jonny777 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 This fact makes me feel really old. The White Album by The Beatles was released 50 years ago today. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Still being alive to remember an event 50 years past from young adulthood would have been something to celebrate not so long ago. Personally I never had any time for it. Didn't record the end of steam on BR, Soviet tanks rolling westward were of far greater concern, and seeing an artificial satellite with men on board orbit the moon was the kind of 'far out' that enthralled me, rather than the maunderings of some liverpudlian junkies. But there we are, 'twould be boring if we were all alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 liverpudlian junkies. Really??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGemAlchemist Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 This fact makes me feel really old. The White Album by The Beatles was released 50 years ago today. Beatles_900x600_NEWLOGO.jpg Five decades old and still influencing musicians. Not bad for an album largely consisting of at the time unexplored musical territory that they had no idea if it would succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Really??? Really. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3769511.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Really. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3769511.stm I'm not meaning to split hairs and nor am I defending the Beatles' recreational drug use, which was typical of the summer of love era - but theirs was not strictly junkie behaviour, (my bold), so I don't think they could ever have been described as drug addicts, except maybe by the tabloids: junkie = a person who regularly takes and is dependent on illegal drugs, esp. heroin. (Cambridge Dictionary) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 I'm too young to remember a time before the Beatles split up. What does make me feel old, though, is that I can remember the fuss that was made about the 20th anniversary of the release of Sgt Pepper . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 A lot of stuff recorded in the '60s sounds dated now, but most of the Fab's catalogue still sounds as fresh as the day it was committed to tape. 'Dear Prudence' has got 1968 stamped all over it, but sounds very crisp and new to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Some good stuff & some very strange stuff on there. Following on from Sgt Pepper's was a tough ask though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Come off it, admits twenty years using all sorts... Bear in mind here that the musicians whose work I most enjoy were consuming alcohol like it was going out of fashion. Beethoven's autopsy is pretty blunt when it gets to his cirrhotic liver, and as for Sibelius' famous benders... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGemAlchemist Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 (edited) Bear in mind here that the musicians whose work I most enjoy were consuming alcohol like it was going out of fashion. Beethoven's autopsy is pretty blunt when it gets to his cirrhotic liver, and as for Sibelius' famous benders... Yes. Same here. Freddie Mercury's drug fuelled parties are the stuff of legend. Not condoning it obviously, but come on, how can you NOT talk about something that debauched, outlandish and chaotic without some sense of awe that people actually survived it? Edited November 22, 2018 by RedGemAlchemist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zomboid Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 The parties, groupies, drugs etc are all history now. What's left now is the music, which you'll either like or not, that's purely subjective. I've not devoted much of my life to the white album, but from what I remember it's very much like most double albums - a single albums worth of material crammed into the running time of two albums. The good bits are very good though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Taken during the sessions for the White Album, no sign of Ringo, must have been in the khazi… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stentor Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 When I listen to the White Album I listen to the music the Beatles made not to the drugs they were reputedly dropping. IMHO Blackbird is one of the finest pieces of music recorded last century. //Simon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classsix T Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 I asked the question of my drinking buddy recently, will we ever see the likes of seminal LPs such as the above, Floyd, Zeppelin et al now that mind altering substances are: 1) Not as casually acceptable as before. 2) Questionably inferior in their chemical make-up to the product available before, like life threateningly so. Again, not condoning, but to pretend it didn't have an influential affect is naive. Less dead 37 year old artists is no doubt a good thing, natch. Perhaps it's simpler than that though and the angst of the tortured genius gives us the albums we've loved, they just happened to use drugs and music as a release? Is Keith Richards immortal? Reading too much into it no doubt, C6T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 It's notable that Fleetwood Mac have been a bit mediocre since they all dried out, cleaned up and stopped hating each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinty3f Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Taken during the sessions for the White Album, no sign of Ringo, must have been in the khazi… 1968 1203.jpg According to some impeccable sources (Daily Mail, Pinterest etc) , Ringo left the Beatles after McCartney criticised his drumming during the recording. As a consequence, McCartney played the drums on at least two of the tracks, until Ringo was soothed and persuaded to return by the other three. On his return to the studio, he found his drum kit decorated with flowers as a welcome back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 (edited) According to some impeccable sources (Daily Mail, Pinterest etc) , Ringo left the Beatles after McCartney criticised his drumming during the recording. As a consequence, McCartney played the drums on at least two of the tracks, until Ringo was soothed and persuaded to return by the other three. On his return to the studio, he found his drum kit decorated with flowers as a welcome back. Yes, he stormed out on 22nd August and didn't return for a week or two. There were undoubtedly tensions between them during the sessions but there are plenty of photographs of them all getting along at the time too. The 'mad day out' photo session in London on 28th July helped to take the pressure off a bit, they spent the whole day driving round London with snapper Don Macullen in tow, stopping off at various places like St.Pancras, the docklands area and parts of the old 'City of London', larking around quite a bit, they finished up at Macca's house juts round the corner from Abbey Road, one or two of these shots appear on the poster which came with the LP. My uncle still has his original 'stamped' White Album with a number in the low hundreds, I can remember listening to it on family visits in the '70s, crackles and all. It had a short promo spot on German TV... Edited November 23, 2018 by Rugd1022 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bigcheeseplant Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 A fantastic album, the extra tracks on the bonus Esher demos is great. George Sour Milk Sea is a fantastic track just wish it had made it on to the actual album. Strangely I have never liked Blackbird, I think my fav track is While my guitar gently weeps, but Dear prudence and Sexy Sadie are great too. David . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted November 23, 2018 Author Share Posted November 23, 2018 It is interesting about favourite tracks. Almost everyone has their own combination, which I suppose is why it had such a broad appeal when it was released. My favourites are Rocky Raccoon, Bungalow Bill, I'm So Tired, and Savoy Truffle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedGemAlchemist Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 Helter Skelter, Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun for my faves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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