The Double Album, Edited

 

There have been some great double albums, even some that play well from beginning to end. Layla is difficult to edit. XTC's English Settlement needs no editing, even if some listeners prefer the single disc version with five less tracks. There is an occasional exception for greatest hits records and compilations. Chuck Berry's The Great Twenty-eight is pretty much perfect. The Kink's Kronikles is also hard to mess with. 

Most double albums need some editing to approach perfection, and turning them into a single record of 45-50 minutes almost always makes them better. So making a playlist of an edited down single disc record can enhance the enjoyment of these often bloated double albums.

Then there's double CD releases that often run 140-150 minutes. They all need the work of a hatchet. 

So here's a few personal edits of double albums. I'll start right out with the sacrilege of reducing The White Album. Here's the improved Beatles White Album:
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Glass Onion
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Blackbird
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey
Helter Skelter
Revolution 1
Savoy Truffle
Dear Prudence

Grateful Dead Grateful Dead (Skull And Crossbones):
Bertha 
Mama Tried
Big Railroad Blues 
Playin' In The Band
Me And My Uncle
Big Boss Man
Me And Bobby McGee
Johnny B. Goode  

See what I did there? It's side 1 and side 3. Anybody that says you can't possibly exclude The Other One (there are 50 other versions) is obsessed about The Dead. Don't bother to argue with them. Sides 1 and 3 of Allman Brothers At The Fillmore is another easy edit.

The Who Quadrophenia:

The Real Me 

Quadrophenia

The Punk And The Godfather

I'm One

5:15

Sea And Sand

Drowned

Doctor Jimmy

Love, Reign O'er Me

The Byrds (Untitled):

Lover Of The Bayou

Positively 4th Street

Nashville West

So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star

Mr. Spaceman

Chestnut Mare

Truck Stop Girl

All Good Things

Yesterday's Train

Just A Season

Cream Wheels Of Fire:

White Room

Sitting On Top Of The World

Politician

Those Were The Days

Born Under A Bad Sign

Crossroads

Spoonful

The Kinks Everybody's In Showbiz:

Sides 1 and 2 (Just remove sides 3 and 4, the live material.)

The same can be said of The Rascal's Freedom Suite (Removing the boring jams on sides 3 and 4).

And again for Moby Grape's Wow/Grape Jam (Skip the jams again.)

Todd Rundgren Something/Anything?:

I Saw The Light

It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference

Sweeter Memories

Breathless

The Night The Carousel Burned Down

Saving Grace

Marlene

Black Maria

One More Day (No Word)

Couldn't I Just Tell You

Dust In The Wind

Hello It's Me

Bruce Springsteen The River:

The Ties That Bind

Sherry Darling

Independence Day

Hungry Heart

Out In The Street

Crush On You

You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)

I Wanna Marry You

The River

Fade Away

The Price You Pay

Drive-By Truckers Southern Rock Opera:

Ronnie And Neil

72 (This Highway's Mean)

The Southern Thing

The Three Great Alabama Icons

Wallace

Zip City

Let There Be Rock

Women Without Whiskey

Shut Up And Get On The Plane

Prince Sign 'O' The Times:

Sign 'O' The Times

The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker

Housequake

U Got The Look

If I Was Your Girlfriend

Strange Relationship

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

The Cross

Adore

I know, I left off the best song. How could I? Feel free to tell me about it in comments or propose your own edited version of one of these or any other double LP that needs editing. It's a fun and rewarding exercise.