The Beatles, The Beatles, 1968
Label: Apple
Producer: George Martin
It’s difficult to argue that there is no greater artistic period in the history of rock music than the back half of the discography of The Beatles, with multiple long players establishing themselves as credible contenders for not only the band’s best, but also for the title of rock music’s greatest recorded achievements of all time. Released in the midst of the remarkable impact of cultural touchstones like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, while also setting the stage for their glorious swan song, Abbey Road, is this bewildering self-titled double album, eventually christened as “The White Album”. A creatively vital masterwork that found all four members’ sterling talents and influences gloriously coalescing like never before, the sheer length of the project allowed the Fab Four to cover immense ground stylistically, topically, and thematically. Of course, any album running this duration runs the inevitable risk of filler, and while there is some, there is very little to dislike or question about this record. It clips along at surprisingly brisk and entertaining pace, leaving the listener absolutely enthralled at every compelling turn. It’s not only The Beatles’ most encapsulating album, but impressively may well be their most well-rounded LP as well; yet another piece of evidence of their sheer brilliance at this point. Perhaps most shockingly though is the fact that not a single one of the thirty tracks present here were issued as singles, as classics like “Hey Jude”, “Revolution” and others were busy handling the need for new music at radio, again speaking to the group’s enormous level of prolificacy in the late 60s.
Side One launches perfectly with Paul McCartney’s joyously anthemic delivery of “Back In the USSR”, a rousing and infectious track with relatable stories of longing for one’s homeland, packaged with a chorus punctuated by Beach Boys-influenced, old-school rock harmonies. It was a stirring announcement that, after vast experimentation in psychedelia and beyond, the band was reconnecting with their more basic rock roots. Though to peg this as a straight up rock & roll album would be a mistake, as each track and contributing member brings to the table a diverse and meandering batch of influences to create a vibrantly diverse four sides of music. To pick a highlight on just a single side is near impossible. While McCartney is indulging full force into his gleeful Vaudevillian pop inclinations on “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, John Lennon meanwhile allows his dark, sardonic tendencies to likewise bloom, whether it be on a folk-rock stunner like “Dear Prudence”, the cryptic and quirky storytelling of “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”, the glorious indictment of the group’s own notoriety on “Glass Onion”, or the fucking fantastic delivery of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”, a song so splendidly laced with both sexual ecstasy and sheer bitterness. Ultimately however, the most memorable show stopper of the first side proved to come from George Harrison, who after quietly emerging as a poet equal to both Lennon and McCartney on the preceding albums, finally takes center stage with the AOR classic, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. The palpable verve, tension and alternating emotions of the song’s verses and chorus create an absolutely epic moment; quite possibly the defining moment of great guitar rock. The historic guest appearance by Eric Clapton certainly did not hurt matters. “Weeps” remains a glowing example of why Harrison’s talents were so crucial, not only to the Beatles, but to rock & roll in general.
In yet another testament to the record’s greatness, it doesn’t peak with Side One, which could have easily been a standalone masterpiece with just its eight songs. Side Two holds its own however, offering various previews of what would be so compelling about both Lennon and McCartney’s individual careers. McCartney’s performance on the brassy “Martha, My Dear” is supreme pop perfection in both its production and personality, while “Why Don’t We Do It In the Road” is a blistering explosion of rock and soul. Then cue yet another masterpiece with his contribution of “Blackbird”, an enduring lyric that ranks right up there with “Yesterday”, delivered with gorgeously simple folk-pop beauty. Meanwhile, Lennon’s masterful hypnotism scores yet again with “I’m So Tired”, as great a depiction of human exhaustion that’s ever been written, that pays off the listener with a thunderous, rocking reawakening at the end of each chorus. From there, Lennon goes completely solo with “Julia”, a vividly emotive tribute to his mother and their troubled but beautiful relationship, imbued with tremendous visual specificity and intimacy. In between these standards, Harrison returns for the jarring “Piggies”, a simultaneously ridiculous and politically intriguing number, while Ringo Starr shows off his natural country charm with the shuffling “Don’t Pass Me By”. Neither track reaches the pinnacle of the golden tracks surrounding them, however they certainly add to the sparkling variety and intriguing juxtapositions that make this album what it is.
The final two sides may prove to be a bit more uneven than the first two, but much of the reasoning they pale in comparison is because they had to follow such sheer greatness. There are still plenty of gems and jewels to be found in the album’s latter half. The undeniably frivolous Side Three opener, “Birthday” proves to be an entertaining throw back to fifties rock & roll, while providing listeners with a needed intermission from the serious and hard-rocking artistic nature of the surrounding album. “Yer Blues” gets the proceedings back on that track with an exhilarating detour into a dirty, all-out blues jam that easily rivaled The Rolling Stones’ very best sixties moments. Elsewhere, the crunchy rock euphoria of “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey” chronicles the blossoming of Lennon’s notorious romance with Yoko Ono, while “Sexy Sadie” finds him delivering a rare piano anthem that revealed another soulful layer to his conflicted artistic voice. Then, in another abrupt and shocking musical twist, Paul McCartney—champion of chamber pop and baroque cheese of all people–returns and basically gives birth to the hard rock, heavy metal and punk genres with the blazing “Helter Skelter”. And, once again, it’s a fucking fantastic moment with an amount of attitude, grit and force that no Beatles fan could have imagined possible from the band.
The fourth and final side of The Beatles proves to be the most troubled, or perhaps misunderstood, portion of The White Album. It begins with the slow churn and burn of the protest-inspired “Revolution 1”, a much more methodical and laid back version than the single incarnation that would eventually rule the rock airwaves. It’s a compelling portrait of a man worn out by all the need for change and social unrest, peppered with throwback production choices that incorporate early blues and doo-wop vocals. And then there’s “Revolution 9”, easily the most polarizing piece of recorded output in the Beatles’ humongous catalog. Eight minutes of what is, on the surface, non-sensical noise, undoubtedly laced with hidden meanings that few, if any of us will ever pick up on. It is indeed John & Yoko’s avant garde influences at their most egregious. While many are quick to commend them for doing something so truly different, other listeners are just left irritated and scratching their heads. The band does make the smart choice of not concluding the project on such a strange note, instead opting for the lush, comforting tone of Ringo’s “Good Night”. In the end, it proved irrelevant how far one felt they jumped the shark with “Revolution 9”, the bizarre nature of its exercise was just another layer essential to the brilliantly scattered scope of what made the White Album so explosively inspiring, warts and all.
And so, the Beatles’ iconic run of albums remained alive and well. Revolver was the artistic game changer. Sgt. Pepper’s was the ultimate document of their cultural impact. Abbey Road would be their creative peak and ultimate farewell. And in the midst of it all lies The Beatles, certainly their most prolific peak and undoubtedly their magnum opus. But perhaps more than anything, The White Album stands as evidence of the kind of artistic greatness that can be born out of tension and disarray. There’s no denying that the band was starting to splinter here. The sessions were turbulent. Disagreements abounded. Very few tracks featured all four members participating. However, those creative and personal stand-offs led to even more fascinating musical results that ran a diverse gamut and highlighted each of the members’ individual artistic tendencies. It not only foreshadowed the break up of music’s greatest band, but also the paths each member would travel as solo artists. Somehow, it all blends together magnificently for a grand daddy of an album, and the roller coaster nature of the White Album is really half its brilliance. It’s almost like any great concert you might attend that covers a wide ranging artist’s entire scope of recorded work, yet combines for an extraordinary event. And that’s exactly what The White Album proves to be: an extraordinary event, unlike any other album recorded in music history.
Track Listing
- “Back in the U.S.S.R.” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
- “Dear Prudence” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Glass Onion” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Wild Honey Pie” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” with Yoko Ono (Lennon, McCartney)
- “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Eric Clapton (George Harrison)
- “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Martha, My Dear” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “I’m So Tired” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Blackbird” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Piggies” (Harrison)
- “Rocky Raccoon” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Don’t Pass Me By” (Ringo Starr)
- “Why Don’t We Do It In the Road” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “I Will” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Julia” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Birthday” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Yer Blues” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Mother Nature’s Son” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Everbody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Sexy Sadie” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Helter Skelter” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Long, Long, Long” (Harrison)
- “Revolution 1” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Honey Pie” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Savoy Truffle” (Harrison)
- “Cry Baby Cry” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Revolution 9” (Lennon, McCartney)
- “Good Night” (Lennon, McCartney)
The 706 
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