"White Album" - what are the best things about it?
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As Paul said: "I'M ALIVE AND WELL!"
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beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Scarlett14 wrote:
I have started my journey this week through "The White Album" for the very first time. Yes, I know the "greatest hits" songs but not the others really as I have never been much of an album person. I have listened to the first half of the songs but it was tough because there were ones I really didn't care for. Where is Bruce? I know you said that "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is one of your favorites, right? Please tell me what I'm missing with that song because I just don't see it. Even the words kind of upset me when I think about how John died at the hands of a gunman. But I can't look at this album in the present day, I should judge it solely on its merit from the time it was made, I know this. "Glass Onion"....just didn't like it. "Wild Honey Pie" - what was THAT? "I'm So Tired" made me REALLY tired, couldn't wait for that one to end. "Bungalow Bill" - was that song actually mocking the American student (and his mom) who shot the tiger? "Piggies" I just had to skim through, when I think back on all of the Sharon Tate stuff it's pretty upsetting. Trying to keep my mind back on the time this was made though as I said earlier. So these are my first impressions of side one and two....still have a lot more to go. What strikes me most is how often I need to refer to Wikipedia to see what was going on when these songs were written. I've said this before a few times too many but I'll say it again. If I were a singer/songwriter I'd want my songs to be easily understood by the masses and relate-able without having to have a handbook nearby to translate them. And nothing would be the result of drugs or meditating with the Maharishi either. It would just be about real life. But that's just me. Different strokes for different folks. Please tell me the most positive things to look for in "The White Album". I am not a musician at all so it's possible I'm missing some really creative stuff instrumentally because I'm concentrating on the lyrics too much. On an uplifting note, I really love "Julia" which I had never really paid attention to before. Liked the music to "Bungalow Bill". "Dear Prudence" is getting to be one of my favorites.
I guess I will just go with one of the quotes I read recently: You're either hip to it or you're not. To me, it is the greatest album ever made by the greatest band that ever existed. I've thought that since I got it in 1968 when I was 12. The Deluxe Anniversary set only confirms it for me. It was special then, and it is just as special now.
Yeah, I was 13 in 1968 and the Manson killings hadn’t happened yet, so I loved Helter Skelter (which I just thought was sexual from the get go) Happiness Is A Warm Gun (was rather bizarre coincidence later when John was killed by a nutcase with a gun) and even Piggies. Those of us who were there when it was released and devoured the entire double album had a totally different perspective than you. We knew all about the India trip and what Sexy Sadie was about, who Prudence was, etc. Later found out about Bungalow Bill and the origins of some of the other songs like Savoy Truffle (for Eric Clapton’s sweet tooth) etc. Surprised you don’t like Glass Onion - Love it! All the Beatles song references and “clues.” Very cool song with a great beat.
Today I listened to all 7 CDs on Blu-ray player/TV with earbuds in. O...M...G...!!! What an experience! Heard so many little things I never heard before, like Paul talking at the end of Helter Skelter prior to the pause, and Ringo counting from 1 to 8 in Don’t Pass Me By. And Paul clearly saying “mining” hills!! The Esher Demos and the Sessions CDs made it very obvious that they were having a good time, in spite of occasional dust ups, like when Ringo left for 11 days. Loved all the between-song banter. Paul cracked me up: “Save that one and mark it FAB!”
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beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Scarlett14 wrote:
Nancy R:
Scarlett14:
Nancy R:
If you want to talk about the PID stuff, start another thread. This one here is supposed to just be about the White Album.
I don't understand, Nancy. The "Paul is Dead" theory came about in a big way because of the White Album! This is the most appropriate place for it IMO. The myth started (I mean really took hold) with "Revolution 9" being played backwards to hear John saying "Turn me on, dead man". So we should talk about all of the other crazy sounds on that "song" but not anything related to the "Paul is Dead" theory? I would just really like to know if anyone besides me believed the myth back then, even for just a short while. I also never suspected Bruce Willis was really dead in that Shyamalan movie. Gullible, I know.
First off, the PID theory did not "come about in a big way" because of the White Album. In 1969 when all the crap hit, it was mostly about Abbey Road and how he was barefoot and George was dressed like an undertaker and the license plate said 28 IF (he was 27 anyway) blah blah blah. Then everybody started combing the older albums and finding more "clues" like the "turn me on dead man" and other junk. I just think if you want to talk about all the nonsense you should start a new thread. Sorry, I just have very little patience for all this, and I apologize in advance.
Nancy - I'm not planning on starting a "Paul is Dead" thread. Perhaps if someone else wants to, they can do that. I lived through all those clues in the 60's, I remember them, I don't need to rehash them. I think if I were younger I might want to discuss some of that subject matter in depth though because I had missed that experience first-hand and it really WAS rather significant in the history of The Beatles. I'm just going to say one thing about the myth/hoax. I believe that although The Beatles may not have started the rumors, they did very little (nothing?) to stop them for quite a while until here in the US it had become quite the frenzy. It would have been very easy to dispel the myth really. For me it was just a marketing ploy to sell more albums -in the end it's all about business/profit.
I saw the magazine that came out in 1969 which was titled "Paul is Dead", and it had all the clues, blah, blah, blah. And I got upset about it for a short while, being a 13 year old youngster. Then Paul himself was on the cover of Life Magazine and he was interviewed in Scotland and he said he wasn't dead. So that was that, and Paul wasn't dead. Enough said. End of story.
I still have copies of both those magazines!
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Nancy R wrote:
beatlesfanrandy wrote:
Scarlett14 wrote:
I have started my journey this week through "The White Album" for the very first time. Yes, I know the "greatest hits" songs but not the others really as I have never been much of an album person. I have listened to the first half of the songs but it was tough because there were ones I really didn't care for. Where is Bruce? I know you said that "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is one of your favorites, right? Please tell me what I'm missing with that song because I just don't see it. Even the words kind of upset me when I think about how John died at the hands of a gunman. But I can't look at this album in the present day, I should judge it solely on its merit from the time it was made, I know this. "Glass Onion"....just didn't like it. "Wild Honey Pie" - what was THAT? "I'm So Tired" made me REALLY tired, couldn't wait for that one to end. "Bungalow Bill" - was that song actually mocking the American student (and his mom) who shot the tiger? "Piggies" I just had to skim through, when I think back on all of the Sharon Tate stuff it's pretty upsetting. Trying to keep my mind back on the time this was made though as I said earlier. So these are my first impressions of side one and two....still have a lot more to go. What strikes me most is how often I need to refer to Wikipedia to see what was going on when these songs were written. I've said this before a few times too many but I'll say it again. If I were a singer/songwriter I'd want my songs to be easily understood by the masses and relate-able without having to have a handbook nearby to translate them. And nothing would be the result of drugs or meditating with the Maharishi either. It would just be about real life. But that's just me. Different strokes for different folks. Please tell me the most positive things to look for in "The White Album". I am not a musician at all so it's possible I'm missing some really creative stuff instrumentally because I'm concentrating on the lyrics too much. On an uplifting note, I really love "Julia" which I had never really paid attention to before. Liked the music to "Bungalow Bill". "Dear Prudence" is getting to be one of my favorites.
I guess I will just go with one of the quotes I read recently: You're either hip to it or you're not. To me, it is the greatest album ever made by the greatest band that ever existed. I've thought that since I got it in 1968 when I was 12. The Deluxe Anniversary set only confirms it for me. It was special then, and it is just as special now.
Yeah, I was 13 in 1968 and the Manson killings hadn’t happened yet, so I loved Helter Skelter (which I just thought was sexual from the get go) Happiness Is A Warm Gun (was rather bizarre coincidence later when John was killed by a nutcase with a gun) and even Piggies. Those of us who were there when it was released and devoured the entire double album had a totally different perspective than you. We knew all about the India trip and what Sexy Sadie was about, who Prudence was, etc. Later found out about Bungalow Bill and the origins of some of the other songs like Savoy Truffle (for Eric Clapton’s sweet tooth) etc. Surprised you don’t like Glass Onion - Love it! All the Beatles song references and “clues.” Very cool song with a great beat.
Today I listened to all 7 CDs on Blu-ray player/TV with earbuds in. O...M...G...!!! What an experience! Heard so many little things I never heard before, like Paul talking at the end of Helter Skelter prior to the pause, and Ringo counting from 1 to 8 in Don’t Pass Me By. And Paul clearly saying “mining” hills!! The Esher Demos and the Sessions CDs made it very obvious that they were having a good time, in spite of occasional dust ups, like when Ringo left for 11 days. Loved all the between-song banter. Paul cracked me up: “Save that one and mark it FAB!”
"HELTER SKELTER" will forever go down in Rock n' Roll history as the FIRST METAL SONG EVER! I will have to listen to the entire album with earbuds!