That was just a coincidence, those last two happening 11/22/63. It’s also 55 years to the day since the Beatles’ second album (actually their first properly produced album), With the Beatles, came out. One day until: Thanksgiving 2018, 50th anniversary of The White Album, and 55 years since John Fitzgerald Kennedy was gunned down in the streets of Dallas, Texas, USA. They turned away from the elaborate excesses of Sgt Pepper, recording instead a simple collection of 30 songs under an even simpler name: The Beatles. The Beatles were old hands at dealing with such pressure.
While recording the album, the group was in the process of launching the multimedia business Apple Corps, while coping with various upheavals including drug busts, changing relationships and substance abuse. They had released just the six-track Magical Mystery Tour EP and the ‘Lady Madonna’ single since then, and there was widespread speculation in the press that they were a spent force. Their musical output may have slowed from the mid-1960s, but their creativity was as strong as ever.Īfter Sgt Pepper changed the world, the world keenly awaited The Beatles’ next step.
What month was the song black beatles made free#
Having stopped touring in 1966, they were set free to explore the possibilities from inside the studio, and began enjoying the time that their fortunes allowed. The previous year they’d achieved possibly their crowning glory in Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and suffered their first major artistic failure in the Magical Mystery Tour television film.īy 1968 The Beatles’ world had changed immeasurably from their early days. Commonly known as the White Album, the self-titled collection of 30 songs stands as a majestic cornucopia of styles, born from one of the group’s most creative periods.Īlthough financially secure, critically and commercially acclaimed, and assured as figureheads of popular music, by the summer of 1968 The Beatles were in a degree of turmoil. The Beatles’ ninth original UK album, and their 15th in the United States, was their first double-length release. John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano, organ, Hammond organ, harmonium, harmonica, tenor saxophone, drums, timpani, percussion, tape loops, effects, samples, handclaps Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar, six-string bass guitar, piano, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, organ, Hammond organ, electric piano, flügelhorn, recorder, drums, tambourine, bongos, percussion, handclaps George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, Hammond organ, drums, percussion, samples, handclaps Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, tambourine, bongos, castanets, sleigh bell, maracas, percussion, effects, handclaps George Martin: piano, celesta, harmonium Eric Clapton: lead guitar Chris Thomas: piano, Mellotron, harpsichord, organ, electric piano Yoko Ono: vocals, effects, samples, handclaps Mal Evans: backing vocals, trumpet, handclaps Pattie Harrison, Jackie Lomax, John McCartney: backing vocals, handclaps Maureen Starkey, Francie Schwartz, Ingrid Thomas, Pat Whitmore, Val Stockwell, Irene King, Ross Gilmour, Mike Redway, Ken Barrie, Fred Lucas, various others: backing vocals Jack Fallon, Henry Datyner, Eric Bowie, Norman Lederman, Ronald Thomas, Bernard Miller, Dennis McConnell, Lou Sofier, Les Maddox: violin John Underwood, Keith Cummings, Leo Birnbaum, Henry Myerscough: viola Eldon Fox, Reginald Kilbey, Frederick Alexander: cello Leon Calvert, Stanley Reynolds, Ronnie Hughes, Derek Watkins, Freddy Clayton: trumpet Leon Calvert: flügelhorn Tony Tunstall: French horn Ted Barker, Don Lang, Rex Morris, J Power, Bill Povey: trombone Alf Reece: tuba Dennis Walton, Ronald Chamberlain, Jim Chester, Rex Morris, Harry Klein: saxophone Art Ellefson, Danny Moss, Derek Collins: tenor saxophone Ronnie Ross, Harry Klein, Bernard George: baritone saxophone Raymond Newman, David Smith: clarinet Uncredited: 12 violins, three violas, three cellos, three flutes, clarinet, three saxophones, two trumpets, two trombones, horn, vibraphone, double bass, harp Tracklisting Released: 22 November 1968 (UK), 25 November 1968 (US) Personnel Recorded: 30 May – 17 October 1968 Producers: George Martin, Chris Thomas, John Lennon, Paul McCartney Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Peter Bown, Ken Scott, Barry Sheffield, Ken Townsend