The Beatles: The Beatles

The Beatles: The Beatles

1968

Apple Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing:

Disc 1: 1.Back In The U.S.S.R.  2. Dear Prudence  3. Glass Onion  4. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da  5. Wild Honey Pie  6. Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill  7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps  8. Happiness Is A Warm Gun  9. Martha My Dear  10. I'm So Tired 11. Blackbird  12. Piggies  13. Rocky Raccoon  14. Don't Pass Me By  15. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?  16. I Will  17. Julia

Disc 2:  1. Birthday  2. Yer Blues 3. Mother Nature's Son  4. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey  5. Sexy Sadie  6. Helter Skelter  7. Long, Long, Long  8. Revolution 1  9. Honey Pie  10. Savoy Truffle  11. Cry Baby Cry  12. Revolution 9  13. Good Night


The famous "White Album." Two records, and a whopping 30 tracks, running the gamut from old west storytelling to musique concrete, all wrapped in a plain white cover...The album is fragmented and a bit difficult...The band was splintering apart and not all the tracks feature all the members...The songwriting wasn't as collaborative either, and it gives the album an intriguingly unfinished feel...Yet, despite all its flaws, if someone pointed a gun at my head and forced me to choose just one favorite Beatles album, I might pick this one...Again, the Charleston Chew argument...

They pretty much drop the big, bright psychedelia, for an earthier, rougher feel....It really is mostly just guitar, drums, bass and piano...

And to celebrate the famous "White Album" today I'm going to post the "White Review." (Note: Just highlight the big blank space below and you'll get to see the actual text...(P.S. I don't blame you for leaving this site now...))  Here we go...

Ask 30 different people what the best song on the White Album is, and you'll probably get 30 different answers....For some reason there just isn't one...This has always fascinated me, but today I'm going to take a more scientific approach...I'm going to break this down by choosing the best song on each vinyl side and then pit the winners against each other...This should result in the undisputed best track on the White album...You can play this at home and feel free to share your results! 

Side One: Okay, this was probably the hardest one..."Back in the USSR" is a storming opener but it feels like a bit of a trifle...I can't stand "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" so that one's out of the running...I maintain the theory that if you have to stop the song completely just to transition into the chorus, then your song is in deep trouble...I have a really hard time choosing between John's gorgeously building "Dear Prudence" and the majestic yet understated "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Hmm....

The Winner: Tough, but I'm going to choose "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."  It's George's finest moment, and features one of Eric Clapton's greatest guitar performances...A masterpiece, pure and simple...

Side Two:  I actually really like every single song on this side...I get the feeling I like "Martha My Dear" more than most people do...It's just a perfect piano pop tune...It kind of blew past me the first few listens, but by God...It feels like a highlight now...Although, it's not in the running, I greatly enjoy Ringo's "Don't Pass Me By." It's just so bizarre! A psychedelic hoe-down featuring the eternally perplexing lyric:

"You got in a car crash, 
and you lost your hair!"

What in the hell could that mean? I know it's famous for being a Paul-is-Dead clue, but we all know that's B.S., but really...why would someone say that?  Who knows!

The Winner: I'm going with John's haunting, intimate "Julia." To me, it encapsulates  the entire  feel of the White Album....Unadorned, bleary and isolated...
 
Side Three:  This side's a little mixed for me...I'm so tired of hearing "Birthday" from morning radio shows announcing today's celebrity birthdays, so that's out of the running, and this may be utter blasphemy to a lot of people (it's a good thing this review is invisible) but "Yer Blues" has always bored me a little...I think it's their attempt at a Heavy Blues-Rock in the vein of Cream, but they seemingly don't have the virtuoso instrumental prowess of Cream...The Cream could take a generic blues riff and make it riveting just because of their chops...The Beatles were different...They were virtuoso songwriters...and a blues vamp doesn't highlight any of their strengths...This scrapes by on John's personality alone...

The Winner: Again, George wins this round "Long, Long, Long" is initially easy to overlook...It's dynamics are so dramatic, that at a low volume, some sections of the song don't seem to exist at all....But give this thing a few spins and suddenly it's power becomes undeniable...

Side Four: This one is also really hard to pick a favorite...But for the opposite reason of side one...Side one has too many great songs...This side has too few...And the good songs seem to be of almost the exact same quality...The 1920's megaphone nostalgia of "Honey Pie" is probably my least favorite song on the album...I know most people say the tape-loop experiment "Revolution 9" is the low-point but I actually like that song...I don't think it's formless or boring at all...It definitely ebbs and flows in a musical manner...I like it more than "Revolution 1" which feels kind of pointless...It's a bit of a drudge, and it only makes you want to listen to the awesome and exciting "Revolution" single....

The Winner: This is hard...I really love "Savoy Truffle" and "Cry Baby Cry" but neither one really sreams "ALL TIME GREAT" song...But in a way they're both enjoyable for exactly that reason. "Cry Baby Cry" is a more sober-sounding version of the Lewis Carroll feel that was a reoccurring theme in John's songs....But whereas they were once used in an explosion of colorful psychedelia, here it feels so black and white...So lucid....and  George's horn-driven "Savoy Truffle" is so freaking groovy! Hard choice...I'm going with "Savoy Truffle."

Alright...Now for the playoffs...                                                                     1000564321

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" versus "Julia."  Wow...I really love both...but "While My Guitar..." has a much more classic and memorable melody...I'm going with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

Hey! It took me this long to realize I chose almost all George Harrison songs...This isn't really indicative of my general  taste in Beatles tracks...I think this was probably just a really fruitful period for George...He seems to be hitting his peak here...So, "Long, Long, Long" against "Savoy Truffle."? I'm going to have to choose "Long, Long, Long" it just feel so much more important....

So here it is ...The final game..."While My Guitar Gently Weeps" against "Long, Long, Long."

This doesn't really seem like a contest at all suddenly...So Ladies and Gentlemen...I am pleased to announce the best song on The White Album is....

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