Whittling Down the White Album
So, Revolution in the Head reinvigorated my fondness for the Beatles, and encouraged my reexamination of the material, song by song. It’s a perfect time, then, to try to pin down what I’ve only thought about pinning down: What if the White Album were one CD? Two record sides? How would my version look?
This is with all due respect of course to the album as it is, as it was released. Nothing can change its history but I think this idea’s worth a look.
If you’ll be interested to try this out yourself, if you haven’t already, go ahead and stop reading right here, for now. Think about it, and come back and see how our lists match up.
Okay:
The White Album, which I won’t italicize, has 30 tracks, in CD form, 17 on the first and 13 on the second. 15 tracks for the average, and a round number, but I chose to shave it down to 14 tracks, because other Beatles CDs have that many and because 14 seems a hair less unwieldy.
Now, I cherry-picked my favorites, I didn’t choose songs by default, from what was left, but that’s oddly the way I’ll explain my reasoning. Like a sculptor, removing the excess. Oh, and an underlying thought for me is that all these songs would eventually have seen the light of day in some form – it’s not like I wish never to have heard certain tracks, ghastly as they may be, it’s just that they wouldn’t contribute to the ideal, condensed version.
Let’s begin:
The most satisfying deletions for me are the first and the easiest. Bye bye, “Wild Honey Pie.” So long, “Long, Long, Long.” And guess what, “Don’t Pass Me By” – you’re kinda terrible. You sound like a fiddler trudging through molasses, but millions of people have heard you, so, kudos. “Long Long Long” is pleasant enough, I guess, and I see the rationale of contrasting it so extremely with “Helter Skelter,” but it’s a little too lilting and it’s one of the first to go.
I also left out two of Harrison’s other tracks, “Piggies” and “Savoy Truffle.” The first is one of the songs that, because of the instrumentation, does increase the scope of the soundscape of the White Album, but it doesn’t stack up. I like the guitar solo on “Savoy Truffle” and incidentally did have a screen name to that effect ten years ago, but those golden facts alone won’t save the song on this list, and I forgot the password.
Neither “Revolution” made it. The sound collage is impressive but I hardly ever listen to it, which counts. It’s creepy and I do like it but I like other song-songs more. “Revolution 1″ is the pale forerunner of its distorted, wonderful, enthusiastic twin, recorded shortly thereafter. I can’t offer it praise when it’s done exponentially better elsewhere.
“Martha My Dear” is satisfying to play on the piano, “Honey Pie” the same on guitar. No dice, though. “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,” a little too third person. “Birthday,” a little too relentless. “Good Night,” too much. “Rocky Raccoon” and “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?,” too little.
The last cuts would be “Glass Onion” and “I Will.” “Glass Onion” was ousted at the last second by “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” really because there were too few McCartney tracks on there, it would seem, and because its upbeat tone would help (but probably fail) to even out the single album. “Glass Onion” has a minor bluesy feel that’s heard in other songs, too. “I Will,” is gorgeous, delicate, but at this listing a notch below two other McCartney acoustic songs. For no reason at all!
And that leaves the final fourteen, which I’d arrange in this order:
Back in the USSR
Dear Prudence
Blackbird
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Yer Blues
Sexy Sadie
Julia
Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Happiness is a Warm Gun
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Mother Nature’s Son
I’m So Tired
Helter Skelter
Cry Baby Cry
That’s just how I’d order the songs today. Tough to spread out the Lennon songs, which strangely enough dominated the final list, strange only because I thought I usually preferred McCartney’s songs. Goes to show the preference, if one remains, isn’t universal.
And there you go. My White Album. George Martin would have preferred to put out one album, I heard, I wonder what songs he’d have chosen. Ah well, in the end, it’s nice to have them all.
2 Comments »
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:34 am
It’s almost eerie how similar our tastes are on this. My 14-track White Album would have almost the same exact songs as yours, and for virtually the same reasons.
One exception would be that I’d have to include “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road.” You’re right that it’s not much of a song, but for me that’s part of it’s charm (and the haphazard charm of the White Album as a whole). That, and the fact that Paul’s singing about doing it in the road, and also his falsetto when he sings the beginning of the last verse.
To make room for that song, I’d lose “USSR.” Part of me knows it’s a good song but for some reason I have an irrational dislike of that one and “Birthday.” To me, they’ve always just felt really out of place on The White Album, which I realize makes little sense. But I even went so far as to not include them when I downloaded the White Album to my iPod, so that part 1 starts with “Dear Prudence” and Part 2 starts with “Yer Blues.” Sacrelicious, I know, but I just like it better that way.
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
Joe, I enjoy very much that our lists were so similar, not least because it lets me know my choices weren’t so far off base.
Top suggestions for titles of the 16-track companion compilation: The B-Sides/Besides/Beasides, or the Blight Album.