I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

For all of John's bitter rants about Paul's "granny music," he (apparently willingly) puts down a nice solo on "Honey Pie."

that's the best part of the song aside from the intro

I was looking for Dana Carvey's McCartney impression (which is what I now generally associate "Honey Pie" with), and found this, where it's juxtaposed with McCartney talking about...Albert Ayler:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz6oJjmAM3g

'Honey Pie' is by far my least favourite song on here, hearing that followed by 'Savoy Truffle' is just... ugh. 'WDWDIITR' is one that's grown on me over the years, it's not great as a standalone song but works fine in sequence. I've always quite liked 'Birthday' - love the piano bit with the phasing going into the guitar break, great vocal too. I guess my only quibble would be that '...Me and My Monkey' does a similar thing better.

This Dana Carvey bit is good too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2KQm6IaXXw

Think "Honey Pie" is brilliant. Had it in my top 20 here.

"Birthday" is one of only two decent birthday songs that isn't "Happy Birthday To You!"

For all of John's bitter rants about Paul's "granny music," he (apparently willingly) puts down a nice solo on "Honey Pie."

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, November 15, 2018 3:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And seriously. Imagine Paul walking into Studio 3, announcing, "I've got a song about a bloke who goes on a safari. Linda's even volunteered to sing one of the lines!"

"Birthday" is one of only two decent birthday songs that isn't "Happy Birthday To You!"

And I'm convinced that, long about the 1,000th cover of "Yesterday," Paul said to himself "How can I become even more ubiquitous?" and he went gunning for Patty & Mildred Hill.

WDWDITTR is worse than Birthday for me, mainly because for all the clear evidence that being in the Beatles was one long shagathon/weird circle jerk, something stops me thinking of Paul as a sexual being. Which is why I prefer the reading that it's about not being allowed to cross the street unsupervised.

I do like the liquid sound of George's guitar on it though, so nothing is all bad.

Yes, we can all play the 'these are the bad songs to leave off' game because it's quite a fun game. And it's fun that the Beatles album with a largest number of 'get this trash off here' tracks (for me it's WDWDITTR, Birthday, Rocky Raccoon and Piggies) is also probably now my favourite Beatles album. I guess I'm not in a polished perfection mood these days.

And seriously. Imagine Paul walking into Studio 3, announcing, "I've got a song about a bloke who goes on a safari. Linda's even volunteered to sing one of the lines!"

ahah !
"Birthday" is filler, I find the riff super cheap but there's some fun and energy in the group performance so it's ok.
"WDWDIITR" is just nothing. A jam that shouldn't have made the cut and appeared on bootlegs then on the Anthology or something.
I hate the melody and the performance is so weak/lazy...
anyway, yeah, the fun thing about this album is that nobody agrees about the worst songs (and indeed, "Dear Prudence" might be the only one everybody loves).

my favorite beatles songs aren't on the white album, but the white album is my favorite beatles album.

Yeah, I kinda agree although I'm not sure it's my favourite album.

As for the creepy aspect of the album, without going back to THAT debate it might have to do more with the sound/production than with the songs themselves.
And actually I have always thought this album sounded bad compared to their previous and following stuff : I mean, compared to Revolver/Pepper/Abbey Road, the bass often sounds awful. The drums too.
What happened in the studio for that one ??

nik cohn's 1968 review in the other thread is too generous

and he went gunning for Patty & Mildred Hill.

those miserable spinsters

Surely Rocky Raccoon is the most insufferable track here

― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:02 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Actually, I just got why I don't much like this one.

It's because nothing much happens. Rocky goes to shoot his rival, but get shot first. He gets patched up by the doctor, and that's it. A bit of reflection, a look at a bible, the end.

Story songs need a story, y'all.

THERE'S MORE PLOT IN "PODGY THE BEAR (AND JASPER)" !!

Well, I don't think anyone should expect anything really interesting from Macca songs'lyrics...
Sometimes it's good (or even great) but most of the times it's obviously not the point (even for him !).
I like "Rocky Raccoon" it's a fun little song. The saloon piano is cool. And it's easy to play on the guitar !

Well, who was it who said "they can't all be Eleanor Rigby" ? Oh wait...

Would definitely be prepared to give Rocky Raccoon another chance if an outtake turned up in which no one turns up to Rocky's funeral and Father McKenzie buries him along with his name.

the one time I saw Phish they did a really nice spacey version of dear prudence
though it was a double edged sword because it was so much better than all of phish's songs

― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

sure but most songs are much better than all of phish's songs, seriously there's nothing on the white album even half as bad as "tweezer", and like most people here there are songs on the white album i absolutely despise

(i hate "birthday" due to its association with wacky morning radio djs, and i hate "piggies" but not due to its association with charles manson, because i like "helter skelter" just fine)

maybe the best version of "dear prudence" is the five stairsteps version, which is just as good as the b-side of that single. and the b-side was "ooh child".

its role as an aesthetic keystone for nearly all the rock-and-roll recordings that have followed

this is Abbey Road, not the White Album

from this: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-accidental-perfection-of-the-beatles-white-album?fbclid=IwAR2bhkfT7rMSV4CEVkCSq3NW4LRLQ3ySyLx8f5DTOL4-KcmWe94xHkrGEB8

For sure; Abbey Road is arguably the first ’70s rock record.

I like Paul’s singing and tunecraft enough to enjoy even his trifles on this album. The ones I reliably skip are Bungalow Bill and the plodding & precious While My Guitar etc.

Birthday... it sounds like the Beatles are all headbanging.

I haven't heard the new remix of The Beatles yet, but I'm curious about it if only to see how it stacks up against the original stereo (and the original mono, although this is the first Beatles album where the stereo is considered to be the primary mix) ... It's never been my favourite Beatles album but it's interesting to see press about the remix debunking long running myths that this was a "tense"/"scary" album.

It's because nothing much happens. Rocky goes to shoot his rival, but get shot first. He gets patched up by the doctor, and that's it. A bit of reflection, a look at a bible, the end.

Story songs need a story, y'all.

― Mark G, Friday, November 16, 2018 6:11 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Surely this is the joke, though? Not only is Rocky not heroic enough to win back his woman, he's not even tragic enough to die in the effort.

Rocky Raccoon is a major shithead

It's an anti-ballad. xp

There is no amount of remixing that would get me to willingly hear these songs again

"it's interesting to see press about the remix debunking long running myths that this was a "tense"/"scary" album."

wrong, it still is

Based only on Spotify, it does sound a bit like some songs like "Helter Skelter" and "Savoy Truffle" have a different feel when the murk gets cleared up. I don't think that remixing an album 50 years later can 'debunk' the mood that someone gets from an album, though (certainly no more than the C90 I listened to in high school could 'prove' it).

wrong, it still is

― akm, Saturday, November 17, 2018 5:28 PM (thirteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It really isn't! We've been through this before, but if people really find the likes of 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', 'Don't Pass Me By' and 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' "creepy", then...

I mean, there's a few seconds of 'Long, Long, Long' that lean towards the sinister sounding, but we're talking about a few seconds of a double LP.

I just really hate the #9 baby.

The sinister vibe comes mostly from John, who sounds haunted throughout the album, but it bleeds into the other songs the way gruesome moments in a David Lynch movie make the banal stuff seem tainted and horrifying.

why are we engaging with turrican's trolling on this exact topic again? he's made it very clear he has no interest in how anybody else hears or relates to this album. he just summarized the takes of several posters in this thread who as a "long running myth." what's the point of conversing with someone who approaches conversation like that?

"Savoy Truffle" sounds rad. Anyone feeling sour on a perceived generic-ness to "Birthday" should be able to kick out the jams to that one.

'Savoy Truffle' and 'Birthday' are two of my favourite things on the record, I particularly love how the band attack the "yes we're going to a party, party" section - it's full of energy and life, totally upbeat and not at all creepy.

I particularly love how the band attack the "yes we're going to a party, party" section

Me too

Guitars sound so good there

Re: my posts upthread about how Ringo probably didn’t play a double-bass-drum kit on “Good Morning, Good Morning” — and being corrected on said assertion — there’s photos in the book/box of Ringo playing a double-bass setup (and one of Paul doing the same). Only, I can’t hear any instances of it on the white album.

Piano sound on Birthday is fantastic

The fifties rock and roll coda on "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is so excellent.

i've started dipping into this remix and it's.... idk it's pretty weird. for whatever reason the really bright, clear "da da da da da da da da" backing vocals on Helter Skelter are what stands out most to me. it sounds like a Wings song. which is not a minus in my book but it definitely doesn't feel as much of its period or of what this album sounds like to me. "cry baby cry" also feels strange all cleaned up and each track clearly enunciated. the bass part on that frankly sounds kinda bad, like maybe the old mix was hiding places where what paul's doing is a little dissonant or cluttered over top of lennon's keyboard parts. the super clean punchiness works okay for "monkey," i'll admit.

Yeah, I wasn't saying it wasn't weird tbc but it is interesting and some of it does work. I do appreciate more clarity with the picking in "Blackbird".

Bass playing is great on "Cry Baby Cry!" I assume you're talking about the glissandi at the beginning?

Holy hell, “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care” sounds like Hüsker Dü.

Okay, just started poking around in this and found the the melody of “Jealous Guy” in something called “Child of Nature,” which I am sure somebody posted about way upthread but sorry, tl;dr.

Okay, did find mention of the song on this thread and mention of the similarity of the melody on various other threads now that I looked but it has um, passed me by, until now.

yeah it's an early version

jealous guy is an improvement