Towards the end of the 1960s, The Beatles were already breaking up. Despite making the most adventurous music that rock had ever seen on albums like Sgt Pepper, every member had started to branch out in their own direction, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s songwriting partnership breaking down to every member writing tracks by themselves. While George Harrison was just spreading his wings as a songwriter, he admitted to not having as much affection for one of their largest projects.
Looking to get the band out of their creative headspace, Harrison originally suggested meeting with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, with the group venturing to India to meditate. Having much time to themselves, every member began writing material at the retreat, eventually stockpiling more songs than they could fit on a traditional LP.
By the time the Fab Four regrouped in England, though, no member wanted to give up their strongest material. Spread out across two discs, The White Album would be the only double album the band would release during their lifetime, featuring a host of different styles depending on who wrote the songs.
Although each member had their own way about how the songs should be played, Harrison thought that the long runtime hurt the album, recalling, “I think it was a mistake doing four sides because it’s too big for people to really get into it. There are things that we could’ve done without on the album and make it a tight, say, 14 tracks or something”.
While Harrison didn’t think there was anything wrong with the record, the album’s replay value rapidly diminished with him, explaining, “There was nothing really shocking on it. Don’t think there was anything particularly poor about it. But it was a bit heavy, and I find it heavy to listen to it. In fact, I don’t listen to it myself. I listen to side 1, which I like quite a lot”.
Harrison wasn’t the only one who thought the album could have been trimmed down. When asked about the project’s focus, producer George Martin thought it would have been best if they had focused on making an air-tight single album experience instead of drawing it out across two albums.
While the album featured a handful of the group’s finest material, it didn’t come without its fair share of hang-ups. During the production of ‘Back in the USSR’, tensions got so heated between the members that Ringo Starr eventually left the session, thinking that he wasn’t playing well until he received a telegram asking for him to come back.
Even with his indifferent feelings towards the final product, Harrison was responsible for keeping the peace across the record. When the band were at their lowest and unable to take his songs seriously, Harrison’s inclusion of Eric Clapton on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ helped bring the band together, featuring stellar harmonies by Paul McCartney and ‘Slowhand’ laying down the most lyrical guitar playing of his entire career.
Despite the nitpicks, The White Album remains a pivotal moment in the history of The Beatles, showcasing every band member’s abilities that they would utilise to great effect in their future solo careers. The Fab Four may have been holding everything together since leaving the road, but this is where all the tension from years together started to creep into the recording sessions.
