Created by, creating for, their age.вЂќ In many ways, The White Album remains the bandвЂ™s most challenging work. And that is the world, and that is what the Beatles are on about. Pepper,вЂќ adding that вЂњmusically, there is beauty, horror, surprise, chaos, order. Writing for The Sunday Times, Derek Jewell lauded the LP as вЂњthe best thing in pop since Sgt. When it was released on November 22, 1968, The White Album didnвЂ™t fail to impress. See Related Content: вЂњHappy 50th Birthday to 5 Unforgettable Rock DebutsвЂќ As with the exacting 24-hour mixing session that Lennon and McCartney conducted with Martin and engineer Ken Scott in October 1968 to bring the album to fruition, the Esher tapes find the bandmates working self-consciously to create an album of astounding ambition. While The White Album is often described as emblematic of the late-period Beatles being in a state of disarray, the Esher demos suggest otherwise. Meanwhile, other songs from the Kinfauns sessions would make their way onto future projects, with Lennon revivifying вЂњChild of NatureвЂќ as вЂњJealous GuyвЂќ for his Imagine solo album (1971), вЂњJunkвЂќ emerging as a standout track on McCartney (1970), and вЂњCirclesвЂќ being held over for HarrisonвЂ™s Gone Troppo LP (1982). While вЂњNot GuiltyвЂќ and вЂњWhatвЂ™s the New Mary JaneвЂќ would be omitted from inclusion on The White Album, 17 of the Esher demos would make the grade. See Related Content: вЂњThe Authenticity of The BeatlesвЂ™ вЂBlackbird'вЂќ All in all, the Esher demos included 19 songs that would be considered for The White Album, including вЂњBack in the USSR,вЂќ вЂњBlackbird,вЂќ вЂњThe Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,вЂќ вЂњCry Baby Cry,вЂќ вЂњDear Prudence,вЂќ вЂњEverybodyвЂ™s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,вЂќ вЂњHoney Pie,вЂќ вЂњIвЂ™m So Tired,вЂќ вЂњJulia,вЂќ вЂњMother NatureвЂ™s Son,вЂќ вЂњNot Guilty,вЂќ вЂњOb-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,вЂќ вЂњPiggies,вЂќ вЂњRevolution,вЂќ вЂњRocky Raccoon,вЂќ вЂњSexy Sadie,вЂќ вЂњWhatвЂ™s the New Mary Jane,вЂќ вЂњWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps,вЂќ and вЂњYer Blues.вЂќ The group had seldom exhibited such a self-conscious and highly organized approach to their art. Yet for all of their geniality, the Esher tapes were calculated rough drafts - coherent outlines for the upcoming project. With its enthusiastic handclaps, ad-libs, and lighthearted harmonies, the Esher version of вЂњRevolutionвЂќ makes for one of the BeatlesвЂ™ most convivial recordings.

The band had rarely, if ever, sounded more uninhibited and free. With its splendid acoustic introduction, the demo for вЂњRevolutionвЂќ offers a perfect case in point. In contrast with their painstaking efforts in the studio across the balance of 1968, the Esher tapes witnessed the Beatles working in unison, exalting in the pure joy of their music. Produced on HarrisonвЂ™s Ampex four-track machine, the Esher demos included the production of some 23 demos in preparation for The White Album.

We had hoped this time to do a lot of rehearsing before we reached the studios, rather than rehearse actually on the instruments but, as it happens, all we got was one day.вЂќД«ut, oh what a day it was. As Paul McCartney observed only days before the group joined producer George Martin at EMI Studios to begin formal recordings for The White Album: вЂњWe are going in with clear heads and hoping for the best. The bandmatesвЂ™ original plan had been to conduct multiple rehearsals in advance of their new album. As the Beatles prepared to record their new long-player, the group gathered at HarrisonвЂ™s Kinfauns studio in LondonвЂ™s Esher suburb. Having only recently returned from their sojourn with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, the bandmates were eager to commit their new musical ideas to tape. Known as the вЂњEsher demos,вЂќ the rough recordings they produced in George HarrisonвЂ™s home studio would serve as a blueprint for the groupвЂ™s landmark album The Beatles, later popularized as The White Album. At the tail end of May 1968, the Beatles assembled for one of the most extraordinary sessions in their storied career.

White album remastered