Ranking The Beatles

After a few years of producing some fairly heady and serious musical output, George found himself wanting to lighten the load a bit in 1968. Not everything needed to be Within You Without You, inspiration didn't always have to be divine. It could come from anywhere, even your friends gross teeth. Thanks to his friend Eric (you know who)'s love of chocolates and disregard of dental hygiene, George came up with Savoy Truffle,...

Riding high on the success of a chart topping debut album and #1 singles, the Beatles were searching for what the next big hit would be. While "It Won't Be Long" didn't turn out to be that hit, it did provide a brilliantly urgent shot with which to start their sophomore album. It absolutely fires out of the speakers, grabbing the listener immediately with a passionate lead vocal from John that volleys back and for...

It can be tough to write songs when you're not out living real life experiences. After the Beatles stopped touring, John often found himself at home, bored and isolated from the social scenes he'd been in while on the road. But John could find inspiration in anything...posters, newspapers, even commercials. That's where he found inspiration for this rocking ode to everyday malaise that would find a home towards the end ...

1967 was arguably the top of the mountain for the Beatles. With the Sgt. Pepper album, they provided the soundtrack that encapsulated global consciousness, while also elevating themselves beyond just a mere pop band; they were artists of the highest order.

It was also the beginning of the end, with the death of Brian Epstein kicking off a long series of events that would eventually unravel the band. But by the year's end, they...

We're into the top 100 songs in our rankings! We can't turn back now!!

Paul McCartney seems to have a knack for making sure he finishes things. "Now and Then" is a good example; he saw something there worthwhile and though it took a couple of decades, he saw it through to completion. The same can be said for "I Will," a song for which he had a melody kicking around a long time before he was able to compl...

As Paul noted in the Get Back series, The Beatles seemed to excel when their backs were against a wall. They were certainly feeling the time crunch during a several week residency in Paris in early 64. They hadn't yet conquered America, but they were due to be there in a couple of weeks. They also had their first movie on the horizon, and they had to finish writing most of the songs for the film and it's accompanying album....

While the exact time and place of this song seems to have been lost to the fog of 80+ years of memories, Paul does remember that he wrote this song with the thought it might end up as the Beatles next single in 1964. It seemed to lack that certain Beatle magic singles required, but it found a home on the back half of Beatles For Sale, albeit a home that maybe doesn't do it the justice it deserves. It's sneaky in a few diffe...

Been a long time since we did a two-fer episode! Here we go!

The Beatles often seemed to turn in some of their best work when up against a deadline. A handful of songs that would make up most the Help! album seemed to come about in short order, as the band had to write and record a big majority of the album before leaving to film. "You're Going to Lose That Girl" is one John knocked out in short order that really show...

IT'S HERE!! New Beatles music in...2023!?!?!

What a time to be a Beatles fan. After blowing our collective minds with the Get Back documentary in 2021, Peter Jackson and co. have again used their MAL software to allow separation of John's vocal and piano from his original demo, solving the issue that seemed to have stalled the completion of this song in the 95 Anthology sessions. With the help of Giles Martin, Paul an...

After what must have been a creatively exhausting few months creating Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles blew off steam by recording a track that was more in line with the Goon Show humor they grew up loving, filled with weird voices and sound effects, creating comedic environments and asides, purely for the enjoyment of doing something that appeased them. It took them several sessions over a couple years to finish it, with Paul and John wor...

Lots of songwriters point to the idea that the best songs are the ones that tend to find the you, letting the writer be the vessel or medium. Much like "Yesterday" did for Paul, "Across The Universe" seemed to come to John from within a dreamstate, appearing in his subconscious while lying in bed, almost pushing him to get up and go write down the words and find the melody that seemingly appeared out of nowhere....

It almost seems a shame that the Beatles only ever recorded one Burt Bacharach song. There are arguably no finer melodicists in modern popular music than Bacharach and Lennon/McCartney. But "Baby, It's You" is the only song from his catalogue they ever laid to tape. Recorded for their first album and a product of their well documented love of girl-group R&B, it's a chance for John to show his fantastic, soulfu...

At the end of what was probably the busiest year they'd ever have, the Beatles needed a single for the Christmas market in 1964. They needed to churn it out while also wrapping up work on their 4th album. John picked up a riff from a Bobby Parker song and wrote what he thought was "a lousy song" around it, but nevertheless, brought it to the band. Thankfully, his fellow Beatles all had deep bags of tricks to pull from...

Though the Lennon/McCartney partnership really only existed in name by 1969, the two songwriters still knew who the best person was to help complete a half-written tune. As they'd done before on songs like "We Can Work It Out" and "A Day in the Life," each brought an unfinished piece they were able to stick together to make a whole with "I've Got A Feeling," combining Paul's verse idea and ...

George Harrison's journey as a songwriter began later than his other bandmates. After delivering his first self-penned track for the band's 2nd album, he had to rely on a Lennon/McCartney song for the 3rd, and a Carl Perkins cover on the 4th. But by the time of the Help! album, he had 2 on the table, and found his abilities starting to really grow. With "I Need You," he drops the dour, bitter persona he is sometim...

The friendly creative rivalry between the Beatles and the Beach Boys arguably hit it's peak in 1966 when the bands released two albums that routinely top "best album ever" lists, the Beatles' Revolver and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. Lennon and McCartney had been inspiring Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson to up his songwriting, and vice versa. On Revolver, this influence shines through in the harmony-laden &q...

One of the first songs The Beatles worked on for the Get Back sessions of 1969, Paul's "Two of Us" was inspired by his road trips to nowhere with his new love, Linda; piling in the car, picking a direction and getting lost, just for fun. When he brought it to the band, it was originally conceived as a fast, chugging rocker, with a dual harmony vocal for Paul and John to harness their inner Everly Brothers on. This is ...

By the time of the White Album, George Harrison had mellowed considerably, thanks in part to his immersion in meditation. His newfound enlightenment replacing the dour, bitter side that came out in earlier songs like "Don't Bother Me," or "Taxman." So it's interesting that this chilled out version of George would decide to pickup the abandoned-in-1966 song "Piggies" to complete for the band'...