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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney wanted a certain image to appear on The Beatles’ The White Album.
  • He thought that would make each copy of the record special.
  • The album was more popular in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom.

Paul McCartney had an idea for The Beatles’ The White Album he called “radical.” Subsequently, The Beatles’ record label, EMI, rejected the concept. However, John Lennon had a copy of The White Album that captured Paul’s vision.

Paul McCartney wanted each copy of The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ to be numbered

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the cover of The White Album at length. He had an idea about what EMI could do with the cover of the record.

“I said, ‘Look, records must go through something to put the shrinkwrap on or to staple them. Couldn’t you just have a little thing at the end of that process that hits the paper and prints a number on it? Then everyone would have a numbered copy,'” he said.

EMI wasn’t a big fan of this idea. “I think EMI only did this on a few thousand, then just immediately gave up,” he said. “They have very, very strict instructions that every single album that came out, even to this day, should still be numbered.

“That’s the whole idea: ‘I’ve got No. 1,000,000!'” he said. “What a great number to have! We got the first four. I don’t know where mine is, of course. Everything got lost. It’s all coming up in Sotheby’s, I imagine.”

Why the cover is different from The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’

Paul explained why John’s personal copy of The White Album was special. “John got 00001 because he shouted loudest,” he recalled. “He said, ‘Baggsy No. 1!’ He knew the game, you’ve gotta baggsy it. It was a very radical way to package the album.” For context, saying “baggsy” is a way to claim ownership of something in English culture.

Even if the cover of The White Album doesn’t fully reflect Paul’s original idea, it works well. The artwork for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is famous because it’s so busy. The White Album, The Beatles’ next release, goes in the opposite direction by having a minimalist design.

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How ‘The White Album’ performed in the United States and the United Kingdom

The Beatles’ The White Album became a huge hit. It topped the Billboard 200 for nine weeks. It lasted on the chart for a total of 215 weeks. Other than Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album was the Fab Four’s biggest album in the United States.

On the other hand, The White Album was a more modest hit in the United Kingdom. The Official Charts Company says The White Album was No. 1 in the U.K. It only lasted 37 weeks on the chart.

The White Album‘s cover is iconic even if it doesn’t match Paul’s initial vision.

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