WI: 4 Solo Beatles Albums (White Album)

By the point of the White Album, the Beatles were beginning to function more as individuals than a working group. It still was a group: they gave feedback and influenced one another, an they still cooperated in creating certain songs. But no longer was it the matter where Lennon and McCartney would cooperate in writing a song, and truly that trend had been growing for a long time. On the White Album, it was a matter of the individual songs each member had written during their time in India, and it was a matter of the Beatles alone together. Taking a cue from this, what if they had released four individual albums per Beatle rather than compiling their material on to a single album? KISS would do this in 1978. This would give the material room to breath, and allow for the release of material that was not found on the White Album, as well as new material. However, contemporary reviews often criticized that the album that was released was uneven on the quality of its material, and that it would have been stronger as an edited, single album rather than a double album. A release such as this is likely to draw similar criticisms. It may also been seen as a stunt on the fans, and even a sign that the Beatles may be breaking up. Stretching their resources between four albums could also lower the quality, unless they acted as simply backing musicians to the solo release per album, or even went so far as to work with other artists. The latter would be a sin to any fan.
 
It's easy enough to piece together solo Paul & John albums for 1968, pulling together White Album tracks & non-album singles (even Lady Madonna, Hey Bulldog & Across the Universe from early 1968 if the idea of a stop-gap Beatles single in 1968 is abandoned).

You raise an interesting point about songs that weren't on the White Album though - free of band politics (and the compromises that means), does John push the envelope even further than OTL? Apparently he fought tooth-and-nail to get Revolution 9 on the album. I can see Paul pretty much running a similar range to his OTL White Album tracks - probably even the same tracks, but Yoko's influence on a 1968 John Lennon solo album is the real wildcard here.

George Harrison would love the freedom to record his backlog, and I read that a few of his songs like the Art of Dying were written years before he had the chance to record them, so there's potential there for something as strong as the All Things Must Pass album, trimmed down to one LP & without Phil Spector's wall of sound.

Ringo's album is probably gonna be full of covers.. and could even be a project similar to his all star band with friends popping in for guest spots. Fluff, but fun fluff. If it's rock'n'roll & country it might just plug in to the "back to basics"/Americana that The Band & emerging country-rock bands are plying.
 
I wonder if George Harrison's "White Album" solo album would have been more experimental. After all, his first two OTL solo albums ("Wonderwall Music" and "Electronic Sound") were pretty much far out back then. So his album might have had a few surprises beside the obvious hit singles "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
 
I think you're underestimating the extent to which the individual songs still benefited from in-studio cooperation and collaboration. Cry Baby Cry is a better song with "Can You Take Me Back"

A fair number of John's songs were improved by Paul's work in the studio, things like bass lines and backing harmonies added to the effect of a number of those songs.

Happiness is a Warm Gun-while nominally a "John" song-required the cooperation of the entire band to be recorded. Arguably, that's unquestionably a "Beatles" song in a way not much else on the White album is. Would that appear on the John album, be saved for a latter date, or be abandoned?

I can't see the Beatles deciding to do this before India. Even if they did "Hey Bulldog" would still be on Yellow Submarine-they were contractually obligated to provide four new songs for the project.

I'm less sure with Across the Universe. True the Beatles agreed to allow Spike Milligan to use the song-but that may have been more of an informal agreement than a ironclad contract. By the end of 1968 the Beatles were contemplating a release for that song on a Yellow Submarine EP. As such I could see John deciding to put Across the Universe on his album.

Even if the Beatles decided to do this there would probably be concerns about flooding the market with four simultaneous albums. I think they're more likely to be spaced out in a way that allows each album some time to breath-at least a month between albums. That leads into the band politics question of whether the Paul or John record is released first.

Due to the timing of the recording sessions I would expect the first such record to be released in November 1968.

That means that the George and Ringo albums could be released in 1969-which is great for George Harrison. If George's album is completed after his time in the United States then you're looking at an incredible record.

Even if the whole album has to be recorded in 1968 there's a chance "Something" is on the album if the song is not butterflied away. What stopped that song from appearing on the White album was the fact that the song was first written too late in 1968 to be recorded in time, and that George had not yet thought of the "attracts me like no other lover" line.

Here he almost certainly isn't on the same time table and butterflies could lead him to think of that line months ahead of schedule.

Isn't it a Pity is the key song in the backlog from 1966. For idiosyncratic reasons John Lennon hated that song and kept the composition off every Beatles release from Revolver through Let it Be. However much John hates that song he will not be able to keep it off George's album.
 
Just picking up on the timing issue.. if the 4 solo albums are spaced out over late 1968-early 1969, then there's probably less pressure on them to reconvene for sessions in early 1969.

That gives them a chance to formulate a better plan for their next project (if there is one) than OTL, where they went straight into aimless rehearsals for a project that never had a definite aim. (A live show? A tour? A movie? A TV special? And where exactly was gonna be the venue, anyway...?)

All that was agreed was the modus operandi (back to basics, no overdubbing), and ultimately they didn't even stick to THAT...
 
In January 1969 the Beatles would probably be working on George's album in that case. I say this for two reasons. If we assume a month in between release schedule the "Harrison" album would have been scheduled for a February release-since Yellow Submarine will still be released in January.

The winter of 1968 was a key creative period in George Harrison's life. I think inevitably he would want the new songs he wrote in that period in his album-All Things Must Pass among them.

That means John pretty much doesn't show up. That means less tension. George hated Yoko more than anyone and that showed. Paul and George had arguments-John and George had a fist fight.


Even the tension with Paul would be reduced in that context since that was mostly about Paul dictating how George should play on songs Paul had written. The control issue is not as present if three Beatles are working on George's record.

George's record might actually be better received that John and Paul's. We're looking at a record that has While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something, and All Things Must Pass on it.

I'm not sure what that does from a band politics perspective-but George's stock in the public imagination would become heightened earlier.
 
(re: George Harrison album sessions, Jan 1969)

That means John pretty much doesn't show up. That means less tension. George hated Yoko more than anyone and that showed. Paul and George had arguments-John and George had a fist fight.


Even the tension with Paul would be reduced in that context since that was mostly about Paul dictating how George should play on songs Paul had written. The control issue is not as present if three Beatles are working on George's record.

George's record might actually be better received that John and Paul's. We're looking at a record that has While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something, and All Things Must Pass on it.

I'm not sure what that does from a band politics perspective-but George's stock in the public imagination would become heightened earlier.

Yeah, it's feasible that John skips George's solo album sessions, as he just doesn't like the preachy nature of some songs (and maybe a little lingering resentment over the Maharishi escapade). Besides, there's probably plenty of work to be done with Yoko..

A solo George album in early 1969 with Paul & Ringo on-board certainly changes the dynamic at that time, as you said.

The big question is: Will the experience of working under George Harrison (and solo success for George earlier) will make Paul treat George as more of an equal & lobby for more George songs on the next Beatles album?

A Paul/George axis versus John is an interesting band dynamic - sure in OTL they were both a bit suspicious of Yoko.. but this would be a step further.
 
What prevented that from happening is the Allen Klein vs. the Eastmans fight. George used his support for Klein to reenter John's good graces. Supporting Klein's management hurt George's relationship with Paul for obvious reasons.

For whatever reason George was the Beatle most hostile to Yoko-which made things rough between John and George in the JohnandYoko era.

I'm not sure what John would have done in January 1969 if left to his devices.

I'm also not sure what the "Ringo" album would be-or when that record would be made. After all Ringo had a commitment to the Magic Christian-which is why the Get Back sessions were in January in the first place.

I'm not sure there's time in January to record a Ringo album along with the George one. Though I can imagine some work being done on that project during the January 1969. As it was George and Ringo worked on Octopus' Garden then.

But would Ringo want his compositions on his record or would he prefer a single release-say Octopus' Garden/Don't Pass Me By.

Would John even return to the Beatles here-having successfully released what amounts to a solo record for all intents and purposes?
 
I'm thinking something along the lines of this:

Summer 1968 - Sessions for John's solo album
Aug/Sept 1968 -Solo John album release
Autumn 1968 - sessions for Paul's solo album. John gets peeved at Paul's song selection & perfectionism - and leaves during the sessions. This is explained in the media that "he'd recorded all his parts, so we were cool to let him go on a tour with Yoko" (which is partly true..)
November 1968 - Paul solo album release
Dec-Jan 1968-9 George & Ringo albums recorded simultaneously, with a lot of "guest appearances" keeping Abbey Road studios busy.
March 1969 George solo album released
June 1969 Ringo solo album released.
 
What prevented that from happening is the Allen Klein vs. the Eastmans fight. George used his support for Klein to reenter John's good graces. Supporting Klein's management hurt George's relationship with Paul for obvious reasons.

For whatever reason George was the Beatle most hostile to Yoko-which made things rough between John and George in the JohnandYoko era.

I'm not sure what John would have done in January 1969 if left to his devices.

Would John even return to the Beatles here-having successfully released what amounts to a solo record for all intents and purposes?

With a good experience working with Paul on his & Ringo's solo albums, George MAY be more open to Paul's argument that Klein is bad news & the Eastmans will look after them every bit as well as Paul.

This sets up an even deeper feeling of betrayal in John "They stole MY ****ing band from me!!" Which could make our timeline's Lennon vs McCartney feud look like a playfight by comparison.
 
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I know this is a bit of a bump but I just thought of something.

George Harrison did release solo records in 1968 and 1969-Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound. While there isn't enough space on either record to put all the Harrison White album songs on the album. But he might be able to tack half on one and the other half on the other.

That would give him a solo record without further sessions being needed.
 
I know this is a bit of a bump but I just thought of something.

George Harrison did release solo records in 1968 and 1969-Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound. While there isn't enough space on either record to put all the Harrison White album songs on the album. But he might be able to tack half on one and the other half on the other.

That would give him a solo record without further sessions being needed.

That's an interesting "back door" way of launching George's solo career.

If EMI or Apple see the value in releasing a few songs as singles from the soundtrack, and if they have some chart success then it gives him some clout going into the next Beatles sessions
 
While My Guitar Gently Weeps is easily strong enough to warrant a single release.

If there's not a deliberate decision to release an album for each Beatle simply releasing While My Guitar Gently Weeps/Long, Long, Long as a single might be the solution to the problem of "what to do with George's material"

If the four George White album songs are stretched across his 1968 and 1969 solo records

I think While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Long, Long, Long are the first to see release. The latter fits Wonderwall Music better than the rest of George's songs from that year.

If there isn't an ego "everyone must have a record" issue than the solution might be to give George and Ringo two sides to their own singles rather than full albums to themselves.

(While My Guitar Gently Weeps/ Long, Long, Long and Octopus' Garden/Don't Pass Me By respectively)
 
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