The Beatles released The Beatles in the UK on November 22, 1968. Known as the White Album, their ninth studio album spread 30 tracks across two LPs and became their first album on Apple Records.
Much of the writing began during the band's stay in Rishikesh, India, in early 1968. In a postcard to Ringo Starr, who had returned to England, John Lennon wrote, “we've got about two L.P.s worth of songs now so get your drums out.” Back in England, the group recorded 27 acoustic demos at George Harrison's home in Esher, Surrey. Nineteen of those songs eventually appeared on the album.
Sessions began at Abbey Road in May and continued into October, with some recording also taking place at Trident Studios. Many takes captured the group playing together with a live lead vocal, allowing songs to develop through repeated performances. Other work happened simultaneously in separate rooms. Producer George Martin recalled having to divide his attention between Lennon and Paul McCartney in different studios, while Harrison and Starr moved between them.
Starr left the sessions in August and returned 11 days later. McCartney played drums on “Back In The U.S.S.R.” and “Dear Prudence,” the two songs that open the album. That makes Lennon's “Glass Onion,” the third track, the first place in the running order where listeners hear Starr behind the kit. Starr also reached a songwriting milestone on side two: he sang his own country-flavored “Don't Pass Me By,” earning his first solo writing credit on a Beatles album.
Harrison's “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” brought another musician into the sessions. Eric Clapton played lead guitar on the recording, although the original album didn't credit him. Elsewhere, McCartney performed “Blackbird” alone with an acoustic guitar, while “Helter Skelter” pushed toward hard rock. Even that heavier song had taken a different route through the studio, beginning with lengthy blues-based performances in July before the band returned to make a shorter version in September.
Lennon, McCartney and Martin assembled the four sides during a 24-hour session that began on October 16. Alongside sequencing the songs, they completed edits and cross-fades, shaping the transitions listeners heard between tracks.
Richard Hamilton's sleeve gave the collection a nearly blank exterior. The band's name was embossed on the white cover, and early copies carried individual stamped numbers. Inside, buyers found four separate band portraits and a folded poster combining photographs with lyrics on the reverse. Hamilton worked with McCartney on the poster, using pictures supplied by the individual Beatles.
No singles were taken from the album for its original British or American release. August's “Hey Jude” single came from the same recording period but stayed off the double LP. Its B-side, “Revolution,” was a different recording from the album's “Revolution 1.”
The expanded editions released on November 9, 2018 returned to the material behind the finished record. All 27 Esher demos accompanied a new stereo mix, while the super deluxe edition added 50 session recordings. Those extras included songs that hadn't reached the original LP: Harrison's “Not Guilty,” left off the 1968 release, appeared among the session recordings as Take 102.
