Beatles’ Expanded 50th Anniversary Reissue of White Album Almost Ready

[That 70s Guy]

Paul McCartney has confirmed that work continued on the Beatles' 50th anniversary reissue of the White Album while he prepared Egypt Station, his first studio effort since 2013.

Producer Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles collaborator George Martin, first mentioned plans to reissue the band's 1968 self-titled release last summer.

"It's all in place," McCartney confirmed in a new talk with DIY. "I've just got a couple of essays [to approve]. It's all lined up and it's really good."

McCartney said going through the old tapes gave him a new appreciation for what the Beatles accomplished half a century ago. "Something sparks another memory, but it’s really nice because we were a great little band – I think we can agree on that," he said. "So, for me to be a part of that and to be remembering it is great; all these little things remind me of it and I do learn things."

McCartney announced Egypt Station earlier today; it's due in September. A release date for the White Album reissue hasn't been confirmed yet.

"The album itself is very cool and it sounds like you’re in the room; that’s the great thing about doing remasters," McCartney added. "But we’ve also got some demos of the songs, so you get things stripped right back to just John [Lennon]’s voice and a guitar. You just think, how ******* good was John?! Amazing. We were just doing it; it was amazing. We were having a good time."

Giles Martin also co-produced McCartney's most recent studio album, New. Before that, the younger Martin remastered 2016's Beatles album Live at the Hollywood Bowl and also collaborated on the George Harrison documentary Living in the Material World.

 

[BikerDude]

Looking forward to it.
I wonder if there will be any previously unreleased songs?

 

[That 70s Guy]

They should take out "Revolution 9" and put in "All Things Must Pass"

 

[joker1961]

another waiting game not good on them!

 

[Needs More Cowbell]

Disc 1 of the 3rd Beatles Anthology CD is dedicated to demos and alternate takes from The White Album sessions. I'll need to see what this collection will add to whats already been released

 

[Old Dude]

One of the best things about the Beatles is that when they recorded something that wasn't very good, they threw it out. I'm pretty confident that everything that they've recorded that was worth hearing has been released by now, except possibly some things Paul referred to when he said, "But we’ve also got some demos of the songs, so you get things stripped right back to just John [Lennon]’s voice and a guitar. You just think, how ******* good was John?!" I think I've found almost every demo or lost track they've ever done, after a lot of diligent searching. It's hard to believe there's anything left worth hearing, except possibly as a curiosity piece. Time could prove my prediction wrong, but I don't think it will.

 

[Sharp Dressed Man]

Need some more details about this reissue, particularly the track list, before I decide if this release will be high priority, or something to add to the collection somewhere down the road.

 

[Bigdawg62]

Leave things alone. Outtakes are a waste of time. They were rejected for a reason. They weren't good enough.
The white album is excellent with the 2009 remasters being the definitive cd version.
The original vinyl sounds better. I have ripped them to 32/192 files and play them through my hifi.
Sadly the Beatles will be remastered time and time again along with money grabbing extras.
Leave well alone and stick to the 2009 CDs and vinyl.

 

[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

Yeah there was a time,particularly around the release of Antholgy in 1995 when Beatles' outtakes and alternate takes were quite intriguing,but they may be really starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel here.At this point the whole matter presents itself as mere point of sales...……………………..

 

[Old Dude]

Yeah there was a time,particularly around the release of Antholgy in 1995 when Beatles' outtakes and alternate takes were quite intriguing,but they may be really starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel here.At this point the whole matter presents itself as mere point of sales...……………………..

That's the key right there, the bit I highlighted. There is music you listen to purely for the quality, but then there's music you listen to out of curiosity. As a musician myself, I find early versions of songs, or outtakes, or other such recordings fascinating. It was interesting to learn that the movie "That Thing You Do", which was the story of a band that had a hit by turning a slow ballad uptempo, was actually what happened when the Beatles recorded John Lennon's version of a Roy Orbison style ballad, Please Please Me, at a much faster tempo than he intended. That's a lesson that served me well in looking for ways to arrange songs. And it's only one example that comes to mind.