The White Album

Heads up, folks! We’ll begin reviewing tracks from the Beatles’ White Album which will be re-released tomorrow as a box set for its 50th anniversary, complete with alternate takes, demos, etc. When the LP was first issued in the UK on November 22, 1968 and three days later in America, it was mixed so that most songs on the four sides cross-faded seamlessly into one another, start to finish on each side. So it’s almost impossible in today’s mp3 world to separate individual tracks without very abrupt starts and/or stops, i.e., the intro of “Dear Prudence” includes the close of “Back In The USSR.” No way around it.

But if the White Album proved anything, it was that the Beatles weren’t all rowing in the same direction. There wasn’t much cohesiveness - Lennon admitted it was more like John and the band, Paul and the band, etc., and it showed. Only 16 of the 30 tracks had all four of them even playing as a unit. Obviously, while in India something altered their interpersonal relationships. You could tell they were on the verge of breaking up; George Martin even briefly abdicated his producer duties. This could’ve been a great single disc; the reason for a two-record set was to wrap up their EMI contract sooner...but mostly, due to egos. They were quite directionless and really needed some time off, but Paul talked (or pushed) them into starting a new project less than six weeks after this was released. That became a disaster waiting to happen...