Well of course we did! It's the white album . . . designed by Richard Hamilton (a suggestion of Paul's and they worked together on it . . . . . . .) Everybody's got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey!

On this day in music history: November 25, 1968 - “The Beatles” (aka “The White Album), the ninth album by The Beatles is released (UK release date is on November 22, 1968). Produced by George Martin, it is recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Trident Studios in London from May 30 - October 14, 1968. The album marks the beginning of a difficult and tense period for The Beatles, with various inner conflicts within the band coming to a head during the recording sessions. The squabbling becomes so intense at one point, that Ringo Starr quits the band briefly before being persuaded to return. Recording engineer Geoff Emerick also quits amid the tension, and is replaced by Ken Scott and Chris Thomas. In spite of this, it is still a highly creative period, yielding more than thirty new songs, most of which are written during The Beatles spiritual retreat to India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi earlier in the year. The albums’ cover art designed by Richard Hamilton is a stark white gatefold sleeve with the bands’ name embossed on the front during the original press run. Later copies feature the title printed in light grey ink), and individually stamped with a number (running up to over 3,000,000 in the US). The album also comes packaged with a poster (with a photo collage on one side, and the song lyrics printed on the opposite side), and four individual portraits of the band members. In the UK, it is also the final Beatles album to be issued with separate mono and stereo mixes. The US pressing is released in stereo only. The original mono version of the album is reissued on vinyl in the UK in 1982, and finally on CD in 2009 as part of the "Beatles In Mono” box set. The mono LP is reissued in September of 2014 pressed on 180 gram vinyl, as part of the vinyl LP configuration of the 2009 CD box, and for individual sale. Initial UK LP pressings feature a uniquely designed gatefold sleeve with the jacket openings being on the top instead of on the sides. The mono version of the album is reissued on vinyl in September of 2014, being issued in the US for the first time. To commemorate its 50th anniversary, the album is given a new stereo and 5.1 surround remix by Giles Martin. Issued worldwide on November 9, 2018, the expanded release also contains the legendary “Esher Demos”, featuring twenty seven recordings demoed at George Harrrison’s home studio. Prior to this the demos had only surfaced as bootlegs in mono only. The new release presents them in true stereo for the first time. The album is reissued on both CD and vinyl, either as a three CD, six CD + Blu-ray Super Deluxe box set, double vinyl LP or four LP Super Deluxe box set (the latter containing the only vinyl release of the Esher Demos). “The Beatles” spends nine weeks (non-consecutive) at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 19x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

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