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7.24pm
3 May 2023
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SIDE A
3. Glass Onion
4. Mother Nature’s Son
5. Cry Baby Cry
6. I Will
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
SIDE B
2. I’m So Tired
3. Blackbird
5. Long Long Long
7. Julia
Sorry Ringo, you didn’t make the cut!
I made a playlist of this on Spotify. It’s a nice listen, check it out if you’re on there:
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Richard, Rube10.31pm
6 May 2018
Offline Welcome to the forum, @cmaj!
Great choices, and thank you for the Spotify playlist.
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cmaj, RubeAnd in the end
The love you take is equal to the love you make
1.48am
11 June 2015
Offline Hi @cmaj, I like this too. What do you think they should release as a non-album single?
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2.14am
7 November 2022
Offline One of my nicknames on Paltalk was “C Major”
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3.59am
30 December 2022
Offline 
Sea Belt said
One of my nicknames on Paltalk was “C Major”
C maj is my least fav key lol. YOU are my least fav key!!
only joking… 
also welcome to the forum @cmaj hope you enjoy it here!
This off topic post of mine is a reminder to not be like me… and 
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cmaj12.03pm
17 June 2021
Offline Welcome to the Fab Forum @cmaj! These are great choices, although I would have included Good Night . Ringo’s vocals are lovely on that track.
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cmaj, NeelyWinner of Most Hardcore Beatles Bible Fan 2021
1.21pm
3 May 2023
Offline Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. That’s very kind.
Let me just say that the White Album , as released, is my favorite album of all time. I love all the twists and turns, and the sprawling variety. I’m pro Wild Honey Pie and Revolution 9 . All the weirdness of the album adds color and makes it feel like an amazing journey. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
But the “single disc version” game is a really fun thought experiment that I love playing.
sigh butterfly said
Hi @cmaj, I like this too. What do you think they should release as a non-album single?
I would have to stick with Hey Jude /Revolution , as I think it’s one of the best singles ever released by anyone. Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane being possibly the only other competitor.
Rube said
Welcome to the Fab Forum @cmaj! These are great choices, although I would have included Good Night . Ringo’s vocals are lovely on that track.
I absolutely agree about Ringo’s vocals on that track. And Good Night is such a beautiful and perfect way to end the White Album . Especially following Revolution 9 .
I did consider ending my version with Good Night . But I feel it needs that long journey of the record to really make it land.
If absolutely forced to pick a Ringo track, Good Night would be the one, and it would end Side B.
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sigh butterfly, Rube2.52pm
30 December 2022
Offline cmaj said
SIDE A3. Glass Onion
4. Mother Nature’s Son
5. Cry Baby Cry
6. I Will
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
SIDE B
2. I’m So Tired
3. Blackbird
5. Long Long Long
7. Julia
You included lots of my favourites from the White Album such as Dear Prudence , Cry Baby Cry , While My Guitar Gently Weeps , Martha My Dear, I’m So Tired, Helter Skelter , Long Long Long, and Happiness Is A Warm Gun . To me those songs define the White Album .
I can’t help but notice you did not include THE BEST of the White Album (in my opinion): Honey Pie and Don’t Pass Me By .
Maybe I should make my own White Album single disc.
7.31pm
3 May 2023
Offline Neely said
You included lots of my favourites from the White Album such as Dear Prudence , Cry Baby Cry , While My Guitar Gently Weeps , Martha My Dear, I’m So Tired, Helter Skelter , Long Long Long, and Happiness Is A Warm Gun . To me those songs define the White Album .
I can’t help but notice you did not include THE BEST of the White Album (in my opinion): Honey Pie and Don’t Pass Me By .
Maybe I should make my own White Album single disc.
You know, I just don’t like Don’t Pass Me By. As much as I adore Ringo, it just doesn’t do anything for me. But I totally respect and celebrate your appreciation for it.
I do love Honey Pie . But if you’re cutting 16 songs from an album, you have to make some hard choices. That track listing I made is where I landed. But I could very well have included/excluded totally different songs on a different day.
You should absolutely try making your own. It’s hard, but it’s fun!
8.56pm
7 November 2022
Offline My Own Private White Album
To make it easier, would eliminate the following:
While My Guitar Gently Sleeps
Goodnight
Now today I find, you have changed your mind
9.03pm
7 November 2022
Offline Woops — Weeps* 
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11.18am
17 June 2021
Offline Here’s what I would have as a single disc:
1. Back In The U.S.S.R.
3. Glass Onion
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
6. Blackbird
7. I Will
8. Julia
9. Birthday
11. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
12. Helter Skelter
13. Revolution 1
14. Savoy Truffle
15. Cry Baby Cry
16. Good Night
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Richard, JulesWinner of Most Hardcore Beatles Bible Fan 2021
6.54pm
11 June 2015
Offline sigh butterfly said
Hi @cmaj, I like this too. What do you think they should release as a non-album single?
cmaj said
I would have to stick with Hey Jude /Revolution , as I think it’s one of the best singles ever released by anyone. Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane being possibly the only other competitor.
@cmaj I agree with you on Hey Jude /Revolution . That single really made the summer of 68 rock! I don’t think those songs were considered for the White Album though. The fantasy of a single disc White Album opens up the possibility of a traditional non-album single. I discussed this exact subject with another forum member, so I have a list of available songs handy. I crossed out the songs you chose for your single disc.
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don’t Pass Me By
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?
I Will
Julia
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature’s Son
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long
Revolution 1
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 9
Good Night
Sour Milk Sea
Junk
Child Of Nature
Circles
Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam
Not Guilty
What’s The New Mary Jane
So based on the remaining songs, I think the A side candidate is most likely Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da . The B side is a lot harder to select though.
I think my original thought was the acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps . But since then I have heard a fan remix of Child Of Nature (thanks mmm) that was amazing.
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7.59pm
20 March 2018
Offline “Single White Album “:
Side 1
Back In The USSR
Mother Nature’s Son
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Dear Prudence
Revolution (Single)
Martha My Dear
Side 2
Helter Skelter
While My Guitar Gently Weeps ’(Anthology 3 Acoustic)
I Will
Birthday
Blackbird
I’m So Tired
Good Night
"Parading the streets! Trailing your coat! Bowling along! LIVING!"
5.46pm
19 October 2023
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Mine includes fifteen songs — not just two George and one Ringo, but an equal number of John and Paul songs because by 1968 there’s just no compromising between those two.
Side One
Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Side Two
Birthday
Yer Blues
Rocky Raccoon
Don’t Pass Me By
Long, Long, Long
Helter Skelter
Julia
Side one clocks in at 24:03, side two at 24:38, both pushing the limits of what you could squeeze onto a side of vinyl without serious loss of fidelity but shorter than side one of Abbey Road , so meeting the Beatles standards.
Hey Jude /Revolution is the non-album single.
But as a thought experiment, what if we limit the choices to the songs the Beatles recorded at the Esher demo session, and then what if George Martin presciently picked the fourteen most streamed (according to the Spotify list I saw) of those candidates. You’d wind up with this:
Side One
Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Side Two
Revolution 1
Mother Nature’s Son
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
Rocky Raccoon
Sexy Sadie
Julia
Note: Paul wrote an awful lot of songs during the sessions while John was pretty much done writing on day one.
And just for kicks, if George Martin had waited until the end of the sessions to pare the candidates down to a single disc, again going with the fourteen most streamed, you’d wind up with something like:
Side One
Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
I’m So Tired
Blackbird
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Side Two
Revolution 1
Glass Onion
Martha My Dear
Rocky Raccoon
Helter Skelter
I Will
Julia
It’s an interesting experiment, one I’ve fiddled with for almost forty years. And the conclusion I’ve reached is that Paul was right when he said, “It’s the bloody Beatles White Album – shut up!”
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Von Bontee, Timothy12.53pm
14 June 2016
Offline Paul’s right. The track listing as is makes the White Album what it is and not conventional. It shows their evolution the best of all the albums I think, because they were willing to put songs on there that seemed out of left field or could be disliked in comparison to what they did before.
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his weeping guitar, Rube, Mythical Monkey1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
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6.27pm
28 July 2023
Offline I so agree. The White Album wouldn’t be… well… the White Album if it weren’t for its unconventionality. I feel it’s important to include these different tracks in order to get a good sense of how the Beatles’ style was changing.
So that’s why my track listing is as follows:
Side A:
Side B:
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10.07pm
19 October 2023
Offline I had an additional thought about the White Album while walking the dog — its wildly varied styles and weird juxtapositions remind me of driving across America when I was a kid, back before SiriusXM or CD players or even 8-track machines, when all you had was the radio. And you’d dial in whatever you could find, especially at night, and ride a wave of static thirty or forty miles until you reached the next town and started all over again. You heard an eclectic mix — rock n roll, country, classical or maybe a baseball game or even a midnight preacher. That’s what the White Album makes me think of, the Beatles channel surfing through the 20th century songbook.
Maybe that’s why it’s always sounded like a late night album to my ears …
But did that stop me from coming up with yet another variation on the single-disc White Album ? Of course not! It’s a forty year addiction. Not going to stop now — or ever!
In this variation, Dave Dexter is back in charge at Capitol Records. He had a penchant for 11-song butcher jobs (that not only made a ton of money but gave us three great albums — Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album and the folk-heavy US version of Rubber Soul — along with some pretty poor ones) but after he destroyed Revolver , the Beatles put their foot down and insisted Capitol release their albums in the format God intended.
But with Dexter somehow back in charge in this alternate universe, Capitol reconfigures the two-disc White Album into three separate albums to be released over the course of six to eight months …
The White Album
SIDE ONE
Back In The USSR
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
SIDE TWO
Hey Jude
Revolution
Blackbird
Helter Skelter
Julia
The Really White Album
SIDE ONE
Martha My Dear
I’m So Tired
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
Don’t Pass Me By
Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?
SIDE TWO
Lady Madonna
Not Guilty
The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
Across The Universe
I Will
The So White It’s Practically Invisible Album
SIDE ONE
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature’s Son
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Long, Long, Long
SIDE TWO
Revolution 1
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Good Night
And then as if to prove that Beatles fans like me will buy anything, Capitol Records releases …
The Beatles Grocery List ’69
All items purchased by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted
SIDE ONE
Milk
Cheese
Chutney (Harrison)
Pickled onions
White bread
Mayonnaise
SIDE TWO
Cigarettes
Mouthwash
Lifebuoy
Revolution 9
Burma Shave
Joking aside, this project underscored for me how, in the case of the White Album , the whole is more than the sum of its parts. In a lot of ways, it’s more of a concept album than Sgt. Pepper , unintentional though the concept may have been.
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