On May 29, 1968, The Beatles convened at George Harrison's home studio in Esher to record demos for what would become the classic double-record set: The Beatles (better known as The White Album). These 27 acoustic demos were recorded in just one day. The new reissue of the White Album includes these fascinating demos. It's remarkable how much these stripped down versions resemble the finished tracks on the official recording. For this week’s show, we’ll dig into a few of these important first recordings, along with various other acoustic recordings (by other artists) of classic Beatles songs. It’s the Fab Four … this week on The Sing Out! Radio Magazine.

Episode #19-16: The Acoustic Beatles

Host: Tom Druckenmiller

Artist/”Song”/CD/Label

Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer”(excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / Smithsonian Folkways

Bill Evans / “A Hard Day's Night” / In Good Company / Native and Fine

The Beatles / “Back in the USSR” / The Beatles Esher Demos / Apple

Judy Collins / “In My Life” / In My Life / Elektra

James Lee Stanley / “Drive My Car” / The Apocaloptimist / Beachwood

The Dillards / “Yesterday” / Copperfields / Elektra

The Beatles / “Revolution” / The Beatles Esher Demos / Apple

The Beach Boys / “I Should Have Known Better” / Beach Boys Party / Capitol

The Beach Boys / “Tell Me Why” / Beach Boys Party / Capitol

Tony Furtado w/ Alison Krauss / “I Will” / Within Reach / Rounder

The Charles River Valley Boys / “I Feel Fine” / Beatles Country / Rounder

Bill Evans / “You've Got to Hide Your Love Away-Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” / In Good Company / Native and Fine

Paul McCartney / “Junk” / McCartney / EMI

The Bee Eaters / “Eleanor Rigby” / The Bee Eaters / Self Produced

Fraser & Debolt / “Don't Let Me Down” / Fraser & Debolt with Ian Guenther / Columbia

Grisman-Hartford-Seeger / “When I'm Sixty-Four” / Retrograss / Acoustic Disc

The Beatles / “Glass Onion” / The Beatles Esher Demos / Apple

Tim O'Brien / “Norwegian Wood” / Two Journeys / Howdy Skies

The Dillards / “I've Just Seen a Face” / Wheatstraw Suite / Elektra

Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer”(excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle / Smithsonian Folkways