WHITE ALBUM

On this day in music history: December 28, 1968 - “The Beatles (aka "The White Album”)“, the ninth album by The Beatles hits #1 on the Billboard Top 200 for 9 weeks (non-consecutive). Produced by George Martin, it is recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Trident Studios in London from May - October 1968. Following the psychedelic influenced "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Magical Mystery Tour”, The Beatles begin the musical transition back to their rock & roll roots. The majority of the songs are written during the bands’ trip to India to study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Sessions are often tense as squabbling between the four begin to drive them apart, with Ringo Starr actually quitting the band temporarily and main recording engineer Geoff Emerick also walking out on the project. Though the album is self-titled, implying it is a full group effort, the opposite is actually true with the band members acting almost like side musicians for the other three, depending on whose song is being recorded. The thirty track double LP set comes to be regarded as one of The Beatles greatest and most musically diverse works. The album is also their last to be issued with separate mono and stereo mixes. The mono version is not issued in the US until 2009 when it is included in “The Beatles In Mono” CD box set. *The set also comes packaged with a poster featuring a photo collage on one side and song lyrics printed on the other side, as well as four individual portraits of the band members. In September of 2014, the mono version of the album is released in the US on vinyl for the first time, making it the first time “The White Album” has been available in that configuration since being briefly reissued in the UK in 1982. The album is also remixed in its entirety by Giles Martin, as part of a fiftieth anniversary reissue in November of 2018. The remixed version is available as a three CD edition, including “The Esher Demos”, along with a Super Deluxe six CD + Blu-ray disc, including numerous outtakes and previously unreleased material. The Blu-ray contains the 2018 remix stereo, DTS-HD and Dolby True HD 5.1 surround sound, along with the original mono mix. The set is also reissued on vinyl as a double LP and as a four LP deluxe box including “The Esher Demos”. “The Beatles” is certified 19x Platinum in the US by the RIAA. [thanks to Jeff Harris' blog Behind the Grooves]

* this cursory description does not do the history of the album's design justice at all. A joint effort between Paul McCartney and thanks to his interest and connections in the art world, his knowledgeable sense of the contemporary artwork (affected by Paul's friendship with Robert Fraser) that led him to ask father of Pop Art Richard Hamilton to design the album which he duly does. They had already turned down three designs. Paul comes up with a case containing a multitude of snaps of the band and Hamilton sets to work. The poster collage is considered by Hamilton aficionados an artwork by the master himself and has hidden and not so hidden references and clues that only diehard fans would get and the cover with it's plain white statement and serial number taking a humorous swipe at limited editions and mass production. Hamilton knowing that it would sell anyway without any imagery on it whatsoever Paul has to persuade the others. The four portrait photos are commissioned by Hamilton from John Kelley portraits taken in 1968. The albums design and art direction are officially credited to Richard Hamilton, Gordon House and Jeremy Banks, with photography by John Kelly.

Paul at Richard's Highgate home and studio working on the collage 

Artsy article on Hamilton White Album design