Totally agree. It might be my favorite George songs. Something about the way it plods along just sounds like desperation to me. And the dreamy quality. Mmmmm.
In all fairness, she was just given some wrong intel; and not being a savvy Beatle fan, she couldn't know otherwise. I remember when I first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever," (going back to the 70s when I was a kid whose Mom bought him the Red and Blue anthologies) I thought it was Ringo taking lead vocals in the 2nd verse. 😄
I love “Honey Pie.” It’s part of what John called Paul’s “granny songs.” But, songs like that helped give the band amazing versatility and staying power.
Actually he called them “granny shit,” and he was right for the most part. Paul just could not stop himself from going back to that Dancehall pastiche style he loves so much. And it continued on into his solo career. Ironic that it was Lennon who wrote “Good Night,” which is the most cloying and saccharine of them all. It’s practically unlistenable with that awful choir.
Revolution No. 9: it was weird enough when I heard it as a 16 year old, but imagine my parents, who were born in the 1920s, hearing it from the next room! They had questions … lots of questions.
I grew into Revolution 9. Perhaps because I was into radio and sound effects, but I found it very effective, like a movie...and then it fading out, and into "Good Night" - still gives me chills
I love the fact that this band have both Till There Was You and Revolution 9 in its discography. I don't think that sort of diversity exists in any other pop artists' recorded output.
It is that very eclecticism that makes the Beatles so popular. If you don't like a song, just wait around and one that you do like will come along soon enough.
Lennon originally wanted 'Sexy Sadie' to be called 'Maharishi' but was talked out of it. It's a song about how disillusioned Lennon was by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during the Beatles' visit to India - apparently the Maharishi made some very unwelcome advances to Mia Farrow, who was there with her sister Prudence (see also 'Dear Prudence').
The girls didn't think anything of magic Alex's slur on the Maharishi. It appears to be his attempt to controll Lennon but he proved himself a fraud when back in London!
Probably a false accusation from Mia, as she's very fond of doing that. As stated in the comment above, it was all a vicious rumour and gossip. Reputation destruction.
Historical context is big with this album. A lot of turmoil in the world at that time is admirably reflected in the angst, uproar and compassion expressed in these recordings.
It is strange watching someone actually hearing these songs for the very first time. These songs have been a part of my DNA for 40 years. In fact I could not imagine my life without The Beatles being in it.
Yeah, it's just a pity she feels the need to analyse every track on what she says is her 'first' listen. I think these reaction videos work best when the listener just sits back and shows their reaction through the expression on their faces. I can appreciate the desire to analyse and break down the construction and meaning of the songs. We all went there, but first time out just listened. I don't know why, but it truly p*ssed me off when she started reading about the Revolution 9 track before listening to it. That spoilt the whole process for me.
agreed. Probably because George generally gets overlooked, or perhaps overshadowed is the right word but for me he was easily on par with Lennon/McCartney in terms of quality in the later years.
It’s the best ‘non Beatles’ Beatles song in my opinion and has always been on my favourites list. Someone above describes it as boring which it certainly isn’t
As an ancient Beatles fan, I get a huge kick out of hearing her thoughts on this music I've heard a million times. She sometimes introduces ideas that I had never thought of but can really sink my teeth into. I find it interesting her 2 apparent favorites from the White Album are 'Long, Long, Long' and 'Good Night'--You don't come across that opinion every day. Poor thing had to sit all the way through 'Revolution 9', with headphones, no less.
I Will, Rocky Racoon, Julia, Long, Long, Long and Good Night, might not be the best rockers out of the album -if you ever try to judge them by those merits, they will never top a chart, but they shine on sheer poetry. In my opinion some of the best songs on the album; they perfectly balance to the abrasive rock (and avant garde!) numbers so the album hits every corner equally. It is truly their best record.
Ikr, I thought for sure Mother Nature’s Son would score the win in that category, and I also figured she would like Honey Pie more. And yeah, I wouldn’t want to have to commit to all 9 minutes of that. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone who actually LIKES to listen to that. Even people who have good things to say about it admit to habitually skipping it lol; honestly tho, I think even I would be a fan of Good Night if that were the first thing I listened to after I listened to the entirety of Rev 9, and I think I might even be fond of Long Long Long if I heard it directly following whatever nonsense is in the final minute and a half of Helter Skelter (especially if I had Caroline’s sort of taste and wasn’t super into the heft behind the rest of the song either). I’m curious to see if her opinions change a bit after having some time removed from the initial reaction and going back through some of the ones that piqued her interest, but that she didn’t immediately fall in love with (Lord knows I had to do that myself many times). I think it might be best if she gives herself a bit of space between this reaction and her ranking video for that reason. Anyway, spiel over
@@aidanvannynatten2787 Ever since I came to the conclusion that the white album is the best, I've never skipped Revolution 9. Specially rewarding if you are on LSD or Shrooms.
Great stuff. The White Album is a journey, and at times not an easy one. But in terms of creativity and inspiration and variation of sounds it's perhaps unmatched in musical history. As others have commented on your videos, just think where this band started in 1963 with "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" compared to where they were at this point, in late-1968 (just FIVE YEARS later!!!!!) releasing an album of 30 songs that pushed the boundaries of music to places never seen before. You're in classic Beatles territory now. The White Album, Abbey Road, Let it Be. And definitely dont forget the singles (Hey Jude/Revolution). Within 18 months of the release of The White Album, the band had split up.
The split was actually only 10 months later. The Beatles effectively disbanded in September '69, and even if it was a bit uncertain at the time, it turned out to be true.
@@57too Dr Who getting this same message from the 'Face of Bo' during the epic David Tennent years. 'You are NOT alone'; the Master's (Derek Jacobi) cover name being called Dr YANA (Y.A.N.A. = 'You are NOT alone'). Not relevent I know but as a kid in the 1960's my world was represented by the Beatles AND Dr Who! Are you an alien as well?? Ironic!
She will be sad at the end of Abbey Road, if she listens to it as the last album, because of the way it ....ends ... so Ominous, and then you know they will never make music together again, too bad digital albums can't have secret songs, like LP's could, where you wouldn't know a secret track could pop up after the supposed last song. Just to surprise you ;)
"Yer Blues" - Vocals not by McCartney but as you probably could tell upon hearing, John Lennon, as well as written by him. It's one of my favorite Beatles tracks for its rawness, even though I love their multi-layered studio work. Lennon occasionally performed this song after the band broke up. "Helter Skelter" was named after (and loosely written about) a carnival ride of the same name. You went up to the top of a tower structure and went down a slide that wrapped around the tower. "When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide, where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride, till I get to the bottom and I see you again..." and later " "I'm comin down fast I'm miles above you..." Musically, I think it was meant to resemble a loud, lively carnival ride. Killer/cult leader Charles Manson used the title for his plan of murders. You may have read about this. He believed that this album (not just that song) was telling him the prophecy of the end of days. He believed "Helter skelter, it's comin' down fast" meant the end is neigh. He believed he heard messages in Revolution #9 about an imminent race war and all kinds of crazy things. Speaking of Revolution #9, I don't think it referred to the kind of revolution like in Revolution#1. On #9, I think they were referring to an alternate meaning or revolution: going around and around, like a record. Maybe it's supposed to mean both. Oh, btw, Caroline, just so you know, the version of "Revolution" used as a single is a different version, so when you hear the singles, you won't want to skip that one. Great reaction!
You have an album that goes from heavy metal (the birth of heavy metal) with Helter Skelter to a sweet and lovely ballad with Good Night. That tells you two things: 1) The Beatles had the immense talent to do whatever they wanted and 2) The Beatles had the audacity and courage to do whatever they wanted. Most bands would find a sound and groove and stay comfortable and safe with what works. The Beatles really didn't give a damn. Maybe their popularity gave them that freedom but I also think they knew they were the best ever and genius doesn't pay attention to convention.
Not really. They always played a wide range of styles as most of the Scouse/Mersey Beat groups did. From straight rock n' roll (Keep Your Hands Off My Baby) to show tunes (Till There Was You). In fact you only have to look at their failed audition at Decca from 01 January 1962 to see the genesis of their eclectic song choices. Three Cool Cats, The Sheik Of Araby, Besamy Mucho, Sure To Fall, To Know Her Is To Like Her, Money (That's What I Want). Effectively, as a group they created their own sound but were happy to visit all the musical genres that they and George Martin could think of.
When it comes to Revolution 9 followed by Good Night, music reviewer Charles Shaar Murray said it was as if the Beatles gave us nightmares than sang us to sleep. This was back in the 90s, so it was a retrospective review, but it's still well observed. On Revolution 9, you're either fascinated by it or repulsed by it. Personally, I find it a fascinating piece, and look forward to lines like "everybody in the field knew that as time went by they'd get a little bit older and a little bit slower" and "take this, brother, may it serve you well". If it's not for you now, I don't think it'll ever be, but I do think it rewards multiple listens. Interestingly, in the US, fans were somewhat forewarned of Revolution 9 because John and Yoko's first experimental album, Two Virgins, had been released earlier that month. Here in the UK, on the other hand, we were completely in the dark. I say that someone who wasn't even born at the time, but I can imagine just what a huge shock it would have been. When I first heard Revolution 9, I was familiar with early house music, especially Paul Hardcastle's 19, so that was a frame of reference for me, at least.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one. There is something about that track that fascinates me, just like Caroline said it feels like as if we're going back in time or something. Like George Martin said it feels like painting an auditory picture.
Revolution 9 is an amazing venture into "Musique concrète", where composers create an acoustic assemblage using recorded sounds. Not what one expects from a pop or rock band, and certainly ground-breaking at that time!
Nice to see the reaction to "Goodnight," to the arrangement and to Ringo's singing. Lennon evidently wrote the song for Ringo's voice although he had himself recorded singing it. Geoff Emerick, the album's engineer, writes about this in his memoir "Here, There & Everywhere," and describes how beautifully haunting Lennon's version was. That tape was erased accidentally, which caused Emerick much grief. If we could only hear that!
It's easy to understand her reaction to Goodnight. After the massive disappointment of most of sides 3 and 4, closing on a beautiful song made it even more powerful for me than if it stood alone.
@@jaredf6205 I'm afraid you're right. And about the same time, they'll have genetically recreated the woolly mammoth. It will be an amazing facsimile of the real thing, although a little voice in the back of our head will be saying "but you know it's not the real thing."
It's totally normal to not be in love with every track of the White Album. George Martin recommended they take the 14 best songs and make one superb LP, but for various personal and commercial reasons the band chose to issue the double LP. The "Hey Jude" / "Revolution" single that came from these sessions is one of the best ever.
Yes, the double album is great, but George Martin did have a point, i`m a huge Beatles fan, but there are some fillers that i could have done without, and i`m pretty sure Revolution 9 is the only Beatles song i`ve only listened to once
@@gejuje I always have to break a lance for "9". 😁 As a collage it turned out quite well, has a remarkable - typically Beatles-aesthetic and aptly describes the sound of the rebellious year 1968. I could have done without "Mother nature's son", Martha, my dear", "Don't pass me by "and "Good Night".
@@gejuje It's pretty obvious they could've made a super cut that is up there in quality, but what makes the White Album special is that it's a big ass album that's impossible to summarise concisely. In retrospect Abbey Road, Sgt. Peppers or Revolver would have been better crafted albums no matter what they did with White Album because they were made that way, Sgt. Peppers has what, 3 hit songs that would stand on their own? That's not what makes it a great album, White Album has its own identity.
@@Spaced92 I don`t disagree with that, it`s just one of the very few albums where i ( in the old days) lifted the pickup to skip songs, because i didn`t think they were up to normal Beatles standard
I think when you hear Ring o say goodnight everybody everywhere you understand the appeal of the Beatles. Everyone is included. No one is left out or left behind. The music is made and given with real love, as John put it. It has a magical healing effect on the listener.
"Goodnight" was written by John for 5 yr old Julian similar to what he did years later with "Beautiful Boy" for then 5 year old Sean. John gave the song to Ringo to sing and even showed him how he wanted it sung. Though it was 1968 John still had his hard core "rocker" image he wanted to uphold and didn't want to come across as too soft, so he gave it to Ringo who does a great job with it. Still though would have loved to have heard John sing it.
John wanted Ring o to sing Grow Old With Me too. Turns out he was right in both cases. Ring o nails it perfectly. That's just one of the many genius moments of John.
John described it as "possibly 'over lush'." I'd agree. Some of the arrangements from the 2018 version are preferable to me. One of the very rare songs in which I think their arrangement didn't serve this gorgeous song well.
This came out in my Jr year HS. A friend of mine had a party for the Sr grads. He had a majorly outstanding audio system, speakers strung through every room. Totally HiFi. I got there early, he put me in charge of playing the records [should I say spinning the disks?] and handed me this double LP. I put on head phones and started it up, standing, swaying, sort of dancing. Flipped it, sat down. Played through all four sides. ABSOLUTELY amazed, fully taken in. So I played it again. And again. Ended up lying on my back, headphones sweated to my head. I'm not sure how many times, or how long before Rudy said it was time to leave - nearly dawn. Every jewel glowed. Oh - and you asked what we thought about Revolution #9. I was fascinated, transported (though I'm not sure where). That was the effect of every cut. A trip I willingly, eagerly even, took - handing myself over completely, trusting the Beatles to take me out and bring me home. Goodnight everybody, everywhere.
I got my friend to play the whole thing at a pool party. Another friend sat there in a corner by the speakers and just listened quietly. Finally he just blurted, "EVERY song is good. Like, every song."
I think my favourite transition on the White Album is Helter Skelter to Long Long Long. George's beautiful, gentle melody being the perfect antidote to Paul's raucous energy in the previous song. A similar kind of effect is heard in the transition from Revolution 9 to Goodnight, but if you skip R9 you won't get that. I highly recommend listening to the Goodnight sequence on the deluxe version of The Beatles to hear how the song evolved.
There is another more interest transition going on with “Why don’t we do It in road? I will, Julia”. This track placement is believed to be deliberated.
If you're going to listen to the next step of The Beatles' musical evolution, the Let It Be album should be the logical followup to the White Album since it was recorded just 2 months later
The fact that you didn't love everything on this record at first listen is part of what makes this album such a deep one. It's an entire universe unto itself that offers a lifetime of rediscovery. Most of the other records are what they are, all of them masterpieces, but when you put Revolver or Help or even Abbey Road on, you know what's going to happen, but this record is so deep and varied, ti conitinually surprises you.
Not going to lie. There still is one more version of revolution left! It’s on the b-side of the Hey Jude single. It’s definitely a screamer. John Lennon is a rocker at heart. He adored all of the Beatles songs that put rock and roll first and revolution (single) was one of his favorites.
Actually Revolution I is the version John wanted - Both Paul and George Harrison told him if they speed it up it would be a smash single. Hence the fast version went on the “B” (Double A side really) side of the Hey Jude single. The controversy with the song is the line “You can count me out” followed by “In” in the background. The song was John’s answer to the hippies who were begging him to make a song about their revolution- hence the line “…if you carry pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow” - the hippies didn’t like his response. 😀
@@justinpenn9250 Yeah, I know John wanted the slower one, which blows my mind. He did acknowledge the harder one was more commercial. I think he had been hanging out with Mike Love too long in India and got "shoobedoo" fever.
Narrator: Admittedly, that's one opinion. But the fact that Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album, and Abbey Road are *all* frequently cited as "their best album" speaks volumes about the consistent quality of the Beatles' work.
@@aquamarine99911 No doubt that there are lots of good songs on the WA but to me, that wasn't The Beatles. It was each individual Beatle. I prefer the days when they sang songs together, with harmonies, most favorably the songs with Lennon on lead vocals.
Heater Skelter was basically Paul shutting up critics who said he couldn't rock as hard as other bands. Some people consider this to be the first heavy metal rock song.
@@SamAronow Yeah, because of the critics saying that I Can See For Miles from The Who was the heaviest song ever and then Paul took a challenge himself to make a heavier song. And he did it.
@@GheberAlien Pete Townsend said that about I Can See For Miles before it was released. He was talking about heavy lyrics. I think Paul thought he meant heavy music.
I’ve heard the isolated bass on RUclips for “Helter Skelter” before. It’s worth at least one listen. There’s almost a garage punk band vibe to it. HS sounds more like a punk song than metal.
The second half of the White Album is a grower Caroline! Maybe not as instantly grabbing as the first half but there are some real growers in there! But the White Album, on repeated listens really works together as one project. Its magnificent and beautifully flawed! Its many fans favourite - its certainly my favourite! Loving your thoughtful warm and entertaining reactions as always Caroline!
Conor, what you say is so true. The Beatles Albums were so different from each other, as they insisted artistically to grow, musicality, rather than produce "formulaic" songs. As a result, our ears had been so acquainted, with many listenings, to the style on their previous album, that is why it took a number of listening to the newest album to fully appreciate them. The flavor of the newest album being like an acquired, but more mature, taste.
@@wizdym4aolcom When the album came out, I was 12. I was first into Side 1, then a couple of years later I was partial to side 2. In college I was partial to side 3 and 4. By the time I was 30 I could no longer pick a side!
I'm glad you liked the "Good Night" song. This was composed by John Lennon. After listening to many of the Beatle's songs, especially John Lennon songs, you'd begin to realize that John's compositions are usually dissonant, disturbing, and cutting-edge. You'd love Paul's compositions because his songs are usually happy, upbeat, and melodic. But if John were to write something stately, melodic, and beautiful just like Paul's, that song would be "Good Night". Personally, I rank "Good Night" in the same regard as Paul's "Yesterday". George Martin, the Beatles record producer, is a classically-trained musician and he is the one who wrote the orchestral arrangement for the song. George Martin is truly the fifth Beatle, interpreting the Beatles intent and writing accompanying musical arrangements to their masterpieces. George Martin's grand orchestra is truly a pleasure to listen.
As The Beatles began to incorporate orchestral instruments more and more it is great to know how much George Martin contributed to those arrangements. I think the way you described John/Paul songs is accurate in my perception as well :)
I'm glad we have the same perception. I truly enjoy your honest reaction to the Beatles music. You're getting near the end of their catalog and I hope that this journey will enrich your original music even more and become a creative vanguard of the Beatles musical legacy :-)
@@CallMeCaroline I really do miss listening to music WITH people, and watching these videos brings me back to those times. In fact, with some of your reactions to the music (particularly "Cry Baby Cry" and "Good Night") I could not keep from crying a little...it was like all the feelings I've had all my life listening to those records came back to me because you were there....
When I first heard the White Album, what struck me most was the sound rather than the songs: so powerful, so varied. Also, I think there is a dark undercurrent to the sound, which possibly reflects the conflict within the group at the time but is not a bad thing: it adds character to the record. This is an album that transcends its era.
Yes there's a dark feel to it. Ironic that it's referred to as the white album. I think the Beatles excelled at creating mood with their music, which is why I find their lyrics less important, but definitely interesting - especially John's!
That was my thought too. Like the reference to 'suicide' in Yer Blues & 'a séance in the dark' in Cry Baby, the cascading backing vocals on Helter, even the flat horn arrangement on Natures Son seem mysterious and dark, maybe a little unnerving. It really felt like the template for 90's alt music album design. These songs were intentionally written to be played by musicians in their bedrooms, and not on stage at a concert. The Beatles really let go of the idea of songs for the stage and big audiences since quitting live shows in '66.
@@fmellish71 That's exactly what intrigues me about this album. Far cry from 'Help'! Glass Onion I always thought was a euphemism for a 'crystal ball', and the haunting ending by Paul for Cry Baby, Rev 9 itself is unnerving as well as George's ending to Long Long Long! So many little aspects that make you go... ah hah, Hmmmm!
i like the fast version better also, but I wish the Bom Shoo Be Doo Wops were included in it. If I recall, there is a bootleg version that has it. I thing it was on Indian Rope Trick. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is.
Helter Skelter imo is one of the greatest songs of all time, musically its fantastic and its impossible to love it and not move to it. It's all of the Beatles at their best. Ringo played so hard he, well had blistas on his fingas, before this we hadn't heard George play so heavy and John was right there with him. And while we all thought John was the one with the perfect rock voice, Paul definitely showed him up with this one. Haven't shown this song yet to anyone who didn't like it after.
5 months reacting to 5 years worth of recordings by four young men in their early to mid twenties. During most of this time they toured extensively, worldwide. Continually beleaguered by fans and media, attacked (condemned?) for their beliefs or lack of the right faith. Making movies, publishing books, inventing a whole new way of making records... The body of work of such quality that they managed to produce is just incredible! I heard ”She loves you” on the radio when it hit the charts, have been listening ever since and I am still discovering new things. Amazing.
What did you honestly think the first time you heard their psychedelic era recordings from 1966-67-68: Revolver, Strawberry Fields, Sgt Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, White Album... Were you blown away? Confused? Slightly disappointed at the strange direction they'd taken after their Fab Four/Beatlemania heyday? I would've loved to have been there and experienced those albums when they were first released to the unsuspecting public.
The background singers singing “birth-day” on the “I would like you to dance” portion of the song are actually Yoko Ono and Pattie Harrison. They’re also the people clapping during the bridge!
When I was young, Paul was my favorite Beatle because his amazing song writing skill and melodies. Then it was John as I appreciated his innovations and brutal honesty of his lyrics. Then at some point I started to really love George and his amazing catalog. Now, after so many years of Beatles love, I'm starting to realize how incredibly important and necessary Ringo was. His drumming is the final piece that makes it all come together (pun intended)
Even just sides 3 and 4 make this an absolute masterpiece!!! Everything from Rock to heavy Metal to 1920s music to ballads to just plain beautiful this has it all !! A lot people don't like it because of "Revolution #9" but c'mon c'mon take it easy this album is so incredible and the ending is perfect!! I LOVE this album and Caroline is always entertaining!!!
Before Abbey Road and Let it Be, there is the Yellow Submarine album which features Hey Bulldog, It's Only A Northern Song and It's All Too Much as the standout tracks. The rest of this album can be omitted. The singles you still need to check out are Lady Madonna/Inner Light, Hey Jude/Revolution (the hard rock version), Balad of John & Yoko/Old Brown Shoe, Don't Let Me Down/You Know My Name. Keep up the good work Caroline.
I'd actually love to hear Caroline react to the instrumental mood pieces from the Yellow Submarine album. She seems to like the more orchestral arrangements. I think she'd dig George Martin's soundtrack.
There was an album called Yellow Submarine Songtrack which omitted all the Blue Meanie type music, I wonder if it would make more sense to hear that? I’d kinda like to see her reaction to that whole side, being a composer herself she might find it interesting?
All together now is really catchy too, and All you need is love is great (I know she already reached to it). Basically Side 1 is great, Side 2 is filler)
I love "Only a Northern Song". Before I knew that Harrison put it together only to satisfy a contract it seemed very much like a seriously free style jazz/rock song. It made better sense when I learned the reason behind its creation. But I still LOVE it! It's actually a very complex piece and its "oddness" make me smile every time. I once told someone that "Only a Northern Song" is a musical version of how my brain thinks/works. LOL
Helter Skelter= First Proto metal song, Led Zeppelin got their sound from this song, it was the heaviest rock song ever recorded at the time. And yes it frightened many ppl lol. Sexy Sady is a song that sends chills, and a masterpiece IMHO soundwise especially. That haunting echoey piano slaps, just dreamy. I wonder how that came up with that, at the time.
The origins of "Helter Skelter" are the stuff of legend - and the story is available on Wikipedia. In short, Paul had read an interview with Pete Townsend where the latter claimed his band's single was the loudest and rawest song ever, and in response Paul wanted to make a louder and more raw sounding song than The Who. He also wanted to counter his own image with critics as the "soft" sounding Beatle. I think he succeeded.
Helter Skelter started with Paul reading a review of a record by The Who saying it was the loudest, most raucous record - so he went to the next session and said “right guys, we need to make the loudest, most raucous record…”. The noise at the end of Long Long Long is a wine bottle shaking on top of a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. And after the nightmare of Revolution #9, you get the Beatles all wishing you good night… everybody, everywhere…
As others have said, absolutely don't skip the single version of Revolution, it is the same song lyrically, but executed in a much, much different way!
@@71hammyman I get what you're saying. Both versions are fantastic and fit In there own spots i believe. Like, in my honest opinion the single version of Revolution feel out of place in the track listing on "The Beatles". But Michael Jackson sure put Revolution to good use for that Nike sneaker commercial, just kidding lol. I like both, but I do think Revolution 1 is better suited for the album as a deep track for Beatles fans they knew would be playing that record in full for many years to come. And took the all out rocking version which is an instant dopamine hit to your ears, or will grab your attention no what you are doing at the time when it comes on.
There's so much variety in this album that you're never going to like it all! Your reaction to 'Revolution 9' is the same as most of us I suspect - I'm glad it exists though. Sometimes people try and put together a conventional single-disc album from the two but the conversation always goes: Person A: "We can clearly drop X as it just filler" Person B: "But X is the best track on the album!".
@@retread1083 I feel like listening to what happened chronologically is more of a “true”experience because she would get a better idea of where the band was creatively when they actually broke up
Yes, I agree. Let It Be was only the last Beatles album because they were so unenthusiastic about it that it was shuffled off to Phil Spector to make a hash of. The End off of Abbey Road's medley should definitely be the last Beatles lyrics Caroline listens to in her survey of Beatles music.
One of my favorite anecdotes about the making of this album was about the recording of Savoy Truffle. The brass band was absolutely swinging, George Martin was blown away by the sound. Unknown to the players, George Harrison wanted that super processed, affected sound on the thee band. When the players came into the recording booth to hear the playback Harrison apologized before playing, “Sorry for what I did to your horns.” Lol. The band just shook their heads, they couldn’t understand why you’d do such a thing.
I'm really enjoying riding along with your voyage of Beatles discovery. As others have said, it's great to experience these songs "the first time" vicariously through someone who really appreciates the music. Just a note about Revolution 9--I used to skip it all the time, too...until I heard the surround mix. Giles Martin did a fantastic job of re-imaging it. Oh, by the way, I really like that jungle-print shirt.
Sexy Sadie will forever be my favorite Beatles song. I can never get sick of this song. The outro itself is musical ecstasy for me. But sadly I think not too many people pay attention to this song.
I started learning to play the piano solely because I wanted to be able to play the opening piano line of Sexy Sadie! Glad Caroline picked up on the wah wah wah backing too.
The White Album was the first album I bought. It took everything I had saved. I was 11. I think a double album was around $7 or $8 on sale here in Canada. I'm now 64 (I got older) and after living in houses all my life, I moved into an condo 4 years ago. On the ninth floor. When I get into the elevator and someone asks 'what floor?', there is only one answer: 'number nine, number nine,...' I get strange looks.
If ever I got into the same elevator with you in your condo and you say "number nine, number nine, number nine", I would smile brightly and exclaim "take this brother, may it serve you well! 😁
As others have already said, Yer Blues is sung by John. Macca has a good blues/rock voice, but Yer Blues could only be John; it's very distinctive. Great review of the album Caroline, I look forward to the next.
@@richarddefortuna2252 Deffo a Lennon song, both in lyrics and singing style. When you announced it as Macca I shouted at you "NO", just like when idiots like me shout at the tele.
I feel so privileged to have grown up listening to The Beatles’ amazing career & music! It was like they were from another more advanced planet IMHO. ❤️
Hello Caroline! I'm really enjoying your Beatles videos. A suggestion: When you move on to the next album; listen to "Let It Be" before "Abbey Road", as "Let It Be" was recorded before "Abbey Road". "Let It Be" is closer musically to "The White Album", and closing with "Abbey Road" thus make a nice arc of The Beatles musical saga. But before that I guess you have some catching up to do regarding the 1968 singles and the "new" tracks on the "Yellow Submarine" album: "Only a Northern Song", "All Together Now", "Hey Bulldog" and "It's All Too Much". We're looking forward to it! 👍
Yes, I have trouble sequencing Let it Be & Abbey Road. Which album should I listen to first? I think Let It Be should be listened to first as it is the chronological next step. Its interesting that the Beatles started sessions for Abbey road only 3 weeks after Let it Be was shelved. Did the Beatles really know that the material from Let It Be would every see the light of day? I mean, the song 'Let It Be' itself... imagine Paul simply letting that one go and moving on to being a solo artist immediately after Abbey Road? What would the world be like if Let It Be was the stuff of myth and say appearing on some bootleg or on the Anthology, or even as a rack on PMc solo album?
Thanks so much for doing this series. I look forward to each one. I can't wait for you to pick up the late singles... Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, Hey Jude/Revolution (very different from the White Album version), Ballad of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe, Don't Let Me Down and You Know My Name....
You Know My Name, the full version, not the one most ppl got the longer version (the irony, that is far from a well known song) the longer version. I doubt she will like that song per se, but she will get a kick of listening to it at least once, it is so off the wall and totally unpredictable.
@@HaleksMTL The b-side version is still the best. The humor dissipates on the long version, and some nitwit decided to fade out the "long" version too early.
"Goodnight" was written by John for Ringo. It's one of their very best! "Revolution No. 9" is a sound collage in the tradition of musique concrète whose exponents were composers like Stockhausen, Xanakis, and Varèse...just to name a few well known and admired artists. This piece, though you may never listen to it again, is quite sophisticated and noteworthy.
I'll add that the track is full of "tape loops", both forwards and backwards. At least 2 of the excerpts come from classical composers: the very end of Sibelius 7th symphony and a phrase from Schumann's Symphonic Etudes (for piano.)
YES!!!!! I am so glad that others no of Musique Concrete, it is exactly what Rev. No. 9 is, and if you really listen to it enough, it is not just random sounds, it is very organized, for a kick, go listen to it backwards. amazing work.
@@steveeliscu1254 I counted the unison Orchestral, two last notes of Sibelius 7th Symphony were used 13 times. I had started as a music student in 1982 and somehow I really got into Sibelius. I already loved Revolution 9 and was thrilled to hear the Sibelius notes in it! I love Revolution 9, although I know I'm in a minority!
The weird ending of Long Long Long was an accident. There was a bottle of wine on top of the Leslie speaker for the organ. When they played the last notes on the organ, the bottle started vibrating and rattling, so George just comes out with this crazy howl then ends with a chord on his acoustic guitar.
Helter Skelter is pretty much universally considered the beginning of heavy metal or hard rock. These are the same guys who brought you Love Me Do less than 5 years earlier.
When I was seven I was given a stack of Beatles albums and these videos remind me of my first listens. As a kid, I gravitated towards the early stuff, but today I lean towards the later stuff. It’s all a matter of individual taste and the Beatles give you a lot to choose from. Some people like the loud rock songs, some people like the soft ballads, etc….
Before I heard you say anything about it, I was gonna talk about when we first got this stuff in the `60's. No, we didn't have any pamphlets or any other info to go on, unless a music critic heard the album first and wrote about it in a magazine but, when this came out, I was 11 and didn't even know music critics even existed! I listen to you here "tearing all this stuff apart" piece by piece and it reminded me that, when we first got all these records, we just got them, put them on the record player and listened to them and, at least for me, it was just another Beatles record. I never got into all the intricacies the way you do, it was what it was and I either liked it or didn't! Another thing you have to realize is that, back then, we were already used to and expecting this kind of stuff!! We were acclimated to it so, it wasn't such a big deal, to us. EVERYBODY was doing this stuff so, it was just par for the course! The first psychedelic era was just coming to a close. We grew up through the entire process and through the entire recording history of The Beatles. Then, here YOU are, in your 20's having never heard any of this stuff before AND with what seems like a vast musical knowledge that we didn't really have and you're just brand new to this "psych" stuff after having spent all of your life with what passes for pop music, today! So, YOU'RE NOT USED to this stuff!! In a minor way, I envy you because you get to hear it for the very first time with completely fresh ears having never heard anything like this before! However, you DO lose out on the whole ethos of the style and genre and what was happening all around us at the time to help inform you of what this music is. Had you grown up with it like we did, you might've just thought it was just another band, so to speak. Not that The Beatles were EVER "just another band" but, like I said, you would've been used to it all. I guess you could say that it's like you spending your entire life in a nice warm pool or bathtub with sparklingly clean water and then, suddenly being tossed into a brown creek of cold water, fish swimming around in it, a bunch of rocks on the bottom, a bunch of sand or mud, frogs, tadpoles, a bit of wildlife from time to time, maybe some underwater weeds hitting your legs, maybe some smart ass decides to drop a truck load of Fizzies into it and someone else adds various types of food colouring to it and maybe a shark to make it interesting and you just have NO IDEA what's coming next or what this new experience is all about! On the other hand, I DON'T envy you because, like the T-shirt says, "I may be old, but I got to see all the cool bands!!". I don't have to rely on books or someone 40 years older than me to tell me what it was like. Now, I wonder, is Carolyn gonna listen to the Anthology albums, too? How about their solo stuff, specially the first few years of their solo stuff? Have you, with your apparent classical training, ever heard anything by Spike Jones? By the way, a few years ago, at least one group of people actually did a live performance of "Revolution 9"!! At least one of them came pretty close. Also, to appreciate it, as I do, you have to have an idea of what went into making it and how it was done. Might I suggest you take a music class in Musique Concret? I'm sure it'll help!
Haven't heard this full album in so very long, and I'm reminded and dazzled by Paul McCartney's ability to create such masterful melodies, and to sing them so effortlessly. He was amazing.
"Cry Baby Cry" is the fourth best song on the whole album for me, right after the great trio of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, and Martha My Dear.
Don't forget all important singles recorded during the same years: Lady Madonna, Hey Jude and The Ballad of John and Yoko. Also, the next album is "Yellow Submarine" with only 4 real new songs to listen to, unless you also want to listen to all B side entirely made up by George Martin. I guess it's interesting but it's your choice 🤗 Thank you for these videos again 🤗
@@ead630 That is the flip side of "Hey Jude". Not really a "B" side, though. Some of the later b-sides are also interesting: "The Inner Light", "Old Brown Shoe" and "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)...
The music on the white album stands so well on its own that it goes beyond the context of the time when it was written- which was pretty intense. Much more intense than today, I think. Nice work once again, Caroline!
Remember as a ten-year-old listening to this record in 1968 trying to grasp the meaning of these songs. In retrospect, the anti-war movement in the US and U.K. was in full swing. Young people hung onto every word of the Beatles, Dylan and The Stones for some indication on where they stood on social issues. Revolution 1 is a clear statement to the youth political groups that they were not in favor of violent revolution against The Establishment.
They recorded Revolution 1, which carried on for quite a long time after the point where it fades on the album. Then John and Yoko started adding stuff over the ending, which gradually turned into the separate piece Revolution 9. They released a longer version of Revolution 1 (take 18) in the White Album box set from 2018, which is available on RUclips. The band spent time in Rishikesh in 1968 with the "guru" Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John became somewhat disenchanted with him, and wrote Sexy Sadie about him - although the lyrics were apparently considerably toned down for the record. According to George Harrison John based Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey upon things the Maharishi would frequently say - "apart from the bit about the monkey." The second disc (i.e. sides 3 and 4) is definitely patchier than the first. But then no two people can agree on which songs on The White Album should have been left off. I'll be interested to see your ranking video, if you're still going to do that.
What I like about the White Album is there is such a variety of music of practically every kind of music there is and describes the Beatles career perfectly.
It’s amazing - but not very surprising - to see so many comments that reflect the way I feel about this album. The individual songs are wildly diverse and uneven in quality, but on repeated listening the album as a whole is woven together to make an emotional journey that’s way bigger than the sum of its parts.
I got the white album when I was 14. I remember sitting in my grandma’s house air drumming with my headphones on for hours on end. I got it on CD, so I think of it as disc 1 and 2, but I definitely have much more connection with the first half than the second. I’ve certainly listened to it plenty since then, but watching you hear it for the first time just brought me right back. I could even smell the old headphones I used to wear. Your last video brought me to tears a couple times, and my eyes definitely got watery during Good Night on this one.
Yoko and Pattie (George's wife) are singing the back-up "Birthday"!/Most people skip "Revolution #9", don't worry! (not me, but most people!)/I love how you vibed with "Long Long Long" and "Cry Baby Cry", two of my favorites from those sides. Back in the vinyl days, if your record was in bad shape, you could hardly hear "Long Long Long" underneath all the crackling!!!!/You're right there was no Google. So what happened was Charles Manson listened to this album, thought it was talking to him directly about starting a revolution, and that's when he sent out his followers to commit horrific murders. He based his whole cult around this album. Unbelievable./ I LOVE how much you appreciated "Good Night"! It's the only way you could end this album! From "Revolution #9"....to "Good Night". From "Helter Skelter".....to "Julia". What couldn't these guys do? :P They just threw all of those classic songs into the world, all at once. Back then everyone did covers so you had Ella Fitzgerald singing "Savoy Truffle" and all sorts of oddball covers! :P
I also think you (Caroline, and any other fan that wants to) should listen to the outtakes and rejects from this time period. One song that I found REALLY different and yet still moving is "Good Night" with John Lennon doing the lead vocals. I'm glad they gave it to Ringo, but John did do it with his own style. You know, I probably just forgot in my old age, but did you skip "I'm So Tired"? Again on the outtake, it was Paul singing it. And he put his own humour in it. Kind of like the 70s band America, the two lead artists (Paul & John) have their own styles which blend so well for an album. John is usually much more gritty and "in your face" whereas Paul is more about saccharine ballads (with some exceptions eg-John's "Julia" and Paul's "Helter Skelter" definitely break that mold!) George is really coming into his own, and I think thru the entire Beatles lineup, Ringo only wrote one song (his song on the Abbey Road album) For the most part, the other 3 write for Ringo
@@SJHFoto I've heard every single outtake, live performance, radio performance interview, alternate mixes, 80 hours of "Let It Be" audio, the whole bird, I've heard it all.. PS: There is not an outtake of John singing "Good Night". Paul and George Martin desperately tried to find such an outtake as Paul had a memory of John singing it but the best they could find is a John playing guitar while Ringo sings it. Anyways that whole "John was more like this and Paul was more like that" is garbage. They both sang rockers and both sang ballads from the very earliest radio performances and albums, right till the end. PSS: Ringo wrote "Don't Pass Me By" on this album. In the Beatle years he has two songwriter credits to himself, plus he has a song-writer credit on "What Goes On". (I'm not counting his songwriter credit for "Flying").
@@SJHFoto There's a demo-y version of him singing harmony, backing Ringo up, where he's playing the "Dear Prudence/Julia" guitar pattern. There is no version of John singing lead on "Good Night".
Where can you even start on Revolution 9? Easily the most divisive Beatles song. As an avant garde art piece, designed to terrify and make the audience uncomfortable, it ABSOLUTELY succeeds. It makes the audience think like almost no other Beatles song, and is captivating in the most terrifying way. ON THE OTHER HAND, it's incredibly difficult to listen to and can be argued that it doesn't belong at all on a Beatles album. For those seeking challenge, it's a blessing. For those looking to sit down and enjoy a good listen, it's easily the worst Beatles song. Interesting hearing your thoughts!
They should have substituted a couple more Harrison songs for this piece of crap that had no business ever being on a Beatles album. At this point Harrison was really coming into his own as a songwriter.
Hard to believe that songs like "All Things Must Pass" were turned down and Revolution 9 made the cut! Revolution 9 always reminds me of The Great Gonzo in the Muppet show - the sketch where he is repeatedly hitting himself on the head while shouting "Art, Art, Art!".
It is said that John really didn't like "Cry Baby Cry", some say he even hated it. But as for me, "Cry Baby Cry" is my all time favourite Beatles song. I'm glad you liked it too. Greetings from Mexico! 🙋🏽♂️ P.S. "Let It Be" should be the next one since it was recorded before "Abbey Road". I think you'll notice the musical continuity that makes it logical to listen to "Let It Be" first.
Cry Baby Cry is amazing. Long, Long, Long is incredible, but both of them are better in the context of the overall album. Still one of my favourite all-time albums.
Helter Skelter was made with the intention to write the heaviest song ever (up to that point) - and is often quoted as one of the earliest examples of what developed into Heavy Metal :)
I love how it looks like she's having a GREAT time enjoying the songs on side 3, only to state "I'm having a bit of trouble getting into these..." midway through, LOLOLOL Kudos for immediately understanding what makes "Long Long Long" so special, however. Of course, probably the thing EVERYONE had been waiting for for months now was seeing the expression on your face as "Revolution 9" progressed. And--trust me, you may not think so now, but you WILL end up hearing it again. And, you will probably even come to appreciate it, although from your comments it sounds like you already appreciate what it took to make that back in 1968. There was literally nothing like it, not even the avant-garde sound collages it was based on came close to what Lennon and Ono did there. And of course everyone already knew you'd love "Good Night", given that you like all these Disney numbers you keep reviewing for your channel. The song is a parody of that type of song, but also curiously earnest as well.
You're obviously a musician and as I commented on for your first White Album vid, it's great to hear someone who understands harmony, instrumentation, and arrangements as you do. It makes for a deeper, more compelling reaction. I love that you were using the sheet music at the same time. Cheers.
Listening to Caroline's analyses it is now obvious to me that The Beatles are the greatest band ever. No other group has ever covered such a creative range. Goodnight is Ringo's greatest vocal, and is best listned to after Revolution* 9.
@@braudabo I didn't mean great vocals in the general sense, merely that I considered his singing on this particular song to be his best effort within the group. Goodnight is the most sophisticated song musically in the Starkey canon, and required a fair bit of effort on the drummer's part to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the heavily orchestrated album closer. I like 'I wanna be your Man' too, but I still prefer Goodnight. Just personal taste.
My favourite song sung by Ringo is "With a Little Help From My Friends". One of the very best stand-alone tunes on Sgt Pepper and miles better than Joe Cocker's overrated, bombastic cover version.
Hi. It's Gaz here from the Yarra Valley in VIC. Just been watching & really enjoying your reaction to the The Beatles. It's because I have been a fan of them since 1964. (I'm 61). They continue to help& inspire me every me day of my life. They were & still are the best ...... ever.......... Gaz
Rev 9 is like a sound-movie. The Beatles were aware of experimental movies and classical composers of the late 60's like Stockhausen and Cage. McCartney has name-dropped Jean Lud Goddard before and liking his movies. Revolution 9 is influenced by this, as more artists were too (like Jim Morrison, Velvet Underground - Andy Warhol, Frank Zappa) bur it also captures all the political turmoil of the year (Prague Spring, Vietnam protests, MLK/RFK). I don't look forward to listening to it and sometimes skip it, but when I do listen, I'm fascinated and appreciate the slice of time it captures). To have the incredible confidence to include it, just shows how monumetally talented and respected they were.
Always reminded me of tuning through shortwave or DXing AM radio bands in the middle of the night. On a good audio system that throws a wide sound stage, it's phenomenal.
mother nature's son is right there with blackbird for me as the years pass...and Paul's vocal going from mother nature's son to helter skelter on his two consecutive songs(only seperated by sexy sadie) , and then honey pie being his next song is just staggering. This is a real foreshadowing of the full display of his ability to shift vocal styles which would appear on abbey road side b a year later...many high spots on this album...long long long is my favorite harrison song for instance and cry baby cry is among my lennon favorites..but Paul's vocals are just dazzling......
Even if Paul never wrote a single song or never played awesome basslines or never learned to play the piano he’d still be famous for that voice. It’s one of his greatest assets for sure!
You’re not wrong about the making of Revolution 9, it was a production of epic scale. Remember that everything was on analog tapes and they had very few tracks to work with. These days all of the tracks can be seen on the screen and you can slide them around, clip them, do whatever. Back then edits were done with razor blades and tape and you had to visualize and keep track of things in your head and with hand written notes. It was considered quite a avant-garde at the time but has always been considered the Beatles worst “song.” I think outside the context of what was ostensibly a pop record this would have had more acceptance as a sound experiment.
I think a lot of people miss the historical basis for "Revolution 9", it's the kind of composition that was happening for several decades when tape technology and early electronic instruments first appeared. It makes a lot more sense when you've heard the work of Varèse, Stockhausen, Xenakis, etc. And of course, Frank Zappa was the big pioneer of fusing avant-garde ideas with blues and rock and jazz, so he would have understood what The Beatles were doing wholeheartedly.
This is probably a more superficial take but, for me, "Revolution 9" made so much more sense after hearing Take 18 of "Revolution 1"; the mellow arrangement with its cautionary lyrics gradually morphs into a more chaotic insanity, and then "9" is the calm before the 2nd wave kicks in ending with fire and football chants.
I just discovered you, and I'm thrilled to hear someone experiencing The Beatles (Not just this album; I've watched almost all of your videos.) Love your reactions and analyses. I'm glad that you didn't know some of the back stories. ("Julia" is John Lennon's mother, "Sexy Sadie" was originally called "Maharishi" because they figured out he was a sham guru.) You're just brilliant and I wish you all the best.
18:40 Paul loved all kinds of music, and before rock 'n roll, he was already writing English Music Hall tunes. Ditties he could play on the cabaret circuit, and keep writing songs and singing for a living. Just because he found rock 'n roll and met John, continuing a band playing mostly rock and r&b tunes, doesn't mean he ever lost his appreciation for 1920s to 1940s style crooner songs, or for ballads such as She's Leaving Home. I fell in love with that eclecticism in The Beatles as a child on the 60s & 70s, but many fans seem impatient with these Tin Pan Alley inspired McCartney songs.
George Harrison composed "Savoy Truffle" inspired by a box of assorted candies he saw at Eric Clapton's house. He wanted to see how the sound of the words matched the music.
The sound at the end of "Long Long Long" was a wine bottle on top of a revolving speaker. The vibration caused by a specific note on the organ set the bottle rattling and they decided to keep it in. The "I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!" outburst from Ringo at the end of Helter Skelter...well, he DID have blisters on his fingers...after playing that hard for so many takes! Helter Skelter itself was Paul trying to go as heavy as he could.
My junior high school held annual Beatles dances for at least 5 years running, playing Beatles' music exclusively. Thank you to Bob Evans for sharing his passion for the lads with so many students through this annual event--when we were fab.
Hello Caroline. I just want to address your struggling issues. I'm a 72 year old Mexican /American who just moved to Mexico. As a young kid I was fortunate to experience the British invasion of music. Because of this I started playing Bass guitar and singing in many Rocking n Roll bands. Okay! enough of me. Sorry to hear about your struggles with everything you've attempted to do. But this popped into my head. What a incredible position to be in. Don't look at it as a mistake. Most young people would love to have those amazing opportunities in there lives. And they don't! Yes, it's a little much. But it gives you the ability to pull back a little and choose what you love more. But because you know how to do all those things you can always do them later in life. Good luck! By the way, love your reflections of the Beatles White album. Ernesto De La Cruz
“Long, Long, Long,” is one of George Harrison’s most underrated songs.
And one of Ringo's crowning moments.
@@Bassman2353 100%, his drumming is crazy good on this song.
Along with It's All Too Much
Totally agree. It might be my favorite George songs. Something about the way it plods along just sounds like desperation to me. And the dreamy quality. Mmmmm.
very haunting. i can't imagine it being covered any of today's pop singers. the ending sounds like a coffin closing.
Yer Blues, lead vocal by MCCARTNEY???? Gurrrrl, you done been had!
Happy little accident.
Right
She doesn’t have a clue! Everyone knows it’ Lennon.
I kept waiting for her to correct herself, after listening to the song. We all make mistakes, it's just that, that one was a glaring one.
In all fairness, she was just given some wrong intel; and not being a savvy Beatle fan, she couldn't know otherwise. I remember when I first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever," (going back to the 70s when I was a kid whose Mom bought him the Red and Blue anthologies) I thought it was Ringo taking lead vocals in the 2nd verse. 😄
I love “Honey Pie.” It’s part of what John called Paul’s “granny songs.” But, songs like that helped give the band amazing versatility and staying power.
John played the tasty little lead lick on guitar in there, so he couldn't have hated it too much.
Actually he called them “granny shit,” and he was right for the most part. Paul just could not stop himself from going back to that Dancehall pastiche style he loves so much. And it continued on into his solo career. Ironic that it was Lennon who wrote “Good Night,” which is the most cloying and saccharine of them all. It’s practically unlistenable with that awful choir.
@@jayburdification why don’t you tell us what you really think.
@@crisjunfan2139 it’s the only Beatles song I have an adversarial relationship with. I just can’t stand muzaky choirs, they make my ears bleed.
@@jayburdification “Good Night “ is awful, compared to any song of that style Paul wrote.
Revolution No. 9: it was weird enough when I heard it as a 16 year old, but imagine my parents, who were born in the 1920s, hearing it from the next room! They had questions … lots of questions.
I grew into Revolution 9. Perhaps because I was into radio and sound effects, but I found it very effective, like a movie...and then it fading out, and into "Good Night" - still gives me chills
Even your parents had questions...
Lol that's a very interesting Beatles story
it's one of the very few "songs" i don't like.
Rev. 9 is good if you're high on majua.
I love the fact that this band have both Till There Was You and Revolution 9 in its discography. I don't think that sort of diversity exists in any other pop artists' recorded output.
Damn straight!👍
Brilliant observation
gettin' high will do that to a group.
It is that very eclecticism that makes the Beatles so popular. If you don't like a song, just wait around and one that you do like will come along soon enough.
And Good Night and Helter Skelter in the same record.
When you get to the singles from this period, make sure not to skip the single version of "Revolution." It's very different and much more famous.
And actually good
_Ay-OOOOOOOO_
Damn I wasn’t expecting to see you here
The single version of Revolution is one of my top five Beatles songs.
And the live clip is friggin awesome too
@@HaleksMTL *The "live" clip
It still blows my mind that the same guy singing Mother Natures Son, I will, Honey Pie is the same guy singing Helter Skelter.
And temporary secretary
Lennon originally wanted 'Sexy Sadie' to be called 'Maharishi' but was talked out of it. It's a song about how disillusioned Lennon was by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during the Beatles' visit to India - apparently the Maharishi made some very unwelcome advances to Mia Farrow, who was there with her sister Prudence (see also 'Dear Prudence').
Maharishi had a woody....
Yeah listening to it again bringing back "Maharishi" and knowing that...
The girls didn't think anything of magic Alex's slur on the Maharishi. It appears to be his attempt to controll Lennon but he proved himself a fraud when back in London!
It was just a gossip and George Harrsion later apologised.
Probably a false accusation from Mia, as she's very fond of doing that.
As stated in the comment above, it was all a vicious rumour and gossip.
Reputation destruction.
Historical context is big with this album. A lot of turmoil in the world at that time is admirably reflected in the angst, uproar and compassion expressed in these recordings.
Such a great point, I didn't consider that!
A lot of turmoil within the band as well
@@mrorangejules1035 Not nearly as much as Lennon and fans ginned up....
wait really it was exaggerated? @@dcaccavo1
It is strange watching someone actually hearing these songs for the very first time. These songs have been a part of my DNA for 40 years. In fact I could not imagine my life without The Beatles being in it.
It really is strange watching that. It makes me wish I could hear this record again for the first time.
Yeah, it's just a pity she feels the need to analyse every track on what she says is her 'first' listen. I think these reaction videos work best when the listener just sits back and shows their reaction through the expression on their faces. I can appreciate the desire to analyse and break down the construction and meaning of the songs. We all went there, but first time out just listened. I don't know why, but it truly p*ssed me off when she started reading about the Revolution 9 track before listening to it. That spoilt the whole process for me.
Long, long, long is one of those Beatles gems that most people overlook.
agreed. Probably because George generally gets overlooked, or perhaps overshadowed is the right word but for me he was easily on par with Lennon/McCartney in terms of quality in the later years.
I love the song. It's interesting that they listed the quietest song after the loudest.
It’s kind of a boring song
It's a beautiful song.
It’s the best ‘non Beatles’ Beatles song in my opinion and has always been on my favourites list. Someone above describes it as boring which it certainly isn’t
As an ancient Beatles fan, I get a huge kick out of hearing her thoughts on this music I've heard a million times. She sometimes introduces ideas that I had never thought of but can really sink my teeth into. I find it interesting her 2 apparent favorites from the White Album are 'Long, Long, Long' and 'Good Night'--You don't come across that opinion every day. Poor thing had to sit all the way through 'Revolution 9', with headphones, no less.
I Will, Rocky Racoon, Julia, Long, Long, Long and Good Night, might not be the best rockers out of the album -if you ever try to judge them by those merits, they will never top a chart, but they shine on sheer poetry. In my opinion some of the best songs on the album; they perfectly balance to the abrasive rock (and avant garde!) numbers so the album hits every corner equally. It is truly their best record.
Ikr, I thought for sure Mother Nature’s Son would score the win in that category, and I also figured she would like Honey Pie more. And yeah, I wouldn’t want to have to commit to all 9 minutes of that. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone who actually LIKES to listen to that. Even people who have good things to say about it admit to habitually skipping it lol; honestly tho, I think even I would be a fan of Good Night if that were the first thing I listened to after I listened to the entirety of Rev 9, and I think I might even be fond of Long Long Long if I heard it directly following whatever nonsense is in the final minute and a half of Helter Skelter (especially if I had Caroline’s sort of taste and wasn’t super into the heft behind the rest of the song either). I’m curious to see if her opinions change a bit after having some time removed from the initial reaction and going back through some of the ones that piqued her interest, but that she didn’t immediately fall in love with (Lord knows I had to do that myself many times). I think it might be best if she gives herself a bit of space between this reaction and her ranking video for that reason. Anyway, spiel over
@@aidanvannynatten2787 Ever since I came to the conclusion that the white album is the best, I've never skipped Revolution 9. Specially rewarding if you are on LSD or Shrooms.
@@jovenintensa 🤔 interesting theory…
Long Long Long has always been one of my favorites on the album. I'm always surprised most people don't agree! I'm glad Caroline does!
Great stuff. The White Album is a journey, and at times not an easy one. But in terms of creativity and inspiration and variation of sounds it's perhaps unmatched in musical history. As others have commented on your videos, just think where this band started in 1963 with "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" compared to where they were at this point, in late-1968 (just FIVE YEARS later!!!!!) releasing an album of 30 songs that pushed the boundaries of music to places never seen before. You're in classic Beatles territory now. The White Album, Abbey Road, Let it Be. And definitely dont forget the singles (Hey Jude/Revolution). Within 18 months of the release of The White Album, the band had split up.
The Beatles were a blaze, a torrent of creativity, blasting through the 60's...and then they were gone.
@@Turtledove2009 "They're still here. You are not alone....you are not...alone." - Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople)
The split was actually only 10 months later. The Beatles effectively disbanded in September '69, and even if it was a bit uncertain at the time, it turned out to be true.
@@57too Dr Who getting this same message from the 'Face of Bo' during the epic David Tennent years. 'You are NOT alone'; the Master's (Derek Jacobi) cover name being called Dr YANA (Y.A.N.A. = 'You are NOT alone'). Not relevent I know but as a kid in the 1960's my world was represented by the Beatles AND Dr Who! Are you an alien as well?? Ironic!
She will be sad at the end of Abbey Road, if she listens to it as the last album, because of the way it ....ends ... so Ominous, and then you know they will never make music together again, too bad digital albums can't have secret songs, like LP's could, where you wouldn't know a secret track could pop up after the supposed last song. Just to surprise you ;)
"Yer Blues" - Vocals not by McCartney but as you probably could tell upon hearing, John Lennon, as well as written by him.
It's one of my favorite Beatles tracks for its rawness, even though I love their multi-layered studio work. Lennon occasionally performed this song after the band broke up.
"Helter Skelter" was named after (and loosely written about) a carnival ride of the same name. You went up to the top of a tower structure and went down a slide that wrapped around the tower.
"When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide, where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride, till I get to the bottom and I see you again..." and later " "I'm comin down fast I'm miles above you..."
Musically, I think it was meant to resemble a loud, lively carnival ride.
Killer/cult leader Charles Manson used the title for his plan of murders. You may have read about this. He believed that this album (not just that song) was telling him the prophecy of the end of days. He believed "Helter skelter, it's comin' down fast" meant the end is neigh. He believed he heard messages in Revolution #9 about an imminent race war and all kinds of crazy things.
Speaking of Revolution #9, I don't think it referred to the kind of revolution like in Revolution#1.
On #9, I think they were referring to an alternate meaning or revolution: going around and around, like a record. Maybe it's supposed to mean both.
Oh, btw, Caroline, just so you know, the version of "Revolution" used as a single is a different version, so when you hear the singles, you won't want to skip that one. Great reaction!
I remember the Helter Skelter ride in Southport, 20 miles north of Liverpool, they are probably talking about that fairground ride.
You have an album that goes from heavy metal (the birth of heavy metal) with Helter Skelter to a sweet and lovely ballad with Good Night. That tells you two things: 1) The Beatles had the immense talent to do whatever they wanted and 2) The Beatles had the audacity and courage to do whatever they wanted. Most bands would find a sound and groove and stay comfortable and safe with what works. The Beatles really didn't give a damn. Maybe their popularity gave them that freedom but I also think they knew they were the best ever and genius doesn't pay attention to convention.
Not really. They always played a wide range of styles as most of the Scouse/Mersey Beat groups did. From straight rock n' roll (Keep Your Hands Off My Baby) to show tunes (Till There Was You). In fact you only have to look at their failed audition at Decca from 01 January 1962 to see the genesis of their eclectic song choices. Three Cool Cats, The Sheik Of Araby, Besamy Mucho, Sure To Fall, To Know Her Is To Like Her, Money (That's What I Want). Effectively, as a group they created their own sound but were happy to visit all the musical genres that they and George Martin could think of.
When it comes to Revolution 9 followed by Good Night, music reviewer Charles Shaar Murray said it was as if the Beatles gave us nightmares than sang us to sleep. This was back in the 90s, so it was a retrospective review, but it's still well observed.
On Revolution 9, you're either fascinated by it or repulsed by it. Personally, I find it a fascinating piece, and look forward to lines like "everybody in the field knew that as time went by they'd get a little bit older and a little bit slower" and "take this, brother, may it serve you well". If it's not for you now, I don't think it'll ever be, but I do think it rewards multiple listens. Interestingly, in the US, fans were somewhat forewarned of Revolution 9 because John and Yoko's first experimental album, Two Virgins, had been released earlier that month. Here in the UK, on the other hand, we were completely in the dark. I say that someone who wasn't even born at the time, but I can imagine just what a huge shock it would have been. When I first heard Revolution 9, I was familiar with early house music, especially Paul Hardcastle's 19, so that was a frame of reference for me, at least.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one. There is something about that track that fascinates me, just like Caroline said it feels like as if we're going back in time or something. Like George Martin said it feels like painting an auditory picture.
Revolution 9 is an amazing venture into "Musique concrète", where composers create an acoustic assemblage using recorded sounds. Not what one expects from a pop or rock band, and certainly ground-breaking at that time!
@@parissimons6385Yes exactly! It kind of hurts when people just talk of it as nothing but a throwaway.
Revolution 9 is a masterpiece, especially considering the technology available at the time
Everyone of them knew that as time went by
They'd get a little bit older and a little bit slower is the correct lyric
Nice to see the reaction to "Goodnight," to the arrangement and to Ringo's singing. Lennon evidently wrote the song for Ringo's voice although he had himself recorded singing it. Geoff Emerick, the album's engineer, writes about this in his memoir "Here, There & Everywhere," and describes how beautifully haunting Lennon's version was. That tape was erased accidentally, which caused Emerick much grief. If we could only hear that!
It's easy to understand her reaction to Goodnight. After the massive disappointment of most of sides 3 and 4, closing on a beautiful song made it even more powerful for me than if it stood alone.
@@retread1083 Well said. She's clearly distressed by this album, especially the sides you mention, but trying to put a brave face on things.
Give it just a couple years, we will be able to have a music generation AI recreate Lennon singing it.
@@jaredf6205 I'm afraid you're right. And about the same time, they'll have genetically recreated the woolly mammoth. It will be an amazing facsimile of the real thing, although a little voice in the back of our head will be saying "but you know it's not the real thing."
I never knew that.. Wow that woulda been awesome 👍
It's totally normal to not be in love with every track of the White Album. George Martin recommended they take the 14 best songs and make one superb LP, but for various personal and commercial reasons the band chose to issue the double LP.
The "Hey Jude" / "Revolution" single that came from these sessions is one of the best ever.
Yes, the double album is great, but George Martin did have a point, i`m a huge Beatles fan, but there are some fillers that i could have done without, and i`m pretty sure Revolution 9 is the only Beatles song i`ve only listened to once
I think that just 6 or 8 songs could be cut from the album. The rest is superb - many genres and styles.
@@gejuje I always have to break a lance for "9". 😁 As a collage it turned out quite well, has a remarkable - typically Beatles-aesthetic and aptly describes the sound of the rebellious year 1968. I could have done without "Mother nature's son", Martha, my dear", "Don't pass me by "and "Good Night".
@@gejuje It's pretty obvious they could've made a super cut that is up there in quality, but what makes the White Album special is that it's a big ass album that's impossible to summarise concisely. In retrospect Abbey Road, Sgt. Peppers or Revolver would have been better crafted albums no matter what they did with White Album because they were made that way, Sgt. Peppers has what, 3 hit songs that would stand on their own? That's not what makes it a great album, White Album has its own identity.
@@Spaced92 I don`t disagree with that, it`s just one of the very few albums where i ( in the old days) lifted the pickup to skip songs, because i didn`t think they were up to normal Beatles standard
I think when you hear Ring o say goodnight everybody everywhere you understand the appeal of the Beatles. Everyone is included. No one is left out or left behind. The music is made and given with real love, as John put it. It has a magical healing effect on the listener.
And, it's so blissfully perfect that this is the last song and that the last words on the album are from Mr. Starkey.
"Goodnight" is a lovely song. But if Ringo's vocal had been mixed further forward and the overall volume increased, it would have enhanced it more.
"Goodnight" was written by John for 5 yr old Julian similar to what he did years later with "Beautiful Boy" for then 5 year old Sean. John gave the song to Ringo to sing and even showed him how he wanted it sung. Though it was 1968 John still had his hard core "rocker" image he wanted to uphold and didn't want to come across as too soft, so he gave it to Ringo who does a great job with it. Still though would have loved to have heard John sing it.
John wanted Ring o to sing Grow Old With Me too. Turns out he was right in both cases. Ring o nails it perfectly. That's just one of the many genius moments of John.
John described it as "possibly 'over lush'." I'd agree. Some of the arrangements from the 2018 version are preferable to me. One of the very rare songs in which I think their arrangement didn't serve this gorgeous song well.
This came out in my Jr year HS. A friend of mine had a party for the Sr grads. He had a majorly outstanding audio system, speakers strung through every room. Totally HiFi. I got there early, he put me in charge of playing the records [should I say spinning the disks?] and handed me this double LP. I put on head phones and started it up, standing, swaying, sort of dancing. Flipped it, sat down. Played through all four sides. ABSOLUTELY amazed, fully taken in. So I played it again. And again. Ended up lying on my back, headphones sweated to my head. I'm not sure how many times, or how long before Rudy said it was time to leave - nearly dawn. Every jewel glowed. Oh - and you asked what we thought about Revolution #9. I was fascinated, transported (though I'm not sure where). That was the effect of every cut. A trip I willingly, eagerly even, took - handing myself over completely, trusting the Beatles to take me out and bring me home. Goodnight everybody, everywhere.
What a lovely comment, and memory! I had a somewhat similar experience with Sergeant Pepper, and later with Abbey Road. :-)
I got my friend to play the whole thing at a pool party. Another friend sat there in a corner by the speakers and just listened quietly. Finally he just blurted, "EVERY song is good. Like, every song."
I think my favourite transition on the White Album is Helter Skelter to Long Long Long. George's beautiful, gentle melody being the perfect antidote to Paul's raucous energy in the previous song. A similar kind of effect is heard in the transition from Revolution 9 to Goodnight, but if you skip R9 you won't get that.
I highly recommend listening to the Goodnight sequence on the deluxe version of The Beatles to hear how the song evolved.
There is another more interest transition going on with “Why don’t we do It in road? I will, Julia”. This track placement is believed to be deliberated.
@@nicolas1400 same with Helter Skelter / Long Long Long and Revolution 9 /Good Night.
This album and Abbey Road have George’s best contributions to the Beatles discography, IMO. I love all six songs for different reasons.
If you're going to listen to the next step of The Beatles' musical evolution, the Let It Be album should be the logical followup to the White Album since it was recorded just 2 months later
Don't forget to squeeze in the 4 tracks on Yellow Submarine that aren't available on any of the other albums or singles.
@@Vince_Steele YES 💯
Just a observation, the lead vocals in Yer Blues are by Lennon
The fact that you didn't love everything on this record at first listen is part of what makes this album such a deep one. It's an entire universe unto itself that offers a lifetime of rediscovery. Most of the other records are what they are, all of them masterpieces, but when you put Revolver or Help or even Abbey Road on, you know what's going to happen, but this record is so deep and varied, ti conitinually surprises you.
Beatles music, as with fine wine, must be savoured to be appreciated. I hope she has enough of the bug to re-listen and the appreciate its depths.
I ALWAYS get teary eyed when I hear Goodnight. It’s such a beautiful song.
Not going to lie. There still is one more version of revolution left! It’s on the b-side of the Hey Jude single. It’s definitely a screamer. John Lennon is a rocker at heart. He adored all of the Beatles songs that put rock and roll first and revolution (single) was one of his favorites.
Two more versions if you count the official promotional film clip which includes the shooby-doo-wops, that were removed from the single release.
The single version is one of their best songs. I've always hated the neutered version.
@@Vince_Steele Three if you include The Esher demo, which is also great, but different.
Actually Revolution I is the version John wanted - Both Paul and George Harrison told him if they speed it up it would be a smash single. Hence the fast version went on the “B” (Double A side really) side of the Hey Jude single. The controversy with the song is the line “You can count me out” followed by “In” in the background. The song was John’s answer to the hippies who were begging him to make a song about their revolution- hence the line “…if you carry pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow” - the hippies didn’t like his response. 😀
@@justinpenn9250 Yeah, I know John wanted the slower one, which blows my mind. He did acknowledge the harder one was more commercial.
I think he had been hanging out with Mike Love too long in India and got "shoobedoo" fever.
This album is an absolute explosion of ideas - it might not be their best album but it's my favourite of the lot.
Narrator: It was their best album.
Narrator: Admittedly, that's one opinion. But the fact that Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album, and Abbey Road are *all* frequently cited as "their best album" speaks volumes about the consistent quality of the Beatles' work.
@@Malacandra Picking one is pretty much impossible! I guess what I meant was that they made tighter albums but I love the way this one sprawls :)
@@matp8493 I agree, and was responding to Andrew James, who pretty much implied that this was settled!
@@aquamarine99911 No doubt that there are lots of good songs on the WA but to me, that wasn't The Beatles. It was each individual Beatle. I prefer the days when they sang songs together, with harmonies, most favorably the songs with Lennon on lead vocals.
Heater Skelter was basically Paul shutting up critics who said he couldn't rock as hard as other bands. Some people consider this to be the first heavy metal rock song.
I heard it was his impression of The Who. He loved a good homage.
@@SamAronow Yeah, because of the critics saying that I Can See For Miles from The Who was the heaviest song ever and then Paul took a challenge himself to make a heavier song. And he did it.
@@GheberAlien Pete Townsend said that about I Can See For Miles before it was released. He was talking about heavy lyrics. I think Paul thought he meant heavy music.
@@debjorgo yeah, that's it
I’ve heard the isolated bass on RUclips for “Helter Skelter” before. It’s worth at least one listen. There’s almost a garage punk band vibe to it. HS sounds more like a punk song than metal.
The second half of the White Album is a grower Caroline! Maybe not as instantly grabbing as the first half but there are some real growers in there! But the White Album, on repeated listens really works together as one project. Its magnificent and beautifully flawed! Its many fans favourite - its certainly my favourite! Loving your thoughtful warm and entertaining reactions as always Caroline!
Conor, what you say is so true. The Beatles Albums were so different from each other, as they insisted artistically to grow, musicality, rather than produce "formulaic" songs. As a result, our ears had been so acquainted, with many listenings, to the style on their previous album, that is why it took a number of listening to the newest album to fully appreciate them. The flavor of the newest album being like an acquired, but more mature, taste.
@@wizdym4aolcom When the album came out, I was 12. I was first into Side 1, then a couple of years later I was partial to side 2. In college I was partial to side 3 and 4. By the time I was 30 I could no longer pick a side!
The White album is dripping with British eccentricity, which is why I love it!
I'm glad you liked the "Good Night" song. This was composed by John Lennon.
After listening to many of the Beatle's songs, especially John Lennon songs, you'd begin to realize that John's compositions are usually dissonant, disturbing, and cutting-edge. You'd love Paul's compositions because his songs are usually happy, upbeat, and melodic. But if John were to write something stately, melodic, and beautiful just like Paul's, that song would be "Good Night". Personally, I rank "Good Night" in the same regard as Paul's "Yesterday".
George Martin, the Beatles record producer, is a classically-trained musician and he is the one who wrote the orchestral arrangement for the song. George Martin is truly the fifth Beatle, interpreting the Beatles intent and writing accompanying musical arrangements to their masterpieces. George Martin's grand orchestra is truly a pleasure to listen.
As The Beatles began to incorporate orchestral instruments more and more it is great to know how much George Martin contributed to those arrangements. I think the way you described John/Paul songs is accurate in my perception as well :)
I'm glad we have the same perception.
I truly enjoy your honest reaction to the Beatles music. You're getting near the end of their catalog and I hope that this journey will enrich your original music even more and become a creative vanguard of the Beatles musical legacy :-)
@@CallMeCaroline I really do miss listening to music WITH people, and watching these videos brings me back to those times. In fact, with some of your reactions to the music (particularly "Cry Baby Cry" and "Good Night") I could not keep from crying a little...it was like all the feelings I've had all my life listening to those records came back to me because you were there....
John also wrote "This Boy," and "Because" on "Abbey Road".
@@CallMeCaroline There were two "5th Beatles": Brian Epstein and George Martin.
When I first heard the White Album, what struck me most was the sound rather than the songs: so powerful, so varied. Also, I think there is a dark undercurrent to the sound, which possibly reflects the conflict within the group at the time but is not a bad thing: it adds character to the record. This is an album that transcends its era.
Yes there's a dark feel to it. Ironic that it's referred to as the white album. I think the Beatles excelled at creating mood with their music, which is why I find their lyrics less important, but definitely interesting - especially John's!
That was my thought too. Like the reference to 'suicide' in Yer Blues & 'a séance in the dark' in Cry Baby, the cascading backing vocals on Helter, even the flat horn arrangement on Natures Son seem mysterious and dark, maybe a little unnerving. It really felt like the template for 90's alt music album design. These songs were intentionally written to be played by musicians in their bedrooms, and not on stage at a concert. The Beatles really let go of the idea of songs for the stage and big audiences since quitting live shows in '66.
The White Album is legit a very creepy album
@@fmellish71 That's exactly what intrigues me about this album. Far cry from 'Help'! Glass Onion I always thought was a euphemism for a 'crystal ball', and the haunting ending by Paul for Cry Baby, Rev 9 itself is unnerving as well as George's ending to Long Long Long! So many little aspects that make you go... ah hah,
Hmmmm!
The mood of the White Album reflects the mood of 1968, which was pretty dark.
The single release version of "Revolution" is an old fashioned rocker. It's a classic!
Amen!
i like the fast version better also, but I wish the Bom Shoo Be Doo Wops were included in it. If I recall, there is a bootleg version that has it. I thing it was on Indian Rope Trick. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is.
It's a NEW fashioned rocker!
"Good Night" was written by John for his son Julian
It is the predecessor of "Beautiful Boy" on Double Fantasy in 1980
Awww that's so sweet!
Helter Skelter imo is one of the greatest songs of all time, musically its fantastic and its impossible to love it and not move to it. It's all of the Beatles at their best. Ringo played so hard he, well had blistas on his fingas, before this we hadn't heard George play so heavy and John was right there with him. And while we all thought John was the one with the perfect rock voice, Paul definitely showed him up with this one. Haven't shown this song yet to anyone who didn't like it after.
Música incrível, mas ainda acho que dentre eles, John tinha a voz perfeita de rock. Tanto que considero yer blues uma música mais pesada que a helter.
“Long, Long, Long” is one of my favourite Beatles songs. I love to hear someone else enjoying it!
Really ?.... don't like it at all 😢
@@letsgomets002WHY?!?! And why would you say 'really' ? most people love it...
Great song … you have to turn it up !!
5 months reacting to 5 years worth of recordings by four young men in their early to mid twenties. During most of this time they toured extensively, worldwide. Continually beleaguered by fans and media, attacked (condemned?) for their beliefs or lack of the right faith.
Making movies, publishing books, inventing a whole new way of making records...
The body of work of such quality that they managed to produce is just incredible! I heard ”She loves you” on the radio when it hit the charts, have been listening ever since and I am still discovering new things. Amazing.
What did you honestly think the first time you heard their psychedelic era recordings from 1966-67-68: Revolver, Strawberry Fields, Sgt Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, White Album... Were you blown away? Confused? Slightly disappointed at the strange direction they'd taken after their Fab Four/Beatlemania heyday? I would've loved to have been there and experienced those albums when they were first released to the unsuspecting public.
The background singers singing “birth-day” on the “I would like you to dance” portion of the song are actually Yoko Ono and Pattie Harrison. They’re also the people clapping during the bridge!
I never knew that!
This was a song composed and performed in one night. I think it’s the only Beatles tune that has that distinction.
McCartney still performs Helter Skelter live as late as 2019..
Often ending his show with it. First time he played it live was in 2004.
Best album of all time. I remember playing it straight through when I was 15 and it blew my mind. Still does.
When I was young, Paul was my favorite Beatle because his amazing song writing skill and melodies. Then it was John as I appreciated his innovations and brutal honesty of his lyrics. Then at some point I started to really love George and his amazing catalog.
Now, after so many years of Beatles love, I'm starting to realize how incredibly important and necessary Ringo was. His drumming is the final piece that makes it all come together (pun intended)
Paul had just as many innovations as John, especially when it came to the music and arrangements
@@ewest14 I completely agree. I was merely referring to my perceptions as I was growing up and how they have changed over the years.
Even just sides 3 and 4 make this an absolute masterpiece!!! Everything from Rock to heavy Metal to 1920s music to ballads to just plain beautiful this has it all !! A lot people don't like it because of "Revolution #9" but c'mon c'mon take it easy this album is so incredible and the ending is perfect!! I LOVE this album and Caroline is always entertaining!!!
Before Abbey Road and Let it Be, there is the Yellow Submarine album which features Hey Bulldog, It's Only A Northern Song and It's All Too Much as the standout tracks. The rest of this album can be omitted. The singles you still need to check out are Lady Madonna/Inner Light, Hey Jude/Revolution (the hard rock version), Balad of John & Yoko/Old Brown Shoe, Don't Let Me Down/You Know My Name.
Keep up the good work Caroline.
Also "All together now" from YS.
I'd actually love to hear Caroline react to the instrumental mood pieces from the Yellow Submarine album. She seems to like the more orchestral arrangements. I think she'd dig George Martin's soundtrack.
There was an album called Yellow Submarine Songtrack which omitted all the Blue Meanie type music, I wonder if it would make more sense to hear that? I’d kinda like to see her reaction to that whole side, being a composer herself she might find it interesting?
All together now is really catchy too, and All you need is love is great (I know she already reached to it). Basically Side 1 is great, Side 2 is filler)
I love "Only a Northern Song". Before I knew that Harrison put it together only to satisfy a contract it seemed very much like a seriously free style jazz/rock song. It made better sense when I learned the reason behind its creation. But I still LOVE it! It's actually a very complex piece and its "oddness" make me smile every time. I once told someone that "Only a Northern Song" is a musical version of how my brain thinks/works. LOL
Helter Skelter= First Proto metal song, Led Zeppelin got their sound from this song, it was the heaviest rock song ever recorded at the time. And yes it frightened many ppl lol.
Sexy Sady is a song that sends chills, and a masterpiece IMHO soundwise especially. That haunting echoey piano slaps, just dreamy. I wonder how that came up with that, at the time.
As you probably know John wrote Sexy Sadie about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who John sussed out as a fraud.
@@KimSenior twas magic Alex who was the fraud not the Maharishi! John was so suggestible to Magic Alex who turned out to be a big fraud!
The origins of "Helter Skelter" are the stuff of legend - and the story is available on Wikipedia. In short, Paul had read an interview with Pete Townsend where the latter claimed his band's single was the loudest and rawest song ever, and in response Paul wanted to make a louder and more raw sounding song than The Who. He also wanted to counter his own image with critics as the "soft" sounding Beatle. I think he succeeded.
@@parissimons6385 He certainly did!😊
A song about a slide.
Helter Skelter started with Paul reading a review of a record by The Who saying it was the loudest, most raucous record - so he went to the next session and said “right guys, we need to make the loudest, most raucous record…”. The noise at the end of Long Long Long is a wine bottle shaking on top of a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. And after the nightmare of Revolution #9, you get the Beatles all wishing you good night… everybody, everywhere…
As others have said, absolutely don't skip the single version of Revolution, it is the same song lyrically, but executed in a much, much different way!
Revolution (the single, which also appears on the Hey Jude album) is amazingly superior to the (imo rather lame) Revolution 1 on the White Album.
@@jiminverness I prefer Revolution 1
@@daniellysohirka5079 I feel like revolution is meant to be faster and heavier.
@@71hammyman I get what you're saying. Both versions are fantastic and fit In there own spots i believe. Like, in my honest opinion the single version of Revolution feel out of place in the track listing on "The Beatles". But Michael Jackson sure put Revolution to good use for that Nike sneaker commercial, just kidding lol. I like both, but I do think Revolution 1 is better suited for the album as a deep track for Beatles fans they knew would be playing that record in full for many years to come. And took the all out rocking version which is an instant dopamine hit to your ears, or will grab your attention no what you are doing at the time when it comes on.
There's so much variety in this album that you're never going to like it all! Your reaction to 'Revolution 9' is the same as most of us I suspect - I'm glad it exists though. Sometimes people try and put together a conventional single-disc album from the two but the conversation always goes: Person A: "We can clearly drop X as it just filler" Person B: "But X is the best track on the album!".
I, among a few, really enjoy Revolution #9. But then, I may well be distorted.
@@Thomas_H_Sears you were distorted too
well, it's like 'Forrest Gump' said. this album is like 'a box of chocolates'. you don't know what's inside.
I think no one would dare to call Bungalow Bill the best track on the album
If you can, listen to Let it Be before Abbey Road. They recorded it before Abbey Road even though it was released afterwards
My thoughts exactly
The TRUE experience would be hear Abbey Road first, then Let it Be. That's the sequence the world experienced.
Yes, it feels much more meaningful to listen to Abbey Road last!
@@retread1083 I feel like listening to what happened chronologically is more of a “true”experience because she would get a better idea of where the band was creatively when they actually broke up
Yes, I agree. Let It Be was only the last Beatles album because they were so unenthusiastic about it that it was shuffled off to Phil Spector to make a hash of. The End off of Abbey Road's medley should definitely be the last Beatles lyrics Caroline listens to in her survey of Beatles music.
One of my favorite anecdotes about the making of this album was about the recording of Savoy Truffle. The brass band was absolutely swinging, George Martin was blown away by the sound. Unknown to the players, George Harrison wanted that super processed, affected sound on the thee band. When the players came into the recording booth to hear the playback Harrison apologized before playing, “Sorry for what I did to your horns.” Lol. The band just shook their heads, they couldn’t understand why you’d do such a thing.
listen to "Sour Milk Sea" a George Harrison song recorded by Jackie Lomax. Very similar melody to Truffle.
And what’s great about Savoy Truffle is it’s all about Eric Clapton’s sweet tooth
I'd like to hear what the brass originally sounded like. The brass sound doesn't sound super processed to me.
He certainly was sweet on Pattie!
I'm really enjoying riding along with your voyage of Beatles discovery. As others have said, it's great to experience these songs "the first time" vicariously through someone who really appreciates the music. Just a note about Revolution 9--I used to skip it all the time, too...until I heard the surround mix. Giles Martin did a fantastic job of re-imaging it.
Oh, by the way, I really like that jungle-print shirt.
I always listen to Revolution 9 as I regard it as essential to get the experience of the whole album.
Thumbs up on the shirt!
@@stephendavis5530 Me too👍
The breadth of this album never fails to amaze me. Can you imagine anybody else doing this?
Sexy Sadie will forever be my favorite Beatles song. I can never get sick of this song. The outro itself is musical ecstasy for me. But sadly I think not too many people pay attention to this song.
One of my top 10 Beatles songs
One of my favorites as well
Interesting. I like "Sexy (Maharishi) Sadie", but it's not in my TOP 50-Beatles-songs-list.
I started learning to play the piano solely because I wanted to be able to play the opening piano line of Sexy Sadie! Glad Caroline picked up on the wah wah wah backing too.
@@deanwrigleyuk I just learned it on piano too!
The White Album was the first album I bought. It took everything I had saved. I was 11. I think a double album was around $7 or $8 on sale here in Canada. I'm now 64 (I got older) and after living in houses all my life, I moved into an condo 4 years ago. On the ninth floor. When I get into the elevator and someone asks 'what floor?', there is only one answer: 'number nine, number nine,...' I get strange looks.
If ever I got into the same elevator with you in your condo and you say "number nine, number nine, number nine", I would smile brightly and exclaim "take this brother, may it serve you well! 😁
Same here - except I didn’t grow up in Canada!
And if you have "Number 9, Number 9..." on your phone as a .wav file, you can have George Martin say it for you. 😁
@@mikepeligro And then I'd give you both a worried side-glance and say, "if....you become naked..." 🥺
😅😅😅
LOL !
As others have already said, Yer Blues is sung by John. Macca has a good blues/rock voice, but Yer Blues could only be John; it's very distinctive. Great review of the album Caroline, I look forward to the next.
and McCartney would never have come up with those lyrics, either.
@@richarddefortuna2252 Deffo a Lennon song, both in lyrics and singing style. When you announced it as Macca I shouted at you "NO", just like when idiots like me shout at the tele.
I feel so privileged to have grown up listening to The Beatles’ amazing career & music! It was like they were from another more advanced planet IMHO. ❤️
Your voice/smile make me melt. Oh, yes, that and your obvious love of the Beatles. ❤
Hello Caroline! I'm really enjoying your Beatles videos.
A suggestion: When you move on to the next album; listen to "Let It Be" before "Abbey Road", as "Let It Be" was recorded before "Abbey Road". "Let It Be" is closer musically to "The White Album", and closing with "Abbey Road" thus make a nice arc of The Beatles musical saga.
But before that I guess you have some catching up to do regarding the 1968 singles and the "new" tracks on the "Yellow Submarine" album: "Only a Northern Song", "All Together Now", "Hey Bulldog" and "It's All Too Much".
We're looking forward to it! 👍
Agree
+1
Yes, I have trouble sequencing Let it Be & Abbey Road. Which album should I listen to first? I think Let It Be should be listened to first as it is the chronological next step. Its interesting that the Beatles started sessions for Abbey road only 3 weeks after Let it Be was shelved. Did the Beatles really know that the material from Let It Be would every see the light of day? I mean, the song 'Let It Be' itself... imagine Paul simply letting that one go and moving on to being a solo artist immediately after Abbey Road? What would the world be like if Let It Be was the stuff of myth and say appearing on some bootleg or on the Anthology, or even as a rack on PMc solo album?
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Abbey Road should be the finale of their career.
Agree
After White Album, you need to listen Hey Jude and Revolution as the single for sure. One of my favourites
Also Lady Madonna and The Inner Light
And Lady Madonna / Inner Light
Thanks so much for doing this series. I look forward to each one. I can't wait for you to pick up the late singles... Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, Hey Jude/Revolution (very different from the White Album version), Ballad of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe, Don't Let Me Down and You Know My Name....
Would also like her to react to the promo video version of Revolution. Like the single but with shoo-be-do-wahs of Revolution 1.
You Know My Name, the full version, not the one most ppl got the longer version (the irony, that is far from a well known song) the longer version.
I doubt she will like that song per se, but she will get a kick of listening to it at least once, it is so off the wall and totally unpredictable.
@@HaleksMTL The b-side version is still the best. The humor dissipates on the long version, and some nitwit decided to fade out the "long" version too early.
The untitled album was so futuristic that it still does not give away when it was recorded. Totally timeless.
It’s self-titled, not untitled. The album is called “The Beatles”
Untitled???
"Goodnight" was written by John for Ringo. It's one of their very best! "Revolution No. 9" is a sound collage in the tradition of musique concrète whose exponents were composers like Stockhausen, Xanakis, and Varèse...just to name a few well known and admired artists. This piece, though you may never listen to it again, is quite sophisticated and noteworthy.
Can't wait for your reaction to abbey road, let it be or the yellow submarine movie album. You can algo add some singles. Regards from Mexico.
I'll add that the track is full of "tape loops", both forwards and backwards. At least 2 of the excerpts come from classical composers: the very end of Sibelius 7th symphony and a phrase from Schumann's Symphonic Etudes (for piano.)
YES!!!!! I am so glad that others no of Musique Concrete, it is exactly what Rev. No. 9 is, and if you really listen to it enough, it is not just random sounds, it is very organized, for a kick, go listen to it backwards. amazing work.
@@steveeliscu1254 I counted the unison Orchestral, two last notes of Sibelius 7th Symphony were used 13 times. I had started as a music student in 1982 and somehow I really got into Sibelius. I already loved Revolution 9 and was thrilled to hear the Sibelius notes in it! I love Revolution 9, although I know I'm in a minority!
The weird ending of Long Long Long was an accident. There was a bottle of wine on top of the Leslie speaker for the organ. When they played the last notes on the organ, the bottle started vibrating and rattling, so George just comes out with this crazy howl then ends with a chord on his acoustic guitar.
I never knew that! Thanks!
Interseting. I never knew that either.
Helter Skelter is pretty much universally considered the beginning of heavy metal or hard rock. These are the same guys who brought you Love Me Do less than 5 years earlier.
When I was seven I was given a stack of Beatles albums and these videos remind me of my first listens. As a kid, I gravitated towards the early stuff, but today I lean towards the later stuff. It’s all a matter of individual taste and the Beatles give you a lot to choose from. Some people like the loud rock songs, some people like the soft ballads, etc….
Funny. When I was a kid their later music hooked me. I listened to 67-70 a lot then I got a copy of the white album.
Before I heard you say anything about it, I was gonna talk about when we first got this stuff in the `60's. No, we didn't have any pamphlets or any other info to go on, unless a music critic heard the album first and wrote about it in a magazine but, when this came out, I was 11 and didn't even know music critics even existed! I listen to you here "tearing all this stuff apart" piece by piece and it reminded me that, when we first got all these records, we just got them, put them on the record player and listened to them and, at least for me, it was just another Beatles record. I never got into all the intricacies the way you do, it was what it was and I either liked it or didn't! Another thing you have to realize is that, back then, we were already used to and expecting this kind of stuff!! We were acclimated to it so, it wasn't such a big deal, to us. EVERYBODY was doing this stuff so, it was just par for the course! The first psychedelic era was just coming to a close. We grew up through the entire process and through the entire recording history of The Beatles. Then, here YOU are, in your 20's having never heard any of this stuff before AND with what seems like a vast musical knowledge that we didn't really have and you're just brand new to this "psych" stuff after having spent all of your life with what passes for pop music, today! So, YOU'RE NOT USED to this stuff!! In a minor way, I envy you because you get to hear it for the very first time with completely fresh ears having never heard anything like this before! However, you DO lose out on the whole ethos of the style and genre and what was happening all around us at the time to help inform you of what this music is. Had you grown up with it like we did, you might've just thought it was just another band, so to speak. Not that The Beatles were EVER "just another band" but, like I said, you would've been used to it all. I guess you could say that it's like you spending your entire life in a nice warm pool or bathtub with sparklingly clean water and then, suddenly being tossed into a brown creek of cold water, fish swimming around in it, a bunch of rocks on the bottom, a bunch of sand or mud, frogs, tadpoles, a bit of wildlife from time to time, maybe some underwater weeds hitting your legs, maybe some smart ass decides to drop a truck load of Fizzies into it and someone else adds various types of food colouring to it and maybe a shark to make it interesting and you just have NO IDEA what's coming next or what this new experience is all about! On the other hand, I DON'T envy you because, like the T-shirt says, "I may be old, but I got to see all the cool bands!!". I don't have to rely on books or someone 40 years older than me to tell me what it was like.
Now, I wonder, is Carolyn gonna listen to the Anthology albums, too? How about their solo stuff, specially the first few years of their solo stuff? Have you, with your apparent classical training, ever heard anything by Spike Jones?
By the way, a few years ago, at least one group of people actually did a live performance of "Revolution 9"!! At least one of them came pretty close. Also, to appreciate it, as I do, you have to have an idea of what went into making it and how it was done. Might I suggest you take a music class in Musique Concret? I'm sure it'll help!
Haven't heard this full album in so very long, and I'm reminded and dazzled by Paul McCartney's ability to create such masterful melodies, and to sing them so effortlessly. He was amazing.
"Cry Baby Cry" is the fourth best song on the whole album for me, right after the great trio of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness Is a Warm Gun, and Martha My Dear.
Don't forget all important singles recorded during the same years: Lady Madonna, Hey Jude and The Ballad of John and Yoko. Also, the next album is "Yellow Submarine" with only 4 real new songs to listen to, unless you also want to listen to all B side entirely made up by George Martin. I guess it's interesting but it's your choice 🤗 Thank you for these videos again 🤗
She seems to like orchestration so we'll see.
There's also the actual "Revolution" that came out in 1968, right?
I love Pepperland. The rest are good but not really The Beatles.
@@ead630 That is the flip side of "Hey Jude". Not really a "B" side, though. Some of the later b-sides are also interesting: "The Inner Light", "Old Brown Shoe" and "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)...
Yeah, it would make sense to do the 68 singles and new songs from the YS soundtrack rather than the whole album.
The music on the white album stands so well on its own that it goes beyond the context of the time when it was written- which was pretty intense. Much more intense than today, I think. Nice work once again, Caroline!
Remember as a ten-year-old listening to this record in 1968 trying to grasp the meaning of these songs. In retrospect, the anti-war movement in the US and U.K. was in full swing. Young people hung onto every word of the Beatles, Dylan and The Stones for some indication on where they stood on social issues. Revolution 1 is a clear statement to the youth political groups that they were not in favor of violent revolution against The Establishment.
Caroline, your responses to Beatles songs are priceless. They are infectious in their enthusiasm and inspiring in their analysis.
I've been waiting for this album for sooo long, we love you back here in Mexico Caroline
They recorded Revolution 1, which carried on for quite a long time after the point where it fades on the album. Then John and Yoko started adding stuff over the ending, which gradually turned into the separate piece Revolution 9. They released a longer version of Revolution 1 (take 18) in the White Album box set from 2018, which is available on RUclips.
The band spent time in Rishikesh in 1968 with the "guru" Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John became somewhat disenchanted with him, and wrote Sexy Sadie about him - although the lyrics were apparently considerably toned down for the record. According to George Harrison John based Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey upon things the Maharishi would frequently say - "apart from the bit about the monkey."
The second disc (i.e. sides 3 and 4) is definitely patchier than the first. But then no two people can agree on which songs on The White Album should have been left off. I'll be interested to see your ranking video, if you're still going to do that.
by "someewhat disenchanted" you mean John felt betrayed and was enraged lol
Revolution #9, "I can't imagine listening to this again". You are far from alone in this sentiment.
What I like about the White Album is there is such a variety of music of practically every kind of music there is and describes the Beatles career perfectly.
It’s amazing - but not very surprising - to see so many comments that reflect the way I feel about this album. The individual songs are wildly diverse and uneven in quality, but on repeated listening the album as a whole is woven together to make an emotional journey that’s way bigger than the sum of its parts.
Very well said.
I got the white album when I was 14. I remember sitting in my grandma’s house air drumming with my headphones on for hours on end. I got it on CD, so I think of it as disc 1 and 2, but I definitely have much more connection with the first half than the second. I’ve certainly listened to it plenty since then, but watching you hear it for the first time just brought me right back. I could even smell the old headphones I used to wear. Your last video brought me to tears a couple times, and my eyes definitely got watery during Good Night on this one.
Yoko and Pattie (George's wife) are singing the back-up "Birthday"!/Most people skip "Revolution #9", don't worry! (not me, but most people!)/I love how you vibed with "Long Long Long" and "Cry Baby Cry", two of my favorites from those sides. Back in the vinyl days, if your record was in bad shape, you could hardly hear "Long Long Long" underneath all the crackling!!!!/You're right there was no Google. So what happened was Charles Manson listened to this album, thought it was talking to him directly about starting a revolution, and that's when he sent out his followers to commit horrific murders. He based his whole cult around this album. Unbelievable./ I LOVE how much you appreciated "Good Night"! It's the only way you could end this album! From "Revolution #9"....to "Good Night". From "Helter Skelter".....to "Julia". What couldn't these guys do? :P They just threw all of those classic songs into the world, all at once. Back then everyone did covers so you had Ella Fitzgerald singing "Savoy Truffle" and all sorts of oddball covers! :P
I also think you (Caroline, and any other fan that wants to) should listen to the outtakes and rejects from this time period. One song that I found REALLY different and yet still moving is "Good Night" with John Lennon doing the lead vocals. I'm glad they gave it to Ringo, but John did do it with his own style. You know, I probably just forgot in my old age, but did you skip "I'm So Tired"? Again on the outtake, it was Paul singing it. And he put his own humour in it. Kind of like the 70s band America, the two lead artists (Paul & John) have their own styles which blend so well for an album. John is usually much more gritty and "in your face" whereas Paul is more about saccharine ballads (with some exceptions eg-John's "Julia" and Paul's "Helter Skelter" definitely break that mold!) George is really coming into his own, and I think thru the entire Beatles lineup, Ringo only wrote one song (his song on the Abbey Road album) For the most part, the other 3 write for Ringo
@@SJHFoto I've heard every single outtake, live performance, radio performance interview, alternate mixes, 80 hours of "Let It Be" audio, the whole bird, I've heard it all.. PS: There is not an outtake of John singing "Good Night". Paul and George Martin desperately tried to find such an outtake as Paul had a memory of John singing it but the best they could find is a John playing guitar while Ringo sings it. Anyways that whole "John was more like this and Paul was more like that" is garbage. They both sang rockers and both sang ballads from the very earliest radio performances and albums, right till the end. PSS: Ringo wrote "Don't Pass Me By" on this album. In the Beatle years he has two songwriter credits to himself, plus he has a song-writer credit on "What Goes On". (I'm not counting his songwriter credit for "Flying").
@@TTM9691 I am sorry to contradict, but there IS a version of John singing "Good Night" I have a copy of it.
@@SJHFoto There's a demo-y version of him singing harmony, backing Ringo up, where he's playing the "Dear Prudence/Julia" guitar pattern. There is no version of John singing lead on "Good Night".
@@TTM9691 Yes there is
Where can you even start on Revolution 9? Easily the most divisive Beatles song.
As an avant garde art piece, designed to terrify and make the audience uncomfortable, it ABSOLUTELY succeeds. It makes the audience think like almost no other Beatles song, and is captivating in the most terrifying way.
ON THE OTHER HAND, it's incredibly difficult to listen to and can be argued that it doesn't belong at all on a Beatles album.
For those seeking challenge, it's a blessing. For those looking to sit down and enjoy a good listen, it's easily the worst Beatles song.
Interesting hearing your thoughts!
This was super well said couldn’t agree more
Apparently he read that the Who's new single was one of the hardest ever released so he wanted to top it. The song was I Can See For Miles.
They should have substituted a couple more Harrison songs for this piece of crap that had no business ever being on a Beatles album. At this point Harrison was really coming into his own as a songwriter.
@@chairmanmeow3693 I don't think it's a piece of crap as much as it probably doesn't fit on the album
Hard to believe that songs like "All Things Must Pass" were turned down and Revolution 9 made the cut! Revolution 9 always reminds me of The Great Gonzo in the Muppet show - the sketch where he is repeatedly hitting himself on the head while shouting "Art, Art, Art!".
It is said that John really didn't like "Cry Baby Cry", some say he even hated it. But as for me, "Cry Baby Cry" is my all time favourite Beatles song.
I'm glad you liked it too. Greetings from Mexico! 🙋🏽♂️
P.S. "Let It Be" should be the next one since it was recorded before "Abbey Road". I think you'll notice the musical continuity that makes it logical to listen to "Let It Be" first.
Thats very surprising to me
I would've done Yellow Submarine before the White Album by the same logic...
Cry Baby Cry is amazing. Long, Long, Long is incredible, but both of them are better in the context of the overall album. Still one of my favourite all-time albums.
Sorry, I’m late to the party but if you haven’t heard it yet you need to hear Cry Baby Cry off one of the Anthology albums. The best version IMO.
After listening to the Beatles you should listen to All Things must pass by George Harrison. It's seriously one of my favourite albums ever.
For sure!
Along with Band on the Run and Venus and Mars by McCartney/Wings and Plastic Ono Band and Imagine by Lennon.
@@bluepeng8895 I'll go with that. I would add Walls and Bridges from John, too.
I'd throw Ram on the pile, too.
@@strawhousepig And after Ram, Thrillington for the fun of it.
Helter Skelter was made with the intention to write the heaviest song ever (up to that point) - and is often quoted as one of the earliest examples of what developed into Heavy Metal :)
Their greatest album, not a single track is wasted. “Revolution 9” is musique concrete at its best, true genius.
I love how it looks like she's having a GREAT time enjoying the songs on side 3, only to state "I'm having a bit of trouble getting into these..." midway through, LOLOLOL Kudos for immediately understanding what makes "Long Long Long" so special, however. Of course, probably the thing EVERYONE had been waiting for for months now was seeing the expression on your face as "Revolution 9" progressed. And--trust me, you may not think so now, but you WILL end up hearing it again. And, you will probably even come to appreciate it, although from your comments it sounds like you already appreciate what it took to make that back in 1968. There was literally nothing like it, not even the avant-garde sound collages it was based on came close to what Lennon and Ono did there. And of course everyone already knew you'd love "Good Night", given that you like all these Disney numbers you keep reviewing for your channel. The song is a parody of that type of song, but also curiously earnest as well.
You're obviously a musician and as I commented on for your first White Album vid, it's great to hear someone who understands harmony, instrumentation, and arrangements as you do. It makes for a deeper, more compelling reaction. I love that you were using the sheet music at the same time. Cheers.
Listening to Caroline's analyses it is now obvious to me that The Beatles are the greatest band ever.
No other group has ever covered such a creative range. Goodnight is Ringo's greatest vocal, and is best listned to after Revolution* 9.
Ringo has great vocals? 😁 Okay. But I prefer his vocals on "Boys" and "I wanna be your man". Some solo-tracks are quite nice.
@@braudabo I didn't mean great vocals in the general sense, merely that I considered his singing on this particular song to be his best effort within the group. Goodnight is the most sophisticated song musically in the Starkey canon, and required a fair bit of effort on the drummer's part to bring a satisfactory conclusion to the heavily orchestrated album closer. I like 'I wanna be your Man' too, but I still prefer Goodnight.
Just personal taste.
@@braudabo I go for his self-penned "Octopus's Garden" and "Yellow Submarine", though "Act Naturally" is another good one.
@@michaelbailey6980 Yellow Submarine was a lennon/mccartney song.
My favourite song sung by Ringo is "With a Little Help From My Friends". One of the very best stand-alone tunes on Sgt Pepper and miles better than Joe Cocker's overrated, bombastic cover version.
Caroline got me welling up on her reaction to Good Night I forgot how beautiful that song is. Thank you Caroline for uploading this video today.
The most versatile album by the most versatile band. Love it. Give it some more relistenings, the entire album, it's really worth it.
Hi. It's Gaz here from the Yarra Valley in VIC. Just been watching & really enjoying your reaction to the The Beatles. It's because I have been a fan of them since 1964. (I'm 61). They continue to help& inspire me every me day of my life. They were & still are the best ...... ever.......... Gaz
Rev 9 is like a sound-movie. The Beatles were aware of experimental movies and classical composers of the late 60's like Stockhausen and Cage. McCartney has name-dropped Jean Lud Goddard before and liking his movies. Revolution 9 is influenced by this, as more artists were too (like Jim Morrison, Velvet Underground - Andy Warhol, Frank Zappa) bur it also captures all the political turmoil of the year (Prague Spring, Vietnam protests, MLK/RFK). I don't look forward to listening to it and sometimes skip it, but when I do listen, I'm fascinated and appreciate the slice of time it captures). To have the incredible confidence to include it, just shows how monumetally talented and respected they were.
Always reminded me of tuning through shortwave or DXing AM radio bands in the middle of the night. On a good audio system that throws a wide sound stage, it's phenomenal.
mother nature's son is right there with blackbird for me as the years pass...and Paul's vocal going from mother nature's son to helter skelter on his two consecutive songs(only seperated by sexy sadie) , and then honey pie being his next song is just staggering. This is a real foreshadowing of the full display of his ability to shift vocal styles which would appear on abbey road side b a year later...many high spots on this album...long long long is my favorite harrison song for instance and cry baby cry is among my lennon favorites..but Paul's vocals are just dazzling......
Even if Paul never wrote a single song or never played awesome basslines or never learned to play the piano he’d still be famous for that voice. It’s one of his greatest assets for sure!
You’re not wrong about the making of Revolution 9, it was a production of epic scale. Remember that everything was on analog tapes and they had very few tracks to work with. These days all of the tracks can be seen on the screen and you can slide them around, clip them, do whatever. Back then edits were done with razor blades and tape and you had to visualize and keep track of things in your head and with hand written notes. It was considered quite a avant-garde at the time but has always been considered the Beatles worst “song.” I think outside the context of what was ostensibly a pop record this would have had more acceptance as a sound experiment.
I think a lot of people miss the historical basis for "Revolution 9", it's the kind of composition that was happening for several decades when tape technology and early electronic instruments first appeared.
It makes a lot more sense when you've heard the work of Varèse, Stockhausen, Xenakis, etc. And of course, Frank Zappa was the big pioneer of fusing avant-garde ideas with blues and rock and jazz, so he would have understood what The Beatles were doing wholeheartedly.
This is probably a more superficial take but, for me, "Revolution 9" made so much more sense after hearing Take 18 of "Revolution 1"; the mellow arrangement with its cautionary lyrics gradually morphs into a more chaotic insanity, and then "9" is the calm before the 2nd wave kicks in ending with fire and football chants.
The version of Revolution released as a single is much more famous than the one in the Album, just so you keep it in mind :)
Watching this for the fifth time. Still love it. I don't get bored of The Beatles, nor Caroline's reactions to them.
I just discovered you, and I'm thrilled to hear someone experiencing The Beatles (Not just this album; I've watched almost all of your videos.) Love your reactions and analyses. I'm glad that you didn't know some of the back stories. ("Julia" is John Lennon's mother, "Sexy Sadie" was originally called "Maharishi" because they figured out he was a sham guru.) You're just brilliant and I wish you all the best.
18:40 Paul loved all kinds of music, and before rock 'n roll, he was already writing English Music Hall tunes. Ditties he could play on the cabaret circuit, and keep writing songs and singing for a living. Just because he found rock 'n roll and met John, continuing a band playing mostly rock and r&b tunes, doesn't mean he ever lost his appreciation for 1920s to 1940s style crooner songs, or for ballads such as She's Leaving Home. I fell in love with that eclecticism in The Beatles as a child on the 60s & 70s, but many fans seem impatient with these Tin Pan Alley inspired McCartney songs.
A lot of that impatience was fueled by "Saint John"s rantings after the breakup....many fans still seem to take everything John said as "truth"
George Harrison composed "Savoy Truffle" inspired by a box of assorted candies he saw at Eric Clapton's house. He wanted to see how the sound of the words matched the music.
It’s where my name comes from!
@@cremetangerine82 I feel your taste all the time we’re apart
one of my favorites on the album along with While My Guitar Gently Weeps. George was coming-into his own
Sorry it's a song about the Good News box of chocolates selection, not candles.
@@kphedges1 Ah! I agree. One of my favorite George songs
The sound at the end of "Long Long Long" was a wine bottle on top of a revolving speaker. The vibration caused by a specific note on the organ set the bottle rattling and they decided to keep it in.
The "I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!" outburst from Ringo at the end of Helter Skelter...well, he DID have blisters on his fingers...after playing that hard for so many takes! Helter Skelter itself was Paul trying to go as heavy as he could.
Important to note that Helter Skelter became a 12 minute long jam, which is worthy enough to have blister on your fingers for
My junior high school held annual Beatles dances for at least 5 years running, playing Beatles' music exclusively. Thank you to Bob Evans for sharing his passion for the lads with so many students through this annual event--when we were fab.
Hello Caroline. I just want to address your struggling issues. I'm a 72 year old Mexican /American who just moved to Mexico. As a young kid I was fortunate to experience the British invasion of music. Because of this I started playing Bass guitar and singing in many Rocking n Roll bands. Okay! enough of me. Sorry to hear about your struggles with everything you've attempted to do. But this popped into my head. What a incredible position to be in. Don't look at it as a mistake. Most young people would love to have those amazing opportunities in there lives. And they don't! Yes, it's a little much. But it gives you the ability to pull back a little and choose what you love more. But because you know how to do all those things you can always do them later in life. Good luck! By the way, love your reflections of the Beatles White album. Ernesto De La Cruz