The Making of the White Album with writer GLENN GREENBERG |
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Guest Glenn Greenberg returns to discuss his latest bookazine, The Making of the Beatles White Album. Links below will connect you to several of his Beatles publications.
The Beatles: The Making of the White Album
magazineshop.u...
The Trivia Book of the Beatles:
tinyurl.com/yd...
And one is still for sale at Amazon: John Lennon: The 80th Birthday Celebration
tinyurl.com/nh...
The Drum Mystery in The Beatles' Most Beautiful Song | Dear Prudence
• The Drum Mystery in Th...
Support Pop Goes the 60s with PATREON: rb.gy/nhcy3
Matt, not sure if we say this often enough, but a big thank you for these types of interviews and content. I know this is lot of work and it is very much appreciated.
Thank you, OldNeal... it is always appreciated.
My favorite Beatles album! So much room for each Beatle to develop some wonderful songs. My favorite song on the album is Dear Prudence!
could have been called "the solo white Beatles album'
Maybe not my fave but I go to it more often than the others. 1968 was a magical time for me and it always brings it ruching back.
which is about Mia Farrow's sister, John & George's room mate at Maharishi's retreat. According to YT interview she's still avid member of T.M.
"Dear Prudence is, really for me, the first song. A perfect example of reporting of where they were at at the time. "What we did on our Summer vacation" so to speak. "USSR" sounds canned to me. Paul brought it to life years later in concert.
Good night was a good lullaby. I was about 12 and my grandma was tired and I selected this for her to sleep by. She was asleep by the end of the song. She reminded me of it several times and how it help her relax. Ten years later, she joined the lord in heaven
You know, that’s truly a heartwarming story, for which I would be expressing my heartfelt gratitude - but then in closing, you ruin it, by falling back on those same old tired, nonsensical, childish cliches that in 2 millennia had brought us no closer to understanding what makes the world go around, while a mere tenth of that time following Reason and Critical Thinking and Science has given us immense advances in understanding, and commensurate advances in such areas as the eradication of terrible diseases that prayer had never done Jack shit about.
Really, don’t you think it’s time we grew the fuck up?
I listened to good night a thousand times now at age 62 ..I played it for my daughter and granddaughter at bed time but back in the 70’s I liked its juxtaposition coming after Revolution number nine ..it was yin and yang …the Beatles didn’t write a lot of slow ballads but I always loved that song
I was 12 when a friend invited me over one day because his older brother had just brought home the new Beatles album that had just been released earlier that day. "There's a new Beatles album?" 'Yes, and there are two records in it!" It hit my 12 year old sensibilities as the best of all possible surprises. We listened to every side without speaking, just exchanging looks of appreciation and near disbelief. After all four sides the older brother told us, "go ahead, play it again." -- Fast forward 54 years, listening to the previously unreleased takes from the White Album sessions on the Deluxe Edition--which was as near as possible to listening the album on first day it was released--I discovered that the guitar finger-picking pattern that Donovan reputedly taught John Lennon while in India--the pattern that is most prominent on 'Dear Prudence' but also evident on 'Julia' was also used for composing two other songs as well. 'What a revelation, at least for guitar players.'The other two songs: 'Happiness is a Warm Gun', (only one section) and most surprisingly, the guitar demo of 'Good Night' without the strings and choir vocals added.
The White Album, like Exile on Main St. is a State of mind.
You need to listen to it as a whole piece.
The Song sequencing is perfect.
Yes!!! My 2 favorite albums of all-time. I can’t choose between the 2 of them.
I very much agree. Though it didn't seem so to me at first.
I saw a little quip by someone (can't remember who) who suggested that Wild Honey Pie should have been the opener, just to let everyone know that they weren't in Kansas anymore, and that this one was going to be very different.
Hands down my favorite Beatles album! Thanks for the interview Matt. Just ordered the book. PLAY LOUD
My fav.? One week it's Abbey Road, next week it's the White Album. Not a bad problem to have, I guess.
I used to always try to listen to the White Album as a whole, start to finish. "Revolution 9" always seemed to me kind of like the "trip" sequence in Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", before you get to the warm comfort of "Goodnight" and the beautiful image of the Star Child.
Great analogy, jltrem.
To this day, 40 years+ later I only listen to the record from beginning to end. It's a work or art in and of itself.
@@geraldbrennan7425 Agreed. It's like listening to Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road.
The discussion dealing with the rest of the band getting involved in Harrison's compositions reminded me how well produced While My Guitar Gently Weeps is. It's a blueprint for a number of 70s songs. McCartney's bass, especially when he starts playing chords in the second verse, rocks. As mentioned, it's serious songwriting, lyrically moving, to me it feels like a centerpiece of the album, to the extent that removing no other song would have quite the same impact on the gravity of record as a whole.
Also I liked that you brought up Within You Without You as an earlier example of his serious songwriting - that's a magic track.
Thank you for the substantive comment, nessy!
I love your channel! As a professional musician of 40 years though, I have to disagree about the White Album material not being perform-able. Many of those songs are very doable live. As long as you can sing like the Beatles lol. That's the hard part. Keep up your excellent work!
I appreciate that point, Jason. You are probably right. Helter Skelter, Happiness, Birthday, Sadie...
@@popgoesthe60s52 Julia, Blackbird... I think they could have done the acoustic-y ones. Thank you again so much!
Oh definitely, this is the album they could've done the songs different live also, like heavier versions, longer bluesy or more guitar effects on dear prudence like a long psychedelic, its insane the possibilities and the different styles on that album
There is still something about that album when you're holding it in your hands you feel like you're holding something special. It's such a variety of styles and their individual personalities are all over it.
Esher demos are the holy grail. The Beatles unplugged. George and John’s songs especially. Amazing stuff.
It really shows what was about to happen with the album. The demos are the blueprint.
I got those for my 26th birthday and they're such a joy to listen to
Enjoy, you’ve got one of the best albums ever made.(especially the demos) Happy 26th birthday!
I love your interviews. You find great guests, and your own depth of knowledge lets you guide the conversations very well. Another great video.
Thank you, DW!
Ian Macdonald’s summation of TWA in his masterpiece- Revolution in the Head - “ Certainly no other product of the noon bright idiom of Sixties pop offers as many associations of guarded privacy and locked rooms, or concludes in such disturbing, dreamlike darkness.”
A lot of the White Album is about fame, loneliness, addiction, introspection, and coming to terms with death and birth and spirituality. That's one of the reasons why it still holds up to this day.
A wonderful interview. And while I don't count "The White Album" among my favorite albums, I see it in a new light now. I see it as the real genesis of the beginning of the end of the band. It adds punch to the album. I can appreciate it much more now. Thank you.
My pleasure, Ken!
What's the matter with some of these people? People need to stop taking everything so dang seriously: Martha My Dear has haters purely on the basis of Paul writing it about his dog? That's a beautiful topic to write about for a song. It's a beautiful song. People are ridiculous
Critics are SELDOM musicians, and not at the level at which these 4 young men (COULDN'T READ MUSIC???!!!!) were functioning. I read all critiques (IF I read or listen at all) with huge amounts of reality and skepticism. After all, Paul says "Yesterday" started out being "Scrambled Eggs", omg
McCartney has written two irresistible songs about pets. Martha my dear and jet. He is the Mozart of 20th century pop music. Brian Wilson isn’t close in terms of range and depth of musical power. (And I love middle period Beach boys) McCartney had one songwriting and vocal on his level, then two. Lennon and Harrison. White album alone is better in versatility and musicality depth and scope than any other bands total catalogs.
The White Album anticipates all major pop music of the 1970s, with the exception of disco
Here's my rainy afternoon taken care of
as a kid I loved the diversity of the songs, so much good music and all so different from each other, ROCK ON Matt!
I absolutley love, LOVE, Revolution No. 9. It is my go to number on the album and it picks me up when I am down. "Take this brother. May it serve you well."
I love when you do long conversations with Beatles experts. Always super insightful!
Interesting about the acoustic/song writer songs they are my favorite songs of the album. I learned that Donovan in India one day after meditation, John Lennon noticed him fingerpicking and asked him to show him the clawhammer fingerstyle. The Beatles loved the sound and they wanted that sound on the Album. Thanks great Interview.
Never thought about TWA being the beginning of singer-songwriter songs. I did know, however, Helter Skelter was the first heavy metal song. Such diversity on that album!
@@cynthiaforsythe8989 I think if you dig around there are examples of of singer songwriter songs such as from Dylan and even heavy metal as In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida that pre-date TWA but nobody had the influence and worldwide audience like The Beatles. They kept pushing their music forward and made it acceptable for a larger audience.
My take has never been that George had "worked out" a lead guitar part for Hey Jude which was rejected by Paul. I've always felt that George was just learning the song, and experimenting with ideas, which Paul was quick to criticize, pissing George off before he'd actually worked anything out, much like the interaction the two had in the early stages of Two Of Us. I think George thought "F it then" and went up to the control room. Some might think this is a small distinction, but I believe it's an important one.
I seem to recall Paul saying something to the affect that he found it irritating to have George's guitar part simply echo, call-and-response style, whatever Paul had just sung. He couldn't tell if George was being serious or not.
Interesting discussion …at times. On Revolution 9…I always thought it was a fascinating SOUND COLLAGE or a avant- grade piece but it has nothing to do with a SONG or something a band could perform together. It’s perfectly valid as a sound piece but it is not a musical composition in any sort…it’s put together and I like to hear it occasionally. The White Album as a whole is an astounding collection. My favorites are the Lennon centric songs DEAR PRUDENCE. HAPPINESS IS A…., SEXY SADIE….REVOLUTION 1…all Masterpieces. I love WHILE MY GUITAR.. of the GEORGE songs, HELTER SKELTER, BACK IN THE USSR of the PAUL material. I am satisfied that it came out as a double album, I would not want to cut a thing!
I've never had free blocks of time to be able to see your long-form talks and interviews, but with this topic I had to make some. There's nothing like listening to two people who know so much generally little-known and detailed information about the Beatles discussing them and their recordings. There was so much here. I agree that Revolution 9, while not exactly often played (and it would have been unforgivable on a single album) was an important part of the White Album and its time. It gave it reach - that the Beatles were even taking on something like this was enough. The though of "What is Paul McCartney holding back" was a scary topic. So many things left behind by composers, writers and artists have been heavily censored and "adjusted" by surviving relatives. Thanks for sharing all this.
I appreciate the feedback John - thank you!
According to my friend, a master flautist of 50 yrs & music major at university level, JS Bach's music was on the trash heap because those in his family no longer wanted it and it had "fallen out of favor". His story is (and I can't verify it by a hasty internet search) that Felix Mendelssohn traveled to the grand-daughter's home in search of more music by his favorite composer, and RESCUED them. Imagine that. Most artists and musicians have lived in either obscurity or poverty. SUPPORT YOUR MUSICIANS & ARTISTS (the quality ones)!!! We need them. Addendum re the Beatles: in each interview I have read or heard: each of them says that they made relatively nothing financially from being "Beatles" and that's the main reason John said that he wanted out. AND further that when Bowie asked for advice, the one piece John gave him was "Be your own manager".
When I bought and listened to TWA in 1968, I was overwhelmed by the amount and variety of music. All these years later it rates as my 4th favorite Beatles LP and 9th favorite LP all time. Songs I love that don’t get mention: Rocky Raccoon, Savoy Truffle, Cry Baby Cry….I guess my least favorites are the lighter/more mellow songs everyone seems to love….give me Happiness is, I’m So Tired, Sexy Sadie, Birthday, and all the top tier songs I haven’t even listed…Dear Prudence is my favorite.
I love Rocky Raccoon and hate Birthday. We all have our quirks.
@@RockandRollWoman Same here. Birthday, Yer Blues, USSR are the ones I could do without. The rest are all gems. Including 9.
Great song choices there. Different people's choices for favorite White Album songs would probably make an interesting topic/survey.
22:00 About "Julia" and Johns solo work: But you hear Paul from the off, he was in the mixing room, if I remembering right from the Anthology track. So he sang alone, but maybe he got Paul's opinion. I would also call something like that teamwork.
Anyway thanks for this great interview!
PS: I also love "Dear Prudence," and one of the most overlooked songs for me is "Long, Long, Long"
Ah I just commented on this before I saw your comment. Yes I would also call this working together and suppporting each others songs.
Dear Prudence and Long Long Long 2 great ones for sure. DP one of their best overall🌻
Yes! I thought of that about Julia as well! Paul was supporting him during his little solo excursion, even encouraging him too
Enjoyed this deep dive. Just one thing. I've never heard 'Yer Blues' as a parody. It's just a traditional take on the blues, which was one of many of Lennon's influences, with a Lennon-esque twist. And I really like the 'Dirty Mac' version too. You can't argue with that line-up.
Agreed. It's not boring blues changes or riffs. The turnaround is really nifty, and fun to play. And in the Dirty Mac version, we see that Lennon is taking it seriously. His voice is amazing.
Would have been nice if there was footage of them in a small room recording this song 🤟🏼
Yeah, for me too, seeing "Yer Blues" as parody is novel. That's what I love about these videos!
Hi Glenn 👋 I always enjoy your Beatles discussions.
Thank you!
"Understanding that this is a serious album", HELL YES!!! Revolution Number Nine!!!! That's very hard core!!! I don't think anyone before or after has ever done a song like that!!!
Oh but they had, and have. Revolution #9 is the Beatles' attempt at Musique Concrete, which was already a well established form of 20th century classical music.
I love the album there is so many diverse songs. That’s what I love about it.🤟🏼
Great job as always. The White album Is one of my top ten favorite albums ever.
Thanks Matt & Glenn was a great guest ...
On a personal level I find the whole White Album period an enigma ... it ranges from dire, tense recording sessions from individual members to George martin, to The Beatles playing as a band and being very productive ...
Your insight and Glenn's ... 'peeled the curtain back' a little more for me ...
For example, the Ringo vs Paul on Drums on Dear Prudence was very telling for me, as was the drumming on Back in the USSR ...
I always tended to side with George Martin (if true regarding The White Album) in that it should have been one album of the strongest 10 to 12 tracks ... to use the analogy of Coppolas Appocalypse Now to me the album is a flawed masterpiece ... it's sheer volume makes a statement unlike anything in 68 ... as always this is a gem of a channel ... ✌☮
Hey NewJack! I appreciate the kind words and the continued support. More to come!
Fantastic discussion. I always saw Yer Blues as a rewrite of Heartbreak Hotel! I delayed getting the White Album for many years, perhaps being discouraged by reviews referring to the disunity of the band in the sessions, but I think it's a fine album. I still think Revolution 9 is a self-indulgence, but it has its place in the history of the band, so at least we have the CD/streaming option to skip. The musical highlight for me is Paul's piano playing, which reached a higher level on this album- the lick on Sexy Sadie, the intro riff on While My Guitar Gently Weeps and the amazing piece on Martha My Dear. I also think that the solo version of Not Guilty is a fine track, which might never have been recorded if the band's version had been released.
GOT IT MATT!!! Watched the video last night, and went out this morning to get coffee and then to Barnes & Nobles bookstore to pick up Glenn's Making of The White Album. -The White Album for me was a coming of age, a transitional time in my youth, I was about 13, Discovering and experimenting things for the first time. When I first heard it, I knew this was not my mom and dad's typical Beatles pop songs like Michelle, In my Life, Yesterday etc... This was the album where I heard Helter Skelter, Revolution 9 and Dear Prudence for the first time. It was a treasure trove of songs. But you couldnt get around from feeling something dark and haunting about this album. And then you start hearing people tell false stories about how The Beatles were influenced by these murders by this crazy hippie guy called Charlie Manson and wrote the song Helter Skelter and The Beatles got in trouble for making that song. And about that time early in the 80's I remember watching the World premier on T.V. of the movie Helter Skelter with actor Steven Railsback, That movie sure gave me the Heebie Jebbies!!! -I know some 1st generation Beatle fans that didnt like this album. The main reason being that the songs were uneven and Not very joyful sounding. But for me its my desert Island album, right up there with Abbey Road as my All Time favorite Beatle album.
Thank you! Hope you enjoy reading it!
@@glenngreenberg2712 ✌️👍
I believe Charlie Manson was obsessed with the Beatles, but definitely not vice-versa. (The Beatles "White" is my desert island choice too.)
@@jonvought700 I don't think the Beatles knew what to make of Manson, other than he was among the most extreme of the nutjob fans they attracted. Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys was pretty obsessed with Manson for a while, though.
I now love Revolutionary No 9 very much, but for a long time I skipped listening to it , I find it interesting ans full of surprises 🏴🇬🇧✌️
Could I be the only person I know that totally embraces Revolution 9? My older brother had the cassette for the second record and as a kid, I accepted it. Didn't even question it. Thought it was very cool, I had the feeling I understand it. He also had Life magazines from that era, so I kind of knew what it was about. In a way, it's a profoundly true and real piece. And...totally justifies Good Night. Try to put Good Night follow any other tune. Doesn't work so brilliantly. I love Martha My Dear. Does any other song by whoever has in it a feeling of kindness and compassion? That's why it's a pearl.
Revolution 9 has a strong if small throng of fans and it really bears more discussion. It's a tough sell for most people for obvious reasons but it is a serious piece of music that only the Beatles could get away with. Like I said, without it, the Album would be a lesser album. Thanks Pedro!
It was not a favorite of mine initially. Now I find it enjoyable, singular, and fascinating.@@popgoesthe60s52
My #1 favorite song is 'Dear Prudence'. The production is amazing, there's a video deconstructing the song that's very informative. As for future box sets why not make 3 for 1963, 1964 and 1965. That should yield enough material.
I was wondering about Glenn's disparagement of the White Album box set. This morning I listened to the 2009 mix of 'Savoy Truffle' with the George's vocals in the left channel then the remix which has them in the center, definitely preferable. 'Long Long Long' sounds infinitely better too.
I disparaged the White Album box set? I can't imagine that I did, because I think it's GREAT, and it was a very valuable resource to me as I wrote this bookazine.
Great discussion guys, always interesting content, Matt. I do agree with you about the George comments, for example, I don’t think I Me Mine would have seen the light of day on a Beatles record if not for Paul’s input. But I really appreciate the “White Album, especially for its sequencing. You can see they put a lot of time into that, with all the different types of songs, it really flows well.
Thanks for the comments, Tom - much appreciated.
A long distance from Please Please Me to The White Album in only five years.
What a difference from I Want To Hold Your Hand to Why Dont We Do It In The Road.
It's fun to watch two knowledgeable people exchange expertise and learn new things from each other. I am personally glad to learn that Ringo might have actually played on "Dear Prudence." I have always thought the wild, melodic outburst of percussion after the 2min:50 mark was signature Ringo (a la "Rain") and beyond Paul's ability. The White Album has grown to become my favorite in the Beatle catalogue. It's lack of cohesion is the point, and as bold an artistic statement as the blank cover. I was born the year it came out, and I grew up with all the Beatle's records at once. This one intrigued me the most for being the most "un-Beatle-like" while evoking the widest range of sensations. In that way, it's truly psychedelic. Revolution 9 is arguably the centerpiece of the album, with all the preceding strangeness and beauty leading up to THAT -- and then "Good Night"! The group's legacy is how they redefined musical boundaries and introduced audiences to new concepts. Swapping out this piece of "musique concrète" for two standard tunes would have made the album just a little bit less intriguing. And I actually listen to that track all the way through once in a while. It's haunting and carefully composed, as opposed to the random collages on Two Virgins. Thanks for a great discussion. I really enjoyed it.
Great interview, just bought the book/magazine on Amazon. Thank you. 👍🏻
I know a lot of people try to cut this down to one album - but I can't. I've tried. And while The Beatles is my favorite band I'm not one of these people that can't be critical of their work and point out songs that I think aren't great and see as filler. It's just that I love the eclectic nature & personality of this album. Even the lesser tracks that people often site as something to be cut I really love. Like Why Dont We Do it in the Road, Rocky Raccoon, Don't Pass Me By, Revolution # 9 and even Wild Honey Pie ( which I don’t even think of as a song but a little connective tissue between two songs). That, and it doesnt sound like anything I've ever heard before. Its memorable. I've seen many people make their own single disc White Album and its crazy how different many of them are. To me, its incomprehensible to leave off Long, Long,Long, Cry Baby Cry, Birthday, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me & My Monkey. I've seen people jettison those songs. No way. 😆 If I absolutely HAD to I think maybe there's 2 or 3 I'd cut? But even so - it would
still be a double album. The White Album is amazing and I love it more than Sgt.Pepper.
Why Don't We Do It In The Road is McCartenys best rocker, it's simple and straightforward, that's why Lennon was hurt that McCartney did not include him in that, it's that good, no pretense no self-awereness. He sings it so good. Helter Skelter has always been to me pretentious and forced toughness, invented for a purpose.
I think you meant "Wild Honey Pie." "Honey Pie" itself is a full-fledged song worked out by Paul.
@@tonysienzant6717 Yes! You're right. I'll edit that in. Thanks.
Hear, hear!
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video. Best thing I ever watched about my favorite album. Excellent. Thank you.
Not watched it yet, Matt, but that´s my late night Friday viewing sorted. Thanks for the videos, as always! :-)
Great conversation! I think it is fascinating to think about what a Jan 1969 White Album concert could have been in sort of "Beatles and Friends" format.
Yeah, I don't know why they felt they had to write a bunch of brand new rockers in Jan. 69 to play live. That seemed to be causing them stress on the Let It Be/Get Back films. To their credit, they did a fine job, but why not play Revolution and Everybody's Got Something to Hide and Yer Blues and Birthday and USSR and Glass Onion and Helter Skelter and Guitar Gently Weeps in concert? John seemed to enjoy playing with the Dirty Mac two months before. He wasn't throwing up.
Great discussion so far, and I love that Lennon and Harrison aren't above being called out!
Love listening to you guys Beatling!
I was 13 years old when I recieved the White Album as a christmas present in 1968. It was the only music I owned and I played it over and over, I wore it out ;-) It has influenced my musical taste and because it is such an eclectic album, I have a wide taste in music, from pop to rock, from country to classical, it is all in that album, even Revolution 9 has a certain something about it. A great album Definitelt my number 1 Beatles album but also my number 1 album of all time. And thanks Matt, I love listening in to your vids ;-)
Hey Jim! Thank you for watching and I'm glad to hear your wore out your copy!
Great interview Matt. Glenn seems like a fun interview. Comes across that way. A few months ago I started wondering how much Beatles music does Paul McCartney have that's never been heard. I'm thinking a boat load! My favorite White Album track is Helter Skelter.
Great discussion.
References to hitting the eject button and fast forwarding highlight how differently the vinyl generation consumed music. We did pick up the tone arm sometimes to skip a track, but 90 % of the time we put the record on and let it play.
We argued about whether it was bad for our records to use a stacking turntable, and about whether you should turn the inner sleeve 90 degrees so the record couldn't fall out.
Yes, it was bad for records to drop them on each other, and it took longer to put an album on if you had to remove the inner sleeve. But LP's were expensive, so I took care of mine.
Good luck getting that surround sound set up. I'm shopping now, lackadaisically because I use good headphones if I'm listening seriously.
"Don't leave your records in the sun
They'll warp and they won't be good for anyone
They just won't play just won't play just won't play..."
Ric Masten song
Thanks RnR! The care of "vinyl" by today's collector seems so overboard. Have you seen the guys who use white gloves to handle their records? Not very "rock and roll"!
The base recording for Revolution 9 is Revolution (Take 18) which can be heard on the White Album deluxe box set, with a ton of sound clips and effects laid on top of the full band jamming. And you can still hear some of Paul's piano playing from Take 18 in the final version of Revolution 9 in fact! So actually all four Beatles contributed to Revolution 9. John - Vocals, Sound effects and mixing. Paul - Piano. George - Voice (speaking) & Sound effects. Ringo - Sound effects (and the sound of his infant son is on the track, too). Yoko - Voice (speaking) & Sound effects.
That is a good point Jeffrey. I had forgotten about take 18.
Take 20 was online for awhile,but it has since vanished.....insane!
@@chrisnessing7371 I love Take 20. It should have been in the big White Album box, in glorious stereo. Only a mono mix circulated online.
IMO Take 18 made much more sense and has more impact had The Beatles used it orginally on the White Album -Its one of my favorites from the box set.
A really wonderful interview.
Great video! Enjoyed the conversation thoroughly.
The White Album is still in my top five favorite Beatles albums!
Nice discussion, very enjoyable. Thanks.
The majority of the TWA sounds kinda spooky or haunting, imo. If you add in the lore of "Paul is dead", psychedelic drugs and tracks like "What's The New Mary Jane" and "Not Guilty" it adds even more to that feel.
Don't forget the Manson connection. Definitely their darkest album.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Oh yeah, that too. There is some eerie imagery and sounds on Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour (both the film and album) as well... but they don't quite reach the introspective spooky vibes that this album gives off, imo.
Revolution#9 belonged on a beatle album as much as Let it Be even though Lennon said Let it Be was not Beatle music. They were both Beatle music. Because their whole career is made of diversity and play.
Love this video! I agree that the Dirty Mac playing “Yer Blues” - Clapton, Keith, and Mitch, great as they are - didn’t come close to what the Beatles did with that song. A song, by the way, that John said, “I MEANT it.” Apparently it was written when he was in emotional pain. As incredible as all the songs are on TWA, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” seems to keep growing in stature as one of George’s masterpieces and to me, it towers over everything on the album. Had “Hey Jude” been included on the album, that would have been a contest. Thank for such a fascinating video !
The Beatles are tight on Yer Blues, Great Bass playing and drums are heavy!!! Dirty Mac was okay, just a bunch of friends jamming is all it is.
the video of John and George doing "Yer Blues" is chilling to me because a student of the Spirit does not ever wish for suicide, and both of these young men "put that out to the universe" in that live performance. I happened to see that YT clip sometime just prior to my wonderful "bucket list" experience of the re-mastered release of the 50th anniv of "Yellow Submarine" (I saw it in the theater age 13 and it changed my life). I told a fellow attendee about it in the lobby after the film concluded; she was a young mother who'd brought her 2 daughters with her, so the audience was all ages. Side note: I began to pay attention to these musicians (only a few yrs older than me) when I I heard "Help!" for the first time as a pre-teen, and all I could think was: "Why are these hugely famous people asking for help?" At the time I didn't know who wrote it; but as time went by I became a big JL fan (because of his lyrics mostly). And the past few years, because of Matt and the incredible availability of all of the online resources, I'm an even bigger appreciator. of JL.
Great conversation (about my all-time favourite album)
I was happy to see my two favorites mentioned, one by each of you - 'I Will' and 'Dear Prudence'. The melody of 'I Will' is one of Paul's best, such a great song. As a kid I would listen to that side of the album with the anticipation of hearing that song. It just did something to me that can't be explained. As a side note, it's used in the movie 'Love Story' with Warren Beatty and Annette Benning. She's a teacher and she has her students sing it at one point. I always liked 'Dear Prudence', but that wasn't one of my absolute favorites until I got a bit older. I love the buildup of it, starting off with the fading of the jet engine at the end of 'Back In The USSR' and that great descending guitar riff intro, and then each verse adding something, with the cool 'look around' part in the middle. And of course John's voice is just so good. One of their best songs, period.
My older siblings were always buying the Beatles albums as they came out. I was eight when one of them bought The White Album, and as a kid I only ever listened to sides 1 and 2. I don't remember ever listening to the other album back then. I discovered that when I was about 15 and loved side three. But my sisters and I would listen to sides 1 and 2 a lot back in 68/69. We'd often look at the foldout while we were listening, with all the lyrics and pictures. One of our siblings bought 'The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics' around then and we loved looking through that as well. Great memories. I can't listen to sides one and two without feeling like I'm sitting with my sisters Mary and Terry upstairs in our old Detroit house in our brother's room . We were close in age and were all huge Beatles fans throughout our childhoods, and still are.
you'd likely appreciate the YT interview with Prudence Farrow (Mia's sister), who was & apparently still is, a huge part of the TM community. She was in the hut (shared with John & George) meditating for hours with George, and John wrote this friendly song asking her to "come out and play". Love that story!!
I could listen to you guys all night. And of course, an endlessly fascinating subject!
In October of 1967 Paul and George suddenly appeared in my hometown of Malmö, Sweden. They were on their way to see the Maharishi in the small village of Falsterbo but went to have some dinner before travelling there. They were refused entry to the first restaurant because of not wearing ties but had better luck with the second. The press showed up and the boys were kind as always. This is still reported as the time when the two boys were to meet Maharishi for a weekend of meditation, but that is false. They went there to tell the Maharishi to stop using the Beatles name for his promotion.
@@tunesdonebyone Yep. Those were the days in slow Sweden.
Thank you for this Thomas!
@tunesdonebyone That would have happened in Illinois in the 60's. My dad always wore a suit and tie on airplanes, even 15 hour flights. I wore gloves to church as a child. I wasn't allowed to wear trousers to school until my senior year of high school, and it was cold waiting for the bus in the dark with a wind chill of minus 60 in a skirt (which had to be no less than 2" from the floor when kneeling, or you'd get sent home to change.)
I don't miss any of that, though I could do without pants that don't stay up! 😂😂😂
Great story, thanks for sharing it.
@@RockandRollWoman Great story, thanks. The world was a different place then.
I would still love to hear a George Martin produced White Album
It would be interesting to see what Martin's track listing would be for a single White Album.
This is an awesome format!
For me the White Album version of Revolution is the definitive one. I'm with you guys on almost everything else though .
Slightly different topic which just dawned on me a few weeks ago. I always considered Let it be a step back after Abbey Road, even though I was aware of the sequence they have been recorded. What I realised (heh, I know I'm slow here) that if you look at White Album and Let it be, there is a lot more similarities going on than with Let it Be and Abbey Road, in terms of how it sounds for sure. You can feel the continuity between those albums. I always loved the fact that each of their albums was a little different from the previous and with the above re-ordering, you can see the progress without that anomaly.
Thanks Matt, i always enjoy your Beatles content. A whole video on The White Album, and no mention of the seminal `Helter Skelter`, or did my ears deceive me.
No, we only covered a small portion of the songs. We should really do a part 2!
@@popgoesthe60s52 very good idea. Important to speak the truth about the misuse (and rumors) about Helter Skelter. Love that line "tell me the answer. You may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer"....so obviously Paul!
I think I read "Helter" was in response to Led Zep or at the least his attempt to make the most "heavy" rock song. Is that correct?
@@lauraturner4216 It was a response to a Who song. Zeppelin wasn't out yet at that point.
@@popgoesthe60s52 yes, that's right. Thanks
Excellent walkthrough, Glenn always a great contributor!
I never thought of it that way - pointing the way into the future of where they each will go.
I still think that it's the best due to the range of music on the "White Album".
I LOVED Let it Be album, except George’s solo for let it be wasn’t on the album, only on the single. I was 18 when it came out, I played it over and over, Kathy
I actually bought this at Target - saw the beatles mag in line - had to buy it!
Thank you! 😁
Supreb stuff Matt. My all time favouite album and you and Glenn are spot on about Revolution 9. The White Album is a masterpiece because it includes Rev 9.
Hi Matt: I only just saw this video today by chance. it was included in a google alert list which comes everyday - specifically about the fabs. i am astounded by the content and extremely pleased to have it. i must get a copy of Glenn's publication - but having problems with registering..no matter..it is the wine!!! Sunday evening in a very cold london listening also to jazz record requests hour on bbc radio 3. like the writer below Neal Schier i really just wanted to also thank you for the wonderful work you do and your videos. i really treasure your site very much - you are my absolute favorite. i have finally decided to find out about becoming a patreon member due to my gratitude. forgive my lazy punctuation...i was actually an english/lang and lit teacher for 30 years but it is too cold today and the wine makes me lazy!!!!...all the best my friend...d...hopefully none of my past students will take me to task upon seeing this...
I really appreciate the discussion of the Beatles White album a classic and one of my favorites.What surprise me about this double album is that the Rolling Stone magazine of the year Dic. 11, 2003 it reach no.10 of the 500 greatest albums of all time.No doubt this album have historical achievement.
I love all 4 sides of the White Album, but I’d say my top favorites are side 1 and side 3. I love the rockers a lot.!
Great conversation guys....my favourite Beatles album....you've inspired me to do a response!!
Hey John! Good to hear from you as always!
I consider that high praise indeed! Thank you!
Fantastic job Matt, dig your show n Style... I don't comment that often... This interview grab my attention nice job... Maybe do a segment on the Pretty Things??? Your reviews inspire me to pull out my records and play them, thanks pal!
Hello psychpunk, I do plan a Pretty Things history in the future so stay tuned!
Age is also an important factor for how the listener receives the album. When I first heard it I was quite young and found myself drawn into the syrupy Macca numbers but within a couple of years, my distillation into a single Album wouldn’t include many of Macca’s tracks. I can never manage a single white album play list because I love #9 and that blocks out too many other favourite tracks. As for doing it Live, look up the Analogues, they did a brilliant job of playing the whole album live..
Matt - exactly right and amzingly the same for me. As a kid (I am a little older than you) I CLEARLY remember feeling like this was an 'adult' album and it felt so different. Almost like I shouldn't be allowed to listen to it. This was visual as well as musical. The folding poster was so gritty and had nudity and was such a change from the Pepper inserts or the MMT booklet.
Yes, that poster was really eye-opening. A far cry from the pop-psych of 1967!
I can identify with this though I was born early 80s so was first hearing it early 90s. Even then I found TWA a bit sinister listening to it on my Walkman. It felt sort of 'druggy' though doubt I would have used that word when I was ten 😆
Great conversation, great insights! Great album, right?
This is some great Beatle content.
Glenn is always a trip! I would explain that comment, but I took a "gummie" an hour ago. (Tee hee.) This was a fun retrospect, and I need to listen to The Beatles again. Now! This was very enjoyable Matt!
I ran across someone on CZcams, (sorry I don't recall their name). This person suggested that the next cleaned up albums will be the red and blue albums with the addition of the newly discovered song. My first thought was, Why? However would I buy those albums even 15 years after the original release? Yup!
Wow...this is a very deep dive. I know the whole story but you guys make it fresh again. Great listen.
Thanks Timmy - much appreciated!
@@popgoesthe60s52 No...thank you for doing all this entertaining work.
I think it was George or Paul who said the first concept for the White Album once they decided on minimal cover art was to have the vinyl and the cover sleeve all be clear. Which would have been very innovative at the time! But it wasn't possible or just wasn't supported by the record company to do that haha. So they went with a plain white cover. I still imagine the green Granny Smith apple logo floating in the middle of a clear vinyl though, and it does seem like that would have looked great! If tech was different back then, we might all be talking about the Clear Album right now lol.
Fascinating deep dive. (two thumbs up)
Really love your content, Matt. Keep the great vids comin'!
Thanks! Will do!
I think the White Album is perfect
It wouldn't have hurt to include Not Guilty on official release.
Yet again I find myself enjoying somebody discussing this stuff!! Blimey...so much garbage it talked and written about the Beats that I'd come to avoid the subject for my blood pressure stats.
Matt and his regs really breather life back into all this and in a time before it is lost and distorted forever. I've re bought and read Revolution in the Head' due to Matt reminding me of it and tho I knew it had impressed me way back when, It impresses me even more now!
Matt, Erin, Glenn and Jude has utterly restored value and dignity to this subject. I never regret listening to any of these interviews. Whats more there is even lots of info I'd never heard of or read!!Blimey...I didn't think it was possible!
I'd stopped buying books on it all years ago because they were all so rubbish and cynical cashing in exercises.
Thanks to all!
My feeling towards this album was that it sounded like a collection of demos, not a finished project. George Martin bailed on it at some point and I think it shows. It's as much the sound quality which is not up to snuff as the arrangements. I think they went from 4 to 8 tracks on this one, correct me if I'm mistaken. That was a new format in 1967-1968 and I'm wondering if that didn't throw them a curve as far as adapting to new equipment. This is the audio engineer in me talking. I felt that Revolver sounded pristine, full and blossoming. Sgt Pepper started sounding a bit "mushy" to my ears (listen to the drums, especially, Day In The Life being the exception). The White Album to me sounds "smeared" from an audio standpoint. From an artistic/performance standpoint Revolver, for example, sounds "peppy" and enthusiastic whereas the White Album sounds a bit tired and jaded. These are just my opinions, impossible to qualify or quantify, just the general sentiments that these albums evoke in me.
I worked in the music business in London ftom the early 1970s. A 'white album' was a test pressing or early production LP with a plain white sleeve, no artwork, and I often received them for review. I first heard Queen on a white album given to me at a launch party for the band. White sleeve, white labels and no text if any kind... That's what inspired the Beatles to call it The White Album, because it was like an early pressing. Also, if you read Joyce Collins' book, Call No Man Master, you can read from an early devotee, how the Maharishi decided he 'wanted' The Beatles.
PLUS they included a poster sized insert with each album. I believe there was one inserted into each side if memory serves me. I ADORED THIS ALBUM and played both discs repeatedly; the range of musical sounds & lyrics and emotions was astounding. Especially compared with my previous faves: Monkees, Herman & Hermits, and Mamas & Papas. I shifted into more mature music for sure!
Guys, I LOVE this discussion. You have added so much to the knowledge and understanding of the White Album. I would argue that the White Album started by an inanimate object: the unforeseen rock that Bob Dylan ran into whilst riding his motorcycle in 1967. Dylan is now in the hospital recuperating and playing folk songs. He releases John Wesley Harding in 1967. To paraphrase Grei Marcus, it "pulled the plug on psychedelia". So all these groovy songs in 1968 are aching for psychedelic treatment, (Glass Onion, Cry Baby Cry; Dear Prudence; Martha My Dear; Honey Pie; Savoy Truffle) but the Beatles see the writing on the wall, musically. Everyone is moving to a more basic, earthy rock sound. What's more, the Beatles go to India in suits and ties (see the "Hey Bulldog" session and come back dressed like bums (except Ringo). Their music is fundamentally different. It's earthy, heavy on the Sun Record sessions and delving into openly sexual talk and lewd unBeatle like language. I want to point out that neither of you remember 1968. You weren't born. It wasn't a pleasant time and I can tell you that we felt like the world was falling apart. Riots in the streets. Assassinations. Riots at political conventions. The daily death toll in Vietnam.
In what context is Magical Mystery Tour considered a flop? Did I misinterpret this?
The film was savaged by critics. McCartney actually made a public statement of apology. The music however was highly successful.
@@popgoesthe60s52 OK, the film. (But it did introduce us to the Bonzo Doo-Dah Dog Band.....}😂
My favorites from that album will always be Glass Onion and Cry Baby Cry. I wish Across The Universe was ready cause to me it belongs on there. I digress, a Beatles mini series from that period with a cast of actors/musicians who could actually recreate the music would be so amazing.
Can't believe unless somehow I missed it you didn't bring up "Rocky Racoon" which was always one of me and my buddies favorites, we'd be out riding around high and sing along with it at the top of our lungs. Great memories...PLH-ELB
Glenn is always a great guest. Have you seen The White Album project by Rutherford Chang? It’s a beautiful thing.
I have not see Chang's yet. Thank you for the suggestion.
I love Revolution 9. A wonderful soundscape of 1968 with some great great musical sounds as part of the spoken words. El Dorado.
I love it too. I recommend the Focus Group since u dig Rev 9. Their albums We Are All Pan's People and the Elektrik Karousel are probably my favorites, but they're all good (except the Stop-motion Happening LP). A notable and popular release was their collaboration with Broadcast: the "...investigate witch cults of the radio age" LP
@@pauldavis7318 Thank you for info.
So this video opens the so called "white album" up to the possibility of meta-analysis for me. By the time the album dropped in the states almost 55 years ago, my young muscian buddies and I eagerly anticipated it. Beginning with Rubber Soul it seemed the Beatles' every new album was more innovative than the last. We would gather in the bedroom of whoever acquired the album first and listen to it together. We were not disappointed. "Whitey" was a perfect musical embodiment of the Zeitgeist. The rough edged, free form, fragmented, now electric-now acoustic, ad hoc, experimental, parodic, spiritual, wit and whimsey was all perfectly in the moment that was 1968. One smoked weed or dropped acid for this album upon which Revolution 9 made total sense. (We free associated it with Sun Ra's "Rocket Number 9" for one thing. My friends NRBQ were to cover the latter tune on their first album}. But, I had not given so much thought about the psychosocial genesis of the album until last night when I viewed your video. Now I'm all into it in a new way! Thanks guys!
I appreciate the comments, Ken - thank you!
I went to see NRBQ in NYC back in the 1990s.
@@glenngreenberg2712 NRBQ influenced my musical taste away from the heavier style of rock like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath that dominated in the 70s. Their eclecticism included rockabilly and free jazz. They were too far beyond category to become a mainstream success.
Of course they've could have done 12 or so songs live from the White Album. Not even a question
There was a CZcams video of "Revolution" which was an early version of the song which featured the song a s heard on the album - combined with the sound collage. It was a much moe compelling melding of the two sonic ideas. I wish they'd gone with that instead...
That version is on the 50th Anniversary box set
Totally agree that this version would have worked better on The White Album -There is a take 20, but the one on the box set is take 18.
Mike Love remains one of the most hated figures in the rock industry and the fact that he's still a devotee of TM says a lot about the practice's efficacy in (a) leading to enlightenment or (b) simply leading to relaxation. I know: Paul and Ringo both say they still do it twice a day, too, so maybe it doesn't hurt as well as not help. 😂
Thanks so much for posting this, I actually bought the bookazine itself in the store I work in! Haven't read any of it yet but it looks cool
My pleasure, Chris! Thanks again for having me on!
@@popgoesthe60s52 Always Matt!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy the bookazine!
Cry Baby Cry is great, I'm so obsessed with it. Thank you for giving it a mention!
Another fun vid, really enjoyed it