It is 1968. You are one of the Beatles (take your pick). After months of recording you are preparing to release the famous two-disk White Album. The night before your last session with the other boys you have a dream in which your late manager, Brian Epstein, tells you to trim it back to a single LP (and whatever you do DON’T let it be). The next day at Abbey Road you tell your mates about the dream and they all had the same dream. Taking this as a sign, you decide to cut the album from 30 songs down to 12 (length of songs is not an issue). List your selection and their sequence.

Here is the original order (all songs by Lennon and McCartney except as indicated):

SIDE ONE
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild Honey Pie
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
Happiness is a Warm Gun
SIDE TWO
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies (Harrison)
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass Me By (Starkey)
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
I Will
Julia
SIDE THREE
Birthday
Yer Blues
Mother Nature's Son
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long (Harrison)
SIDE FOUR
Revolution 1
Honey Pie
Savoy Truffle (Harrison)
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 9
Good Night

I'm goin' with 14 tracks 'cause that was "typical" for The Beatles:

SIDE ONE
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
Blackbird
I Will
Julia
SIDE TWO
Yer Blues
Mother Nature's Son
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long (Harrison)
Honey Pie
Good Night

Okay, you receive another message from beyond the grave giving you 14 tracks.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

SIDE ONE
1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
4. Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
5. I’m so tired
6. Julia
7. Helter Skelter
SIDE TWO
8. Birthday
9. Yer Blues
10. Blackbird
11. Sexy Sadie
12. Savoy Truffle (Harrison)
13. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
14. Good Night

Damn. Damn but that's a good question.

1. Birthday
2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
3. I’m So Tired
4. Blackbird
5. Happiness is a Warm Gun
6. I Will
7. Glass Onion
8. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
9. Long, Long, Long
10. Dear Prudence
11. Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
12. Cry Baby Cry
13. Back in the USSR

Apple will no doubt reissue this once they see my list here. Your old copies are about to be worth a FORTUNE!

D.

Ah, come on and play. It's just What If. It's not like it's going to affect continuity or anything.

....SIGH.....Fine. I could only pare it down to 18 tracks, but with a 50-minute runtime, it still would have fit on a single LP.

SIDE ONE
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
Happiness is a Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Rocky Raccoon

SIDE TWO
Don't Pass Me By (Starkey)
Birthday
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Cry Baby Cry
Good Night

That's the spirit!

How about this, to make it even harder: You can't open the album with 'Back in the USSR'; you can't close the album with 'Good Night'. How would you all structure it then?

These are the songs I'd go with, though I haven't come up with an order for them:

Glass Onion
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Martha My Dear
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Piggies
I Will
Birthday
Sexy Sadie
Helter Skelter
Savoy Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Good Night

SIDE ONE
Helter Skelter
Happiness is a Warm Gun
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Rocky Raccoon
Back in the U.S.S.R.

SIDE TWO
Birthday
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
Blackbird
Revolution 1
Savoy Truffle (Harrison)
Cry Baby Cry

What if the white album was blue...

Blue, you say?

(I'm terribly, terribly sorry for this)

Here are Paul's songs -- his best solo album ever:

Back in the U.S.S.R.
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Wild honey Pie
Martha My Dear
Blackbird
Rocky Raccoon
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
I Will
Birthday
Mother Nature's Son
Helter Skelter
Honey Pie

[Edited to add Wild Honey Pie delete Cry Baby Cry]

"Birthday" would make a great opening song, a very similar rock-n-roller. Ending with "Long, Long, Long" would be nice (I like that one better than "Savoy Truffle" for George's second song but didn't like both "Long, Long, Long" and "Good Night" on the shortened record, and taking off "Good Night" would mean bringing back "Don't Make Me Cry" to give Ringo a number, which is not really a great song).

Here are John's songs, more of a mixed bag than Paul's, but a couple real classics.

Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Happiness is a Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Julia
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
Sexy Sadie
Revolution 1
Revolution 9
Cry Baby Cry

(Edited to delete Wild Honey Pie and add Cry Baby Cry. Oops.)

Wasn't "Cry Baby Cry" John's?

He certainly sang it.

You're right! I've edited the above lists with your corrections. Paul's album still looks pretty good and Cry Baby Cry really rounds out John's nicely.

Don't forget George's EP:

While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Piggies
Long, Long, Long
Savoy Truffle

and Ringo's single:

Don't Pass Me By
Good Night

My list

1 Back in the U.S.S.R.
2 Dear Prudence
3 Glass Onion
4 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
5 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison)
6 Martha My Dear
7 I'm So Tired
8 Blackbird
9 I Will
10 Julia
11 Revolution 1
12 Honey Pie
13 Savoy Truffle (Harrison)
14 Good Night

The Beatles were really missing the best of George's material, weren't they? Three of these four probably wouldn't have been a blip on Living in the Material World.