In anticipation of the 50th anniversary re-issue of their White Album – due out November 9th – the Beatles have unveiled a new lyric video for the classic tune “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
The new visuals feature grainy footage of the Fab Four interspersed with green, handwritten lyrics scrawled across the screen and clips of a variety of locations, including Moscow’s Red Square.
Check out “Back in the U.S.S.R. (2018 Mix/Lyric Video)” below.
The Beatles “Back in the U.S.S.R” – Lyric Video
Originally released November 22, 1968, the masterful White Album features an eclectic collection of tracks such as: “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Blackbird,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Glass Onion,” “Birthday,” “Helter Skelter” and “Revolution 1.”
The new edition of the iconic double record will be available in a series of “lavishly presented” packages with new mixes of its 30 tracks. It will also include 27 early acoustic demos, known as the Esher Demos and 50 session tracks, many of which have never before been officially released.
Included in these demos are some gems such as this early acoustic take of “My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Still a work in progress, the listener can hear George Harrison tinker with the ballad that would eventually become one of his most powerful pieces of work. Listen below.
The Beatles “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – Acoustic Version
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (Acoustic Version, Take 2) was recorded on July 25th, 1968, with just George on guitar and Paul on harmonium. It’s a dark and meditative draft of a still-evolving song, as Paul follows along, learning the chords. George tells the Abbey Road crew, “Maybe you’d have to give him his own mike.” (A previous run-through from the same day was on Anthology 3, but this take was just discovered during the research for this project.) George sings original lines he ended up discarding: “I look from the wings at the play you are staging / As I’m sitting here doing nothing but ageing.”
The Beatles also recently released a new video for the 2018 mix of “Glass Onion.” Featuring rare photos and footage from The Beatles’ vault, the “Glass Onion” music video takes fans on a journey into the creation of the pull-out poster from the White Album.
The Beatles “Glass Onion” – 2018 Remix
