Beatles mixing challenge

[dudezer47]

***If you think the Beatles White Album is perfect and every way and above reproach this thread might not be for you so please don't rant in our ears***

For the rest of us, I've always been of the opinion that the White Album could have benefitted rom some serious editing. I know that's not the point or spirit of the album, but let's take the album out of the context of its time. If you were the producer and had to cut the album down from 30 tracks to 18, which tracks would the album include and what would be the order of the track list?

[Gibran]

Hmm, if forced.....here is what I came up with. I would not change the order. Here are my 18.

1. "Back in the USSR"
2. "Dear Prudence"
3. "Glass Onion"
4. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (vorbis sample 204K)
5. "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"
6. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
7. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"
8. "Martha My Dear"
9. "I'm So Tired"
10. "Rocky Raccoon"
11. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
12. "I Will"
13. "Julia"
14. "Birthday"
15. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
16. "Helter Skelter"
17. "Revolution 1" (vorbis sample 203K)
18. "Revolution 9"

[wbennettjr]

I love exercises like this, and for my money there has always been a lot of fluff on the white album.

Trimming down to 18 was not so painful. Sequencing was another story. Some may disagree with the concept and others with the execution, but what I have done was divided the 18 tracks into, roughly, acoustic and electric groups. I then sequenced each group. When I get home tonight I will try this out and see how it sounds. If I need to make adjustments I will. For now, here it is:

Acoustic Set:
1 While My Guitar Gently Weeps
2 Long, Long, Long
3 Piggies
4 Mother Nature's Son
5 I'm So Tired
6 Dear Prudence
7 Blackbird
8 Cry Baby Cry
9 Revolution 1

Electric Set:
1 Helter Skelter
2 Yer Blues
3 Sexy Sadie
4 Happiness Is a Warm Gun
5 Birthday
6 Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
7 Glass Onion
8 Back in the U.S.S.R.
9 Revolution 9

[dudezer47]

I went for a track listing that maximizes what I see as the musical strengths of the album and embodies a feel good spirit that I think infects the original. Here's how mine breaks down.

Side A
1. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
2. "Savoy Truffle"
3. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
4. "Sexy Sadie"
5. "Glass Onion"
6. "Martha My Dear"
7. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"
8. "Wild Honey Pie"
9. "Rocky Racoon"

Side B
1. "I'm So Tired
2. "Mother Nature's Son"
3. "Julia"
4. "Blackbird"
5. "Cry Baby Cry"
6. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
7. "Helter Skelter"
8. "Birthday"
9. "Dear Prudence"