The Beatles – White Album Demos Review

Dedicated fans wanting to hear another side to The White Album are not in short supply. The quadruple of Anthology volumes is out there, as is a notable selection of bootleg recordings. White Album Demos is the latter. While some of the tape quality is a little rough, it offers another look at a brilliant time for the band in the studio, despite Ringo Starr leaving briefly. It was a fractured time for the relationship between The Beatles but they manage to bring about some of their best-ever songs. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and Good Night are not exactly unanimous favourites of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Starr. Far from it. But what the White Album Demos highlights is what the Get Back documentary did too. These days in the studio were not always wrought with tension. Plenty of White Album Demos highlights the lighter time in the studio.  

Crucially so, too, as opening song Spiritual Regeneration sounds as liberating as the song title would suggest. Lennon would once say the Medley of Abbey Road was a chance to throw out songs which the band couldn’t quite get over the line. There isn’t anything on the White Album Demos to suggest The Beatles were gearing up to make part of their D-side a medley, but you can hear that half-finished, often nearly there brilliance, on these demos. Clearer examples come through on songs which are now considered all-time greats, like Helter Skelter and a staggering, ten-minute version of Revolution. Take 20 of the song is a fantastic version, and it’s close enough to what the band would release though the slower tempo and acoustic focus gives it the edge over the official version. Tremendous instrumental work from the four and, crucially, is keeping the rhythm and beat alive and interesting. It becomes a brilliant instrumental jam.  

But this isn’t just a collection of earlier versions of songs already released. There are some fantastic deep dives to be had on White Album Demos. Brian Epstein Blues is a touch heartbreaking as The Beatles pay tribute to their former manager. Lennon sings it with a tremendous passion, and the standard blues sound the rest of the band gives it is very fitting. A few edits which add Bob Dylan and Donovan to songs like How Do You Do and Nowhere to Go imply Dylan was in the studio with The Beatles. Not quite, but nice additions to an album with plenty on offer for dedicated fans of the group. Ultimately, it’s for those who got a hunger for White Album-era demos from Anthology Vol. 3 and need even more than that official release can offer. Plenty of people may want that, and this compilation caters to that need well.  

Later pieces like A Case of the Blues and Goodbye are nicely selected. Solid tapes though it does feel the highlights are relatively Lennon-led. The best of the bunch is Don’t Let Me Down, a song where an argument could be made for it being the finest song in The Beatles’ discography. You can hear the song come together nicely here, an early and acoustic version of an all-time great. Hearing The Beatles work out the finer details of their work is as exciting to the dedicated listener as the final song itself. Hearing the masters at work is a rare opportunity, a chance to delve a little deeper into the thought process behind this lyric or that chord progression. It’s all there across White Album Demos, a tremendous opportunity to connect with those classic songs and unreleased pieces on a deeper level.