The Beatles - Band version of White Album

Well, all good things must eventually come to an end. Back when I started, I had ideas for about a dozen albums, and I never dreamed that it would continue for seven years with more than 150 albums! For the final entry, I decided to end this blog with the way it started: a take on The Beatles' "White Album." 

Way back in the good ol' days of 2017, I reimagined the While Album as three separate albums that I felt better organized the songs:

• A Doll's House
• The Beatles
• Back in Your Safely Beds

There are many ways you can slice and dice the album. But I find it both surprising and enlightening that of the 30 tracks that make up the White Album, only 16 (slightly more than half) actually feature all four band members performing.

And there doesn't seem to be any consistency of one member missing from a track. Lennon is the only no-show on Starr's "Don't Pass Me By" and Harrison's "Long Long Long." McCartney and Starr collaborated as a duo on "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" while Lennon and Harrison were the only Beatles on "Revolution 9." Songs such as "Julia" and "Blackbird" are basically solo efforts for Lennon and McCartney respectively, and so on.

So, I put together the tracklist below if you want an actual, true "Beatles" White Album, with the full band contributing. The only problem is that one track had to go if you want to keep within the time constraints of a vinyl album.

SIDE A
1. Glass Onion
2. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
3. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
4. Birthday 

5. Happiness is a Warm Gun
6. Piggies

7. Rocky Raccoon
8. Cry Baby Cry

SIDE B
1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
2. Yer Blues
3. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
4. Honey Pie

5. Sexy Sadie

6. I'm So Tired

7. Helter Skelter

Interestingly, John Lennon's songs dominate this version of the album. So much so that when it came time for me to determine which track to leave out, I chose one of his: "Revolution 1." I figured that "Revolution" was released as a single, so jettison the slow version. Maybe it could have been the B-side of a single.

No band member performs on all 30 tracks of the White Album. Paul McCartney leads with 24, followed by Ringo Starr with 22, and both George Harrison and Lennon with 20 each.

The familiar album opening with a jet plane sound on "Back in the U.S.S.R" is not included because Starr walked out in a huff during the recording sessions, and McCartney handled drums instead. The same goes for "Dear Prudence." So, I ended up starting this album with tracks three and four.

I mixed up the order a bit, using "Cry Baby Cry" with its "Can You Take Me Back" closing tag as a nice way to end the first side. "My Guitar Gently Weeps" is given more of a spotlight as the opening track of the second side. And I closed the album with the metal "Helter Skelter"—the "I got blisters on my fingers!" line is a great way to end the album as a whole.

Overall, it's an interesting twist and mix.

And so we end the blog. Thanks to all of those who've taken the time to read the entries and post comments. I'll leave the blog as is for the foreseeable future so that newcomers can find it and maybe be inspired.

Moody Blues - "Sands of Times"

 

In 1974, several members of the Moody Blues were burnt out from constant recording and touring, and the band decided to take a hiatus that lasted nearly three years. But the band members didn't just sit around and relax. Instead, they all put out solo albums, and some members toured to promote the albums. I wanted to look at the solo albums of the group members to see if I could take tracks from each to create what could have been a new Moody Blues album for 1975 or 1976. 

SIDE A

1. This Morning

2. Free as a Dove

3. I Wish We Could Fly

4. Island

5. Saved by the Music

SIDE B

1. Remember Me (My Friend)

2. The Promise

3. High Above My Head

4. I Dreamed Last Night

5. When You Wake Up

Actually, we have one real Moody Blues song to include: "Island." The band recorded it in 1973 for what was to be their next album. However, since they went on hiatus, the song remained unreleased until 2007, when it was added to the album Seventh Sojourn as a bonus track. 

Of the five members, the only solo work I felt I couldn't use was that of drummer Graeme Edge's Kick Off Your Muddy Boots, credited to the Graeme Edge Band featuring Adam Gurvitz. That's because Gurvitz sings lead vocals on all the tracks, and since he wasn't a member of the Moody Blues, none of the songs seemed appropriate. Moodies Justin Hayward and John Lodge collaborated on an album titled Blue Jays. I ended up using five tracks from this album. Ray Thomas issued the album From Mighty Oaks, and I used two tracks from this. I also used two tracks from Mike Pinder's The Promise album.

Not surprisingly, Hayward-penned tracks dominated as they usually did on Moody Blues albums. 

I started the album with "This Morning" from the Blue Jays album, as I think it's the only track here with that classic Moody Blues sound. And because of this, I'm a little surprised it wasn't the single taken from the album. Making up the rest of Side 1 are "Free as a Dove" from Pinder, "I Wish We Could Fly" from Thomas, the sole actual Moody Blues song, "Island," and finally, another Blue Jays track, "Saved by the Music."

"Remember Me (My Friend)," "I Dreamed Last Night" and "When You Wake Up" are all Blue Jays tracks on Side 2. Also included are Pinder's "The Promise" and "High Above My Head" from Thomas' From Mighty Oaks.

Overall, I think these tracks fit together fairly well. I still find it odd that group members would declare burn out as a reason for a hiatus, only to turn around and work just as much as they would normally.

For an album cover, I would have liked to use some otherwise unused artwork by Phil Travers, who usually created the band's cover art. But I couldn't find any searching the web. However, I found this artwork of sand dunes that I thought was sorta, kinda similar to Travers' style -- but I couldn't find info on who created it. With the cover art chosen, I came up with Sands of Time for the title.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the album.

The Doobie Brothers - "What It Takes"

 

Not long ago, I was flipping TV channels when I came upon a recent live concert by the Doobie Brothers on PBS, which inspired me to create this imagined album. I always like creating “what if” albums for groups that have more than one vocalist, as it is fairly easy to do by combining tracks from the vocalists’ solo albums. And that’s what I did here.

After the Doobie Brothers released One Step Closer in 1980 and completed a farewell tour, the group officially broke up in 1982. At that point, the group had two primary vocalists, original member Patrick Simmons and Michael McDonald, who’d joined in 1976.

So, I wanted to see if I could compile an album for the group as if they had released an album in 1982-83 rather than breaking up. The songs of this imagined album are sourced from three solo albums: Michael McDonald’s If That’s What It Takes, Patrick Simmons’ Arcade, and the Cornelius Bumpus Quartet’s Beacon.

SIDE A

1. Out On The Streets

2. I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)

3. I Gotta Try

4. Why You Givin’ Up

5. If That's What It Takes

SIDE B

1. Playin' By The Rules

2. So Wrong

3. Have You Seen Her

4. Waltz For Little Buddy

5. Believe in It

Simmons used several former bandmates on his album, making it somewhat easy to pick which tracks should be included here. “Out on the Streets” includes guitar by John McFee as well as backup vocals by Tom Johnston and McDonald; “Why You Givin’ Up” (which was co-written by McDonald) has Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on guitar, Bumpus on sax and McDonald on backup vocals; and “Have You Seen Her” also includes McDonald on backup vocals. In addition, I also included the track “So Wrong,” which apparently surprised Simmons and record executives when it became a U.S. dance/disco hit, peaking at #8.

From McDonald’s album, I chose five tracks: “I Keep Forgettin’” was the big hit from the album; “I Gotta Try” was co-written by Kenny Loggins as was a previous Doobie Brothers hit “What a Fool Believes”; the title track “If That’s What It Takes”; as well as “Playin’ by the Rules” and “Believe In It.”

On One Step Closer, Bumpus wrote and sang on one track, so I wanted to include a song of his on this album also. Despite the group bearing his name, the only track on Beacon written by Bumpus is “Waltz for Little Buddy” – an unassuming jazzy instrumental. One Step Closer also included an instrumental as the second to last track of the album, so that’s where I included this Bumpus song.

I struggled with ideas for an album cover. Eventually, I chose the cover of the Doobie Brothers’ album Farewell Tour, cropped the image and added new text. For a title, I took part of McDonald’s solo album title and named it What It Takes.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the album.

The Beach Boys - "20/20" (double album)

 

It’s no secret that the Beach Boys and the Beatles saw themselves as friendly rivals and influences. Vocal parts of the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer” were influenced by the Beach Boys’ “I Get Around.” And the race was on: Rubber Soul begat Pet Sounds which begat Revolver. The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” single certainly upped the ante and expectations were high for the next album Smile.

But then the Beach Boys basically went off the rails with Brian Wilson’s drug use and resulting mental issues. Plus, I would argue that while interesting, the songs recorded for Smile just weren't strong enough. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band came out in May 1967, and when Smile was kind of salvaged with Smiley Smile issued four months later, there really wasn’t much of a competition anymore.

However, the Beach Boys' influence on the Beatles continued at least for a little while. It’s been suggested that the Beach Boys’ Wild Honey may have helped convince the Beatles to use a more of a back-to-basics approach for The Beatles, and certainly the opening track “Back in the U.S.S.R” is a Beach Boys homage.

I wondered if the competition was still in effect, whether the Beach Boys might have followed the Beatles with their own double album (and this is, of course, assuming Capitol Records execs would have agreed to this for a band whose market value was by now greatly diminished).

I wanted to take all the tracks the Beach Boys recorded in 1968 following the release of their Friends LP and expand the 1969 album 20/20 to two discs.

SIDE A

1. Intro 

2. Do It Again 

3. We're Together Again 

4. Well, You Know I Knew 

5. Peaches 

6. Be with Me 

SIDE B

1. All I Want to Do 

2. Walkin'

3. Away 

4. Cabinessence 

5. Sail Plane Song 

6. Been Way Too Long (Can't Wait Too Long) 

SIDE C

1. I Can Hear Music 

2. Old Folks Home / Old Man River 

3. Is It True What They Said About Dixie? 

4. Cotton Fields 

5. Bluebirds over the Mountain 

6. Mona Kana 

SIDE D

1. Oh Yeah 

2. Never Learn Not to Love 

3. Walk on By 

4. Time to Get Alone 

5. I Went to Sleep 

6. The Nearest Faraway Place 

7. A Time to Live in Dreams 

8. Rendezvous (Do It Again) 

Twenty-four tracks are taken from two sessions: May – July 1968 and September – November 1968. The two concessions are “Cabinessence,” originally recorded in 1966 for Smile but which received new overdubs in 1968 before being included on 20/20, and “Away,” an outtake from the Friends sessions.

In arranging the tracks for the four sides of this theoretical album, I considered humor (which was very important to Brian Wilson) and pseudo themes. My version of this album opens with a snippet from “The Gong,” taken from the I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions. I only use the 27 seconds of the Dennis Wilson's (3:16-3:44) "new day" speech as a lead-in for “Do It Again.” I use the alternate version of this song from I Can Hear Music that's about 25 seconds longer than the single version. I thought it was kind of humorous to have "Do It Again" followed by "We're Together Again." The rest of the first side is dominated by Dennis Wilson songs. One of these, "Peaches," was a demo and I've used a fan-created mix that helps smooth out the rough edges.

After opening with the rockin' "All I Want to Do," the second side has a vague travel theme with “Walkin’” followed humorously by “Away,” and then “Cabinessence” (“Who ran the iron horse? Have you seen the grand coolie workin' on the railroad?”) and “Sail Plane Song.” I ended the side with “Been Way Too Long” (aka “Can't Wait Too Long”) and used a fan-created, six-minute “ultimate mix” version.

The third side opens with “I Can Hear Music” and then focuses on covers of older music, including “Old Man River / Old Folks Home” (1920s), “Is It True What They Said About Dixie?” -- with the Wilson brothers' mother on lead vocal -- (1930s),  “Cotton Fields” (1940s) and “Bluebirds over the Mountain” (1950s), before ending with the instrumental “Mona Kana.”

The final side opens with the oddity “Oh Yeah,” and the last five tracks share a vague theme of “time” and “dreams.” To close the final side, I used an edit of only the last 42 seconds of “Rendevous,” an early version of “Do It Again,” to bookend the album.

Overall, I think this gives a much bigger picture of the Beach Boys at this time than the actual 20/20 album. But even if this version of the album had been released at the time, I can’t say if it would have been successful. Given that the actual 20/20 managed to make to only #68 on the Billboard charts indicates that the Beach Boys' career was for the times in the dumper. However, 20/20 surprisingly rose to #3 in Britain, so who knows?

For the album cover, I used a photo from the same photo shoot as the actual 20/20 cover, which I think is far superior.

Here is a YouTube playlist of the album, but it doesn't include the first and last tracks that I used personal edits for.

Sources:

• I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions - A1 [edit], A2, A4, A6, B1, B2, B5, C3, C5, C6, D1, D3, D7, D8 [edit]
• 20/20 - B4, C1, C4, D2, D5, D6
• Made in California - A3
• Mr. J Wilson - A5
• Wake the World: The Friends Sessions - B3
• Hawthorne, CA: Birthplace of a Musical Legacy - C2
• Summer Love Songs - D4
• forjustsomemusicstuff - B6

Elvis Presley – Discography 1960 - 1963

This entry is to close out my Elvis Presley "discography series," but in fact, I made very few changes to what was released during this time. In my opinion, RCA et al did a decent job during these four years of releases. The only changes I make are to replace the 1961 Flaming Star EP with a single (the additional two songs were unnecessary re-releases), redo the third volume of the Golden Records series and add my revised version of the “lost” album, both from 1963.

1960

• SINGLE: Stuck on You / Fame and Fortune (March)
• ALBUM: Elvis is Back (April)
• SINGLE: It’s Now or Never / A Mess of Blues (July)
• ALBUM: G.I. Blues (September)
• ALBUM: His Hand in Mine (November)
• SINGLE: Are You Lonesome Tonight? / I Gotta Know (November)

1961

• SINGLE: Surrender / Lonely Man (February)
• SINGLE (add): Flaming Star / Summer Kisses, Winter Tears (April)
• EP (delete): Elvis by Request: Flaming Star and 3 Other Great Songs (April)
• SINGLE: I Feel So Bad / Wild in the Country (May)
• ALBUM: Something for Everybody (May)
• SINGLE: (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame / Little Sister (August)
• ALBUM: Blue Hawaii (October)
• SINGLE: Can’t Help Falling in Love / Rock a Hula, Baby (November)

1962

• SINGLE: Good Luck Charm / Anything That’s Part of You (February)
• EP: Follow That Dream (April)
• ALBUM: Pot Luck (May)
• SINGLE: She’s Not You / Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (July)
• EP: Kid Galahad (August)
• SINGLE: Return to Sender / Where Do You Come From? (October)
• ALBUM: Girls! Girls! Girls! (November)

1963

ALBUM: Elvis’ Golden Records, Vol. 3 (January)

SIDE A

1.       Stuck on You

2.       Fame and Fortune

3.       It’s Now or Never

4.       Are You Lonesome Tonight?

5.       I Gotta Know

6.       Surrender

SIDE B

1.       I Feel So Bad

2.       Wild in the Country

3.       (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame

4.       Little Sister

5.       Can’t Help Falling in Love

6.       Good Luck Charm

RCA released Elvis’ Golden Records, Vol. 3 in August 1963. I would have pushed it up as a January 1963 release and changed the track listing a bit, as well as organized the songs in chronological order. Removed from the album are “Anything That’s Part of You,” which only made it to #31 on the charts; as well as “She’s Not You,” which was released only seven months prior. Instead, I included “Wild in the Country” (a #26 hit) and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (a #2 hit that had been inexplicably left off). I decided to use this alternate cover I found on the web.

• SINGLE: One Broken Heart for Sale / They Remind Me Too Much of You (January)
• ALBUM: It Happened at the World’s Fair (April)
• SINGLE: (You’re the) Devil in Disguise / Please Don’t Drag That String Around (June)

ALBUM: For the Asking (August)

SIDE A

1.       (It’s a) Long Lonely Highway

2.       What Now? What Next? Where to?

3.       Ask Me

4.       Echoes Of Love

5.       Western Union

6.       Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers

SIDE B

1.       It Hurts Me

2.       Blue River

3.       Memphis, Tennessee

4.       Love Me Tonight

5.       Never Ending

6.       Slowly But Surely

In 1991, RCA released The Lost Album (later re-released as For the Asking: The Lost Album), including songs from recording sessions in 1963. Most of the tracks were supposed to make up a new studio album. But instead, it was decided that another “greatest hits” package would sell better. From the 15 songs recorded during the sessions, I didn’t include the three that were used for singles during this year: “Witchcraft,” “Please Don’t Drag That String Around” and “Devil in Disguise.” I then organized the track list keeping a mix of up-tempo songs and ballads. I think this ends up being a really good album that never quite was but should have been. For a cover, I found a version online and edited the track listing.

• SINGLE: Bossa Nova Baby / Witchcraft (October)
• ALBUM: Fun in Acapulco (November)

If you want to review my previous Elvis discographies, click on the links below:

Elvis Presley’s Debut Album on Sun Records

Elvis Presley’s 1950s Discography with RCA

Elvis Presley Discography, 1964-1968

Elvis Presley Discography, 1969-1977

The Ronettes - "Paradise"

 

I was surprised to learn recently that The Ronettes only released one studio album, 1964’s Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes, during the 10 years the group was together. The group primarily released singles, and many tracks appeared on compilation albums throughout the years. 

Unable to duplicate the success of “Be My Baby,” producer Phil Spector became discouraged with the group’s potential and was distracted by other acts signed to his Philles label, his own insecurities and changing music fads.

So here I present what could have been a follow-up Ronettes album for 1965.

SIDE A

1. Is This What I Get for Loving You?

2. Paradise

3. I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine

4. (Baby, Let’s Be) Lovers

5. Oh, I Love You

6. Everything Under the Sun

7. Keep on Dancing

SIDE B

1. Born to be Together

2. Soldier Baby (of Mine)

3. I’m a Woman in Love

4. Blues for Baby

5. Here I Sit

6. Girls Can Tell

The Ronettes released two singles in 1965: “Born to Be Together” b/w “Blues for Baby” and “Is This What I Get for Loving You?” b/w “Oh, I Love You.” Besides those four songs, eight other tracks were recorded by the group in 1964 and 1965. They sat in the vault for years before appearing on the Phil Spector Wall of Sound compilation LP series in the 1970s and 1980s.

With these 12 tracks, I also included the song “(Baby, Let's Be) Lovers,” which appeared on the 1981 compilation The Ronettes Sing Their Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (somewhat comical since “Lovers” had not only never been released previously, but was never a hit song).

Overall, the result is a nice package of girl-group tracks produced with the Wall of Sound. For a cover, I took a black and white portrait of the group from the time period, colorized it and then added minimal graphics.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the album.

Steely Dan - "The Bear"

 

In 1980, Steely Dan released Gaucho, the band's first album in three years, and last before Donald Fagen and Walter Becker regrouped for a new album in 2000.

Several outtakes from Gaucho remain officially unreleased, although they’ve appeared on bootlegs and the Internet over the years.

I wanted to see if I could use outtakes to create a new Steely Dan album that theoretically could have been produced around 1981-82.

SIDE A

1. Kulee Baba

2. I Can't Write Home About You

3. Kind Spirit

4. Stand by the Seaside

SIDE B

1. The Bear

2. Talkin' About My Home

3. The Second Arrangement

Five known outtakes from the Gaucho album are "Kind Spirit," "Kulee Baba," "The Bear," "Talkin' About My Home," and "The Second Arrangement." I think the demo for "I Can't Write Home About You" also dates from the sessions.

“The Second Arrangement” was supposed to have been included on Gaucho, but an assistant engineer accidentally erased the track. Becker and Fagen reportedly didn’t want to start recording the song again from scratch. However, a version on a cassette was later discovered, and cleaned up and posted online by fans.

In fact, the amazing results of new software and fans’ creativity have resulted in what I think are good-sounding versions of all these leftovers.

"Stand by the Seawall" is an instrumental outtake from the Aja album. If it had been completed, it would likely have had lyrics, but I use it here as an instrumental ending for the album's first side.

Granted, seven songs make for a fairly short album, even if all the tracks range in the 4 to 5-plus-minute territory. As arranged, the album clocks in at 32:19, more than five minutes shorter than Gaucho.

And many purists will roll their eyes at the idea of using these revamped tracks to create a “new” Steely Dan album, especially given the well-documented perfectionism of Becker and Fagen. But after I arranged these songs and hit “play,” it sounded like a long-lost Steely Dan album to these ears.

I decided to use “The Bear” as the title track and then searched the Web for artwork. I found this rustic-looking image, and since it kind of looked like the California flag, I used a font similar to that used on the flag.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the album.