The Beatles "White Album" as a single album?

The above poser has been discussed down the ages, it creates heated discussions whenever the question is raised, and until now I have avoided the challenge, but, on a slow Sunday morning, I finally found 30 minutes to compile my very own single album version of the legendary "White Album" (originally titled simply "The Beatles")

I set a couple of arbitrary rules to maintain credibility. I restricted myself to a maximum of sixteen songs, and a time limit of no more than 23 minutes per side.

As it turned out due to the overall length of my selections, I had to trim it to fifteen songs to keep it under the 23 minutes per side limit.

In my fifteen selections there are seven McCartney, seven Lennon (which includes the Starr vocal on "Goodnight", and just one Harrison.

"Long Long Long" has always left me unmoved, and although "Savoy Truffle" and "Piggies" are good, they can't compete with the McCartney and Lennon big hitters.

To be honest I have always felt that the sole Harrison inclusion "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was overrated, and I certainly have no great desire to hear it again.

One song on almost all the lists of dropped songs is of course "Wild Honey Pie" which is barely a song.

I do have time for "Revolution 9" but it also had to go. "Don't Pass Me By" and "Rocky Raccoon" were easy to leave off, but I did struggle trying to decide between "Cry Baby Cry" and "Ob La Di, Ob La Da", and despite it being ridiculed by many, I chose the latter as I think it's an excellent pop song that holds up well today.

"Revolution 1" was also close to being included, but I much prefer the proto-punk b-side version so I eventually pulled that.

Almost every list I have seen leaves off "Goodnight" for being too sickly, but that is precisely why I love it.

So, below is my final selection for a single disc version, both sides are neatly just shy of the 23 minute limit.

What would your version look like?

Side 1

1. Back In The USSR (2:43)

2. Dear Prudence (3:55)

3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (4:45)

4. Happiness Is A Warm Gun (2:44)

5. Martha My Dear (2:28)

6. I'm So Tired (2:03)

7. Blackbird (2:18)

8. I Will (1:45)

(22:38)

Side 2

1. Julia (2:56)

2. Yer Blues (4:00)

3. Mother Nature's Son (2:48)

4. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey (2:24)

5. Helter Skelter (4:29)

6. Ob La Di, Ob La Da (3:08)

7. Goodnight (3:13)

(22:57)

Missing:

Glass Onion

Wild Honey Pie

The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

Piggies

Rocky Raccoon

Don't Pass Me By

Why Don't We Do It In The Road

Birthday

Sexy Sadie

Long Long Long

Revolution 1

Honey Pie

Savoy Truffle

Cry Baby Cry

Revolution 9

Compiling the top 100 songs of all time - an impossible task?

I love making lists, always have, if there's a list-able subject, I will give it a go.

My Spotify page is littered with dozens of "introduction" playlists of my favourite artists, as well as the best singles for each year from 1963 to 1983 that made the UK top 50, and that's just scratching the surface.

I attempted a "Top 100 Singles Of All Time" a while back, which ballooned to 200 pretty quickly, which indicates how difficult it is to prune your favourite songs down to the essentials.

So, I thought I would try the top 100 songs, not just singles, but every song ever. There had to be some limits, as you could make an argument that "all time" must include all the fantastic songs written throughout the whole of the 20th century (and before), show tunes, jazz standards, evergreen ballads, but I had to draw some lines in the sand.

So I tried to limit it to songs that have been made famous in my lifetime, so from about 1955 and the birth of rock'n'roll, to the present day, and it generally focusses on rock, pop and other popular genres that infect the charts or the streaming services.

It wasn't a scientific process, from a musicologists point of view, so it isn't looking at revolutionary chord sequences or breathtaking arrangements, it's simply a list of songs I really, really like.

I tried hard not to include songs that I might think should be in there, to please others, so it is a very personal list. But even so, there are a good few that would probably make the majority of lists, such as "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" (Simon & Garfunkel), "Born To Run" (Bruce Springsteen), and "Baba O'Riley" (The Who), but some wild cards crept in that would probably be unique to this particular list, such as "Beasley Street" (John Cooper Clarke), and "10000000 Miles" by Andy White, who has only 1859 monthly listeners on Spotify at the moment.

I discarded the rule to say only one song per artist, so I include several from acts such as The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Joni Mitchell and others.

Prize for the most obscure goes to "Who Is Innocent" by new wave band The Out, who have a mere 32 monthly listeners, fewer even than my bands!

I first compiled the list in June 2024, and since that time I have been forced to add a handful of songs I had initially overlooked, which of course means I have to trawl through the list to find one to take out - not an easy task!

A % breakdown reveals that the vast majority of the list spans my favourite decades, namely the 1960's, 70's & 80's.

1960's: 19%

1970's: 50%

1980's: 20%

1990's: 6%

2000's: 4%

2010's: 1%

Does this mean there's no great music being made in the modern era? I guess not, but I pretty much zoned out of listening to "new" music towards the end of the 80's, with bands like The Smiths and The Stone Roses signalling the end of my listening habits, with a few exceptions.

Anyway, I had tremendous fun compiling the list, maybe you could do one of your own?

Here is the link to my Spotify playlist of the "Top 100 Songs Of All Time"

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CVA2K9HVvFxHwzmdvoTGw?si=e999c468632a4eaf

"I Am The Walrus" easily makes the list

What is a "private record collection?"

When I am listing records on Discogs and Ebay, I sometimes put the term "from a private collection", and it has occurred to me that this might appear a strange phrase to use, I mean, aren't all records from a private collection? - Unless you are buying from a shop.

The term may mean slightly different things to different people, but in my opinion it has very specific meaning.

In the 20 years I have been running Vinylshrine, I have viewed a vast number of records, and the majority are presented to me in an assortment of boxes, or piled high on a kitchen table, or even laying on the floor in a freezing garage - these are rarely "private collections".

They have been found in the loft after a house move, they have been reluctantly acquired after a marriage break-up, and most common, they were owned by a recently passed family member. These job lots will have 7" singles without sleeves, tatty album covers, names and addresses written on LP covers or on labels, records in the wrong sleeves, and condition-wise, and I am being charitable here, would be variable.

A "private collection" on the other hand, will be presented to me still on specially built shelves, in alphabetical order, in poly sleeves. Such a collection will reflect the tastes of the owner, not be a random collection of pop hits, K-Tel compilations, and Readers Digest box sets.

A carefully curated private collection will also be (generally) in superb condition, invariably played on at least a decent record deck, and consequently much more desirable to my potential buyers.

So, when I use the term in my description, I hope it is a useful shorthand way of telling buyers that they are getting a decent record that has been looked after, dare I say loved, by a fellow music fan.