White album up next?

“The Beatles” aka “The White Album”.

In a radio interview on BBC Radio 6 Music, Giles Martin seemingly let it slip that The Beatles’ self titled “White album” will be next up to get the remix treatment. (Listen to radio interview here, the Giles Martin section starts at around 1:32:20 into the broadcast).

Ultimate Classic Rock picked up on this, and in their article they published the following quotes from the radio interview with Martin: “The White Album, which is the next release – that is where they started becoming indulgent. There are 70 takes of ‘Sexy Sadie,’ for instance. The efficiency went slightly out the window. There’s a lot of stuff. So, it’s getting the balance right.”

Source: Ultimate Classic Rock

So, did he mean that the White album was the next release from The Beatles back in the day (it wasn’t, the “All You Need Is Love” single, the “Hello Goodbye” single and the double EP “Magical Mystery Tour” was) – or that it will be the upcoming, next release from Apple/The Beatles?

And if the latter is what happens, whether or not we are going to be treated to another super deluxe multidisc extravaganza for the “White album” release remains to be seen. There are of course session outtakes from the recording of the album available, as well as a set of very interesting acoustic or semi-acoustic demos taped at George Harrison’s house and elsewhere. Some of these have already been part of the nineties “Anthology” album series, but there’s plenty more where they came from.

After publication of this post, Giles Martin tweeted this:

21 Responses

  1. phil overture says:

    'Which will be the next release…' is the quote.

  2. Martin says:

    And 'Lady Madonna/The Inner Light' and 'Hey Jude/Revolution' were released before the White Album…

  3. kirkenshrir says:

    He's only saying the white album was the next full album the Beatles released in 1968. There is NO deluxe edition planned.

  4. Bjarne Laastad says:

    Doesn't "Enjoy Sgt Pepper first" imply that we can enjoy something else afterwards?…

  5. Unknown says:

    Yes I would read it like that too…..

  6. Popper says:

    I wouldn't be surprised if there were more of the remix/deluxe albums to come. For one thing there's the 50-year copyright thing – use 'em or lose 'em. But also, the Kinfauns demos are one of the great unreleased archives Apple have. I strongly suspect they have more than is publicly known, so why not get some of it out there and make some money?

    • Unknown says:

      Actually Kinfauns demos are owned by the Harrison State. Apple is hands off these. Doubt they'll release them soon.

  7. CrackinThunder says:

    If there is anything that could use some remixing, its the White Album. It seems so tinny and compressed in some parts. Done on purpose? I doubt it. Ever hear the LOVE album mix of Back in The USSR?

  8. maikel ariel says:

    i think they will follow the original release date from sgt pepper to let it be and then please plase me to revolver, to coincide with 50th or 60th anniversary. one or two albums per year, depends on the year, of course.
    my guess is:
    2017: sgt pepper, mmt.
    2018: white album.
    2019: abbey road.
    2020: let it be (with film?).
    2021 or 2022 maybe live stuff, home demos, rehearsals,
    2023: ppm and wtb.. and so on.

  9. Unknown says:

    I wouldn't be surprised if there were more of the remix/deluxe albums to come on wesite,,

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  10. Popper says:

    "Actually Kinfauns demos are owned by the Harrison State. Apple is hands off these. Doubt they'll release them soon."

    I never knew that. I can see why George's estate might own the tapes recorded in his home (not that they'd necessarily block their release – after all, several have already appeared on Anthology), but I think there are probably more in the vaults.

    "Kinfauns Demos" appears to be a catch-all for any and all acoustic demos made in the run-up to the White album, not necessarily restricted to those recorded at Kinfauns. It's certainly been speculated that at least some of John and Paul's were recorded privately by them.

    This is on Beatles Bible, for instance, "It is possible that not all of the demos were recorded at Kinfauns, and it has been speculated that some were recorded alone by the songs' composers."

    Who owns them or has custody of the originals, I don't know of course! Anyway, they should be polished up and issued. Could be a classic album – official White Album uplugged.

  11. Unknown says:

    Hey Giles, who you calling 'socks and sandals brigade' ? Looking forward to inner groove remix

  12. Brian Fried says:

    Apple has been anniversary-focused for quite some time:
    • 2011 was the 15th anniversary of Anthology, and it came to iTunes (with Long And Winding Road corrected)
    • 2012 was the 35th anniversary of Magical Mystery Tour, and it got a blu-ray
    • 2013 was the 20th anniversary of Live At The BBC, and it got remastered with a second volume
    • 2014 was the 50th anniversary of the US debut, and we got the US albums set
    • 2015 was the 15th anniversary of "1" being at the top of the charts, and we got "1+"
    • 2016 was the 50th anniversary of the end of touring, and we got Eight Days A Week film and soundtrack
    • 2017 is the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper, and we get the box set

    It makes sense, then, that the White Album be the focus of 2018, and Abbey Road of 2019.

    What will be really interesting is 2020; both Paul and Ringo have said repeatedly they support the release of Let It Be again, but Paul also said that the vote to release it must be unanimous. If Yoko Ono decides to keep with the idea this is "Paul's version of The Beatles" and it doesn't make John or George look good, we could see it skipped for some other release.

    As for 2021, it would be the 45th anniversary of Rock And Roll Music, and Capitol may suggest to Apple it's about time to get those compilations that sold so well back out there, even if digitally….

  13. Andrew Stanhope says:

    What was the correction of Long and Winding Road on Anthology? Interested to know!

  14. Martin says:

    The Anthology version was the take reproduced and embellished by Phil Spector (on the original Let It Be album and the 'Blue' album), but in its raw and original state. It's actually one of the worst takes of the song, and there was no way it could have been released on the 'Let It Be' album (and not as a single in the USA). The bass playing is atrocious, and there is no organ solo from Billy Preston (Paul just repeats the 'many times I've been alone' in an Elvis impersonation type voice). The versions on the Let It Be film/ 1+ DVD and the 'Naked' album are far superior versions of The Long And Winding Road. Macca probably put it on Anthology to say Spector wasn't needed. But he was where that take of the song was concerned…

  15. Brian Fried says:

    In the Anthology 3 booklet notes, it says "The Long And Winding Road" is the film take. However, as the broadcast episode demonstrated, Paul has a vocal over the middle bit where he says the lyrics — and that's not on the Anthology 3 discs. (It's right before the "But still it leads me back…" bit.) The iTunes edition fixed that by putting the vocals back in to match the film.

    That's the correction I noticed.

    Sometimes it takes the Internet to learn these things. I knew that the re-issue of Live At The BBC had removed the filter that flattened the songs to make them cleaner, but it took the Internet to point out that the dialogue bits on disc 2 had one part swapped out for another's. 😛

  16. Andrew Stanhope says:

    A-ha! Thanks for the info. Very perceptive.

  17. Anonymous says:

    So far we've heard seven remastered Esher Acoustic demos on Anthology 3 and a remastered fragment of While My Guitar Gently Weeps in the Living In the Material World Documentary. It is wishful thinking on my part, but personally I would love for Apple to release the Entire Beatles Acoustic White Album Esher Demos in remastered form on CD and iTunes. That would make a pretty sounding Beatles Unplugged album.

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