One of the Wonders of Pop Music -- The White Album

The idea was to keep it simple.  Yes, simple; unpretentious songs for a simple unpretentious album.  The model would be Bob Dylan and the Band's bootleg basement tapes.  The feel and look of that album was the goal the Beatles were determined to achieve, with what would be their ninth studio album.

Having just returned from Rishikesh, India, where the Fab Four had attended sessions with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, to learn Transcendental Meditation, the Beatles were in a mood to try something different from what they had been recording earlier in their illustrious career.  It was a clear attempt to break with their past.  Armed with some 30 new songs they had composed while in India, they entered London's EMI recording studio in May 1968 to begin work on what would become known as "The White Album" (due to it all-white record jacket).

Unlike previous albums, there would be no rehearsals, and on most songs, the Beatles would not work as a band but as solo artists.

Much had changed since work on their previous album (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).  John Lennon had a new girlfriend (Yoko Ono), whom he brought to the recording sessions.  Having been replaced by Yoko Ono, as John's soulmate was a shock that would take time for Paul to accept.  As a result he wasn't in the best of the moods. The recording sessions were tense, and fights broke out on several occasions.  John criticized Paul's music as "cloying, and cute", while Paul said John's songs were "disjointed and not melodic".  Indeed, the atmosphere inside the studio was so hostile, that producer George Martin did the unthinkable, by announcing he was taking a holiday. He left his young protégé, Chris Thomas, in charge of production.  If that weren't enough, engineer Geof Emerick suddenly quit without warning.  Amiable Ringo Starr surprised everyone by taking a two-week vacation in August.

As the sessions got underway, it was clear this latest batch of Beatles' songs would be more individualistic and more personal.  Despite his unhappiness, Paul would be Paul, ever the optimist, with a bevy of sunny, melodic, and inventive new tunes that like pixie dust would be spread throughout the two-LP set.

John Lennon, the band's intellectual and best lyricist, would be far more outspoken this time around, and clearly didn't like many of McCartney's newest songs.

George Harrison, the introspective Beatle, and the band's lead guitarist, reveals a sophistication in his songwriting, that would blossom on "Abbey Road" and on his first solo album,  "All Things Must Pass".

Ringo ,too, emerged with the first-ever song he had composed.

Below is a review of the songs the Beatles recorded over the summer of 1968.

SIDE ONE

"Back in the U.S.S.R." --  McCartney wrote  "Back in the U.S.S.R" as a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." and something of an homage to the Beach Boy's "California Girls".  Indeed, Mike Love, of the Beach Boys, who was in India, heard Paul's song and recommended that Paul include the mention of the "girls in the U.S.S.R".  The track became widely bootlegged in the Soviet Union, where the Beatles' music was banned, and became an underground hit.

"Dear Prudence" -- John Lennon wrote a song in India, about Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence Farrow, who rarely stepped outside her room. It's a rueful, arty song that plumbs Lennon's gift for mixing playfulness and irony.

"Glass Onion" --  Lennon wrote the lyrics to mock fans who had claimed to find "hidden messages" in their songs, and referenced other songs in the Beatles' catalogue -- e.g. "The Walrus was Paul" refers back to "I Am the Walrus" from Magical Mystery Tour.

"Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" -- by Paul McCartney.  Lennon hated the song, calling it "granny music s***".    Tensions had become so intense, on July 16, recording engineer Geof Emerick announced that because of the bickering and tension, he was no longer willing to work with the Beatles, and promptly walked out.  It took four takes for the band to finish the song. Still, Paul--ever the perfectionist--was unhappy with the result.  The group, save for McCartney, had lost interest in the track, and refused to release the song as a single.  Ironically, the English band Marmalade recorded a version of the song that became a number-one hit in England.

"Wild Honey Pie" -- by Paul McCartney.  Recorded on August 20 at the end of the session for "Mother's Nature's Son",  the song is typical of the brief snippets Lennon and McCartney recorded between takes during the sessions.

"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" -- by John Lennon.  Lennon got the idea for this song after an American visitor to Rishikesh, left for a few weeks to hunt tigers.  On the day of recording, anyone who happened to be in the studio was asked to join in on the chorus.

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" -- by George Harrison.  Unhappy with the group's first take (John and Paul did not like of the song), George Harrison invited his friend Eric Clapton to come and play his bluesy guitar on it.  Clapton was unsure about guesting on a Beatles record, but Harrison said the decision had "nothing to do with them.  It's my song." The rest, as they say, is history.

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" -- by John Lennon.  The song evolved out of several song fragments that Lennon wove into one piece.  The final version consisted of two of the best halves of two takes edited together.  Lennon later described the song as one of his favorites.

SIDE TWO

"Martha My Dear" --  by Paul McCartney.  It turns out "Martha" was not a girlfriend of Paul's, but Paul's English sheepdog, Martha.  McCartney played piano backed by session musicians, and no other Beatles.  George Martin had returned by now, and composed a brass-band arrangement.

"I'm So Tired" -- by John Lennon.  The song was composed in India when Lennon was having trouble falling asleep.  The lyrics make mention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who introduced tobacco to Europe. Lennon refers to him as a "stupid get".

"Blackbird" -- by Paul McCartney.  Written as a tribute to African Americans' long quest for equality and liberty, the song features McCartney on acoustic guitar.

"Piggies" -- by George Harrison.  The song was written as an attack on greed and materialism in modern society.   Harrison's mother helped with the lyrics.  Martin's protégé Chris Thomas played harpsichord, while Lennon supplied a tape loop of grunting pigs to close the song.

"Rocky Raccoon" -- by Paul McCartney.  The song evolved from a jam session with McCartney, Lennon and Donovan, in Rishikesh, India.   George Martin detested the song as "filler" and only put it on the album because the album was a double.

"Don't Pass Me By" -- by Ringo Starr.  Yes, this was Ringo's first solo composition, which the drummer began working on as far back as 1963.  George Martin composed an orchestral introduction for the song, but it was rejected as "too bizarre" and left off the album.  A session player named Jack Fallon played bluegrass fiddle to close the piece.

"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"  -- by Paul McCartney.  Seeing two monkeys copulating in a street in India, inspired McCartney to write this song.  The lyrics were very much in Lennon's direct style, and Lennon was annoyed not to be asked to play on it.  McCartney played all the instruments except drums, which were performed by Ringo.

"I Will" -- by Paul McCartney.  McCartney and Lennon played acoustic guitar, with Ringo on drums.  In between takes, the three fooled around recording various song snippets, one of which would be inserted between "Cry Baby Cry" and "Revolution 9".

"Julia" by John Lennon.  Featuring one of Lennon's loveliest melodies, "Julia" was the last song recorded for the album and features Lennon on acoustic guitar, which he played in a style similar to McCartney's on "Blackbird."  The song is a tribute to Lennon's mother, who was killed in a road accident in 1958.  The lyrics deal with the loss of his mother, and his budding relationship with Ono, as the "ocean child".

SIDE THREE

"Birthday" -- co-written by Lennon and McCartney.  The two were inspired to write the song after seeing the first UK showing of the Rock 'n' Roll movie THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT on television.  Their manic singing is reminiscent of Little Richard, who had starred in the movie.

"Yer Blues" -- by John Lennon.  Despite meditating and the tranquil atmosphere  in Rishikesh, India, Lennon still felt unhappy as reflected by the song's lyrics.

"Mother Nature's Son" -- by Paul McCartney.  Yet another lovely McCartney melody, that is the highlight of this song.  Written in india, McCartney performs solo except for George Martin's brass accompaniment.

"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey"  while attributed to Lennon and McCartney, the song evolved from a Beatles' jam session.  According to George Harrison, the song's title came from one of the Maharishi's frequent sayings (i.e., "and my monkey").

"Sexy Sadie" -- by John Lennon.  Originally entitled "Maharishi".  In a 1980 interview, Lennon acknowledged that the Maharishi was the inspiration for the song: "I just called him 'Sexy Sadie'."

"Helter Skelter" -- by Paul McCartney.  The song was originally recorded in July as a blues number.  The Beatles performed the initial takes live that included long instrumental jams.  Because these takes were too long, the song was shelved until September, when a new, shorter version was recorded.  By all accounts the session was chaotic, with Harrison reportedly running around the studio holding a flaming ashtray over his head, screaming like a wild man, and ended with Ringo shouting, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"  The term "Helter Skelter" is a British name for a children's spiral slide found in London playgrounds.

"Long, Long, Long" -- by George Harrison.   "Long, Long, Long" began as a chord progression Harrison took from Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands."  One rock critic described the song as Harrison's "touching token of exhausted, relieved reconciliation with God" and considered it to be Harrison's "finest moment on the album."  The recording session for the basic track was one of the longest the Beatles ever undertook, running from the afternoon of October 7 through the night until 7 am the next day.

SIDE FOUR

"Revolution 1" -- by John Lennon. The first track recorded for the album, with sessions for the backing track, recorded on May 30.  The initial takes were recorded as a possible single, but as the session progressed, the arrangement became slower, with more of a laid-back groove.  The band ended with a six-minute improvisation that had further overdubs added, before being cut to the length heard on the album.  The brass arrangement (by George Martin) was added later.

"Honey Pie" -- by Paul McCartney.  The song was intended a pastiche of the 1920's flapper dance craze.  The opening features an overdub of a scratchy 78 RPM record.  George Martin arranged a saxophone and clarinet part in the same 1920's style.  John Lennon played the guitar solo on the track, but later said he hated the song, calling it "beyond redemption."

"Savoy Truffle" -- by George Harrison. The song title was taken from an English chocolate bar, which was Eric Clapton's favorite.  He ate so many of them that Harrison kept reminding him that his teeth would rot out, and thus became the subject of his song.  The track features a saxophone sextet arranged by Chris Thomas, who was subbing as George Martin's producer.

"Cry Baby Cry" --  by John Lennon.  Composed in 1967, the tune sounds like it would fit better on one of the Beatles's album from this time.  The lyrics were partly derived from the tagline of an old British TV commercial.  George Martin played harmonium on the track.

"Revolution 9"  evolved from the overdubs of the "Revolution 1" session.  Lennon, Harrison and Yoko One added further tape collages and spoken word extracts.  The track opens with an extract of a piano theme from a Royal Schools of Music examination tape, and leads into the words, "number nine, number nine, number nine", and climaxes with Yoko Ono saying, "if you become naked". Ono was heavily involved in the production, and advised Lennon on what tape loops to use.  McCartney, who was out of the country at the time, was upset that this musical collage was included on the album.

"Good Night" -- John Lennon. "Good Night" was a lullaby John wrote for his son, Julian, and wanted Ringo to sing it.  The early takes feature just Lennon on acoustic guitar and Ringo singing.  George Martin scored an orchestral and choral arrangement that replaced Lennon"s guitar in the final mix.  Martin also played the celesta.

SINGLES

"Hey Jude" -- by Paul McCartney.  "Hey Jude" was recorded at the end of July, 1968 during the "White Album" sessions, but was issued as single nearly three months before the album's release.  This would be the first release on Apple Records, and ultimately become the Beatles' most successful single in the U.S.  The B-side, "Revolution", was a different, more frenetic version of the album's "Revolution 1".  Lennon wanted the original version of "Revolution" to be released as a single, but the other three Beatles objected, saying that it was too slow.  Instead, the single featured a new, faster version, with heavily distorted electric guitar and an electric piano by veteran English session man Nicky Hopkins.

The convention in the British music industry at the time was that singles and albums were distinct entities and should not duplicate songs.  Although no songs were taken from the "White Album" in England or America, "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" backed with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was released in other markets.  The single was a commercial success in Australia (where, incredibly, it spent five weeks at number one), in Japan, Austria, and Switzerland.

The "White Album" was digitalized, remastered and released with superior sound on CD in 2018; included are various studio outtakes, and demos of songs composed in India, that would be re-recorded and appear on future Beatles' albums, and on their solo albums.

The "White Album" was destined to become the Beatles' all-time best seller, going 24XPlatinum.

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