THE BEATLES: THE WHITE ALBUM
MOJO Magazine, October 200840 years on, The Beatles' White Album still holds a
plethora of secrets and continues to defy definition. Yoko
Ono, Donovan, Oasis and many more join MOJO for the first
part of our gigantic, 30-page foray into John, Paul, George
and Ringo's most intriguing record ever.
In this month's MOJO, Yoko Ono - Fluxus artist, film-maker,
musician, peace activist and, of course, the wife of the
late Beatle, John Lennon - writes exclusively about her
memories and opinions and the "fiercely independent
composers" behind the "grand hodge-podge" of
jewels that was The Beatles' White Album.
THEY WERE LIKE FOUR ZEN MONKS,
JUST DOING IT, TOGETHER!
by Yoko OnoI thought The White Album was a very hip album. I'm not
talking about the obvious: Revolution 9. For me to talk
about that one is boring. I was impressed with the
musicianship of John, Paul and George, each of them playing
acoustic guitars like pro classical guitarists, on Julia,
Blackbird and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Those three
songs are jewels. I didn't think Ringo was intimidated by
them, either. Though he was quiet, you knew he was right
there, not missing a beat. In fact, his beat was what made
each song alive.
Through my life, I've met interesting, creative musicians;
Henry Cowell, Edgar Varese, Stefan Wolpe, Karl Stockhausen,
John Cage, La Monte Young, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Ornett
Coleman. You want more names? But with The Beatles, it
surprised me that there was a unity about them that I never
saw in any other group of guys. In fact, you couldn't say
they were a group of guys. Each guy was a fiercely
independent composer - a fool on the hill of his own
creation, so to speak. The Beatles were a group, physically
and in spirit. They weren't back-slapping each other or
anything. But you just knew that they were very close.
In fact, they were like four Zen monks. Just doing it.
Together. I know that, initially, critics were not so kind
to The White Album since it came just after Sgt. Pepper -
the big bang. A lot of them made little niggling remarks
that did not add up to anything. "Why a double?" was one. I
totally agreed with Paul when he said that a double was
fine. In fact, the fact that it was not a carefully edited
single album was great. Not contrived. It was an album of
strings of songs seemingly strung in that order for almost
no reason. It was hodge-podge in a grand way, showing the
state of mind that they were in then. I liked that.
I'm just telling you the general impression I had of The
White Album. I don't feel like talking about what I
experienced in observing the making of each song, or any
one song, as MOJO suggested that I do. But I will make one
tiny point. Revolution "in" and "out" seemed to have been a
big issue for the revolutionaries in those days. John was
simply saying his spirit was "in" but his body was "out". A
confession of a truly conceptual guy. His idea of
revolution was without violence.
Like I said, I don't feel the need to spell out anecdotes
about the making of the songs. I loved them all. And it was
an immense privilege to have been there. When The White
Album comes out again, I will buy a couple, keep one for
myself, and send one to my musician son. He would probably
say, "Mom, you don't think I know this one?" No, son. It's
just a ritual. You might be surprised that you didn't know
it. Put it on your stereo. It's quite an inspiring album.
Listen to it again, a few times. Your dad would have liked
it.
YOKO ONO
New York City
July 1, 2008