Random Most Fascinating Facts About The Beatles ‘White Album’ (12 items)

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  (#10) 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' Was Based On A 'Peanuts' Book

  The title for the Beatles classic "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" was inspired by Charles Schultz's Peanuts book Happiness Is a Warm Puppy. Lennon said he thought the title was a "fantastic, insane thing to say." Lyrically, there were perceived references in the song to heroin, which Lennon had begun using around the same time as the recording sessions. 

  The song was loved by Paul McCartney, who called it his favorite on the album. During recording, the band took two nights and 70 takes to get the song down - thanks to its complicated tempo changes and odd structure. 
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  (#4) The Album Prompted Ringo Starr To Quit The Band

  The Beatles began to come apart during the making of The White Album. The sessions were often tense and staff at Abbey Road Studios would be asked to leave when the band needed to figure things out.

  At some point, Ringo Starr hit a wall and began to question whether he was the one causing the tension due to the way he was playing at the time. He decided to leave the band, and visited John Lennon to give him the news. 

  "I said, 'I'm leaving the group because I'm not playing well and I feel unloved and out of it, and you three are really close.' And John said, 'I thought it was you three!'" Starr recalled in Anthology. "So then I went over to Paul [McCartney]'s and knocked on his door. I said the same thing: 'I'm leaving the band. I feel you three guys are really close and I'm out of it.' And Paul said, 'I thought it was you three!'" 

  After recording "Back In The U.S.S.R." with McCartney on drums, the band realized that they needed their drummer and sent a telegram asking him to come back. 
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  (#12) Ringo Starr Wrote 'Don't Pass Me By' Over Five Years

  By the time the band began working on songs for The White Album, they had been passing over Starr's "Don't Pass Me By" for roughly five years. The song was mentioned in a 1964 BBC interview, when Starr was asked whether he'd be contributing any songs. McCartney interjected by singing a portion of the song.

  In another interview around the same time, Starr described the process of writing the song.

  "I was fiddling with the piano – I just bang away – and then if a melody comes and some words, I just have to keep going. That's how it happened: I was just sitting at home alone and 'Don't Pass Me By' arrived," he said. 

  The song's inclusion on the album wasn't welcomed by everyone, as producer George Martin urged the band to trim the length of the album. They ultimately refused allegedly because Lennon and McCartney were trying hard to fulfill their contractual obligations. 
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  (#5) 'Helter Skelter' Was Meant To Compete With The Who

  Paul McCartney wrote "Helter Skelter," one of The Beatles' most cherished rock songs, after reading an interview with The Who's Pete Townshend in which he called "I Can See For Miles" the loudest song ever written. He took that statement as a challenge.

  "Helter Skelter" later became infamous for its connection to cult leader Charles Manson, who took the song's nonsensical lyrics as a warning about an impending Armageddon and ultimately plotted a number of murders in response. 
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  (#3) 'Wild Honey Pie' Was Recorded Entirely By McCartney

  The short "Wild Honey Pie" was written and recorded solely by Paul McCartney, who later explained that some down time in the studio prompted him to begin experimenting. 

  "It was very home-made; it wasn't a big production at all. I just made up this short piece and I multitracked a harmony to that, and a harmony to that, and a harmony to that, and built it up sculpturally with a lot of vibrato on the strings, really pulling the strings madly," he said.

  "Wild Honey Pie" was not initially  included on the album, but Harrison's wife, Pattie, liked it so much that they decided to include. 
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  (#1) George Harrison Wrote 'Savoy Truffle' Making Fun Of Eric Clapton

  Interestingly, George Harrison's "Savoy Truffle" was written about the band's friend Eric Clapton. Harrison was struck by Clapton's love of chocolate, which had begun to have a negative effect on his dental health, and decided to write a song making fun of the guitar legend's predicament.

  "His dentist said he was through with candy. So as a tribute I wrote, 'You'll have to have them all pulled out after the Savoy Truffle'. The truffle was some kind of sweet, just like all the rest - cream tangerine, ginger sling - just candy, to tease Eric," Harrison said of the song in his book I Me Mine.

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