The Beatles APPRECIATION THREAD

[Outcrier]

My top 20, no particular order:

Across The Universe
Something
Golden Slumbers
I Want You (She's so Heavy)
Tomorrow Never Knows
And Your Bird Can Sing
Strawberry Fields Forever
The Fool on the Hill
A Day In The Life
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
With a Little Help from my Friends
She's Leaving Home
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness is a Warm Gun
If I Needed Someone
A Hard Day's Night
And I Love Her
If I Fell
I'm Happy Just to Dance With You
You Mother Should Know

[sneakyblueberry]

^ that looks like a pretty good list, myeah.

The Beatles, I would say, are definitely underrated, as someone else said.  The majority of people just really have no idea what they were all about, and just think of them as the mop-top dudes.  Beatlemania, like... I don't think you'll ever see anything like that ever again. 

[PuffyPat]

i want you (she's so heavy)
tomorrow never knows
i'm only sleeping
dear prudence
helter skelter
come together
fool on the hill
strawberry fields forever
girl
a day in the life
don't let me down
something
because
i am the walrus
in my life
michelle
lucy in the sky w/ diamonds
the night before
i've just seen a face
i want you (she's so heavy)

[Dream Team]

Dream Team, the Yellow Matter Custard thing is fun to watch, but whenever I've tried listening to just the mp3s, it was hard to get through them.  Neal is the only one who did good vocally at all, for the most part, and considering how important vocals, especially harmonies, were to the Beatles sound, I can't say they did a great job from that standpoint, but they clearly had a blast doing those shows, so who cares, right?

I think you're being a little harsh if you don't mind my saying. They did a great job with the harmonies on "Because" for instance, and there were only a few songs with anything cringe-worthy.

[KevShmev]

I never bought the 2nd DVD they did, which I assume Because is from, so I cannot comment on that.

In all fairness, the vocals of the Beatles are hard for any band to do justice to, and I did acknowledge that the YMC guys clearly had a blast playing those shows, so it's not a big deal.  It's just more fun to watch the DVD than it is to listen to the mp3s.

[Outcrier]

^ that looks like a pretty good list, myeah.

Thanks. Of couse, it was some oddballs like You Mother Should Know that only i care for but the mono version of She's Leaving Home (which is how it was intended to sound at first) is pretty great.

[KevShmev]

You Mother Should Know is great!  Along with like 100 other Beatles songs.

She's Leaving Home is just gorgeous, in stereo or mono.

[sneakyblueberry]

^ that looks like a pretty good list, myeah.

Thanks. Of couse, it was some oddballs like You Mother Should Know

That was the reason I singled out your list tbh I love that song, it's melody is so angular, it takes a while to catch on to what its doing but its fantastic to sing along to once it's ingrained. 

If MMT were an 'official album', and not the dastardly two EP thing that Stadler (I think) pointed out, it would most likely be my favourite.  I think it flows the best out of all the Beatles' albums.  (I'm referring to the version with the soundtrack and the '67 singles attatched at the end.)

[erwinrafael]

My 20 Favorite Beatles songs:

1. Something
Here Comes the Sun
Two of Us
All You Need is Love
She's Leaving Home
I Am The Walrus
A Day In The Life
Dig A Pony
Penny Lane
I'm Only Sleeping
You Won't See Me
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Baby You're A Rich Man
I've Got A Feeling
If I Needed Someone
Here, There and Everywhere
Blackbird
Golden Slumbers
Across the Universe
20. The Fool on the Hill

Oh my. Looks like I really love that Magical Mystery Tour LP.

[Outcrier]

That was the reason I singled out your list tbh I love that song, it's melody is so angular, it takes a while to catch on to what its doing but its fantastic to sing along to once it's ingrained. 

Oh, ok. Nice to see some love for that song 

If MMT were an 'official album', and not the dastardly two EP thing that Stadler (I think) pointed out, it would most likely be my favourite.  I think it flows the best out of all the Beatles' albums.  (I'm referring to the version with the soundtrack and the '67 singles attatched at the end.)

That version is my favorite Beatles "album" 

My 20 Favorite Beatles songs:

She's Leaving Home
If I Needed Someone
20. The Fool on the Hill

I thought i was the only one who loved these songs

[KevShmev]

Looking it over, I have quite a few more Lennon songs in my top 20 than McCartney songs, but it really is impossible to pick which one was the better songwriter when a Beatle.

[Outcrier]

I'm Lennon's bitch. Strawberry Fields Forever, Tomorrow Never Knows, Across the Universe, 'nuff said

Also, i like Harrison more than McCartney, but that counting their solo careers too.

[sneakyblueberry]

I'm a McCartney man myself.  Because Wings aka the band the Beatles could've been.

[erwinrafael]

I was hoping there would be more love for All You Need Is Love. It's in 7/4 after all. 

I'm a McCartney man myself.  Because Wings aka the band the Beatles could've been.

I shudder at the thought. What a downgrade!

[sneakyblueberry]

how dare you sir

[erwinrafael]

how dare you sir

 

Wings lacks the irreverence of Lennon, the zen of George and the charm of Ringo.

[Dream Team]

I never bought the 2nd DVD they did, which I assume Because is from, so I cannot comment on that.

In all fairness, the vocals of the Beatles are hard for any band to do justice to, and I did acknowledge that the YMC guys clearly had a blast playing those shows, so it's not a big deal.  It's just more fun to watch the DVD than it is to listen to the mp3s.

Ah, that explains it. I was referring to the 2nd DVD. You should check it out, they have Kasim Sulton doing a lot of Paul's songs.

[Orbert]

I was hoping there would be more love for All You Need Is Love. It's in 7/4 after all. 

With occasional bars of 2/4 just to mess with you.  I've always loved this song, from the "borrowed" horn intro to the wacky outro with callbacks to earlier Beatles songs.

[Stadler]

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window would have been good as a standalone song, and Golden Slumbers is okay, but as they stand, they’re underdeveloped ideas buried amongst all the rest of it.

I’ve heard the Transatlantic song, but not the mashup.

Go.  Listen to it right now.  We'll wait.   



Phil Collins does an excellent version of the latter half of the medley, too. 


Also, go ask Queen if they ever heard "Because".   

[Stadler]

I love the mistakes.  I had a printout from a website of all the little quirks and pops and buzzes and whistles and bad edits from Beatles songs; it just makes them so much more real and therefore so much more awesome if you ask me.

Listen to "Hey Jude", about 2 minutes in, and you can litereally hear Ringo moving in behind his kit (Paul started the take without him).

Listen to "Strawberry Fields Forever" about a minute in, and after the drum fill, the sound of the drums completely changes; that's because they spliced two different takes together to make the final master; the speeds were slightly different, so you get the combination of reverb on the drums and the "slowing down" of the second take to create that amazing, trippy sound.  Sounds as if you are going down the rabbit hole with John.  Just mind-blowing stuff.

[Stadler]

1. A Day In The Life
2. Paperback Writer
3. I've Got A Feeling
4. Abbey Road Medley
5. Strawberry Fields Forever
Anytime At All
I Feel Fine
The Night Before
Rain
She Said She Said
Tomorrow Never Knows
Lovely Rita
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Everybody's Got Something To Hide...
Savoy Truffle
Two Of Us
Get Back
Magical Mystery Tour


First five are in order, next 15 are chronological.  This could change at a moments notice... I could put half of Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, or Past Masters 2 without missing a beat.  Plus, I like a lot more of the early songs than this shows ("I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She's A Woman", "Bad Boy", "Slow Down"...)

[KevShmev]

I love the mistakes.  I had a printout from a website of all the little quirks and pops and buzzes and whistles and bad edits from Beatles songs; it just makes them so much more real and therefore so much more awesome if you ask me.

Listen to "Hey Jude", about 2 minutes in, and you can litereally hear Ringo moving in behind his kit (Paul started the take without him).

Listen to "Strawberry Fields Forever" about a minute in, and after the drum fill, the sound of the drums completely changes; that's because they spliced two different takes together to make the final master; the speeds were slightly different, so you get the combination of reverb on the drums and the "slowing down" of the second take to create that amazing, trippy sound.  Sounds as if you are going down the rabbit hole with John.  Just mind-blowing stuff.

For sure!

And let's not forget the mostly inaudible f-bomb in Hey Jude.

Looking at the various top 20 lists, two Beatles songs I have never come around to liking at all are Get Back and The Long and Winding Road, yet both are in some top 20s.  Just goes to show you how opinions can be all over the map.

[Outcrier]

Now, can we get a Winger appreciation thread?

[Calvin6s]

Trying to make a top 20 Beatles list proved way too difficult for me.  Heck, even trying to say which song is my favorite is impossible.

[PuffyPat]

I'm a McCartney man myself.  Because Wings aka the band the Beatles could've been.

what? this is blasphemy. wings were alright, but the beatles were streets ahead.

[Calvin6s]

I thought myself a Lennon man until I decided to listen to all the post-Beatles work.  While it had moments here and there, it was nowhere close to the high level and consistency of the Beatles working together.

[KevShmev]

Agreed.  Lennon's solo work has never done a lot for me, outside of a handful of songs (like Imagine, which is hands down one of the best things he ever wrote), but I don't think their post-Beatles work is relevant when discussing who was the better songwriter when they were in the Beatles.

[Calvin6s]

I've never really looked at the writing credits of the Beatles all that closely, but I think I recall just a wall of "Lennon-McCartney".

They took each other from great songwriters to iconic songwriters.  I never really followed the feud, but I'm assuming it all boiled down to the two needing to go out on their own to prove "they were the real deal".  And they used their songs to antagonize the other before rap groups ever did.

[sneakyblueberry]

I'm a McCartney man myself.  Because Wings aka the band the Beatles could've been.

what? this is blasphemy. wings were alright, but the beatles were streets ahead.

Lol.  its an Alan Partridge reference.  Wings are mostly horrible, but I do enjoy Wings over America. 

But I stand by my McCartney preference.  He gets a lot of shit, but tbh he wrote most of the Beatles' classic songs, and stayed consistent when Lennon was doing his trying-to-be-edgy shit.  Which was edgy I suppose but McCartney penned tracks probably make up most of my favourites.  But George is my fave <3

I think I mainly just don't get all the praise Lennon gets.  He wasn't anywhere near the god-like figure people make him out to be.

[Orbert]

I think there was a common perception that Lennon was the rocker, the edgier one, and McCartney was more the pretty boy who wrote some nice melodies.  And there is some truth to that.  It's John Lennon screaming "Shake it up, baby now!" while the crooners (Golden Slumbers medley, She's Leaving Home, Yesterday, etc.) were all McCartney.

But McCartney also wrote "Helter Skelter", easily one of The Beatles' heaviest rockers, if not the heaviest.  And overall, McCartney was just far more prolific.  A lot of his post-Beatles work is kinda sappy, but there's a lot of good rock and roll, too.  I like most of Wings stuff.  Rock Show, Venus and Mars, Band on the Run, those are all great albums.  And Wings Over America is an incredible live album.  John Lennon has nothing in his catalog that does it for me like Paul's later stuff.

To me, it's pretty obvious that Paul's brain is the kind that comes up with melodies and bits of songs pretty much 24/7.  The wacky medleys with The Beatles were all his, and he continued that with Wings.  Live and Let Die, Band and the Run, and others are clearly separate musical bits that were worked together into something larger.  Lennon always stuck with basic 4/4 rock.

[PuffyPat]

honestly, all post beatles solo stuff is pretty bad in my opinion. there is obviously some good stuff every now and then, but for the most part, it doesn't really do much for me.

[DebraKadabra]

So, if you had to narrow your favorite Beatles list down to just 20, which 20 would you pick?

I can't. I just... I can't. I'll mention favorites in this post, but pretty much everything they touched (except for Revolution #9) was... see, it's hard for me to describe because my parents (Dad especially) were and still are HUGE fans of The Beatles, so you could say that I've been "listening" to them since I was in the womb. 
 
I agree that Within You, Without You is utter gorgeousness - I get goosebumps just thinking about that song. I would have to say that most of my favorite songs were sung by John or George, though some Paul and Ringo ones sneak in there too. Hell--half the reason I made my mother by me a black beret with my school clothes in late 1985 and why I stole her trenchcoat on a daily basis in 1986 was that I was going through a HUGE broody Lennon phase LOL (you couldn't catch me dead wearing a trench in a humid Houston spring otherwise).
 
One of my other favorites--Strawberry Fields Forever. I remember watching one of The Beatles' cartoons on TV when I was about... 4 or 5 and just being mesmerized by that song (and David Bowie's Fame.... and Bohemian Rhapsody... ).
 
Favorite album is by FAR Abbey Road. But really, starting with Rubber Soul the quality of their music just skyrocketed. Not that the older stuff is bad, just that starting in 1965 they got that much BETTER.
 
I saw Jeff Lynne's name pop up earlier - he admits that ELO was a blatant rip-off of The Beatles harmonically, and John Lennon called the ELO song Showdown (more on ELO in a sec) "Son of The Beatles" hehehe. High praise indeed, even with the proggy orchestral ambience ELO was going for at that time. Then, fast forward YEARS later to The Traveling Wilburys (that first album with Roy O was the best) and George Harrison's Cloud 9--both involving Jeff in some way, shape, or form. The point I'm trying to make is that SO many bands and musicians would not have even gotten started were it not for The Beatles breaking as huge as they did, especially here in the US.
 
So speaking of The Beatles and ELO - my mother was a fan of both, and I remember spending many a rainy day sitting at the kitchen table while playing cards (mainly gin/gin rummy) with her and my brother. We'd listen to ELO and Beatles vinyl religiously, the records stacked so that one side of each album would play and then when all were done my brother would flip them en masse for the second sides.
 
Last thing before I let y'all read this wall of text - watching Paul at the Beatles appreciation show was just... he was having SO much fun singing along to music HE had helped create, and it was precious to see Dave Grohl's young daughter singing right along too. And you know... John was actually right when he'd said what he did about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus. 
 
All you need is love, people.     

[KevShmev]

Help! is pretty great, too, and I do like a lot of the early stuff as well, but I agree that from Rubber Soul to the end was mostly god-tier music (a few songs notwithstanding).

Calvin, except for the Harrison songs and the few Ringo tunes, nearly every Beatles song is credited to Lennon and McCartney, but you can always tell who wrote it by who sang it: whoever sang the lead vocals on a song pretty much wrote it, in regards to the Lennon/McCartney compositions.  Some obviously have both - like A Day in the Life, because John wrote the verses and Paul wrote the middle part - but, by and large, whoever wrote it, sang it.

[sneakyblueberry]

Lennon always stuck with basic 4/4 rock.

I agree with most of your post Orbert, but I think this is an unfair statement. 

Lennon had some awesome stuff like Happiness is a Warm gun which shifts into alternate 9/8 - 4/4 patterns (it may be 9/8 and something else, its been a while since I've listened or looked at the score), but his real strength lies in the way he would add beats to common time to fit the lyric. Don't Let Me Down has that awesome vocal line that stretches over the bar in the verses, same with All You Need is Love. 

In terms of manipulating bar lengths, Lennon was a master and making the music fit what he had to say, which is extremely rare.

[PuffyPat]

a day in the life is a weird song. they were both writing separate songs, and couldn't finish them, and there some lines that make it seem like they could be related, so they just put them together.