Turn Me On, Dead Man

One of the benefits of the Beatles' trip to India in 1968 is that it gave them plenty of time to write songs. During their stay in Rishikesh, John, Paul and George were prolific. When they returned to London they had over 30 new songs for what would become The Beatles, more commonly called as the White Album after its all-white cover. The original title of the album had been A Doll's House, after Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play, but after Family released Music in a Doll's House, the Beatles decided to scrap that title in favor of something much simpler. Richard Hamilton's minimalist cover design was a stark contrast to the ornate cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, signaling that the Beatles were moving away from the studio experimentation of that album ("Revolution 9" aside). The only markings on the cover were a low-contrast embossing of the band's name and a serial number.

George Martin was not in favor of releasing the White Album as a double album, arguing that the Beatles should be more selective. Martin later stated,

I really didn't think that a lot of the songs were worthy of release, and I told them so. I said "I don't want a double-album. I think you ought to cut out some of these, concentrate on the really good ones and have yourself a really super album. Let's whittle them down to 14 to 16 titles and concentrate on those." [1]

The double-album format was not common in 1968, but the White Album was not the first. Bob Dylan had released Blonde on Blonde in May of 1966 and Frank Zappa followed with Freak Out in July of that year. Donovan released his two-LP box set A Gift from a Flower to a Garden in December of 1967. Cream's Wheels of Fire came out in August, 1968, and Jimi Hendrix released Electric Ladyland in October of 1968 as the Beatles were recording the White Album. The White Album did have the distinction of being the longest all-new release to date, clocking in at over 93 minutes. The Beatles had actually recorded more songs during the White Album sessions than were included on the album. George's "Not Guilty" and John's "What's the New Mary Jane" were completed but dropped from the album. In India, Paul had written a song called "Junk" and recorded a demo of it upon return, but this song was left off the album as well. Paul later recorded "Junk" for his first solo album, McCartney and George re-recorded "Not Guilty" in 1979 for his album George Harrison. All three of these songs had been included on a number of bootlegs before surfacing on the first disc of Volume 3 of Anthology.

Despite George Martin's objections, the Beatles were insistent that their next album would be a double album. Though the Beatles' disagreements were becoming more pointed, on this they could all agree. George would have several tracks on a two-record set—more than he would have had on a single-disk LP. Ringo's first original song, "Don't Pass Me By," would also find a place on a double album. Mainly, though, the Beatles saw this as a way to satisfy the requirements of their contract with EMI. The group had signed a contract with a song quota, and releasing a double album with 30 songs would move them quickly toward that number. According to Nicholas Schaffner, after releasing a double album, the Beatles would only have to produce one more album for EMI. [2]

The White Album is often cited as the beginning of the end for the Beatles. During the recording of the White Album, the Beatles were often working in effect as solo artists. They used the other members of the band as backing musicians or recorded tracks entirely solo, rather than working together as they had on previous albums. As George Harrison put it, "the rot had already set in." [3]Perhaps this lack of compromise contributed to large number of songs on the album, as none of the Beatles was willing to give up his contributions.

Whatever problems the Beatles were having during the recording of the White Album, the result was astounding. In his review of the White Album in Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner asserted, "Nothing could have been more ambitious than the current release: The Beatles is the history and synthesis of Western music." [4]All hyperbole aside, the White Album was an ambitious release with some of the Beatles' finest moments. Still, it is interesting to ponder what its impact would have been as a single disc LP.