The Beatles announce ‘White Album’ Deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – As the 50th anniversary approaches of the release of The Beatles’ iconic self-titled ninth studio album, known as The White Album, the group announced on Monday that on November 9 it will release “a suite of lavishly presented packages.”
The album’s 30 tracks are newly mixed by producer Giles Martin, son of original album producer George Martin, and mix engineer Sam Okell in stereo and 5.1 surround audio, joined by 27 early acoustic demos and 50 session takes, most of which are previously unreleased.
This represents the first time the album has been remixed and presented with additional demos and session recordings, although several were released on the group’s “anthology” collections in the 1990s. These include the outtakes “Not Guilty” and “What’s the New Mary Jane?” as well as early versions of John Lennon’s “Child of Nature” (later released as “Jealous Guy”), Paul McCartney’s “Junk” and George Harrison’s “Sour Milk Sea.”
“We had left Sgt. Pepper’s band to play in his sunny Elysian Fields and were now striding out in new directions without a map,” says McCartney in his written introduction for the new White Album releases. The album follows a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of the group’s Sgt. Pepper album last year.
Early copies of The White Album were also individually numbered on the front, which has also been done for the new edition’s super deluxe package.
The set’s six CDs and Blu-ray disc are housed in a slip-sleeved 164-page hardbound book, with pullout reproductions of the original album’s four glossy color portrait photographs of John, Paul, George and Ringo, as well as the album’s large foldout poster with a photo collage on one side and lyrics on the other. The book’s written pieces include new introductions by McCartney and Giles Martin, and in-depth chapters covering track-by-track details and session notes reflecting The Beatles’ year between the release of Sgt. Pepper and recording sessions for The White Album.
The deluxe 3CD is presented in an embossed digipak with the foldout poster and portrait photos, plus a 24-page booklet abridged from the super deluxe book. Presented in a lift-top box with a four-page booklet, the limited edition deluxe 4LP vinyl set presents the 2LP album in a faithful, embossed reproduction of its original gatefold sleeve with the foldout poster and portrait photos, paired with the 2LP Esher Demos in an embossed gatefold sleeve.
The White Album was the first Beatles album to be released on the group’s own Apple Records label. Issued in both stereo and mono for the UK and in stereo for the US, the double album was an immediate best-seller, entering the British chart at No. 1 and remaining there for eight of the 22 weeks it was listed.
The White Album also debuted at No. 1 on the US chart, holding the top spot for nine weeks of its initial 65-week chart run. In the US, The White Album is 19-times platinum-certified by the RIAA, and in 2000 it was inducted into the Recording Academy’s Grammy Hall of Fame, recognizing “recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance.”