White Album 50th Anniversary: Review Overview

Several media have had the opportunity to listen for the first time to the new White Album 50th Anniversary Edition, which will be released next month. The Deluxe Box Set consists roughly of three parts: The original album in a new remix of Giles Martin, which has been unanimously well received. There is great enthusiasm for the so-called Esher Tapes, the demos that were recorded at George Harrison at home, prior to the recording sessions for the White Album. The third part consists of the out-takes of those recording sessions. In contrast to the album and the demos, the out-takes are not or hardly mixed.

With the outtakes, it’s pretty much what’s on tape. The only time I would ever get rid of something is that sometimes you would get weird feedback going over something or tape noise, but in general I’ve kept things as dirty as possible.”

Giles Martin, Interview UDiscoverMusic

The atmosphere evoked by the out-takes is one that many people think will change the image of The Beatles at that time. An overview of the reviews:

Rolling Stone 
Everything we know about the White Album is about to change. The Beatles’ 1968 masterpiece has always been the deepest mystery in their story—their wildest, strangest, most experimental, most brilliant music. But as it turns out, the White Album is even weirder than anyone realized. (…) Part of the White Album mystique is all the drama that went into it—the arguments and bad vibes are the stuff of legend. So the big shock is all the humor, excitement, and camaraderie on display in the new set. Case in point: a previously unknown version of “Good Night” where John, Paul, George and Ringo all harmonize over folk guitar. As Martin admits, “You listen to them sing together and ask, ‘This is the White Album?” 
Read full article here.



Ultimate Classic Rock
The legendary Esher Demos, recorded at Harrison’s house in Esher, Surrey, are a blast. Intellectually, it’s interesting to listen to these tracks; they give insight to how the White Album was made. (…) But the Esher Demos are fun to listen to in their own right. It’s almost like hearing the Beatles if they were around long enough to do an episode of MTV Unplugged, albeit a bit less polished and a lot more fun than that. (…) At least some of the bonus material will hold up to the existing Beatles catalog, and may prove to be something worth listening to over and over.
Read full article here.

Video: The Esher tapes

Variety:
For the sound of the White Album remix, Martin said he took his cues from McCartney, who told him, “Your job is to push boundaries, not to be safe.” Nowhere is this mandate more obvious than in Martin’s in-your-face mix of McCartney’s hard-rocking “Helter Skelter” and a literally hair-raising version of Lennon’s chilling “Happiness is a Warm Gun.” But more subdued, folk-based numbers like “Dear Prudence” and “Mother Nature’s Son” and Harrison’s ethereal “Long, Long, Long” have also been dramatically opened out.
Read full article here.



Roger Friedman’s Showbizz 411
There’s some Beatles revisionist history going on, too, maybe for the best. After the group broke up, John Lennon gave a lot of bitter interviews. At one point he described “The White Album” as the sound of a group breaking up. Over the years, Beatles common history noted the album as one put together by four separate band members. But Martin did not find that when he listened to conversations from the studio. Despite financial differences, and Ringo briefly quitting– “The White Album” comes off as a “band album,” with the guys working together happily. (…) What we heard today from “The White Album”– due November 9– is going to be a revolution of sorts.
Read full article here.

Related posts:

It’s Official: White Album Re-Issue In November
The White Album 50th Anniversary Edition: What To Expect?
Release Of Let It Be Re-Edit Possibly In 2020

André Homan

André Homan is a Dutch writer and journalist.

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