This Instagram only posts pictures of The Beatles’ White Album
23 November 2018, 06:30 | Updated: 10 February 2021, 10:16
As the classic 1968 double album reaches its 50th birthday, let’s take a look at the biggest collection of White Albums in the world!
The Beatles’ White Album was released on 22 November 1968, and in the intervening half a century, literally millions of copies have been sold; millions of homes have an edition of the white-sleeved two-disc set in their collection.
Millions of people have enjoyed tracks like Back In The USSR, Helter Skelter and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Millions have probably skipped over John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s avant garde sound collage, Revolution 9.
The most audacious thing about The White Album was its completely blank cover - apart from the band’s name embossed on the font, the only other marking is the catalogue number in light grey and an individual “edition number”. This was an idea of Paul McCartney’s, intending to make the record similar to a numbered edition of prints - except, of course, the joke was that a Beatles album ran into the millions.
Chang now has over 2,000 copies of the double LP, which he's essentially turned into a record store stocking one album - The Beatles. His exhibition, We Buy White Albums, first appeared at the Recess Gallery in New York in 2013 and its since been to Liverpool and Tokyo. But it’s Change’s Instagram account @webuywhitealbums which is the most brilliant thing of all. At the time of writing, he’s posted over 2,100 different copies of our four-sided friend.
With the sleeve a blank shade of white, time has turned some of the sleeves have discoloured over the years to a cream colour; some sleeves are scuffed, showing the shape of the vinyl records inside. Some have been doodled on, had coffee spilt on them, damaged, stuck back together, and generally loved.
Each one tells a story as the albums have survived from the halcyon hippe days of 1968, through the 1970s and 80s to today. And Chang is still buying White Albums - you can sell him a copy (in any condition) via http://rutherfordchang.com/white.html
Here are some of the most interesting…
Who does this White Album actually belong to, then?
Someone's had fun with their Yellow Submarine stickers...
This owner was obviously short of paper in their house...
Creeping mould...
Other albums I like include...
This one is literally held together by gaffer tape...
This one is turned inside out and tarted up a bit...
It was the hippy era, of course... so we imagine a lot of freewheelin' art went on in the 70s.
And finally... The "Black" Album!
The stores behind all the songs on The Beatles' White Album
