Editing Back in the U.S.S.R. (section)

==Critical reception==
In his album review for the ''[[NME]]'', Alan Smith described the song as "A fantastic piece of screaming excitement. Great opener."<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Smith|title=Beatles Double-LP in Full|magazine=[[NME]]|date=9 November 1968|page=3}}</ref> ''[[Record Mirror]]''{{'}}s initial reviewer wrote: "The LP begins with a rock based, falsetto backed number called 'Back In The USSR' concerning the attributes of Russian women. Wild Harrison guitar and heavy brass lend that [[Soul music|soul]] element as well."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Beatles: ''The Beatles'' (''White Album'') (Apple)|author=Uncredited writer|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|date=16 November 1968}} Available at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-beatles-ithe-beatles-white-albumi-apple-2 Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref>{{refn|group=nb|According to Winn, McCartney "mock[ed] overanalytical rock critics" during his 1968 Radio Luxembourg interview, by joking that "[The song] concerns the attributes of Russian women – sole element created by George's guitar and heavy brass!"{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=224}}}} Writing for the same publication, David Griffiths described the song as a "perfectly ingenious" opening track, since:
<blockquote>[I]t serves the purpose of disorientating (both politically and socially) the "average" listener whose mind is likely to be thoroughly confused by such lines as "Back in the US, back in the US, back in the USSR," and the use of rock and Beach Boy effects to praise Russian chicks. With both Georgias on his mind, perhaps the listener is rendered more receptive. The message comes across that nothing is as simple as it seems and the violence of the beat effectively demonstrates that The Beatles have not gone soft, or too arty, or too far away from the basics, despite their fame and riches.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Griffiths|title=Griffiths' Golden Albums|magazine=[[Record Mirror]]|date=4 January 1969|page=9}}</ref></blockquote>

Writing in ''[[Partisan Review]]'', [[Geoffrey Cannon]] said that ''The Beatles'' showed the band failing to engage with the contemporary rock audience in the manner that [[the Rolling Stones]] had done on their 1968 album ''[[Beggars Banquet]]''. In Cannon's view: "The Beatles kick out the jams only in their [[hard rock]] numbers: 'Back in the U.S.S.R.', 'Birthday' and 'Helter Skelter'. But the eclecticism of the first two numbers makes them evanescent. They may intend to be good jokes about the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry and [[Little Richard]]; in fact, they hide behind these out-front stars."<ref name="Cannon/PartisanReview">{{cite magazine|first=Geoffrey|last=Cannon|title=The Age of Aquarius|magazine=[[Partisan Review]]|date=Spring 1969}} Available at [https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-age-of-aquarius Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref> In his review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Nik Cohn]] similarly complained that "they hide behind send-up: the middle eight of 'Back in the U.S.S.R.,' for instance, is pure surf-age Beach Boys but it's all half-hearted and limp".<ref>{{cite news|title=A Brito Blasts the Beatles|last=Nik|first=Cohn|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=15 December 1968}}</ref>

[[Jann Wenner]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' described "Back in the U.S.S.R." as the "perfect example" of the Beatles' ability to quote from others' work and "expand the idiom, but{{nbsp}}... [also] to penetrate it and take it further" in a way that recent satirical albums by [[the Turtles]] and [[Frank Zappa]] had failed to do. He added: "It would be too simple to say that 'Back In the USSR' is a parody, because it operates on more levels than that: it is fine contemporary rock and roll and{{nbsp}}... also a superb commentary on the United States S. R., hitting every insight – 'honey, disconnect the phone.' As well as a parody, it's also a Beatles song."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/review-the-beatles-white-album-186863/|title=Review: The Beatles' 'White Album'|first=Jann S.|last=Wenner|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=21 December 1968|page=10|access-date=26 June 2019}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|In his review for ''[[International Times]]'', [[Barry Miles]] said that "'Back In the USSR' is of course [a] parody of Chuck Berry's 'Back In the USA' only this medium rocker doesn't put down the USSR, it parodies the USA."<ref>{{cite news|title=Multi-Purpose Beatles Music|last=Miles|first=Barry|newspaper=[[International Times]]|date=29 November 1968|page=10}}</ref>}} [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1942)|Richard Goldstein]] of ''The New York Times'' praised the double album's "burlesque of musical forms", saying that it represented "almost a mock-history of pop" in which "Back in the U.S.S.R." was "a rock primer, quoting the [[Jefferson Airplane]], the Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis and [[Ray Charles]]".<ref>{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Richard|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=The Beatles|date=8 December 1968|pages=33, 37}}</ref>

Tim Riley describes "Back in the U.S.S.R." as "[[Brian Wilson]] with sex appeal" and an example of how, further to "[[Lady Madonna]]", several of McCartney's 1968 compositions "straddle the ironic distance between genre treatments and fresh, inventive material that stands well on its own".{{sfn|Riley|2002|pp=260–61}}{{refn|group=nb|Asked for his feelings on the song, Wilson said he was unaware that it was a send-up of "California Girls" until someone pointed it out. He added, "I thought it was really adorable."{{sfn|White|1996|p=310}} While acknowledging Wilson's "well-known" influence on McCartney, songwriter [[Paul Zollo]] described the song as McCartney and the Beatles' "most overt Brian-inspired composition" and recalled an occasion in which Wilson "sang for me all of 'Back in the U.S.S.R.{{'"}} during a lunch outing.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zollo|first=Paul|title=More Songwriters on Songwriting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQPTDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA274|year=2016|publisher=Hachette Books|isbn=978-0-306-81799-1|page=274}}</ref> Wilson also told Zollo that the song "''blew'' my mind" when he first heard it.{{sfn|Zollo|2016|p=278}} }} In his book on the White Album, [[David Quantick]] cites the song as an example of McCartney's standing as "a master of pastiche and parody", adding that "In lesser, feebler, hands, 'Back in the U.S.S.R.' could have been a rotten comedy song, a weak parody tune, but McCartney – cocky, confident, and able to do almost anything musically – made it into something amazing."{{sfn|Quantick|2002|p=68}} Quantick admires the three Beatles' musicianship and "hilarious" harmony vocals, and concludes: "The whole thing rocks – and rocks substantially more than the Beach Boys ever did."{{sfn|Quantick|2002|p=72}} In a review coinciding with the album's 40th anniversary, John Bohannon of ''[[PopMatters]]'' similarly praised the band's performance, including the guitar work and a McCartney vocal that he deemed "one of the best hard rock vocal[s] delivered from below the belt".<ref>{{cite web|author=Pop Matters staff|title=The White Album: Side One|url=https://www.popmatters.com/65095-the-beatles-white-album-40th-anniversary-2-2496107902.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1|website=[[PopMatters]]|date=17 November 2008|access-date=21 January 2020}}</ref>

In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked "Back in the U.S.S.R." at number 85 on the magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Beatles Songs".{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=63}}<ref name=rollingstone/> In a similar list compiled by ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' in 2006, it appeared at number 64.<ref name="Mojo/101 Greatest">{{cite news|last=Alexander|first=Phil|title=The 101 Greatest Beatles Songs|work=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=July 2006|page=44|display-authors=etal}}</ref> In his commentary for the magazine, English singer [[Billy Bragg]] said that 1968 was when "our love affair with all things American began to turn sour", with the year marked by reports of US atrocities in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], the assassinations of [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King]] and [[Robert F. Kennedy|Robert Kennedy]], the gesture of African-American athletes introducing [[1968 Olympics Black Power salute|Black Power politics at the Mexico Olympic Games]], and [[Richard Nixon]]'s victory in the US presidential race. Bragg added: "By opening [the White Album] with this wonderful inversion of Chuck Berry's 'Back In The USA', The Beatles made clear whose side they were on{{nbsp}}... Subversive or just mischievous? You decide."<ref name="Mojo/101 Greatest" /> In 2018, the music staff of ''[[Time Out London]]'' ranked the song at number 26 on their list of the best Beatles songs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/music/the-best-beatles-songs|author=Time Out London Music|title=The 50 Best Beatles songs|website=[[Time Out London]]|date=24 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215173746/https://www.timeout.com/london/music/the-best-beatles-songs|archive-date=15 December 2018|access-date=31 July 2019}}</ref>