Rock 101: The White Album

Not everyone is a rock expert, so here is your weekly Thursday primer on the events and happenings that shaped Rock and Roll from J.A. Bartlett of the Hits Just Keep On Comin'...

During the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2007, many commentators declared it to be the greatest of all Beatles albums, as if there was no doubt that so groundbreaking an album could be anything but. In fact, however, lots of rock fans will argue that Sgt. Pepper, fine as it is, doesn't hold a candle to The White Album, which was released 40 years ago this weekend.

The album (officially titled simply The Beatles) captures the sound of a band breaking up. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were writing separately by this time; although they would continue to share songwriting credits, nothing on the album was written jointly by both of them, and they frequently recorded separately as well. Even the usually affable Ringo Starr walked out for a while, feeling minimized in his role and frustrated with his disagreeing bandmates. Longtime engineer Geoff Emerick quit in the middle of the project. Yoko Ono's presence in the studio contributed to the tension, as did the band's attempts to get their media company Apple Corps up and running at the same time they were trying to make the album.

On The White Album, the Beatles and producer George Martin were working with eight-track recording for the first time instead of merely four, even though their record label had not officially approved the use of eight-track recording at Abbey Road. Despite the advanced sound palette, a mono version of the album was released in the UK in addition to the stereo version. In the States, it was the first Beatles release available only in a stereo version.

As was the case with every Beatles album, expectations were high; reviews were mixed. Those critics who liked it praised the Beatles' inventiveness; those who didn't pointed to its lack of focus. Martin had found the band undisciplined during the sessions, and had argued that the album should be pared down to a single disc featuring the strongest songs. (WNEW.com's Chris Clancy did just that last summer.) But its vastness and its kaleidoscopic nature has been part of its charm ever since its release. Since the advent of CD and MP3 players, you can program The White Album any way you like. So go ahead -- just leave off Revolution 9. (I would.)

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Comments

[mal, MNN]

at least now Lennon's been forgiven by the vatican-
http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2008/11/john-lennon-forgiven-by-vatican-for-beatles-more-popular-than-jesus-remark.html