I was surprised that, out of 30 songs, I recognized only 10: Back in the U.S.S.R.
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
Blackbird
Rocky Raccoon
Julia
Birthday
And, I was familiar with (i.e. I could sing or hum most of the song) only:
*Back in the U.S.S.R.
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Blackbird *
Also, Revolution 1 sounded familiar because I knew Revolution.
I had never heard of (let alone actually heard) Revolution 9.
Anyone else practically oblivious to The White Album?
For those who are familiar with it, what do you think about it?
(BTW, I haven’t yet seen Across the Universe. I’m guessing that the release of that movie triggered some SDMB threads.)
It’s the least Beatle-y album of them all. Each Beatle pretty much did his own thing with little input from the others.
As for Revolution 9: if everyone would accept the fact that it’s not a song, but more a “sound sculpture”, they could apprecitae it more. I like and it took me dozens of listens to pick up all the bits and pieces.
I used to hate the Beatles, as all I would think of was the cheesy boy-band sorta thing from the early phase of their career. But then i randomly picked up the White Album (because I’d heard this crazy awesome song on a Manson Documentary- Helter Skelter- and I wanted to hear more of the song).
So I picked up the White Album with basically NO idea that the beatles did anything after “Yellow Submarine” and my mind was BLOWN. As i love this album. It made me appreciate them a whole lot more, and I really like the songs in here.
Eventually I picked up Abbey Road as well, and they are my only 2 beatles albums, but both are def. in my all time Favorites. I had NO idea that the Beatles could rock even, I just thought it was all cheesy bits on holding hands and such.
And then Across the Universe would be seen, and I’d realize I was a fool for even thinking that much, and I became a beatles fan through and through, but that’s another story.
I personally like album though just because its a harder faster album at times.
Happyiness, Revolution 1, and Helter Skelter are simply three really really GREAT songs in my opinion.
Since a whole lot of people buy an album for the 1 or 2 songs they really like on it; that fact that you know 10, and know at least the music to 4 of them, says a lot about the quality of that album.
I think it’s one of the best albums of all time, and if George Martin had prevailed and they had cut it down to a single album, trimming off some of the “dead weight” then it would be the best album of all time, no exceptions.
There are some great songs that I think are overlooked/forgotten, especially on the 2nd disc: Yer Blues, Cry Baby Cry, Savoy Truffle, Long, Long, Long and Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey among them.
If I were stuck on a deserted island with only one album to listen to, this would be it. They used such a variety of styles on it and really didn’t seem to care if it sold well or not.
I don’t know all the meanings behind them, but “Blackbird” expresses sympathy for the civil rights movement.
My thoughts exactly. I can’t stand the second half. I haven’t given it a deep listening, because I just want to turn it off by the second or third track.
There’s no slide on that song, but Clapton does play the solo.
I usually rate The White Album behind Abbey Road, but it’s such a unique and individual and sprawling piece of work. What it lacks in cohesion it makes up for with a lot of high quality songs and variety. I can’t think of another album that has this many different kinds of good songs. My personal favorite is Dear Prudence.
I also think it’s a great album. There are just so many great songs on it.
Many people don’t realize that a lot of the Beatles’ best songs were never released as singles. It worth the effort to listen to their albums from Revolver on.
One great thing about the group was that they were never satisfied doing the same thing over and over. They experimented with styles, instruments, and production and were constantly looking for something new. It helped that they had some great songwriters so it became more than just experimentation – there was usually a solid tune behind it all.
I miss that these days; most musicians find what works and sticks with it. This is partly because they don’t want to experiment and partly because their audience often finds it hard to accept a different sound from them.
I listened to a bunch of the white album recently (first time in years) and was reminded of why I never liked it much. There are scattered good songs, but mostly it’s third-rate self-indulgence. Half of it could have (and should have) been amputated before its release.
When I listen to the Beatles these days (which is seldom) slbums like Revolver and Rubber Soul are more likely to be what I play.
Yeah, that’s a good point, but I own Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s, and Abbey Road, and I know half the songs on the other albums. Strange that I knew so little about one of their classic albums.
