In 1968 The Beatles were close to ruin. They had grown up, and were starting to drift apart, as many friends eventually do. After a short time spent living with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; John was disillusioned, George just wanted to get back to India, Paul wanted to get the boys fired up to get another album going, and Ringo, ordinarily happy with just being Ringo, was starting to feel the strain of being involved with the band.
The music reflects this, for the most part everyone is doing their own thing and everyone else is reduced to a session musician for the time being. It’s also long; the bands only double LP (ignoring compilations and the Anthology, obviously). George Martin suggested the band reduce it to a single disc release. Obviously the record has its weaker points. What I like the most is that no one can agree on what those weak points are, google “single disc white album” sometime and look at how passionate the discussion gets by the third or fourth reply.
No singles were released from the album at the time of release, even in the particularly “hit record” driven American market. The album was preceded by Lady Madonna/The Inner Light and Hey Jude/Revolution, both of which helped set the tone for the following album. Even The Inner Light, which was similar to Love You To from Revolver and Within You, Without You from Sgt. Peppers, had a more classical, less psychedelic feel to it. The rest were pretty much straight forward pop/rock songs, Revolution being the least produced track the band had put out in years.
Revolution is definitely the key to understanding the album. Originally intended to be the next a-side, it was dismissed for being too slow, too political and too long due to the six minute coda which descended into abstract sound collage. The track was split into two, the first half being titled Revolution 1, the second have further developed into Revolution 9 (with new girlfriend, conceptual artist Yoko Ono) and a reimagining of the first part simply titled Revolution. In the development of one song we have seen the excess and divisiveness that broke up the group. The other big example of imminent break up within the group is that Ringo left for a couple of weeks and it is Paul that plays drums of the first two tracks on the album.
John probably shines a fair bit brighter than the others on this record. Dear Prudence, Happiness is a Warm Gun and Sexy Sadie (originally titled Maharishi with otherwise the same lyrics) carry a certain distinctive tone to them which becomes characteristic of the way the album sounds. Despite featuring one of the best songs he’s ever written (While My Guitar Gently Weeps), George for some odd reason has some of the worst song choices for his contribution to the album. Both Not Guilty and Circles would have been better choices than Savoy Truffle, and Long, Long, Long could have probably gone as well were it not for the fact that the change of pace (particularly on the mono mix) made such a difference to the flow of the second disc. Paul is starting to show signs of how his solo career would pan out. I Will would have been one of the least eventful songs ever written if his voice wasn’t so damn good. It really belongs on a Wings album.
Songs frequently cited as being weak points are Revolution 9, which I think is one of the highlights. It’s tough to argue a case for Why Don’t We Do It in the Road, and Good Night would have been the worst track on the record if it wasn’t for the fact it makes such a fitting closer.
In terms of the variation of mixes, it really is a track by track basis but I prefer the stereo mix overall. The mono has a couple of neat bits to it, I prefer the cold stop to Helter Skelter, the better balance to the backup vocals in I’m So Tired and the more intimate sounding Mother Nature’s Son; but overall the placement of all the instruments in the stereo field is one of the things I like the most about the album.
It’s tough to be balanced about this record, really the only thing I enjoy listening to quite as much as the music on this album is the music that didn’t make it (the Escher demos, Revolution Take 20 and the first disc of Anthology 3).
While My Guitar Gently Weeps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3RYvO2X0Oo
Happiness is a Warm Gun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5j-S6Eq81g
Helter Skelter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfkVGCU_BA
Revolution (Take 20): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQDDfW2pMhk
Okay, I’ll stop now.
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