The White Album

It's one of those records that lives it's own life. It's so varied, so long and informative, that you'll never get over it. And the songs only keep growing. The funny thing about this record is that it somehow doesn't sound like The Beatles. It's somewhat darker, more mystic and intellectual that anything else they ever did. Beyond its stylish minimalism, the essentially blank cover of The Beatles, better known as the White Album, served a symbolic purpose. The band could find no honest way to visually represent itself as a coherent unit. Each of the three main songwriters was pursuing his own vision, with the other members, however reluctantly, serving as backup musicians. Once a whole far greater than the sum of its parts, the Beatles were now a tense alliance of daunting individual talents.

Another favorite tune of mine found on The White Album is the old western sounding "Rocky Raccoon", written by John and Paul while in India of all places, with some help from '60s rock star Donovan. Lennon is my main man in the Beatles, but this album marks some of Paul's best contributions to any of the Beatles albums. I mean, take the masterpiece song "I Will",only thing wrong with this sweet number is that it is too short. "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da" and "Birthday" were both co-written by Lennon and McCartney, but Paul started writing each of these songs before John joined in to help finish them.

The same as the U.K. set except: A Hard Day's Night was issued in its original French format as 4 Garcons Dans Le Vent. The records were pressed in France with their original labels (Odeon and Apple). Rarities was put out on EMI. The box was four inches thick, larger than any other edition, and the individual album titles were printed on the back. The Beatles (White Album) was listed as Back In The U.S.S.R.

Paul McCartney - acoustic & electric guitars, flute, flugelhorn, piano, Hammond organ, bass, drums, bongos, timpani, percussion
George Harrison - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, violin, organ, bass, tambourine, firebell
Ringo Starr - vocals, piano, drums, bongos, maracas, castanets, tambourine
John Lennon - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, saxophone, piano, organ, harmonium, bass, 6-string bass, maracas, tambourine, tape loops

Finally, this is definitely a must-have album from the Fab Four. A truly superb experience in a double CD compilation of the most genuine masterpiece from the British Pop Legends

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