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.