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The White Album at 50: Happy Together?
Sep. 26th, 2018 09:09 amIt's been 50 years since the Beatles released their self-titled double LP (the "white" album), and the sprawling, 30-track collection has gained the reputation of a Beatles breakup in a bottle: a record of the fab four at their most fractious, essentially acting as session musicians on each other's solo projects.
But that perception may not be completely accurate.
On November 9th, Apple Records will release a set of special editions of the White Album. Along with a new stereo mix of the original (supervised by Giles Martin, son of long-time Beatles producer George Martin), there will be a ton of bonus tracks, including the Esher sessions, a long-sought treasure trove that Beatlemaniacs have wanted "officially" released for years.
Background: after the Beatles returned from their trip to India in 1968, they settled in to George Harrison's rustic cabin in Surrey to get the songs they'd been working on on tape, so they could go into the studio and hit the ground running. The 27-track demo, featuring acoustic (and dramatically different) versions of White Album tracks, is an example of the group working together at peak efficiency and power. Martin (fils) hopes that these demos--along with alternate takes from the studio sessions--
will show that, along with the arguments and walkouts, the Beatles were working together with same sense of joy and humor as their earlier albums.
There will be two main versions available: a 3-CD digipak, with the first two discs containing the remixed LP and the third the complete Esher demos; and a six-CD deluxe edition, with discs 4-6 containing outtakes/alternate takes from the studio sessions. (And for those audiophile snobs who say CDs will never match the sound quality of records, there will be a 4-LP vinyl version, too.)
I have to admit, I'm curious. The White Album has always been too much of a grab bag to be my favorite Beatles album, but the chance to hear the songs in raw form is very enticing. Might spring for the 3-CD version...
But that perception may not be completely accurate.
On November 9th, Apple Records will release a set of special editions of the White Album. Along with a new stereo mix of the original (supervised by Giles Martin, son of long-time Beatles producer George Martin), there will be a ton of bonus tracks, including the Esher sessions, a long-sought treasure trove that Beatlemaniacs have wanted "officially" released for years.
Background: after the Beatles returned from their trip to India in 1968, they settled in to George Harrison's rustic cabin in Surrey to get the songs they'd been working on on tape, so they could go into the studio and hit the ground running. The 27-track demo, featuring acoustic (and dramatically different) versions of White Album tracks, is an example of the group working together at peak efficiency and power. Martin (fils) hopes that these demos--along with alternate takes from the studio sessions--
will show that, along with the arguments and walkouts, the Beatles were working together with same sense of joy and humor as their earlier albums.
There will be two main versions available: a 3-CD digipak, with the first two discs containing the remixed LP and the third the complete Esher demos; and a six-CD deluxe edition, with discs 4-6 containing outtakes/alternate takes from the studio sessions. (And for those audiophile snobs who say CDs will never match the sound quality of records, there will be a 4-LP vinyl version, too.)
I have to admit, I'm curious. The White Album has always been too much of a grab bag to be my favorite Beatles album, but the chance to hear the songs in raw form is very enticing. Might spring for the 3-CD version...
