"You're Going to Lose That Girl," Help! McCartney had "Yesterday"; Lennon had "In My Life." Lennon stitched together three different song ideas he was working on to come up with this White Album classic, one of the few tracks on the LP to include all four members playing their usual instruments. Here, they explore a less structured sound than that used on earlier, more pop-oriented songs. The White Album's eloquent closer was written by Lennon but sung by Starr, who doesn't quite give it the grace it requires. "I've Just Seen a Face," Help! The opening song on the Beatles' debut album and the B-side of their first U.S. Capitol single. He nearly achieves it, on one of his most gorgeous ballads. The Beatles were coming off a particularly grueling year when they released their eighth single. One of McCartney's most accomplished ballads, an end-of-relationship song that Lennon called one of his favorites. McCartney’s own attempt, despite flamenco guitar solo, never strayed too far from his specialities: insistent chorus and an insanely hummable bass-line. By our calculations, the Beatles recorded 227 songs that were officially released over the years, not including BBC or live tracks. "If I Needed Someone," Rubber Soul (1965). The Beatles recorded quite a few covers in their early days. ", 20. 89. Mr Moonlight (197), Honey Don’t (187), Kansas City (184), I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party (180) and Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby (160) are all forgettable songs. "Only a Northern Song," Yellow Submarine (1969). It wasn’t the first time McCartney used his classic Blackbird as the outline for an arrangement, but it might have been the first time a producer (Nigel Godrich) prevented him from slathering the track with frills. We said “songs” – i.e. "Please Mr. Postman," With the Beatles (1963). The intro track to the Beatles' landmark LP barely runs two minutes, but it sets up one of the most historically important albums ever. As a humorous takedown of the stuffy ruling class that the sixties were supposed to have banished, this blast of whimsy might be best aired between a Peter Sellers record and an episode of Monty Python. 7. Nothing was the same after this. that this forgettable song seems like a step backward. "How Do You Do It?," Anthology 1 (1995). In between the bickering and the aborted attempts at new songs during the friction-filled Get Back / Let It Be sessions, the Beatles ran through a bunch of oldies. Harrison sings this workmanlike version of Chuck Berry's classic. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," The Beatles (1968). Harrison's tour de force is a sly dig at the other Beatles during one of their most tumultuous periods. Nods to "Strawberry Fields Forever," "I Am the Walrus" and "The Fool on the Hill," among others, make "Glass Onion" the Beatles' most self-referential song. "P.S. 154. Otherwise, close your eyes and pretend it’s Boards Of Canada. "The Fool on the Hill" is a highlight. Even though the Beatles were determined to strip down and keep things relatively simple on Abbey Road following the White Album's indulgences, they were still experimenting wildly in the studio – like on this song featuring a Moog and multi-tracked harmonies by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. "Mean Mr. Mustard," Abbey Road (1969). It's one of popular music's best songs ever recorded, it's an amazing dance song, and it also features Keith Richards' best guitar solo. A kaleidoscopic trip, either way. McCartney's relationship with Jane Asher was ending. The melody is anodyne and the synths irritating, but Christmas as we know it probably wouldn’t be Christmas without it. Released just as Beatlemania was storming the world, "Can't Buy Me Love" shot to No. A masterclass in not letting a song outstay its welcome, Put It There turns the Blackbird template of foot-tapping and finger-picking into a sweet, string-accompanied rumination on McCartney’s father and one of his favourite sayings. Its pleasantly rambling nature mainly reveals the high old time Wings undoubtedly had at Ginger Baker’s Lagos recording studio, where Baker himself added percussion to the track (a tin can full of gravel). One of the Beatles' first steps toward maturity ... and a timeless classic. It is 50 years since Paul McCartney released his first music as an ex-Beatle. We also judged the songs based on their officially released versions – so even though the Let It Be toss-off "Dig It" runs less than a minute on that album, longer (and better) versions included on bootleg records aren't eligible here. 189. *Nick didn’t attain his PhD in the work of McCartney, but perhaps he should have. Nothing great, but the songwriting showed promise. "It Won't Be Long," With the Beatles (1963). Ranking George Harrison’s Beatles songs worst to best: 22. Inexplicably, it managed to hit number one in the USA, which probably says more about the prevailing Beatles hysteria than anything else. The first part of the medley that closes Side Two of Abbey Road, and the first song recorded for the suite. "Rip It Up" / "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" / "Blue Suede Shoes," Anthology 3 (1996). A McCartney-penned song from the Help! "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill," The Beatles (1968). Silly Love Songs sees him hitting back in the best way he knows: to write, record and have a massive hit with another one. Another was the abundance of drug songs, like this one. 226. 114. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," Abbey Road (1969). 103. The song that started it all. Pepper's and subsequent songs, the Beatles stripped away some of the frills and studio enhancements for this pre-White Album single. "I'm a Loser," Beatles for Sale (1964). 56. "I Should Have Known Better," A Hard Day's Night (1964). We stuck with the first-released and original versions – so, sorry, fans of "Lovely Rita (Speech and Take 9).". Early in their songwriting ventures, Lennon and McCartney emulated others. It became the title track to a kinda awful TV movie later in the year. 207. Pepper's turned pop music upside down. The rolling intro ushers in one of the group's biggest early hits. Lennon and McCartney upped their songwriting on their third album. This dazzling pop-soul duet was based on a tried and tested formula: McCartney sings the calmer, more melodic sections, while his partner infuses the piece with a fiery exasperation. A true Lennon and McCartney collaboration from the era when they started going their separate ways as songwriters. At first, McCartney’s debut solo single sounds like a tame second act of the domestic story begun in She’s Leaving Home. Harrison was finally given an A-side of a Beatles single, pulled from the final album they recorded. The feedback-drenched guitar at the beginning of the song was one of the first ever recorded. Energetic contemplation of early-days hangouts with Lennon. The Long Tall Sally EP came out a month before the Beatles' third album. "Not a Second Time," With the Beatles (1963). 198. In the U.K., "I've Just Seen a Face" is buried on Side Two of Help! 157. 66. Pepper’s,’ ranking of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison’s output It was initially offered to some other artists, who turned it down. ( Log Out /  96. Revolver's opening song and Harrison's extra-sharp stab at the insanely high taxes the Beatles were paying in the U.K. at the time. Another Music Hall-inspired song by McCartney, this one was written about girlfriend Jane Asher, though the title is a reference to his dog. 42. A 2016 remix by Timo Maas and James Teej received a Grammy nomination. One of their better covers, but they were outgrowing these sort of things. The last song recorded for the game-changing Rubber Soul, Lennon's "Girl" signals the musical sophistication to come over the next several months. Starr sang the other one, Harrison has this one. 204. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band expanded reissue. The opening song on the White Album pays tribute to both Chuck Berry (an early idol) and the Beach Boys (a contemporary rival). Lennon was already gone. Lennon wrote this nod to England's blues-rock scene when the Beatles were in India. Inspired by Harrison's visit to Los Angeles, "Blue Jay Way" captures the Beatles during their post-Sgt. Mostly forgettable except for Harrison's shimmering 12-string guitar. "If I Fell," A Hard Day's Night (1964). We should also note it was way more difficult putting together the bottom half of this list than it was the top part. 10. 215. The waltz-time choruses, with their blend of accordion, double bass and thumping drums, reveal a fondness for The Waterboys. "Honey Don't," Beatles for Sale (1964). In this cod-reggae ditty’s case it’s the bridging sections, lending the piece a dreamy gracefulness that the choruses probably don’t deserve. Learn how your comment data is processed. The famously genial Macca hasn’t been afraid to get spiky with criticisms over the years. As with Ebony and Ivory, hearing this song today prompts mixed feelings: the temptation to cringe is offset by bafflement that we still, some thirty-six years later, haven’t absorbed its basic message. Lennon and McCartney specifically wrote "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" for Harrison, who still hadn't found his songwriting voice. "Eight Days a Week," Beatles for Sale (1964). ", 164. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey," The Beatles (1968). It did show up on the souvenir album, though. Lennon took almost every single word heard in this Sgt. Lennon said he wrote this song specifically for the U.S. market. Lennon wasn't the only one inspired to write songs about the group's trip to India. This "She Loves You" rework is pointless, but at least better than the other one. Like "Free as a Bird" from the first Anthology set, "Real Love" combined an old Lennon demo with newly recorded parts by the other Beatles on the second. Challenged by Dustin Hoffman over dinner to instantly “write a song about anything”, McCartney banged out this tongue-in-cheek drinking song based on Pablo Picasso’s actual last words. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. McCartney said he wrote it for his future wife. It gets a lot of hate, but Lennon's eight-minute avant-garde sound collage shows just how much the group, and their interests, had progressed from "yeah, yeah, yeah." They were quickly moving away from this sort of song. 149. Discussions about music, books, Fink… and other stuff. "Twist and Shout" hit stores March 2, 1964, and by April 4, 1964, it was #2 and one of five Beatles songs making up the top five on the US pop chart. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," Help! "I Want to Hold Your Hand," Single (1963). That says a lot about it right there. "Fixing a Hole," Sgt. Lennon and McCartney collaborated on this sparse, strings-guided weeper from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). A great Lennon vocal break, too. We also included the two newly assembled songs found on the first two Anthologys that the surviving Beatles based around a pair of Lennon demos. This song recorded during the Get Back / Let It Be sessions exists in various lengths, running from a 15-minute jam to the official version, which lasts less than a minute. Nov 05, 2015. An early example of producer George Martin's influence – he suggested a faster tempo – in the studio and on the group. "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" is pretty standard Little Richard territory; "Bad Boy" was made specifically for a U.S. album, a rarity in those days. Pepper's, but Harrison's lone contribution to that album brought Indian classical music to pop culture – a contribution as historically important as any other associated with the LP. It for his use of the self-indulgent songs that eventually ended up in better forms elsewhere other! 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