Good Night 16,750,852.00
Savoy Truffle 16,272,106.00
Revolution 9 13,785,340.00

sorry for the .00!

The bottom 13 from least popular to middling makes an excellent tracklist for a fuck y'all album

Revolution 9
Savoy Truffle
Good Night
Cry Baby Cry
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Long Long Long
Honey Pie
Wild Honey Pie
Piggies
Don't Pass Me By
Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
Yer Blues
Revolution 1

xp Spotify plays are often affected by where the track comes in the album sequence, so that's why maybe LLL and Cry Baby Cry are quite low down the list. I'm guessing from the list that few people sit around thinking "I really need to hear Revolution 9 right now"

spotify playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2tbGBvYlNVuihkUaGwmVGd?si=5f1600600a6e46e0

"I Will" ranked so high surprises me, is it a youtube cover favorite?

When I first moved to China, it was to work in a little college in the backwoods of one of the great gray industrial metropolises of the dusty north. There were speakers set up around campus that would broadcast music and announcements three times a day. The evening playlist had a muzak arrangement of I Will. Absolutely no clue why.

Sometimes I don't understand how other people listen to music

What they need's a damned good whacking

"I Will" ranked so high surprises me

It's popular at weddings.

5
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Rocky Raccoon
Julia
Helter Skelter

4
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Blackbird
Mother Nature's Son
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Revolution 9
Good Night

3
Glass Onion
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Don't Pass Me By
I Will
Birthday
Long, Long, Long
Revolution 1

2
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
Piggies
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
Yer Blues
Sexy Sadie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry

1
Honey Pie

"Revolution 9" was my first exposure to musique concrete so it gets a "forever classic" designation from me

I'm generally a "early Beatles only" kind of Beatles fan but some latter-day tracks like "Dear Prudence" and "Day In The Life" and even "Helter Skelter" are so unbelievably amazing that I can't help but be a simp

xp I'm so glad "Honey Pie" is getting what it deserves on this revive.

"Wild Honey Pie" gets more love than it should from me because as a teen I rinsed the Pixies BBC version of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32_pJAvRp4

yeah I almost gave revolution 9 for similar reasoning and it would probably have been the more truthful ranking

Gave it 5, I mean

I love Long, Long, Long, but also a fan of George’s in general so I see it in that context. I don’t really think it’s above and beyond what he was, as often as not, able to accomplish. I absolutely think there are better songs on All Things Must Pass. Long, Long, Long has subtle charms. The song of his that may be most similar is the B-side of All Those Years Ago, a song called Writing’s on the Wall.

I’m obviously a million years old since I posted a ranking of these songs about 20 years ago (yikes) which I would probably completely reorder if I did it again. In a way I think maybe ranking the songs on the White Album misses the point. The jokey songs are just as important as the serious ones. This is one of the first rock albums that I know of where they were obviously just fucking around in the studio to see what they would come up with, like on Why Don’t We Do It In The Road, or pushing a genre song over the edge with a deliberately grating arrangement, like on Don’t Pass Me By, and that spirit of self-indulgence and almost self-sabotage is what makes it special.

o nate otm X10000

is "why dont we do it in the road" the first song about fucking in a car?

iirc it was inspired by seeing monkeys fucking in the road in India

I always thought it was about having sex in the burning asphalt as the local government pours it

I'm only half joking

I cant see this thread title without misreading it as 'wank the right album'

I'm sorry but Why Don't We Do It In The Road is absolutely not about having sex in a car.

was gonna say. have listened to that song hundreds of times and have never once thought a car was involved

crash.jpg

cars are a great answer to the question "why don't we do it in the road?"

There’s an interview with Paul where he says that it could be taken as being about f***ing or sh**ting in the road. I never would’ve come up with the second interpretation.

how do you even get in a road?

I'm sorry but Why Don't We Do It In The Road is absolutely not about having sex in a car.

Yes, because in India monkeys are forbidden to drive anything but trucks.

do you know how many times I have taught the in/on/at prepositions lesson?

I just for the first time saw the George Carlin bit where someone says to get on the plane & he’s like “fuck you! I’m getting IN the plane!! Go FUCK yourself!”

(This is what reading that stupid phrases you hate thread is like also #onethread)

My favorite will always be Robert Ashley - “These are stories about the corn belt and the people who live in it…or on it.”

There’s an interview with Paul where he says that it could be taken as being about f***ing or sh**ting in the road. I never would’ve come up with the second interpretation.

Related, ".. which he ate and donated to the National Trust" means to take a shit in a public park, it's something Derek Taylor used to say iirc

oh i LOVE that

The Hague

Wild Honey Pie
Piggies
Good Night

B-b-but these are great!

Tangent: as a child my grandparents had that record of Moog arrangements of Beatles songs (already an impossibly ancient artifact to juvenile me ca.1990) and that "Good Night" rendition was the most hauntingly beautiful thing I'd ever heard lol. ( *looks it up* This LP. )

There's a definite "two virgins" vibe on that front cover!

xp its v good version

I’m positive I’ve posted about it before, maybe even on this thread, but the Ramsey Lewis album of White Album songs “Mother Natures Son” is heavy on the moog & is phenomenal imho

checking out Lennon's version of Yer Blues on Rock & Roll Circus, with Richards, Clapton & Mitch Mitchell, think I prefer the white album version to be honest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeFwaWFTGYU

I always wondered if the name of the supergroup for that, The Dirty Mac, was against McCartney ?

XP: that Ramsey Lewis record is pretty cool. More textural juxtapositions than an olde hi-fi demonstration disc or whatever lol.

esher demo of honey pie is... good actually? surprised me.