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When Did 'the Beatles' Become 'the White Album'?
Topic Started: Jan 27 2011, 01:44 PM (494 Views)
Nowhere Man
Level 2
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Hi All,

A little something that has popped in to my head.

Does anybody know when 'The Beatles' came to be commonly known as 'The White Album'? Any idea who came up with the phrase?

Strange, the thoughts that drift in to your mind :rolleyes:
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PMC7070
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I suppose almost immediately, cos if you'd have gone into the record shop and asked for 'The Beatles' the answer might have been which one! Then you'd have probably said 'The white one'. Eventually the assistant, bored with the same question must have said do you mean the 'White Album'.
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Easy-E
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On the rear of YS is Tony Palmers review of "The Beatles" where he states "...wrapped in a plain white cover and adorned...." in the 3rd sentence of his 1st paragraph of the review. Now YS sold in vast quantities and the review presumably got read at least once by those purchasing it and the review appeared originally in the London "Observer" which had a circulation of...? so yep prob pretty much immediately.

Or maybe it was when the Red and the Blue sets came out that it entered common parlance?

This chap has this slant on it:

"The real name of the album was actually "The Beatles." The original name was actually "A Doll's House." It involved a very elaborate and ambitious cover design that was something like an Advent calendar in which different flaps were opened to reveal pictures of the group and other "goodies." This proved to be far too expensive so the group decided to go to the opposite end of the spectrum and make the album cover as plain as possible. It was called "The White Album" so that in interviews and press releases when referring to the Beatles people wouldn't confuse it with the album of the same name and vice versa."

The first part is OK just the second statement needs checking. So, just gotta find an Apple press release from 1968 and see if they call it the White Album or not!
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Nowhere Man
Level 2
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Hi Guys,

Thanks for taking the time to ponder.

It makes sense that it probably almost immediately started being referred to (especially in record shops) as 'the white album' and has since become 'The White Album' - if you see what I mean.

I thought that there may have been a definitive article/review written that established this as the name we all use by default.
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namralos
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In the earliest ads, it was referred to as the Beatles' "special double album."

Frank
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