They say it's your birthday: The White Album turns 40

I didn't find a proper thread on the White Album, there was only one on ranking the songs. The White Album was released on 22 November 1968. To get this going I paste my old review from a while ago:

The self-titled Beatles double album is my favourite release by the fab four. There are at least three main reasons for this choice.

Firstly it is the most varied record they have ever made. 95 minutes full of sparkling ideas going into all kinds of directions. Ranging from surf pop echoes to ska, bluegrass, hard rock, experimental sound collage, film music, folky fingerpicking, several slow ballads, lots of blues and some weird unclassifiable bonusses. The main advantage of this record compared to the others is that it never gets boring, that the succession of songs never ceases to surprise, that there is so much to discover. Behind the versatility of the White Album lies the fact that it is their most collective effort. Calling it The Beatles was rather adequate. Everyone contributes at least one song, even Ringo though Don't Pass Me By is the weakest of them all. Ringo sings on the nicely sugary arranged dreamy lullaby Good Night which closes the album. George Harrison is responsible for four songs of which two are ingenious: While My Guitar Gently Weeps with Eric Clapton playing the phantastic lead guitar and Savoy Truffle which is the most funky (what a great fat saxophone section), psychedelic piece on the album. Paul plays drums on Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence. Here of course the paradoxon that they were a band slowly falling apart comes in. Ringo and Paul had had an argument and Ringo had left the studio for a while.

The second reason I like this double LP best is of a more technical nature. The music still sounds fresh. I hadn't heard most of the 30 songs before I discovered the White Album at the end of the 80's. Only Revolution was a single. And only three other songs (Back in the USSR with the falsetto choir nodding to the Beach Boys, the early ska-ish dance hit Ob-la-di, ob-la-da which I used to hate but like now and While My Guitar Gently Weeps) are on the blue double album comprising the best of their late years. Most Beatles songs may they be as gorgeous as e.g. Strawberry Fields Forever suffer from having been played too many times on the radio. They have become clichés and I can hardly appreciate them anymore.

Finally there is another almost metaphysical cause for my predilection. The Beatles had been in Rishikesh during February/March of 1968, listening to the lectures of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi known for his Transcendental Meditation (TM). There had been frictions in the band and a disappointment of the spiritual trip. First Ringo went back to England, then Paul, finally John and George. But over-all they had calmed down after the LSD-drenched craziness of the Magical Mystery Tour. In Rishikesh they met Donovan who according to legend taught John finger-picking. Of course they couldn't live without making music in India. But they were forced to concentrate on basic, simple music as they had only brought their acoustic instruments. Almost half of the songs on the White Album have either been written in Rishikesh or have been influenced by the meditative atmosphere there. It was as if they had come back to their roots. Before going back into the almost symphonic rock of their last studio record Abbey Road.

Sidenote: Let It Be was a slighter work in between featuring the cosmic(!) Across the Universe as a stand-out. A song written by John under LSD which pointed towards Eastern philosophy.

Two songs on the double album refer to the negative aspects of the Rishikesh experience. Lennon's great, melancholic Sexy Sadie on the extra lessons the guru supposedly gave to the females and the sardonicly titled phantastic rocker Everyone Has Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey which without the monkey part according to Harrison is a quote by the Maharishi.

My absolute favourite on the record is Julia. The most tender and touching love song I know. John is on his own here with his acoustic guitar and he sings about his mother Julia and about Yoko Ono (Yoko = ocean child in Japanese. The seashell eyes are hers.) who had just stepped into his life. John had lived with an aunt and had lost his mother whom he worshipped from the distance when he was 18. Yoko who was seven years older than John was just about to become his ersatz mother and lover at the same time. The way John starts this song whispering

Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you Julia

is the most personally direct he has ever been in a Beatles song. For an outsider like me it is like listening to an intimate, private love letter only destined for the beloved. The poetic imagery of this song to which Yoko apparently contributed is breathtakingly beautiful. The tune is soothing and yearning at the same time. Every time it spins on my record player I have to listen to it attentively, I cannot avert my ears from it. It is so intense.

So great.

Dear Prudence and Julia= flawless.

Savoy Truffle is possibly the greatest "list" song ever.

best beatles album.

Countdown to Geir saying how crap Rev#9 is...

this was the first beatles album I owned, as two cassettes bought from a garage sale, when I was seven. I knew "obladi oblada" from kindergarten music class. obviously the album freaked me out as a kid, in fact, it wasn't until i was in my teens that I could listen to Revolution #9 all the way through. The entire album has a very creepy vibe to it, songs sound kind of suspended on the soundstage; they are very sparse and the reverb is very slight but present enough to make the whole album sound...kind of delayed or something, so, while listening to it, I constantly feel like *something is about to happen*. The animal elements to it (piggies, blackbird) and the nursery rhyme imagery in Cry Baby Cry all adds up to one fucking tense and creepy experience. Factor in the later Manson shit and the record is one giant nightmare. I love it.

the worst, most British Beatles album

I think one of the other contributing factors to this creepiness are all the little between-song elements, the yell at the beginning of "while my guitar" (which for years I always thought was my dad yelling my name, even though I knew it was there, it always made me jump), "can you take me back", the mellotron guitar sample. this is the druggiest Beatles album, and not druggy in a good fun way like MMT.

played in full at the first full-scale Phish Halloween extravaganza, a night that achieved maximum creepiness when my friend and I encountered an abandoned shopping-cart full of small soft toys in the early stages of rot around 4AM on a corner in Glens Falls, NY (a Northern-type town)

Your name is "eyup" ?

ll adds up to one fucking tense and creepy experience. Factor in the later Manson shit and the record is one giant nightmare. I love it. OTM. There's something "off" about this whole record, something very 1968 (the year of riots and bum trips) about it, so even the sweet songs have a slightly sinister edge to them. I'm glad I didn't discover this record til I was in my teens; I would have lain awake in the dark with "Can you take me back where I came from" rolling over and over in my head and causing night terrors. I love it.

This album remains the most overrated Beatles album. Might have been OK if it was a single album, without most of the John Lennon tracks, and surely without "Helter Skelter" (which is almost as bad as "Revolution #9")

the best beatles album.

The Vatican forgives John Lennon (but not for Bungalow Bill)

Who could forgive Piggies?

isn't that a bit late? someone should give the pope an update of what happened in 1980...

The pope only pardoned Copernicus in 1999

the white album is both the best album ever and the best album cover ever. everybody bitches about how it should've been a single instead of a double, but the thing is nobody can agree on what songs should be left off (except for revolution #9).

And I always felt that the happy kiddie songs like "Martha My Dear" and "Good Night" acted as a nice contrast to the more fucked-up vibes of the rest of the songs. And by the way, I for one absolutely ADORE the wussy McCartney schmaltz tunes.

There's something "off" about this whole record, something very 1968

yeah. other records with that '68 vibe: john wesley harding (released december '67, but close enough), beggars banquet, electric ladyland, white light/white heat, probably lots of others.

as a kid, the white album freaked me out even not knowing anything about the manson story. rocky raccoon getting shot, "happiness is a warm gun," "why don't we do it in the road" -- other beatles' albums seemed sort of kid-friendly (even something like "maxwell's silver hammer," which seemed like a joke i could get), but i had no idea what was going on in most of the white album songs -- the jokes seemed grown-up and dirty, a lot of it was just weird and even the cover seemed like a mausoleum. so of course i was fascinated. not my favorite beatles album, but probably the one i'd pick if i had to pick one to defend in court.

Revolution #9 is a great example of how having the power to influence the future can make you look like a prophet ex post facto. The Beatles could have made a thousand strange avant-garde songs and their influence would've guaranteed it would be the next trend in music and they'd be credited with "starting" it.

I meant to articulate that any given strange song could've been the trend, not the act of creating a thousand of them.

the worst, most British Beatles album

― gabbneb, Saturday, November 22, 2008 7:47 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I know you are, but what am I? (Besides drunk.)

And Geir: Your version can cut most of the Lennon stuff, but this is one of his best albums!

most British Beatles album

Hell yeah, man. Why couldn't America's Beatles have stuck to the good ol' red white and blue sound of their other stuff, dude?

This was the beginning of the end for John Lennon. He had been brilliant from 1963 until 1967, but never quite regained his greatness again. Unlike Paul McCartney who would write some fantastic songs for "Abbey Road" and also come up with the occasional great moment all the time during his solo career.

My problem about The White Album is that it is the only Beatles album that doesn't sound like The Beatles, it sounds like everything else. Also, along with "Beggar's Banquet" and a few others it helped pull music the wrong way. 1968 was crowded with fantastic psych pop albums, but the largest bands sadly went in the wrong direction after having made some wonderful psych pop albums in 1967.

unfortunately geir always sounds like geir. that's the problem with you, you know?

Two things that seem worth bearing in mind:

-part of the greatness of the White Album is that it is kind of like a blank slate: you see in it whatever you want to see because its very musical scope allows for that. That's why the cover, while it's apparently simple, is also brilliant, the listener is free to project his own images and ideas into it; and

-it's by far the most daring step any commercially successful band has ever taken.

lol @ u

My problem about The White Album is that it is the only Beatles album that doesn't sound like The Beatles, it sounds like everything else

you are crazy, it doesn't sound like anything else.

Firstly it is the most varied record they have ever made. 95 minutes full of sparkling ideas going into all kinds of directions. Ranging from surf pop echoes to ska, bluegrass...

Where's the bluegrass on this album?

Ranging from surf pop echoes to ska, bluegrass...

Are you sure you're not confusing the Beatles with Camper Van Beethoven?

ska (or calypso/reggae) = ob-la-di, ob-la-da.
surf pop = back in the u.s.s.r.
bluegrass = don't pass me by

don't pass me by sounds a lot like camper van beethoven actually. or vice versa.

My problem about The White Album is that it is the only Beatles album that doesn't sound like The Beatles

this is exactly why it's my favorite beatles album, it's the least pigeonholeable

"Don't Pass Me By" has a country influence, sure, but it's not within 50 miles of bluegrass. [/nitpick]

"the largest bands sadly went in the wrong direction"

what direction would you say that was?

This thread inspired me to listen to it all the way through for the first time in forever and I loved it. Everything people have said, about the intensity and creepiness, is largely OTM. It made me think about the first time I saw the goonies as a child, and how freaked out I was (chaining your deformed son in the dark, niiiice) and how just incredibly uneasy the whole thing is. Also, I couldn't help but notice how bassy it was compared to how I remember most Beatles record, although this could be just because I finally have some proper speakers.

Anyway, great album. Their best.

"He had been brilliant from 1963 until 1967" -- he wrote many of his White Album songs in 1967

This album remains the most overrated Beatles album. -- wrong, that would be Sgt Pepper, which is also brilliant, albeit overrated

Might have been OK if it was a single album -- wrong

without most of the John Lennon tracks -- wrong

and surely without "Helter Skelter" -- WRONG WRONG WRONG this is one of the key moments of the entire record

I also listened to this start-to-finish for the first time in ages recently and a lot of it sounded far better than I remembered. Agreed on the unsettling feel of a lot of it, particularly the quieter songs (the end of 'Long, Long, Long', all of 'Julia') and the whole thing is amazingly sequenced. Revolver probably remains my favourite but I've really got a thing for sprawling, eclectic records, especially double albums.

"Wild Honey Pie" is closer to bluegrass than "Don't Pass Me By."

more Beatles = best Beatles, obv

"Happiness" is and always will be my true love.

But "Long Long Long" has in the past few years become my main jam on this album. The ending alone is probably my single favorite Beatles moment.

Also I have a new appreciation for "Bungalow Bill" and "Revolution #9" now that I've fallen in love with Yoko's solo work and learned about her career as a conceptual artist. That these songs feature vocals by Yoko Ono and are on a major label release for the world's most mainstream band ever is the coolest thing in musical history to ever consider.

the whole thing is amazingly sequenced

I agree with this.. "Happiness" is surely one of the alltime great side 1 closers.. the bizarre mumbling between "I'm So Tired" and "Blackbird" .. the grouping all of the "animal" songs together in the middle of side 2.. and I never realized until reading earlier that "Monkey" and "Sexy Sadie" both shared pretty much the same message, as this transition is another of my favorites.

On a personal note, my 3 least favorite White album songs are all on side 4, which remains frustrating since I love both Revolutions and Cry Baby Cry.

Best Beatles album. It's nice to hear such an experimental band put on the brakes and allow each of its members space to develop unique styles. It's where McCartney started to be McCartnet and Lennon started to be Lennon. I doubt Harrison would've been nearly as highly regarded as a songwriter without this opportunity.

I don't think it's too long, either. It's a showcase. It plods around the place, but it does settle upon a central feel, thanks largely to Martin and others who saw the record as a collective effort (flying in the face of the consensus at the time that it simply wasn't). The Ringo track is skippable, though.

Also, Revolution 9 is incredible through headphones. If all it did was open people's minds to new ideas, great.

McCartnet McCartney

But "Long Long Long" has in the past few years become my main jam on this album. The ending alone is probably my single favorite Beatles moment.

oh shit yeah that's actually the scariest thing on the album

I know there was a specific thread for this, but it's fallen by the wayside so, getting all horribly materialistic and money-obsessed here instead:

White Album #0000005 went for over £19000 yesterday on ye-olde eBay.

There are of course some nice songs on this album. It is The Beatles after all. And I have it in my Top 20 of 1968 albums, but considering The Beatles are mostly runaway winners or runnerups in every year list other than that one, speaks about how the album just doesn't work out.

John Lennon finds himself way too fixated with the blues and pre-Beatles American music, and also doing the awful "Revolution #9". He had met Yoko and lost it from the moment he met her. He'd never be as great again as he was.

Paul wrote some good songs for the album, but sadly some of them are way underarranged. "Blackbird", "Mother Nature's Son" and "Rocky Racoon" would have been fantastic with "bigger" arrangements, but sound too stripped down for their own good. Also he did "Helter Skelter", which is the worst McCartney song ever. Absolutely horrible!

George was indeed coming to his own on this album, and most of his contributions are really great.

Because George and Paul still had it as songwriters, "Abbey Road" would become a great album (John even managed to provide one great song in "Because"), but "The White Album" is just too patchy, too stripped down and too eclectic. Plus there was still more to be done within the psych pop genre, and they should have made sure to make a couple more years of psych pop albums before moving on (er... breaking up).

There are of course some nice songs on this album. It is The Beatles after all. And I have it in my Top 20 of 1968 albums, but considering The Beatles are mostly runaway winners or runnerups in every year list other than that one, speaks about how the album just doesn't work out.
...for you.

The thing about this album that I enjoy so much is how not perfect it is. (Bear with me) the couple albums before all sound like the process has been strained so much - everything has to be perfect and unquestionable. With 'the Beatles' though, there aren't any restrictions and it makes for so many exciting new directions that seemed unconceivable since they started (Tomorrow Never Knows and A Day In The Life excepted, but even then they seem tacked on to the end of the records like, its ok, you can stop listening, but here is this thing we also tried if you wanna carry on). So while people may hate it being a double and it having Revolution #9, I am so glad it is there because these were the best at their best, doing whatever they wanted and to hell with expectations.

This is pretty much how I feel about most of my favourite records, Enter The Wu Tang and 69 Love Songs come to mind. Do what you want, not what the public think they want, and if you do it to the best of your abilities, it could turn out to be fucking awesome.

that's a good point. i guess the not-perfectness has something to do with the fact that the beatles were more or less shut off the rest of the world in rishikesh, they had only acoustic instruments, they had to concentrate on the music and not the production. rishikesh served as a catalyst for their creativity. it erupted into all kind of directions there.

I have always really liked "Don't Pass Me By." The anvil-pings of the beat, the wobbly sawing of the fiddle, the chorus/flange on the guitar, the WTF "You were in a car crash and you lost your hair.". It's like Bloodshot Records alt.country, Mekons, Trailer Bride, in it's eccentricity.

That's a good point. I always loved that carcrash line too. Traumatic absurdism! It also inspired the Rutles' splendid Living In Hope, surely Barry Wom's finest hour.

Paul wrote some good songs for the album, but sadly some of them are way underarranged. "Blackbird", "Mother Nature's Son" and "Rocky Racoon" would have been fantastic with "bigger" arrangements, but sound too stripped down for their own good.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, November 24, 2008 6:42 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Very interesting view, this is probably the first I've ever heard it. But I strongly disagree and say the arrangements are perfectly suited to the kind of songs they are. The beauty of Rocky Racoon is how it starts off with just acoustic guitar and then as it blossoms, everyone joins in with bass guitar, little drum taps, George Martin's honky tonk piano, etc. It's crucial to the singalong feel of it. I also like how the stripped-down arrangements introduce a kind of self-aware nature to the songs, it brings out the inherent silliness and absurdity which probably explains why this is my favorite album. The Beatles most absurd album?

I can't for the life of me imagine "Blackbird" or "Mother Nature's Son" which bigger arrangements without seriously compromising the charm that those performances have.

The Beatles "White Album" as DIY manifesto: discuss.

Well, I don't like "Let It Be Naked" and I feel that this is a bit too like it. Plus all those weird experiments. At least they got themselves together and created a great swansong album in "Abbey Road", after recording their two worst albums (well, besides "With The Beatles") prior to it.

Back in the USSR is a nod to Chuck Berry, not the Beach Boys (who did plenty of "nods" to Berry on their own)
There is no ska or bluegrass on this album, sorry.

also Donovan taught Lennon CLAWHAMMER fingerpicking, which is a specific kind of picking quite different from standard fingerpicking (which I'm sure Lennon, Macca, and George were all familiar with)

Back in the USSR is a nod to Chuck Berry

and not unrelatedly, one of the best songs on the album

Don't Pass Me By = British power pop dudes constructing some mythical vaudeville/country sound
Wild Honey Pie = ? (but not bluegrass)

The backing vocals on "Back in the USSR" are totally an homage to the Beach Boys' early surf music

straight from the wikipedia: "Jack Fallon, a bluegrass fiddler was recruited for "Don't Pass Me By"

so the fiddle has a connection to bluegrass.

and i insist that ob-la-di, ob-la-da is more ska (or maybe calypso which i don't know too well) than reggae. it doesn't sound like a reggae song, it's too upbeat.

Ska/Calypso it is.

Also, for "The Beatles play ska" see also "I call your name" and "You know my name", the latter off Anthology version.

"Ob-la-di ob-la-da" is a phrase from a tribe (the Yoruba tribe if you must know!) and it means: life goes on. When singing the song, Paul acidentally mixed up the the names of the characters in the last verse but the band liked it so it stayed.
Jimmy Scott had formed a band named the "Ob-la-di ob-la-da Band" which is where Paul found the phrase. When he wrote the song, Jimmy was annoyed because he felt that he deserved a percentage of the earnings of the song. Paul naturally refused but when Jimmy ended up in jail for unpaid bills, Paul covered his debts and in return, the whole problem was forgotten.

That line about Captain Marvel in Bungalow Bill certainly caught my attention at a very early age...

A line from one of Paul Muldoon's Sleeve Notes poems:

I'd never noticed the play on "album" and "white."

great album, easily the beatles' best for me. happiness, helter skelter, me & my monkey, blackbird, rocky raccoon, I'm so tired...just so many high points.

and to boot, I bought it on double vinyl for 50p at a flea market. best bargain ever.

http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/07/towards_a_onedisc_white_album.html

make your own single album here!

I was gonna start a "Best side of the White Album" poll, but it's really too hard to choose.

Best White Album cover versions? Only one per artist (so use your Ramsey Lewis joker wisely). My starter for 30:

Baba Yaga - Back in the USSR
Reconstruction - Dear Prudence
The Link Quartet - Glass Onion
Enoch Light - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Pixies - Wild Honey Pie
Klaus Beyer - The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Jake Shimabukuro - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Bobby Bryant - Happiness is a Warm Gun

Craig Hundley Trio - Martha My Dear
Jeanne French & The Hot Wire - I'm So Tired
Rosalyn Sweet & The Paragons - Blackbird (a.k.a. Blackbirds Singing)
R.A.M. Pietsch - Piggies
Lena Horne & Gabor Szabo - Rocky Raccoon
Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle - Don't Pass Me By
Lowell Fulson - Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
Tony Furtdao & Alison Krauss - I Will
Charlie Byrd - Julia

The Ruby Suns with Esau Mwamwaya - Birthday
Shiina Ringo - Yer Blues
Ramsey Lewis - Mother Nature's Son
Orchestra Harlow - Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey (a.k.a. Larry's Problem)
Damills - Sexy Sadie
Henhouse Prowlers - Helter Skelter
Low - Long Long Long

The Brothers Four - Revolution 1
Dom DeLuise - Honey Pie
Ella Fitzgerald - Savoy Truffle
Throwing Muses - Cry Baby Cry
Thurston Lava Tube - Revolution 9
Marty Gold (a.k.a. Moog Plays the Beatles) - Good Night

Hmm, problem is there aren't that many covers of some of these.

We should do a "Replace One" style thread...

There's at least 3 of all of 'em now! Even if you ignore Phish (and who doesn't?)

Strongly concur with all those who denounce the need for less sparse arrangements on "Blackbird" etc.

YSI?

Back in the USSR is a nod to Chuck Berry, not the Beach Boys

The main chorus is a nod to Chuck Berry, but the bridge is a nod to Beach Boys.

The best ever "Dear Prudence" was by Siouxie & The Banshees.

Hip-Hop has more nods

Mad Skillz - The Nod Factor

The best ever "Dear Prudence" was by Siouxie & The Banshees.

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 26 November, 2008 8:58 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

AAGAGGAGAHGAHGAHAGHAHAGHH GEIR

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" by the Breeders, no question.

ayo, newly-surfaced 11-minute stereo version of Revolution...
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=146

How freaking cool is that newly found take of Revolution (thanks for pointing out Tylerw). It's amazing, like the missing link between revs. 1 and 9!!!

did this pop up anywhere else?

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

Related to the previous post (and much cheaper than a Honus Wagner T206, if nothing else):

http://dangerousminds.net/comment/the_beatles_white_album_number_a0000001_is_up_for_sale

Try that again:

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_beatles_white_album_number_a0000001_is_up_for_sale

Don't think there's a record with as long a consecutive run of great songs in a row (at a minimum Back in the USSR through Happiness is a Warm Gun, and you could arguably include Martha My Dear and extend it through Blackbird, and even Piggies is pretty good).

so many little things I never caught when I was younger listening to this record, e.g. the late elvis schtick on Back in the USSR, the great lyric "And now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room/Only to find Gideon's bible/ Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt/To help with good Rocky's revival"

How freaking cool is that newly found take of Revolution (thanks for pointing out Tylerw). It's amazing, like the missing link between revs. 1 and 9!!!

yeah, that was such a revelation (9) when that 11 minute version was released. suddenly, Rev9 totally made sense !

Are there any really good covers of Back in the USSR. I have a Spotify playlist of the complete White Album in cover versions, but it starts out on a kind of odd footing with Ramsey Lewis's noodlings.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0i4cDAK3sKpW1qKLb2ARf6?si=bfde66985dd14050

Friend who went through hundreds of Beatles covers and made full playlists of all the albums chose the Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers version

Full playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/31EaEIgY2nD9SzW8UKvfYW?si=fdf65d955f724962

Belated thanks. I've tinkered with mine a bit since, including swapping in the California Poppy Picker's cover of Back in the USSR as the opener. I wish Chubby Checker's version were on Spotify though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGLs1chXTWM

I remember a version with bouzoukis, from back before I knew it was a Beatles song. So, this would be early 70s or so.

Balalaikas shurely?

You'd think so, but

Any of these ring a bell?

Away from Back in the USSR, I kind of love the nightmare shadow play version of Happiness Is A Warm Gun that Johnny White Really-Really did in response to a challenge on the Your Own Personal Beatles podcast. It's at 33'20" here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6pJIM1Z52buh6tCym8nvS2

Oh, it's on YouTube too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEKdZwEL9Q

Must be the "Power House" one, I tried the others.

That Cliff Bennett one is interesting, starts off like it's the J&MC

Inspired by this revive, general ILM Beatlemania, and an ongoing commitment to sprucing up my collection generally, this week I dedicated an hour or two to giving my White Album a little restoration. It was my mom's copy, and was laboring under fifty years of ringwear and all the top and bottom seams being split, so whenever I took it out of the poly sleeve it was just a bunch of cardboard flaps going every which way. Earlier this week I glued those back together with acid-free bookbinding glue (transferred to a little bottle with a needle-thin applicator). Now this morning, I tried out the white art eraser technique for the cover (recommended only for solid white areas, and therefore perfect for this album). I'm amazed at the results --- all the ringwear smudges and a lot of miscellaneous grime are totally gone, and it still has its shiny finish.

Between that and a little bit of Q-tip/lighter-fluid work, I also took off some gray smudgeyness over the embossed lettering (which had always made "The Beatles" stand out a bit), so for the first time I can see it a little bit like it must have appeared in the store in 1968.... just a big square of solid white with the artist name practically hidden. A couple of 1970s coffee-mug stains, some mild general yellowing, and a partial split halfway down the spine remain, which I like as testaments to its history. Wish I could show my mom, as much as I wish I could show her the show "The Repair Shop" - she was a garage-sale trawler and part-time antique dealer and would have thought this was super cool.

A quietly lovely post Dr C, thank you.

Love that Chubby Checker cover, Alba

aww, thanks mattt.

and yeah, wow, had no idea Chubby was cutting sides like that in 1969! Ton of oomph there. In Spain it even got this sweet little picture sleeve:

https://img.discogs.com/0Cn311gz91mZ5CrYhqoj2hVXAnQ=/fit-in/537x546/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3792965-1344623752-7393.jpeg.jpg