The Beatles

Mayor Goldie Wilson said:
Magical Mystery Tour, which gets surprisingly short shrift when discussing their best albums.
Click to expand...
Well its partially a compilation isn't it? Its not really a 'studio album'. Its an EP which was then made into an LP in the US when the film came out, beefed up with the non-album singles of 1967? Not actually released in UK until 1976.
 
The fact that Here, There and Everywhere wasn’t even a single is frightening.

Abbey Road is a strange one. A huge discrepancy between side one and two for me. Can’t stand Come Together and I find Something hugely overrated. The less said about Octopus’s Garden and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, the better. Side two is largely incredible.

Have been lucky enough to see Paul McCartney a couple of times, most recently just before Christmas in Manchester, and he was incredible.
 
Dybuk said:
And none of those albums even contain their greatest ever song 'you know my name' which was only a b side.
Click to expand...

Interesting choice! Did you know it’s Brian Jones of the Stones on saxophone on this song?
He also was supposed to play keyboards on All Along the Watchtower but Jimi Hendrix had to tell him he wasn’t needed as he was too high. Imagine getting sacked by Hendrix for being too stoned!
 
HarryVegas said:
They really were a one off. Just in terms of the number of songs which went on to be standards but weren't even released as singles at the time it's a remarkable list...

Yesterday
Eight Days A Week
Michelle
Drive My Car
With A Little Help From My Friends
A Day In The Life
I Saw Her Standing There
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
In My Life
Norwegian Wood
Lucy In The Sky
Back In the The USSR
I Am The Walrus
Here Comes The Sun
Girl
Taxman
Two Of Us...

and that's just off the top of my head.
Click to expand...

I'm sure I've got a scratchy 7" of 8 Days a Week. I can't be harassed going down and digging out my singles, but I'm sure it's a black label, mebbees Parlephone, mebbees an American import on Capital, mebbees a maxi single???

Me and our kid were brought up on the Beatles and we had their whole collection to date before they broke up (he's 4 years older)

We'd get albums as our main gifts on birthdays & Xmas and spend our pocket money on singles from Ken's 2nd hand record shop on North Ormesby Road.

I must have been less than 6 when I paid 4 bob for 2 German imports on red Polydor. If You Loved Me Baby(???) by Tony Sheridan & the Beatles on one side and Ain't She Sweet by John Lennon & The Beatles on the other, or was that My Bonnie?

Anyroad I can't remember what happened to the other one but I defo still had the Tony Sheridan one years later when the Boro were at home in the FA Cup and I was borrasic. I'd read in Record Collector that these singles had been distributed to members of the German fanclub, so thought it'd be worth a few quid.

The fella at the Beatles stall in the Town Hall record fair on Saturday morning looked at it and complained about the surface scratches and only offered me a fiver.

To make matters worse, I think we got beat (Arsenal 77ish???)
 
I done the Beatles bus tour last weekend, for the second time.
The guide reckons the real reason we won’t see the like again is because of the choice nowadays. Back then with single figure radio stations along with 3 TV channels almost everybody was listening to and talking about the Beatles.
Obviously helps if your also good songwriters/musicians
 
The lack of choice would have helped the Beatles for sure. It also means we now look back at songs like Bungalow Bill and think “that’s….errr…..sort of good” instead of the garbage it would be labelled as if it was by your local band of teenagers on your street.

I remember Macca talking about the White Album and all the “regrets” he’s meant to have and he just said “it’s the Beatles White Album, leave it alone”. And that’s the thing with Macca, it’s endearing and somehow normalises him that he’s basically the world’s biggest Beatles fan. It doesn’t come across as arrogant like it would with other bands, it makes him just seem like one of us.
 
Granville Bennett said:
The fact that Here, There and Everywhere wasn’t even a single is frightening.

Abbey Road is a strange one. A huge discrepancy between side one and two for me. Can’t stand Come Together and I find Something hugely overrated. The less said about Octopus’s Garden and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, the better. Side two is largely incredible.

Have been lucky enough to see Paul McCartney a couple of times, most recently just before Christmas in Manchester, and he was incredible.
Click to expand...
Completely agree about H, T and E - stunningly good.

But ‘Something’ is ‘hugely overrated’ Really? That’ll raise an eyebrow or two, not least mine. Frank Sinatra called it ‘the greatest love song of the last 50 years’. But what would he know, eh?!

I think that it’s absolute perfection - from structure, melody, chord progression, soaring chorus, beautifully understated solos - sublime.

I also have an especially soft spot for it as, many years ago, I was singing along to it (impromptu) with a pianist in a bar in Turkey, and there was also a famous US record producer there on holiday. He came over and said ‘that was actually great’ and he encouraged me to perform it properly later that evening, which I did. He was there again to encourage me. Terrifying, but it went down really well. I know this all sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s absolutely true and one of the highlights of my life.
 
Last edited:
Luca Brazi said:
Completely agree about H, T and E - stunningly good.

But ‘Something’ is ‘hugely overrated’ Really? That’ll raise an eyebrow or two, not least mine. Frank Sinatra called it ‘the greatest love song of the last 50 years’. But what would he know, eh?!

I think that it’s absolute perfection - from structure, melody, chord progression, soaring chorus, beautifully understated solos - sublime.

I also have an especially soft spot for it as, many years ago, I was singing along to it (impromptu) with a pianist in a bar in Turkey, and there was also a famous US record producer there on holiday. He came over and said ‘that was actually great’ and he encouraged me to perform it properly later that evening, which I did. He was there again to encourage me. Terrifying, but it went down really well. I know this all sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s absolutely true and one of the highlights of my life.
Click to expand...

Not cheesy, great story. Well done! Agree about it being a pretty much perfect song.
 
Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You, Parlophone, October 5, 1962.
Please Please Me/Ask Me Why, Parlophone, January 11, 1963 .
From Me To You/Thank You Girl, Parlophone, April 11, 1963.
She Loves You/I'll Get You, Parlophone, August 23, 1963.
I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy, Parlophone, November 29, 1963.
Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That, Parlophone, March 20, 1964.
A Hard Day's Night/Things We Said Today, Parlophone, July 10, 1964.
I Feel Fine/She's A Woman , Parlophone, November 27, 1964.
Ticket To Ride/Yes It Is, Parlophone, April 9, 1965.
Help!/I'm Down, Parlophone, July 23, 1965.
We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper, Parlophone, December 3, 1965.
Paperback Writer/Rain, Parlophone, June 10, 1966.
Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby, Parlophone, August 5, 1966.
Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever, Parlophone, February 17, 1967.
All You Need Is Love/Baby You're A Rich Man, Parlophone, July 7, 1967.
Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus, Parlophone, November 24, 1967.
Lady Madonna/The Inner Light, Parlophone, March 15, 1968.
Hey Jude/Revolution, Apple, August 30, 1968.
Get Back/Don't Let Me Down, Apple, April 11, 1969.
The Ballad Of John And Yoko/Old Brown Shoe, Apple, May 30, 1969.
Something/Come Together, Apple, October 31, 1969.
Let It Be/You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), Apple, March 6, 1970.

Yer mam and Nan could and did, and still do sing along with these, and others.
Alongside of which there was a bit of a social revolution going on.
 
Anton_Berg said:
Some albums have 'impact', and some are timeless classics.

Sgt Peppers had a massive impact at the time, but now I would pick Rubber Soul or Revolver.

How many albums are there that have no weak tracks at all?
Click to expand...
Over the years Rubber Soul has become my favourite album but the number of groundbreaking songs produced in a relatively short time still surprises me.
 
Luca Brazi said:
Completely agree about H, T and E - stunningly good.

But ‘Something’ is ‘hugely overrated’ Really? That’ll raise an eyebrow or two, not least mine. Frank Sinatra called it ‘the greatest love song of the last 50 years’. But what would he know, eh?!

I think that it’s absolute perfection - from structure, melody, chord progression, soaring chorus, beautifully understated solos - sublime.

I also have an especially soft spot for it as, many years ago, I was singing along to it (impromptu) with a pianist in a bar in Turkey, and there was also a famous US record producer there on holiday. He came over and said ‘that was actually great’ and he encouraged me to perform it properly later that evening, which I did. He was there again to encourage me. Terrifying, but it went down really well. I know this all sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s absolutely true and one of the highlights of my life.
Click to expand...
Nice story. But I’m also in the “slightly overrated” camp re Something. And with Here Comes The Sun.

Not even George’s best song. George was a decent songwriter but he wasn’t in the same league as the other 2.
 
Mayor Goldie Wilson said:
What would everyone's top 3 Beatles songs be? Its a tough one, I know.
Click to expand...
It really is almost impossible to say, mine would change on a daily basis. I also doubt I'd put any off Abbey Road in it, even though that's arguably my favourite album (and I've been listening to it since I was literally 4).

But if someone put a gun to my head and made me choose, I'd probably say, in no special order:

A Day In The Life
Tomorrow Never Knows
Let It Be
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top