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2022 FBG, 172 to 1 Beatles Countdown 1-25 lists... And 173 to 1 Countdown from 1-64 lists! (1 Viewer)

Getzlaf15 said:
Think For Yourself
2022 Ranking: 106
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 32
Ranked Highest by: @Encyclopedia Brown (11) @FairWarning (12) Krista(Sharon) (23)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz comments:  Just four more NR songs after this one. Sharon takes the Chalk lead back.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  149

2019 write-up:

Think for Yourself (Rubber Soul, 1965)

I shouldn't love a song just based on maracas and fuzzbox bass, but those are what do it for me in this song.  I'd listen to that #### all day.  Add in some soaring harmonies contrasted with gloomy George lyrics and performance, with an edge of the cynicism he'll be more blatant about in "Taxman" and "Piggies," and you got yourself a krista-approved keeper.  

Mr. krista and I obviously think for ourselves, as his opinion is polar opposite:  "Digging that fuzzy organ.  I like that it rocks pretty hard.  I could have done without most everything but the organ and the drums. Seems like a good mid-tempo rock where I could listen to it more and have it grow on me."

Suggested cover:  Pete Shelley (RIP)  In honor of the lyrics to "I'll Get You," I'll mention that I really really really really like this cover.

2022 Supplement:  2022 me likes more than just the fuzzy bass and has a greater appreciation for the lyrics and feel of this song.  It was George’s first song about something other than girls/love that the Beatles recorded, though years later George couldn’t recall later toward whom his vitriol was targeted, saying it was “probably the government.”  Seems a good guess, especially given the later works such as “Taxman” and “Piggies.”  Regardless, this song represented a large leap in George’s songwriting abilities.

As much as I hate what he did to Let It Be, I must begrudgingly give credit to Phil Spector for the fuzzbox bass that I love so much in this song.  George has said that he and many other musicians were so inspired by Spector’s sound on this version of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWOkSyR_NhU that a fuzz box was invented.  For this song, the group used a fuzzbox device called “The Tone Bender” that had been given to them in 1965.

Fun fact:  a snippet of Paul and George working on the line “you’ve got time to rectify” from this song was used in the movie “Yellow Submarine.”

Guido Merkins

George Harrison wrote his first real song in 1964 which was Don’t Bother Me on the With the Beatles album.  George often said that John and Paul “wrote all their bad songs before we became famous.”  George did struggle at first to write a lot of great songs, but by 1965 and the Rubber Soul album, George was starting to come into his own with two great songs.  Think For Yourself was one of those.

“Although your mind’s opaque, try thinking more for your own sake” plus the chorus of “think for yourself cause I won’t be there with you” kind of tells you the theme of the song.  George is railing against those that live a life without thought.  This is kind of George’s version of a Dylan song.  Several songs that George wrote, including this one, show just as much cynicism as anything John wrote. George was forming his own voice.

Musically, the best part of the song is the fuzz bass, played by Paul.  The fuzz bass acts like a lead guitar on the song with Paul also playing a normal bass line within the same song.  I think I read somewhere that the fuzz bass was played on Paul’s Rickenbacker bass and the normal bass is the Hofner bass.  Also, as is the case with most Beatles songs, the harmonies are exquisite on this song.
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64 List Rank: 135

64 List Voters/Points: 2/55

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 2

#34 and #41 votes

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Julia
2022 Ranking: 141
2022 Lists: 4
2022 Points: 15
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Worth) (18) @Ted Lange as your Bartender(22), @neal cassady (24) Krista (TJ/Holly) (25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz:  Our 15th song not rated in 2019. Our first with four voters in 2022. Would love to hear from Ted and Neal above as to why they ranked it this time, but not last time.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  137

2019 write-up:

Julia (White Album, 1968)

I've tried over and over to love this as much as other people do, but it still comes back to being middle-of-the-Beatles-pack for me.  Maybe it comes down to what I said in the intro, which is that I'm not sentimental.  At all.  So while this is a lovely song, aspects of which I think are great, it doesn't "move" me that much.  I don't particularly like John's vocal, which sounds too tinny.  What I love the most are the lyrics.  Just looking at the first bits:

Half of what I say is meaningless

But I say it just to reach you, Julia

Julia, Julia, ocean child, calls me

So I sing a song of love, Julia

Julia, seashell eyes, windy smile, calls me

So I sing a song of love, Julia

Her hair of floating sky is shimmering, glimmering

In the sun

What's interesting to me in these lyrics is that he is speaking directly to his mom at the beginning.  He's not talking to us, describing his mother, but pleading directly to her in the opening lines (which were adapted from a Kahlil Gibran poem).  But in the midst of that, he sings "ocean child," which is the translation of...Yoko Ono.  He's interspersing Yoko in with his mother, and he also moves from talking directly to his mother to describing physical characteristics to us - presumably the beautiful poetry of "seashell eyes, windy smile" is meant to refer to Yoko, or is it mother, or is it both?  It all seems possibly Oedipal, or possibly a song of the sorrow of the childhood loss of his mother being overcome with the fullness of his current love for Yoko,  or possibly John telling his mother that he is ok now and can let go of the pain of her loss, or maybe none of this.  Whatever it is, it's clearly something therapeutic for him and lovely for us.

Mr. krista:  "His voice is sincere…it’s not good.  He’s singing a little out of his range.  It’s kind of a fantasy, I think.  They were poor people, and I don’t think that [beach scene] ever happened for him.  You can hear in his voice that he’s struggling to come to grips.  So with hindsight, and a couple of Beatles biographies, I like it a lot more.  It’s an earnest effort, and he committed to it, so…gahbless."

Suggested cover:  Sean Lennon, because.  

2022 Supplement:  In 1958, John’s mother Julia was hit and killed by a car driven by an off-duty policeman.  She had been on her way home from visiting her sister, John’s Aunt Mimi, with whom he lived.  John’s loss was a thread through much of his music, including this song and the harrowing “Mother” on his first Plastic Ono Band record:  "I lost her twice.  When I was five and I moved in with my auntie, and then when she physically died. That made me more bitter; the chip on my shoulder I had as a youth got really big then. I was just really re-establishing the relationship with her and she was killed."

This beautiful tribute to his mum is a song I’ve grown to appreciate much more over the last three years as I dug more into John’s solo works and his entire life’s progression.  This was also one of three tracks (along with “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Across The Universe”) that Paul identified a year or so ago as his favorites from Beatles-era John.  He singled out this one for its poignancy and the fact that he knew how deeply John had loved his mother; John and Paul had bonded over the tragic losses of both their mothers at early ages.

Fun fact:  This is the only Beatles song on which John is the sole performer.

Guido Merkins

John’s childhood is well known.  He was basically abandoned by his mother and father and grew up with his Aunt Mimi.  Years later, his mother, Julia, came back into his life, but was more like a big sister to John than a mother.  It was Julia that encouraged John’s interest in music, even teaching him the banjo.  Julia was killed in an accident when she was run over by an off duty police officer.  For years, John told stories about how the officer was drunk, but that wasn’t the case.  He was acquitted.  It was an accident, but it traumatized John and drew him closer to Paul, since Paul had also lost his mother at a young age.  

John wrote two songs directly about Julia.  One was Mother from Plastic Ono Band and the other was Julia on the White Album.  This song is an acoustic solo performance from John in the fingerpicking style he learned in India from Donovan.

The lyrics are really good with things like “ocean child calls me” (Yoko apparently means ocean child).  And “half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you Julia.”  And “her hair of floating sky is shimmering, glimmering in the sun.”  As usual, John’s voice reaches down into your soul and finds that sad place and kind of sits there, somehow making you feel better.
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64 List Rank: 134

64 List Voters/Points: 3/56

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

#26, 55, 58 votes

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Free As A Bird
2022 Ranking: 167T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 4
Ranked Highest by: Krista/Mom/Hub
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz comments:  Video has 26 million views on YT since 2016.  That's amazing.

Krista4
 

My 2019 ranking:  N/A

2019 write-up:  N/A

2022 Supplement:  One of two songs that I allowed on the list this time, together with “Real Love.”  Guido is going to provide the detailed background on how this one came to be, so I’ll skip that and just say that I happen to love this song.  Sure, it’s sort of “cheating” to me to put it on the list, since it came out well after John’s death (and won a Grammy in 1997!), but they all did contribute to this song that John had originally recorded in 1977.  Ringo has said that in the sessions for these songs, instead of feeling maudlin, the other three Beatles just pretended that John was there with them but had simply stepped out for lunch or for a cup of tea.  A lot of people don’t like the bridge that Paul added, but I think it’s sweet and lovely, just like the sentiment that Ringo expressed.

I wasn’t sure if this would get any votes but am glad it did, in part because I look forward to discussing it.

Guido Merkins

In 1995, the Beatles were back.  The Anthology was a huge project and the Beatles had 3 straight nights of network TV enthralled watching their story as told by them.  

At first, there was going to be no new music as John’s death left the Beatles incomplete.  But George had this idea based upon something that had happened when he was with the Wilbury’s and Roy Orbison died.  He thought to ask Yoko if there were any unfinished John songs they could work on.

Out of that, came 4 different songs.  The most compete was Real Love, but next was a song called Free As A Bird, which was mostly complete, but maybe needed a bridge.

So, the Threetles got together with producer Jeff Lynne (George Martin had declined) to see if they could work on the new song.  Emotions being what they were, they decided they would pretend that John had gone on holiday and asked them to finish it up.  Much technical work was needed to make the cassette demo recording of John suitable for adding overdubs, but they did it and started to build it.

Some people were very disappointed by Free As A Bird.  I always liked it.  I will agree that the bridge Paul wrote (whatever happened to, the life that we once knew) was kind of cheesy.  But I like the fact that both Paul and George get to sing it which is how I would like to think of the Beatles if they had continued, more democratic.  George had earned that much.  I also LOVE George’s solo.  It’s his slide sound, which at first made Paul nervous because he wanted it to sound like the Beatles, not My Sweet Lord, but somehow George uses the slide and it sounds like the Beatles, not solo George.  And even without John there, the harmonies are magical.  Ringo heard the playback and thought, “it sounds just like them.”  So, even with John there only on tape, the Beatles showed up, as we always assumed they would.

The absolute best part of the song, however, is the accompanying video.  It’s a treat for a Beatles nut like me to try and pick out all the Beatles references.  It’s great fun and I would highly recommend it.
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64 List Rank: 133

64 List Voters/Points: 1/57

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 0

#8 vote. @Wrighteous Ray

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Blue Jay Way
2022 Ranking: 137T
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 17
Ranked Highest by: @zamboni (14), @otb_lifer (21)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz: This is the first song where someone’s first entry did not make the Top 10 of the Chalk List.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  197

2019 write-up:

Blue Jay Way (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967)

Written by George while waiting for Derek Taylor, who was lost in the fog, to arrive at their rental house on Blue Jay Way in Los Angeles.  I can't fault anyone for liking this better than I do.  It's just not my pail of kittens.  I admire some of it, such as the use of basically every effect available at the time, but don't enjoy it.  The movie scene with this song is cool and creepy, though.  Since I don't have much to say about this one, I'll just post my notes from when we first listened through all the albums in stage one of this process last summer:  "I didn’t like this when Yes did it either.  Fell asleep midway through. Why so menacing.  OMG, this song is still going on."

Mr. krista is probably more in the mainstream on this:  "This song is bonkers.  I think that song is great.  I love the drone.  It’s anti-music.  I love that every sound is so totally processed and full of flangers and phasers and all the vocals are through Leslie speakers and it’s totally disorienting. And you wouldn’t want a song to get from point A to point B quickly when it’s about being lost.  No, you need to take a 30-minute long tour through every instrument in George Harrison’s collection.  I feel like songs like that are what I like about psyche music.  I could listen to some of that #### for a long time.  There seems to be a double meaning between please don’t be long and please don’t belong.  It’s deep if you’re the sort of person into acid and transcendental meditation…and sitars…and those instruments with one string that go mwarmwarmwarmwar."

Suggested cover:  Colin Newman  If you're going to go creepy, go all out. (2019 YT link now dead)

2022 Supplement:  As I mentioned in 2019, the Beatles tried to punch this up with a variety of effects, which included varispeed, phasing, flanging, and heavy echoes.  I’ll wait here while you google everything but “echoes.”  OK, you’re back.  The most interesting part of the recording process on this one, I think, was that, after the song was mixed, it was then played through a Leslie speaker and re-recorded back onto the original tape, but with the sound reversed, which creates the woozy whirly spinning effect.  All those technical breakthroughs, along with George’s use of some Indian instruments and musical devices that were not yet in common use, make this an interesting and impressive achievement.  I still don’t enjoy it that much, though.

Guido Merkins

Inspiration for a song can happen in any way.  Apparently George was in Los Angeles waiting for Derek Taylor, the Beatles publicist, at a house called Blue Jay Way.  George was waiting forever and because there happened to be a Hammond Organ in the house, George sat down at the organ and started writing a song about how he was waiting.  So you hear about the “fog in LA” and how his friends “have lost their way” and asking that they “please don’t be long or I may be asleep.”  

Back at the studio, ADT(Artificial Double Tracking) was added to give the track this swirling effect.  Also backwards vocals appear throughout.  There is also a cello part that appears on the track.

This song appeared in the Magical Mystery Tour film and is one of the more psychedelic parts of the movie with some kind of dated effects.
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64 List Rank: 132

64 List Voters/Points: 2/57

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 1

#21 and #52.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
You Really Got A Hold On Me
2022 Ranking: 125T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 23
Ranked Highest by: Krista (mom) (3)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz:  7th song for the alias searching person that can’t post. Only one more song with one voter.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  95

2019 write-up:

You Really Got a Hold On Me (With the Beatles, 1963)

Hot take alert!  I think the Beatles did a better version of this song than the original by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (the title of which the Beatles accidentally changed).  Oh no, you di'nt.

:ducksfromUruk'sshoe:

Seems I start every description at this point with "I love this song."  I love this song!  It's one of the instances where the lyrics make a huge positive difference to me.  What human hasn't experienced the feeling of wanting to get over a love and not being able to shake it?  Even when we know the person is no good, or at least no good for us:

I don't like you, but I love you

Seems that I'm always thinking of you

Oh, oh, oh, you treat me badly

I love you madly

You've really got a hold on me

We're trying to resist but can't:

I don't want you, but I need you

Don't want to kiss you but I need you

Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now

My love is strong now

You've really got a hold on me

And finally we just give in:

I love you and all I want you to do

Is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me

And not just give in, but feel that desire even more strongly:

Tighter

Tighter

The reason I prefer the Beatles version is that John really sinks into the desperation of these lyrics.  Smokey sounded gentle and sweet when he sang it.  John sounds like he's about to explode from the torture of it all, especially the urgency he imbues in the word "tighter."  It's almost uncomfortable to listen to, and that's why I love it. 

The band sang another version of the song during the Let It Be sessions, but I don't find John's vocal as good on that one. 

Mr. krista:  "He plays right behind the beat.  I think they made that into an aesthetic.  I like the Miracles version a little better, but I like how the Beatles really own it."

2022 Supplement:  It was a bold statement in 2019 to say I liked this better than the original, but I stand by it.  Smokey’s vocal is more pure and beautiful, more subtle, but John’s tortured presentation and Paul’s atypically understated harmonies carry this for me.

As we’ve discussed, Smokey Robinson was one of the largest influences on the Beatles, particularly John, who “borrowed” Smokey’s lyrical ideas for everything from “All I’ve Got To Do” to “I Am The Walrus” to “Sexy Sadie.”  George was also a huge fan, recording the dreadful tribute “Pure Smokey” in his solo years and also referencing this song in the lyrics to “When We Was Fab.”

The Miracles had had top 40 hits in the US (including a #2 in “Shop Around”), but they had reached the charts zero times in the UK, including with this song.  The Beatles became largely responsible for introducing this group to the UK by virtue of this cover (with the name changed to “You” instead of “You’ve”) and their other Smokey tributes.  This was a favorite in their live BBC sessions, which I expect Getz might be linking. 

Smokey himself has said about the Beatles:  “They were the first huge white act to admit, ‘Hey we grew up with some black music. We love this.'” Otis Williams of the Temptations similarly gave credit to the Beatles:  “We knocked down those barriers, and I must give credit to the Beatles… It seemed like at that point in time white America said, ‘OK if the Beatles are checking them out, let us check them out'.” 

The Beatles also played this song during the Get Back sessions.  As usual, John didn’t know the lyrics.  :lmao:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6A9UhsvHaw

Guido Merkins

The Beatles were huge fans of Smokey Robinson (who isn’t?)  On the With the Beatles album in 1963, they took on You Really Got a Hold On Me, which is, IMO, an underrated masterpiece. The original record has just always entranced me.  I love the guitar lick and the vocal and the atmosphere of that record.  It’s really hard to describe why I like it so much.  It just speaks to me.  So covering that song took some guts.

The Beatles version follows the Miracles version pretty closely.  I don’t like it as much as the original because, as I said above, I have a special affinity for the Miracles version, but the Beatles do it very well.  John’s lead vocal is especially noteworthy.  In fact, I’m gonna say I like the Beatles vocal better overall than the Miracles.  There is just a certain something missing on the Beatles version that is present on the Miracles version.  A loneliness.  A sadness. An emptiness.  Maybe it’s the horns.  The Beatles version is just guitars bass and drums, whereas the Miracles version is a bit more fleshed out. 

In any event, all 4 Beatles are in great form.  John on lead, George and Paul on harmonies.  George on guitar and Ringo on drums with George Martin on piano.  Great job guys.  The fact that you fell slightly short on a masterpiece is no shame.
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64 List Rank: 131

64 List Voters/Points: 2/58

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 1

#9 and #63

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Don’t Pass Me By
2022 Ranking: 148T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 12
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Mom/hub) (14)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 135T/1/2

Getz: First list to appear four times and now front runner for least Chalky list. Another Ringo!

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  119

2019 write-up:

Don't Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)

I might be the only person in the world who loves this song, and I'll admit that it took me a long while to appreciate it as well.  I dunno, maybe Ringo's mom did at the time or something.  The song lacks coherent structure, it meanders, and the lyrics aren't compelling.  For a long time I considered this song "plodding," and I guess I still do.  My love for this is 100% about the violin parts.  They are all off-kilter and almost disturbing to listen to, which makes me so intrigued that it's all I hear.  I'd love an entire album just of that violin.  It doesn't even sound like part of the song, as if the guy were wandering around playing something else entirely.  This is a song for which my enjoyment builds every time I listen.  That ####### violin. What is he doing?

Mr. krista:  [In response to plodding comment.]  "It’s great.  I love plodding.  It’s a marching song!  Who gives a ####, that’s a mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.

2022 Supplement:  Woo-hoo!  I thought that OH and I were the only people who loved this song, so I’m happy to see it make the list.  Welcome to the countdown, little song!  In 2019, I hadn’t delved much into Ringo’s solo catalog, so I didn’t realize until I did for my solo Beatles countdown that Ringo was such a HUGE country music fan.  [NOTE:  I wrote this record up in the solo countdown, but I recommend checking out Ringo’s album Beaucoups of Blues, in particular the title song, to get a feel for what happens when you put Ringo with the best session musicians in Nashville.  It’s wonderful!  Hey, why don’t I just link the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI-ep4XBf8w ]

Though this song was written by Ringo, according to the fiddle player Jack Fallon (who happened to have been the booking agent for some of the Beatles 1962 shows), both George Martin and Paul were instrumental (see what I did there?) in the arranging of the fiddle part.  Given that this song sat around for several years before they finally recorded it, it’s cool to hear that those guys were interested enough to handle the arrangement.  Well, some of them were, anyway – Paul and Ringo are the only two Beatles playing on the song.  According to Fallon, George Martin and Paul made some changes that took away from the original country feel, but everyone seemed pleased with the song in the end.  One of my favorite parts, the meandering fiddle at the end, was apparently just Fallon messing around thinking the song was over, and he was horrified to find it was kept in.

2022 Mr. krista Supplement:  [I read him his prior comments.] I guarantee I was drunk when I said that.  Not as drunk right now, but well on my way.  I really do like it.  It is sort of a marching song.  I think it’s awesome.  I like the fiddle part…[for some reason breaks into singing the Admiral Halsey part of the Wings song]…I’m guessing I like it better than John Lennon or Paul McCartney did.

Guido Merkins

You either hate Ringo’s voice or you find it charming (notice I didn’t say good, just charming.)  I fall on the charming side.  He’s not a great vocalist, but he is good at choosing material that he can handle and allow his personality, which is his strength, show through.

Ringo wrote and recorded exactly two of his own compositions with the Beatles.  Octopus’s Garden on Abbey Road and Don’t Pass Me By on the White Album.

Don’t Pass Me By, apparently, had existed in some form since 1962 with Paul mentioning it in a BBC interview in 1964, so it had been around for awhile before they recorded it officially in 1968.

All the Beatles were big fans of country music, but especially Ringo (Act Naturally and What Goes On being perhaps their most country moments of the early years).  Don’t Pass Me By is mostly a cool fiddle player going nuts around a Ringo drum beat. 

This is another example of the mono and stereo being different with the mono being faster and with a different fiddle part at the end.  Apparently the fiddle player was surprised they included that part in the outro because he thought it was terrible.
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64 List Rank: 130

64 List Voters/Points: 3/59

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 2

#24, 53, 59

 
Getzlaf15 said:
I’ll Cry Instead
2022 Ranking: 157T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 8
Ranked Highest by: Krista (Mom) (18)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz: First of three songs tied for 157th. 5th song so far that didn't get a 2019 vote. Wanna see the Billy Joel cover.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  67

2019 write-up:  

I'll Cry Instead (A Hard Day's Night, 1964)

I'm not much of a country music fan, but I love the C&W feel of this and especially George's first-rate Carl Perkins riffs.  He starts off as expected but by ~0:30 it's like he's wandering around playing a different song than everyone else.  It's completely charming and adds loads of texture and interest to the song.  Also a big fan of John's vocal and how he cycles through every emotion, with the bridge leading (one could say "bridging") from lyrics about anger, insecurity, and retaliation into a more confident, even over-compensating, final verse:

And when you do you'd better hide all the girls

I'm gonna break their hearts all round the world

Yes, I'm gonna break them in two

And show you what your lovin' man can do

Until then I'll cry instead

For all the faux strength of the narrator at this point, though, with that last line he can't help but end back where he started.  The emotional rollercoaster ride is complete.

Mr. krista:  "Good rockabilly number.  Is everyone else stuck on a train or something?  I’d like to have to heard it with harmonies because I like how it runs through verse verse bridge verse."

Suggested cover:  Joe Cocker, with Jimmy Page on guitar

2022 Supplement:  Who TF posted a Joe ####### Cocker cover?!?  Don’t you know those are verboten here?

Hold on, the producers are telling me that *I* am the one who perpetrated this abomination.  Obviously 2022 me feels much shame for 2019 me.

Hey, I see that I loved this one in 2019!  John and I share a love in particular for the middle eight.  And I still love it, but it might move down a bit at this point based on the aggressively ####ty lyrics.  I mean, it’s no “Run for Your Life” in that respect, but it’s an angry and vengeful song, though maybe all that anger couched in an upbeat dance tune is kinda cool.  I’m quibbling at this point and looking for reasons not to have every song in my top 50.  I do like that this is leading into John’s self-reflective period, which reached its peak in the Plastic Ono Band record.

Fun fact:  This song was intended to be used in this scene in the movie A Hard Day’s Night, but was replaced by “Can’t Buy Me Love” because, John claimed, director **** Lester didn’t like it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZBp-XSR_dc  (I don’t know why I can’t find a non-colorized version easily, but I gave up).

Fun fact #2:  Due to some complicated crap regarding its intended use in the film, the mono version of this song released in the US is 20 seconds longer than the stereo version and the UK mono mix, containing an extra verse.

Guido Merkins

I’ll Cry Instead was considered for the A Hard Day’s Night film, but ultimately rejected for Can’t Buy Me Love and I’ll Cry Instead was put on the album’s B Side.
I’ll Cry Instead is very country flavored.  The Beatles were all big fans of country music and you can hear it in George’s guitar playing and the drumming on this song.

John hated this song.  The lyrics reflect John’s frustration and anger, maybe in his marriage (I just lost the only girl I had).  Maybe with his fame (I can’t talk to people that I meet).  The lyrics for the bridge (don’t wanna cry when there’s people there….) is the best part of the song.  Always hated the line “I got a chip on my shoulder that’s bigger than my feet.”  George and Ringo really hold the song together, but it’s not one of my favorites.  

John’s lyrics are always a bit autobiographical even if he doesn’t mean to do it so I’ve heard it suggested that this song may be a precursor to I’m A Loser or You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, but not more so than There’s A Place, which is a better song and took place two albums earlier.
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64 List Rank: 129

64 List Voters/Points: 2/62

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 2

#27 and #41

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Doctor Robert (Remastered 2009)
 

64 List Rank: 128

64 List Voters/Points: 3/63

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

#30, 42, 60
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i was the #42 here. 

man, dunno how this chugger takes so much flak here, yet #### like Octupi Garden/GDS get swooned over in comparision. 

 ... this era was really the apex of his Beatles leadership - Faul started to dominate once Brian passed ... but, yeah - peak John on an album that would equal the greatness of MJ & Gretzky rolled into one if they just replaced 2 yuks ( the submarine song * the OJ commercial) with Rain & PBW.  

the Doctor is always IN for me. 

🐐

 
Getzlaf15 said:
64 List Rank: 145

64 List Voters/Points: 3/43

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

#45,51,56 votes
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I’m the 51 for I Need You. All in on the volume pedal.

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
64 List Rank: 138

64 List Voters/Points: 3/50

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

#40.52,53 votes

 
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Baby You’re a Rich Man was my 52. More scathing John lyrics, and I love the drone.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
64 List Rank: 147

64 List Voters/Points: 1/43

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0 

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 0

#22 vote
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This was my mom's vote.  I was really happy to see it, because I don't think that song is appreciated enough, and also because without Man of Constant Sorrow here to give us a 1-64 list, I thought it might drop off the countdown.

ETA:  This is in regard to "Flying."

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
64 List Rank: 146

64 List Voters/Points: 2/43

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 2

#40 and #47 votes
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My mom was the 40, and I was the 47.  :hifive:   John's performance here and the exquisite harmonies do it for me.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
On 2/26/2022 at 8:56 AM, Getzlaf15 said:
All I’ve Got To Do
2022 Ranking: 114
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 28
Ranked Highest by: Krista(TJ/Michael) (5) @rockaction (19)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 90/1/20

Getz:  Still stuck at 26 voters without a song posted yet. Susanna Hoffs video below!! 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  135

2019 write-up:

All I've Got To Do (With the Beatles, 1963)

I suspect I have this higher than many would, but it's another song with a standout soulful vocal.  John once again was trying to mimic a Smokey Robinson song, and I think this one was more successful, especially the opening and the "mmm, mmm, mmm"s at the end.  

I read half the Geoff Emerick book on the way home yesterday, and he spoke a lot about how unconfident John often was with his vocal performances.  Personally I prefer his voice to Paul's, but John was an insecure dude in many ways, so I guess it's not surprising that he felt this way.  In any case, his vocal on this song seems to evoke his overall insecurity, which I think is intentional and incredible.  When he sings, for instance, the first verse:

Whenever I want you around yeah 

All I gotta do 

Is call you on the phone 

And you'll come running home 

Yeah that's all I gotta do

It sounds on the vocal more like a pleading than statements made in confidence.  The same goes for the second verse, where I don't believe him that he can kiss [you] by whispering the right words in [your] ear - again, it sounds tentative and soft, as if he's trying to convince himself, complete with the stuttering "I"s.  Contrast that with his vocal on the bridges, where he gains energy and confidence to make the firm statement "you just gotta call on me," joined by Paul in strong harmony in order to solidify the point.  The vocal is a jumble of emotions and once of John's best, in my opinion.

Ringo's offbeat drum patterns on this one are terrific as well at setting the mood of erratic emotions.

Guess I caught Mr. krista with this one while he was tired:  "Shows off John's vocals well."

Suggested cover:  To keep you guys interested, Susannah Hoffs (also she does a great job with it)

2022 Supplement:  One of two songs I’ll identify as being those that would jump the most if I did a full re-ranking.  The other one is “Dig A Pony,” which we might or might not have covered yet.  THIS WAS #28 ON MY RE-RANKING THIS YEAR.  Unlike Pony, which I always loved, this is the one that’s grown on me the most in the past three years.  I did rave about John’s vocal in 2019, and that’s still what really pulls me in.  I also love the way it moves into humming and fades out with that; after being such an urgent song, the juxtaposition to suddenly turning mellow and wistful appeals to me.  This is yet another song in which we can hear the strong influences of Smokey Robinson and Arthur Alexander.

This song, entirely a John composition, was introduced to the group by him on the day the Beatles recorded it.  They performed 15 takes of the song that day, decided the last one was good enough, then never played the song again in studio (as far as anyone knows) nor did it ever make it into their live shows.  What a shame.

2022 Mr. krista Supplement:  Ringo’s drumming is like a proto-“In My Life.”  Hitting the high hat once per measure with a bunch of big open spaces between notes.  I keep forgetting about this song, and it’s great.  It fades out; not a lot of Beatles songs faded out like that.  I don’t know, it’s a good song.  Mint, mint jam.

Guido Merkins

The Beatles loved chords.  A Hard Day’s Night has one of the most famous chords in history.  Not as well-known, but still cool is 1964’s All I’ve Got to Do which is an Eaug11 chord or something like that.  I saw a video with the chord played and it sounded right.  

All I’ve Got to Do has a moodiness and a sophistication that shows the Beatles growing songwriting.   Also they were discovering stuff like start-stop, which they employed heavily on this song.  Ringo’s drum beat seems like the template for In My Life, later.  It’s interesting because of the way Ringo employs the hi-hat, only hitting it on the 1 and not on all 4 beats as a drummer would usually do.  Absolutely less is more.

As usual the harmonies are spot on and I love the outro with Lennon humming on the way out.  It adds to the moodiness of the track, IMO, almost like he couldn’t be bothered to sing anymore.  
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64 List Rank: 142

64 List Voters/Points: 3/49

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

#28. 57. 62 votes
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I'm the proud holder of the #28 vote here, and OH was #57.  It's a sexy song.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
On 2/22/2022 at 11:17 PM, Getzlaf15 said:
Getting Better
2022 Ranking: 130T
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 20
Ranked Highest by: @Anarchy99 (8) @Dinsy Ejotuz (24)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 138T/1/1

Getz comments:  One Point in 2019!  In before @Leroy Hoard says it's getting better all the time.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  83

2019 write-up:

Getting Better (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)

I'm a fan of these songs where John and Paul contribute distinctive parts that you can identify as being theirs alone.  I'm a fan of the stabby guitars (reminiscent of "She's a Woman" and "Taxman"), the bass that comes in just a little early on every beat, and those slightly off-key harmonies. The best part of this, though, is how the edgy John parts cut through the hopeful Paul parts to showcase the differences in their personalities.  It feels like a true "Beatles" song instead of a Paul or John song.

The Paul part of the song is characteristically optimistic and - Martha the sheepdog alert! - came to him when he was out walking his dog and recalled Jimmy Nicol, their short-term fill-in drummer while Ringo was ill during their 1964 tour.  Any time someone asked Jimmy how it was going, he responded, "Getting better."  As a counterpoint to Paul's optimism, John chimed into the songwriting with the cynical "can't get no worse," and of course the lines about an angry young man who used to beat his women are about John as well.  I can at least admire how willing John was to admit to this, regret it, and vow that he had changed, but that he still had work to do.  In an interview not long before his murder, he described this song:  "It is a diary form of writing. All that 'I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically – any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace. Everything's the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster."    

Nearly tragic story associated with one of the sessions for this song:  John showed up to the session tripping on LSD, and during recording of some backing vocals indicated he wasn't feeling well.  George Martin, perhaps purposefully naive to the drug use going on at the time, thought John might have eaten something bad and took him up to the roof for some air.  A while later, Martin returned to the control room alone, having left John on the roof to look at the stars.  A few seconds later, the rest of the group realized what was going on and made a mad dash to the roof to rescue John, who was tripping on a narrow parapet 30 feet above the street below.  Whew.

Mr. krista:  "I’m not sure I like it, but I do like that it’s a seemingly bouncy, cheerful song that comes from a bunch of instruments playing one note.  It’s all staccato – plank, plank, plank-plank.  You could beat that melody out on a tin can.  How did they figure out it was going to make that kind of song? I like that song a lot more now."

Suggested cover:  Gomez

2022 Supplement:   Paul has also described some of the process for writing this one:  “I often try and get on to optimistic subjects in an effort to cheer myself up and also, realizing that other people are going to hear this, to cheer them up too. And this was one of those. The ‘angry young man’ and all that was John and I filling in the verses about schoolteachers. We shared a lot of feelings against teachers who had punished you too much or who hadn’t understood you or who had just been ******* generally. … I was just sitting there doing ‘Getting better all the time’ and John just said in his laconic way, ‘It couldn’t get no worse,’ and I thought, Oh, brilliant! This is exactly why I love writing with John… It was one of the ways we’d write. I’d have the song quite mapped out and he’d come in with a counter-melody."

 I made a mistake in 2019 regarding one of the elements of the John/LSD story.  He didn’t show up tripping but accidentally mistook the LSD for something else:  "I never took it in the studio. Once I did, actually. I thought I was taking some uppers and I was not in the state of handling it. I took it and I suddenly got so scared on the mike. I said, ‘What is it? I feel ill.’ I thought I felt ill and I thought I was going cracked. I said I must go and get some air. They took me upstairs on the roof, and George Martin was looking at me funny, and then it dawned on me that I must have taken some acid.” 

So sue me.

2002 Mr. krista Supplement:  I like that Paul’s line is “getting better all the time,” and then John is the perfect antidote to his personality “can’t get much worse.”  “I used to be cruel to my woman I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved?”  That’s not cruel, that’s kidnapping and human trafficking and stuff.  That’s terrible.  Did everybody just casually treat women like that back then?  I mean, it really couldn’t get much worse.  Low bar to clear, to get better from that mess.

Guido Merkins

One sometimes has to wonder how John Lennon and Paul McCartney became friends.  Obviously, they had a shared love of music which bonded them, but two more different guys you’d never meet.  John was the resident cynic while Paul was the resident optimist.  Now, this is a little too simple to be true as they could both have their moments on the other side, but it’s a stereotype that has an element of truth.

So it is with a song like Getting Better on Sgt Pepper.  Paul loves to tell the story of him playing Getting Better in the studio and John jumping in with “can’t get much worse.”  The phrase “getting better” was apparently something Jimmy Nichol, who filled in for Ringo on drums for part of a 1964 tour, used to say.  The session for this song also was rather infamous for John accidently taking LSD instead of an upper and George Martin bringing him to the roof for some fresh air.  Needless to say, when the other Beatles found out, they rushed to the roof to prevent an accident.

Anyway, the coolest part of the song is the middle, where the song just completely changes over the words (I used to be cruel to my woman. I beat her and kept her apart from the thing that she loved), which was a John self-confessional line.  George’s tamboura was the instrument over that part, which gives it a dark, foreboding atmosphere as opposed to the brightness of the rest of it.The piano in the song is played by George Martin, but it’s him directly plucking the strings…always something different.

I like this song very much.  It was one of the ones that first struck me the first time I heard Pepper, other than the other well known ones that I already knew.
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64 List Rank: 136

64 List Voters/Points: 6/53

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 6

#45, 53, 56, 59, 60, 64.  Won't see another six vote song until #109.
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My family was responsible for the 45 (OH) and 64 (mom) votes here.  This is a song I thought might benefit from the expansion to 64 selections.  Apparently not!

 
krista4 said:
My family was responsible for the 45 (OH) and 64 (mom) votes here.  This is a song I thought might benefit from the expansion to 64 selections.  Apparently not!
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Binky it did.    With the six votes.  

Stupid board.  Why isn't it quoting the YouTube link?

 
krista4 said:
My family was responsible for the 45 (OH) and 64 (mom) votes here.  This is a song I thought might benefit from the expansion to 64 selections.  Apparently not!
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I forgot about this song. It's for the best, had I remembered Piggies may not have found a home at #64. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
On 2/21/2022 at 7:38 AM, Getzlaf15 said:
Blue Jay Way
2022 Ranking: 137T
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 17
Ranked Highest by: @zamboni (14), @otb_lifer (21)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz: This is the first song where someone’s first entry did not make the Top 10 of the Chalk List.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  197

2019 write-up:

Blue Jay Way (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967)

Written by George while waiting for Derek Taylor, who was lost in the fog, to arrive at their rental house on Blue Jay Way in Los Angeles.  I can't fault anyone for liking this better than I do.  It's just not my pail of kittens.  I admire some of it, such as the use of basically every effect available at the time, but don't enjoy it.  The movie scene with this song is cool and creepy, though.  Since I don't have much to say about this one, I'll just post my notes from when we first listened through all the albums in stage one of this process last summer:  "I didn’t like this when Yes did it either.  Fell asleep midway through. Why so menacing.  OMG, this song is still going on."

Mr. krista is probably more in the mainstream on this:  "This song is bonkers.  I think that song is great.  I love the drone.  It’s anti-music.  I love that every sound is so totally processed and full of flangers and phasers and all the vocals are through Leslie speakers and it’s totally disorienting. And you wouldn’t want a song to get from point A to point B quickly when it’s about being lost.  No, you need to take a 30-minute long tour through every instrument in George Harrison’s collection.  I feel like songs like that are what I like about psyche music.  I could listen to some of that #### for a long time.  There seems to be a double meaning between please don’t be long and please don’t belong.  It’s deep if you’re the sort of person into acid and transcendental meditation…and sitars…and those instruments with one string that go mwarmwarmwarmwar."

Suggested cover:  Colin Newman  If you're going to go creepy, go all out. (2019 YT link now dead)

2022 Supplement:  As I mentioned in 2019, the Beatles tried to punch this up with a variety of effects, which included varispeed, phasing, flanging, and heavy echoes.  I’ll wait here while you google everything but “echoes.”  OK, you’re back.  The most interesting part of the recording process on this one, I think, was that, after the song was mixed, it was then played through a Leslie speaker and re-recorded back onto the original tape, but with the sound reversed, which creates the woozy whirly spinning effect.  All those technical breakthroughs, along with George’s use of some Indian instruments and musical devices that were not yet in common use, make this an interesting and impressive achievement.  I still don’t enjoy it that much, though.

Guido Merkins

Inspiration for a song can happen in any way.  Apparently George was in Los Angeles waiting for Derek Taylor, the Beatles publicist, at a house called Blue Jay Way.  George was waiting forever and because there happened to be a Hammond Organ in the house, George sat down at the organ and started writing a song about how he was waiting.  So you hear about the “fog in LA” and how his friends “have lost their way” and asking that they “please don’t be long or I may be asleep.”  

Back at the studio, ADT(Artificial Double Tracking) was added to give the track this swirling effect.  Also backwards vocals appear throughout.  There is also a cello part that appears on the track.

This song appeared in the Magical Mystery Tour film and is one of the more psychedelic parts of the movie with some kind of dated effects.
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64 List Rank: 132

64 List Voters/Points: 2/57

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 1

#21 and #52.
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OH is #52 here, and I'm surprised it wasn't higher for him.  He loves this song.

 
otb_lifer said:
krista4 said:
My mom was the 40, and I was the 47.  :hifive:   John's performance here and the exquisite harmonies do it for me.
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see same for "Yes It Is" with me ... very similar, imo - strong as fudge on the harmonies, gorgeous. 

(better John vox on YII 😁)
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John said Yes It Is was a reworking of This Boy, trying to improve upon it.  He didn't think he was successful in improving it, nor do I, but I can definitely see the argument for the vocal being better.  They're both great songs.

 
krista4 said:
I'm the proud holder of the #28 vote here, and OH was #57.  It's a sexy song.
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#62 for me ... John could drop (Binky: PULL UP) those ... uhhh ... unmentionables 😍

krista4 said:
OH is #52 here, and I'm surprised it wasn't higher for him.  He loves this song.
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#21 for me, right on the cusp of my "Holiest of Holys" with them - i lived this in the SFO summer (see late September) of '89 - i never tripped, but a Merchant Marine cabbie who took me from the Haight to the Wharf sold me some laced yayo ... it was an event. 

krista4 said:
John said Yes It Is was a reworking of This Boy, trying to improve upon it.  He didn't think he was successful in improving it, nor do I, but I can definitely see the argument for the vocal being better.  They're both great songs.
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yeah, it depends which interview/time frame with John - the RS Wenner '70 marathon slagged a ton of the Beatles work ... i believe he called AYBCS a "nightmare" ... YII is the better tune and vox, but i love both. 

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
On 2/24/2022 at 7:38 AM, Getzlaf15 said:
You Really Got A Hold On Me
2022 Ranking: 125T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 23
Ranked Highest by: Krista (mom) (3)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz:  7th song for the alias searching person that can’t post. Only one more song with one voter.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  95

2019 write-up:

You Really Got a Hold On Me (With the Beatles, 1963)

Hot take alert!  I think the Beatles did a better version of this song than the original by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (the title of which the Beatles accidentally changed).  Oh no, you di'nt.

:ducksfromUruk'sshoe:

Seems I start every description at this point with "I love this song."  I love this song!  It's one of the instances where the lyrics make a huge positive difference to me.  What human hasn't experienced the feeling of wanting to get over a love and not being able to shake it?  Even when we know the person is no good, or at least no good for us:

I don't like you, but I love you

Seems that I'm always thinking of you

Oh, oh, oh, you treat me badly

I love you madly

You've really got a hold on me

We're trying to resist but can't:

I don't want you, but I need you

Don't want to kiss you but I need you

Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now

My love is strong now

You've really got a hold on me

And finally we just give in:

I love you and all I want you to do

Is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me

And not just give in, but feel that desire even more strongly:

Tighter

Tighter

The reason I prefer the Beatles version is that John really sinks into the desperation of these lyrics.  Smokey sounded gentle and sweet when he sang it.  John sounds like he's about to explode from the torture of it all, especially the urgency he imbues in the word "tighter."  It's almost uncomfortable to listen to, and that's why I love it. 

The band sang another version of the song during the Let It Be sessions, but I don't find John's vocal as good on that one. 

Mr. krista:  "He plays right behind the beat.  I think they made that into an aesthetic.  I like the Miracles version a little better, but I like how the Beatles really own it."

2022 Supplement:  It was a bold statement in 2019 to say I liked this better than the original, but I stand by it.  Smokey’s vocal is more pure and beautiful, more subtle, but John’s tortured presentation and Paul’s atypically understated harmonies carry this for me.

As we’ve discussed, Smokey Robinson was one of the largest influences on the Beatles, particularly John, who “borrowed” Smokey’s lyrical ideas for everything from “All I’ve Got To Do” to “I Am The Walrus” to “Sexy Sadie.”  George was also a huge fan, recording the dreadful tribute “Pure Smokey” in his solo years and also referencing this song in the lyrics to “When We Was Fab.”

The Miracles had had top 40 hits in the US (including a #2 in “Shop Around”), but they had reached the charts zero times in the UK, including with this song.  The Beatles became largely responsible for introducing this group to the UK by virtue of this cover (with the name changed to “You” instead of “You’ve”) and their other Smokey tributes.  This was a favorite in their live BBC sessions, which I expect Getz might be linking. 

Smokey himself has said about the Beatles:  “They were the first huge white act to admit, ‘Hey we grew up with some black music. We love this.'” Otis Williams of the Temptations similarly gave credit to the Beatles:  “We knocked down those barriers, and I must give credit to the Beatles… It seemed like at that point in time white America said, ‘OK if the Beatles are checking them out, let us check them out'.” 

The Beatles also played this song during the Get Back sessions.  As usual, John didn’t know the lyrics.  :lmao:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6A9UhsvHaw

Guido Merkins

The Beatles were huge fans of Smokey Robinson (who isn’t?)  On the With the Beatles album in 1963, they took on You Really Got a Hold On Me, which is, IMO, an underrated masterpiece. The original record has just always entranced me.  I love the guitar lick and the vocal and the atmosphere of that record.  It’s really hard to describe why I like it so much.  It just speaks to me.  So covering that song took some guts.

The Beatles version follows the Miracles version pretty closely.  I don’t like it as much as the original because, as I said above, I have a special affinity for the Miracles version, but the Beatles do it very well.  John’s lead vocal is especially noteworthy.  In fact, I’m gonna say I like the Beatles vocal better overall than the Miracles.  There is just a certain something missing on the Beatles version that is present on the Miracles version.  A loneliness.  A sadness. An emptiness.  Maybe it’s the horns.  The Beatles version is just guitars bass and drums, whereas the Miracles version is a bit more fleshed out. 

In any event, all 4 Beatles are in great form.  John on lead, George and Paul on harmonies.  George on guitar and Ringo on drums with George Martin on piano.  Great job guys.  The fact that you fell slightly short on a masterpiece is no shame.
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64 List Rank: 131

64 List Voters/Points: 2/58

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 1

#9 and #63
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🎵 It's a family affair 🎵

My mom was the #9 (Binky: #63) and I was the #63 (Binky: #9).  It's still my favorite of their covers even though some are probably "better."

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Because
2022 Ranking: 107T
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 32
Ranked Highest by: @Dwayne Hoover (6) @Shaft41 (14)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 109/1/13

Getz comments:  DH now on the board.  Down to 20...

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  139

2019 write-up:

Because (Abbey Road, 1969)

Listen, this is unquestionably a great song.  It's placement at #139 isn't a reflection of how masterful it is, but instead a function of (1) its being a song I admire more than love, and (2) the Beatles, man.  There are so many of their songs I find myself wanting to hear more often.

The construction of the song is one of the intriguing aspects; the story goes that John was listening to Yoko play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano and used those chords, played backwards, to frame the song.  The lyrics are straightforward, or as John termed them "no bull####."  The real star for me is the three-part harmony that is triple-tracked to make it seem like a choir.  The ending of the song is great.  Haunting, gorgeous...this is a song that when the mood strikes you, there's nothing better.  The mood just doesn't strike me all that often.

Mr. krista:  "I kinda like that song.  Interesting structure.  Seems more like choral music.  When is the last time they did three-part harmonies throughout?  Harpsichord doing a guitar line.  It must have been a ####### ##### to record."

Suggested covers:  Elliott Smith  George Clinton   I do not suggest the following terrifying cover:  Devo

2022 Supplement:  John gives credit for the harmonies to George Martin (who agreed that he had to tell the three exactly which notes to sing:  “As for the harmonies, I just asked George Martin, or whoever was 'round, 'What's the alternative to thirds and fifths?' as they're the only ones I know, and he would play them on a piano, and we'd say, 'Oh, we'll have that one.' So, I couldn't tell you what they are, I just know it's harmony.”

George has said these were difficult harmonies to sing, as they were out of practice on them, and Geoff Emerick reported that the three practiced each pass 20-30 times before moving on, the problem not being in the pitch but in the phrasing.  The recording of this portion was particularly intimate, with all four of the Beatles (including Ringo for moral support) in a semi-circle, the lights turned down low.  It took over five hours to get the vocals right, an amount of time they would have taken for practically an entire album in the early years, but unlike the marathon sessions for some of Paul’s “granny music,” all four Beatles seemed to want to put in that effort in a quest for perfection on this song.  Emerick has said he never heard complaints, and unlike most of their sessions this one was deeply serious, without their usual clowning around.  He paints a beautiful picture of a team at its peak:  “That day I saw the four Beatles at their finest: there was one hundred percent concentration from all of them – even Ringo, sitting quietly with his eyes closed, silently urging his bandmates on to their best performance – all working in tandem to get that vocal nailed, spot on. It was a stark example of the kind of teamwork that had been so sorely lacking for years.”

The vocals in isolation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmZw8BuqU10

Guido Merkins

Believe it or not, Yoko Ono is actually a classically trained musician.  One day she was with John playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and John asked her if she could reverse the chords.  Around that experiment, John wrote Because for the Abbey Road album.  Now whether or not it’s EXACTLY Moonlight Sonata backwards is disputed elsewhere, but regardless, that’s where John got the inspiration.

Because is known mostly for the gorgeous 3 part harmonies by John, Paul, and George which, according to George were really hard to learn and perfect.  It is also notable in that there is an electric harpsichord and a Moog synthesizer.  John plays electric guitar with George Martin on the harpsichord.  There are no drums on the track, but apparently, George Martin was worried about his ability to keep time with John since the guitar and harpsichord had to echo each other, so Martin had Ringo hitting the high hat and had that fed into the cans to keep time.  Ringo the metronome!!!!!

The lyrics for the song are very straightforward or as John said “no bull####, no imagery.”  And they are quite beautiful “because the world is round it turns me on”, “because the sky is blue it makes me cry”, etc. 

If you want to hear those harmonies naked, so to speak, head on over to Anthology 3.  Apparently they dubbed the harmonies a few times because it sounds like more than 3 voices.  I think I remember Mark Lewison saying they dubbed it 3 times, so it would be like 9 voices.
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64 List Rank: 127

64 List Voters/Points: 3/63

64 List Top 5: 1 @Shaft41 (5)

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 2 (62,62)

 
Getzlaf15 said:
You Can’t Do That
2022 Ranking: 84
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 62
Ranked Highest by: @Anarchy99 (1) @Guido Merkins (7) @ManOfSteelhead (8)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 71/2/35

Getz:  Our last song with only three voters and our first song with three Top 10 votes. A’99 with his 13th entry. Second song to get a #1 vote.  Guido with his fourth entry, all in the last 11 songs. YT above is live from 1964.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  72

2019 write-up:

You Can't Do That (A Hard Day's Night, 1964)

It's another "boy, John sure seems angry and jealous" song, though I don't put it in the same category as "Run For Your Life" because it's not directly threatening physical harm.  Well it doesn't, that is, as long as you decide as I have to hear "let you down and leave you flat" to mean "break up with you and leave you bummed" and not something more sinister.  John described his inspiration for this song:  "That's me doing Wilson Pickett. You know, a cowbell going four in the bar, and the chord going chatoong!"   And since Wilson Pickett didn't have a violent nature, I assume John didn't intend any violence in the song.  Wait, what's that?  [Checking Pickett's bio.]  Oh, nevermind.

Reminder of items I've listed so far that give a song an advantage in the rankings:  (1) cowbell, (2) cello, (3) I can sing harmony, and (4) more cowbell.  Why, what have we here??  1, 3, and 4!  There, I shouted some numbers, too!  While I do love the cowbell in the song, I'm more fond of John's aggressive vocal and his guitar on the intro and on the messy, rockin' solo, as well as George's 12-string work - his first major use of the 12-string on a song - and that little drum fill Ringo does each time between "I told you before" and "ooohhh."  Not a big fan of how the ending just peters out; it's too great a rock song for that.

Mr. krista:  "I like that song a lot.  The harmonies are fun.  They really liked the blues.  They’re so British, though, they can straight up rip people off.  A lot of blues tropes, but it still sounded distinctive and unique."

Suggested covers:  Wait for the scream and the guitar solo:  Diana Ross & the Supremes  Kind of a cover:  Harry Nilsson

2022 Supplement:  Fun song, great riff, cowbell!  The Beatles did a lip synch version of this at Scala Theatre in London, with the intention of its being used at the end of the film, but it was cut:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quiivAJmtyk (As an aside, why do people insist on colorizing these?  I’ve had more than one instance of not being able to find a B&W version.)  Fun fact:  young Phil Collins was in the crowd for this.

Why lip synch?  Well, as we’ve discussed, John had a hard time remembering his songs, including this one, so that could have been the reason.  I assume this is the live version that Getz will link (as I’m not aware of any others); notice how John forgets that there is a bridge and second verse before the guitar solo:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG6VL291o4o

There was also an early take of this song released in the Anthology series.  Even though it lacks the harmonies at this stage, I think it’s a nice version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgdFEGOYesk   

Guido Merkins

One of my favorite songs on A Hard Day’s Night is a song John called “a Wilson Pickett thing with a cowbell”, You Can’t Do That.

This is the song with the great opening riff from George on 12 string.  George was talking to Tom Petty about this song and said he just came up with it on the fly in the studio.  Petty asked him how he did that.  George said “I was just standing there and I thought to myself, I’ve got to do something.”  Typical George, always underselling his contribution.

Great musical elements like a great vocal, great background vocals, great drumming, a very cool Lennon chord guitar solo, and a typical Lennon lyric warning his girl that she “can’t do that”
, like talking to another guy. John was worried about people “laughing in his face.”  This is a great rocker, one of their best, IMO.  

You Can’t Do That was one of the songs that was done before the live audience at the end of the A Hard Days Night film.  It ended up being cut from the movie, but I saw the footage originally on a “making of a Hard Day’s Night” type of video.  I now have it as one of the extras on my DVD copy of A Hard Day’s Night.  I’m sure it’s on Youtube somewhere if anyone is interested. 
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64 List Rank: 126

64 List Voters/Points: 3/67

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1 (8)

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 2 (59, 61)

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Every Little Thing
2022 Ranking: 115
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 26
Ranked Highest by: Krista(Sharon) (5) OTB_Lifer (23) Krista(Craig) 25
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz comments:  Won't be making my 1-64

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  167

2019 write-up:

Every Little Thing (Beatles for Sale, 1964)

Winner of the "Biggest Drop from Initial Rankings" award!  When we did the album-by-album listen, I was forced to listen to some songs that I usually don't focus on, and in the context of that album both Mr. krista and I thought this was great.  So it went into a higher-than-justified tier and has spent its remaining months dropping and dropping.  Don't get me wrong, I still think this song is terrific, but it also has flaws that I was reminded of on frequent listens.  Those flaws include but are not limited to...those drums.  You know the part.  Those big bashing timpani that seem, charitably, inappropriate.  WTF is going on there?

This song is unusual in that it appears to be a rare one in which the chief songwriter (Paul) is not the lead singer (John), though I say "appears to be" because, as in many instances, it's not entirely clear who should get most of the songwriting credit and who is singing which part, though it seems clear John's the lead in the verses and that Paul is the backing vocal and not an overdub of John.  But some disagree.  It's a bit of a mess in that regard.  It's also not clear who is playing which guitar parts, though the consensus is John is on a Rickenbacker.  This is just one of many, many instances of not knowing who did what on a Beatles song, which I think is interesting and notable considering how full our information is these days.  I haven't read the Geoff Emerick book about recording the Beatles (I know, I know, I must - I've bought it but haven't read), but I think he must have the most information to solve some of these questions.

I just realized I haven't said anything that I like about this song.  I do love the vocals and think that what I hear as the softer side of Paul and the acerbic side of John make for a great blend.    That is also evident to me in the lyrics:  what could be taken as simple, even trite, lines sound instead like there's more than that beneath them...the line "Yes, I know I'm a lucky guy" always makes me question if that's meant to be sincere or sarcastic, or more likely a combination of both.  There's something about that descent of that line in particular that draws me in and makes me want to know what comes after, and then surely enough, despite being written (we think) by sunny Paul, it is:  

"I remember the first time

I was lonely without her

Can't stop thinking about her now"

Italics for Friday-night emphasis.

And so right after he says how lucky he is, he is mourning being without her.  🤭

Aw hell, I've written so much about a song ranked in the 160s, but I find it so intriguing.  It's sneakily complex, and despite that timpani I love to hear it.

Mr. krista:  "This is my favorite song on the record so far. I’d like to listen to it again. Surprisingly heavy and kind of dark. This is like the black album. Pretty sweet timpani action."

Suggested cover:  There is a pretty well-known Yes cover of this song, and if Yes if your thing, go for it.  For me, I'll take Lou Ann Barton instead.  I don't love it, but it's not Yes.

2022 Supplement:  Wow, I wrote a lot already.  Not entirely sure about my confusion in the original post about who did what, as it seems generally accepted that (1) Paul wrote this about Jane Asher, and (2) John’s on lead vocal and lead guitar, using his custom-made Rickenbacker 12-string for the first time on a Beatles song.  Now that I’ve clarified that, I have little more to say!

Guido Merkins

Most of the time, the primary composer of a song also sang lead.  One exception is Every Little Thing from the Beatles For Sale album which was written by Paul, but sung by John.  They sing in unison and in harmony, but the Lennon vocal is more out front.

This song is notable for the use of a timpani during the chorus (every little thing she does BOOM BOOM…she does for me, yeah).  This part was played, of course, by Ringo.  There is kind of a counter melody going on with the piano (Paul plays) that is also interesting.  The lyrics are quite positive, but the overall vibe of the song sounds sadder than the lyrics indicate.  Not sure if that’s what Paul wanted, so he let John take lead because he has that pathos in this voice.

Overall, this is kind of an underrated gem on an underrated Beatles album.  
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64 List Rank: 125

64 List Voters/Points: 3/67

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (23)

64 List 26-64 votes: 2 (57,48)

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Anna (Go To Him)
2022 Ranking: 153T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 10
Ranked Highest by:  @ManOfSteelhead (16)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 123T/1/8

Getz: K4 has this ranked right...just not a fan of this one.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  175

2019 write-up:

Anna (Go to Him) (Please Please Me, 1963)

This is one of the most purely beautiful John vocals, in my opinion.  Nothing crazy-powerful like "Twist and Shout," but full of such desperation and depth.  Word is he had a cold while recording it, so I recommend to all young singers to go outside without a coat or masturbate too much or whatever moms tell their sons will cause them colds (I might have mixed that up with "what gives you crossed eyes").  John's perceived anguish might be heightened by that cold-induced raspiness.  The seemingly flat backing vocals perfectly highlight John even more beautifully.  The other part that I absolutely adore about this song is George's guitar riff that replaces the piano on the original, to positive effect, though you'll see below that Mr. krista was less impressed.

Given how much I've raved about this, why not higher?  As I've mentioned, my rankings of covers are heavily based on how they measure up to the originals.  And if you listen to Arthur Alexander's original of this, well holy #### that vocal is so incredible I just can't move this higher.  Good god, so forceful yet delicate.

Side note:  I have an affection for the fact that, when faced with losing a girl to another guy, in this case John (via Arthur Alexander) takes it quite well, as opposed to other songs we'll cover later.

Fun fact:  a special pressing was made of this song as a single on Vee Jay records, as it was believed that the record would appeal to black audiences.  It's believed that only a handful still exist, and a copy sold for $35k in 2012.

Another fun fact:  Arthur Alexander's first hit, You Better Move On, was covered by The Rolling Stones.  Not a bad run there, Art.

Mr. krista:  "That’s ghostly weird (the backing vocals).  I like the drum part a lot, with the open high hat.  If you took out every instrument but the drums, John Lennon could still sing it and it would be 90% of the song.  That drum pattern is all the song.  That guitar lick you like doesn’t mean anything.  I’m struck by what a good band they were already.  Fitting together like a puzzle, the guitar finishing the drums’ phrases, etc."

2022 Supplement:  As in 2019, while I think this is a fabulous performance by the Beatles, it’s hard to compare to Arthur Alexander’s original.  Ringo has said that the Beatles were lucky to have grown up in a port city like Liverpool because it seemed like everyone there was in the Navy and brought back all these records from the US.  George Martin also gave credit to Liverpool’s port status for the Beatles’ knowledge of US music from black musicians:  “The Beatles certainly knew more about Motown and black music than anyone else did, and that was a tremendous influence on them.”

For some US black musicians like Arthur Alexander, it was only after a band like the Beatles noticed them and recorded their songs that they then gained fame in their native country.  Alexander, for one, had put out many records that are now seen as pioneering, but he had at best mild success, primarily on the R&B charts, until he was covered by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.  After working many years outside of the music business, chiefly as a bus driver, he re-entered the business in 1993, but sadly died later that year of a heart attack.

I can’t recommend highly enough to check out more of Alexander’s work.  The Beatles did; here they are doing another Alexander cover for the BBC in 1963:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VgvJj4EBpc

Guido Merkins

The Beatles really viewed themselves as an R&B combo.  Paul spoke about how much black music influenced him in an interview I read that begins The Complete Recording Sessions by Mark Lewison and the song he mentioned, specifically, was Anna.

Anna was done by Arthur Alexander.  The Beatles were big fans of Arthur Alexander, covering Soldier of Love and A Shot of Rhythm and Blues during their Hamburg days and on Live at the BBC.

The Beatles version has Lennon’s vocal drenched in echo, not in a bad way.  The best part is the middle “all of my life….”, John really lets it rip.  The Arthur Alexander version has piano, but George translates that to guitar, which is also another great part of the song.  Paul and George sing background and do their usual good job.  Ringo’s fills are really cool throughout in that style that only Ringo has.
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64 List Rank: 124

64 List Voters/Points: 2/71

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (16)

64 List 26-64 votes: 1 (43)

 
Getzlaf15 said:
She’s A Woman
2022 Ranking: 107T
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 32
Ranked Highest by: @Anarchy99 (2) @Pip's Invitation(18)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz comments:  A99 becomes the first with 8 songs off the board.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  112

2019 write-up:

She's a Woman (single, 1964)

Guitar work is the star of this bluesy number, from John's jarring, stabby off-beat rhythm guitar (though listen for him to miss a chord ~1:24) to George's excellent double-tracked solo in his usual Chet-Atkins style.  Notable as possibly the first drug reference in a Beatles song, which surprisingly escaped the censors:  "Turn me on when I get lonely" came from John in reference to pot, which they'd recently tried for the first time while hanging with Bob Dylan.  Love the driving guitars and the overall vibe, but I dock it a bit for silly lyrics, especially the opening line:  "My love don't give me presents; I know that she's no peasant."  Just kinda dumb.

Mr. krista:  "I think it’s a fine song.  Probably not a great song.  But what do those lyrics mean?  [Discussion of “peasant” and “presents” v “presence.”]  Favorite part of the song is the guitar jabs."

Unsuggested covers WTF:  Scritti Politti feat. Shabba Ranks  Jeff Beck feat. ####### talkbox

2022 Supplement:  Paul has cited Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman” and Little Richard’s “Good Golly, Miss Molly” as influences on this song, with the former being pretty obvious to me musically.  But Paul takes it further to cite these based on their lyrics, specifically calling someone a “woman” instead of a “girl” as the Beatles had been doing:  “…she’s not a girl, she’s a woman.  Because this was the interesting thing:  when does a girl become a woman?”  He goes on to say that until they were about 21, they’d considered them “girls” but “now we could dare to think of ourselves as men, and could think of girls as women.”

Paul also credited John for his excellent guitar work on this, terming it “instead…of putting like a watercolour wash over it all with his guitar he just stabbed on the off-beats.”  This song has always been a favorite of Paul’s.  Here he is doing a great acoustic version in 1991 on MTV Unplugged:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8twL2gqJyY

Guido Merkins

The Beatles were no stranger to substances.  In Hamburg, the drank heavily and took uppers to stay awake.  One day, while meeting Bob Dylan, he turned them on to marijuana.  From that point on, pot became one of their go to substances.  So when Paul came in with an song called She’s A Woman, they were both excited to include the line “turn me on when I get lonely” which became the first drug reference in any Beatles song.

She’s A Woman ended up being the B side of the I Feel Fine single.  It featured a very bluesy vocal from Paul and very biting, on the off beat rhythm guitar by John.  Paul had experimented with this kind of vocal before, on Can’t Buy Me Love (on Anthology 1), but this time he decided to keep it.  It’s near the top of his vocal range which adds to the excitement.  I also love Ringo riding the cymbals during the break “she’s a woman who understands…”  Otherwise the song would be too much of the same thing.

Really good song.  A side material for most bands, but for the Beatles, just a B side.
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64 List Rank: 123

64 List Voters/Points: 2/73

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (18)

64 List 26-64 votes: 1 (39)

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Don’t Bother Me
2022 Ranking: 157T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 8
Ranked Highest by: @Binky The Doormat (18)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 121/1/9

Getz comments: Another great song not getting enough votes. 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  170

2019 write-up:

Don't Bother Me (With the Beatles, 1963)

Apparently I enjoy the first George-penned song on a Beatles album much more than (1) George did or (2) the rest of the Beatles did, as I've read that none of them were pleased with it looking back.   But I like the spookiness, the darker mood than most anything else they were doing at the time.  Check out some of these lyrics in comparison to the rest of what was on these early records:

Since she's been gone 

I want no one 

To talk to me 

It's not the same 

But I'm to blame 

It's plain to see 

So go away and leave me alone 

Don't bother me 

I can't believe 

That she would leave 

Me on my own 

It's just not right 

Where every night 

I'm all alone 

I've got no time for you right now 

Don't bother me

Ringo's percussion and Paul's excellent bass combine to set either a Latin or Western tone (I vacillate on which one I'm hearing) that I find pleasing.  I love the breaks just at the end of the verses, too.

Mr. krista:  "I like the Western kind of galloping.  I like this song a lot.  Might be the first time I’ve heard it.  I’m really into this.  Would make a great soundtrack song, like something where you’d say 'What the #### is that?'  'That’s the Beatles, dummy.'"

Suggested cover:  I've listened to more terrible covers of this song than any other so far.  All I can offer, again, is The Smithereens, though their version might be slightly too on the nose.

2022 Supplement:  George’s first composition on a Beatles album!  I re-read my write-up (or, like the rest of you, read it for the first time), and it seemed like I enjoyed everything about this song.  Still do.  Yet it’s at #170?  Simply a testament to the strength of the catalog, again.  Still, I should have had it higher than many of the covers and *cough* Rocky Raccoon.  George’s double-tracked vocal is a bit…simple…as was common for him then, and he could have used some help, this being one of the only early songs without contribution of another vocal.  But his guitar work is surprisingly strong, and the lyrics are more complex and interesting than many of John’s or Paul’s at the time, which were laser-focused on bringing in the audience rather than telling them not to bother. 

As I mentioned in 2019, George wasn’t high on this song, who was extremely ill with the flu and taking morphine when we wrote it:  “"I was taking that stuff and in bed, all feeling weak and tired but trying to reserve my energy so I could get out of bed each night to do the concert. … So it was the first thing I thought of, really as a lyric. And I never really thought it was a great song. I was quite happy that I had written it, because that was the thing. I just thought, 'I'm going to see if I can write a song because they're writing them.'”  Maybe his denigrating it had an effect on my viewpoint, but I now consider it one of the highlights of this album.

Guido Merkins

George Harrison didn’t write a lot of songs in the beginning.  Other than a co writer credit on In Spite of All the Danger and Cry For a Shadow, he hadn’t written anything.  One day, sick in bed with nothing to do, he decided to try and write a song to see if he could.  The resulting song is Don’t Bother Me on the With the Beatles album.

The first thing that is striking about the song is, honestly, the subject matter.  A Beatle saying “don’t bother me” was definitely not in any other songs in 1963.  “So go away leave me alone don’t bother me” is a clear message.  George said maybe it came out that way because he was sick or maybe he was tired of being harassed in public, but this song would come to sort of define George’s personality a bit.  He was, probably, the Beatle who was least thrilled with being harassed in public.

As far as the song itself it has kind of a Latin flavored beat.  I like John’s guitar during the chorus and bridge.  It has some kind of tremolo effect which makes it sound dark and mysterious, which fits with the brooding nature of the song. 

George really had nothing good to say about this song.  I like it quite a bit more than he does.  I think it’s a good song for a first try.  I’m betting it was better than either John or Paul’s first song.  In any event, the song at least was encouraging enough for George to keep trying and thank God for that.  You don’t get to Something without first going through Don’t Bother Me.

In the film A Hard Day’s Night, Don’t Bother Me is one of the songs played while the Beatles are in the club dancing and chatting up the ladies.  I think it’s well placed and it’s one of my favorite scenes in the film.
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64 List Rank: 122

64 List Voters/Points: 3/73

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (23)

64 List 26-64 votes: 2 (42,57)

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Octopus’s Garden
2022 Ranking: 79
2022 Lists: 7
2022 Points: 75
Ranked Highest by: Krista(TJ/Alex) (5) Shaft41(Son2) (6) Shaft41(Daughter) (10) @ekbeats(14) @John Maddens Lunchbox(23) @landrys hat(24) @fatguyinalittlecoat(25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 138T/1/1

Getz:  From one point in 2019 to seven votes and 75 points in 2019. This the third highest amount of slots (59) a song has moved up from 2019 to 2022. This song was in the Top 40, when around 35 voters had been counted. 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  115

2019 write-up:

Octopus's Garden (Abbey Road, 1969)

Two kids' songs sung by Ringo [EDITOR’S NOTE:  in 2019 I grouped this with “Yellow Submarine”], and though I love them both, I give "Octopus's Garden" the slight nod not because of anything musically, but because if I were going to visit somewhere, I'd like it to be the octopus's garden.  In fact, Ringo does a masterful job of making this underwater abode appealing that I'd kind of like to buy a house there.  I don't care what anyone says:  I love "Octopus's Garden."  Love the vocal, with Geoff Emerick "feeding the vocals into a compressor and triggering it from a pulsing tone" that gave the middle an "underwater" sound.  Love octopi.  Love the visual imagery.  Love George's Stratocaster running through the Leslie speaker and his run of notes at the beginning.  Love the under-the-sea bubble-blowing doo-***-y quality.  

"Octopus's Garden" was written by Ringo during the time during the White Album sessions that he had stormed off and quit the band.  He and his family traveled to Sardinia on Peter Sellers's yacht, and while out for the day Ringo was served octopus for the first time (he'd expected fish and chips) and started asking the captain all about octopi and their habits.  Per Ringo:  "He told me that they hang out in their caves and they go around the seabed finding shiny stones and tin cans and bottles to put in front of their cave like a garden.  I thought this was fabulous, because at the time I just wanted to be under the sea, too."  Then he got the telegram begging him to come back to the band, but in the meantime you can see in the lyrics he wrote how much he desired to escape the band's tension at the time; for instance, "We would be warm below the storm, in our little hideaway beneath the waves."  George assisted quite a lot and was a big fan of this song, imbuing the lyrics with a deeper meaning about consciousness and peacefulness than Ringo probably thought he was writing.

Mr. krista:  "It’s really funny, it’s like the second song Ringo ever wrote.  It’s a great song; it’s fun; it’s so simple.  You hear these psycho-dramas of Paul McCartney, like Eleanor Rigby, etc., and he’s just like 'I want to be in an octopus’s garden.'  It’s not as trite as the faux-vaudeville stuff McCartney does."

Suggested covers:   I don't know who Jeffrey Lewis is, but I like his take on it.  And of course, the Muppets, with octopus on bongos.

2022 Supplement:  Another of the most delightful parts of the Get Back documentary for me was seeing George and Ringo work on this song together.  We knew that George, alone among the other Beatles, contributed a lot to this song, but seeing these two best friends create together brought warmth to my soul:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99mEl-DAi2c  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIkn7RB3eEU   I’m happy to see this song make so many lists (I’m taking into account that we were previously informed that two of four of the Shaft lists had it). Love all the #### I mentioned in 2019, love the impetus for the song, love the performance, love the fun, love the camaraderie of Ringo and George, once and forever the closest of friends.   George had an affection for the lyrics of this song, ascribing to them a deeper cosmic meaning:  “I think it's a really great song, because on the surface, it's just like a daft kids' song, but the lyrics are great. For me, you know, I find very deep meaning in the lyrics, which Ringo probably doesn't see, but all the things like 'resting our head on the sea bed' and 'we'll be warm beneath the storm' which is really great, you know. Because it's like this level in a storm and if you get sort of deep in your consciousness, it's very peaceful. So Ringo's writing his cosmic songs without noticing it."

Guido Merkins

People seem to either love or hate Ringo’s songs.  No in between.  Personally, I love Ringo’s songs.  Yeah, he doesn’t have a great voice, but what other band has a 4th guy who can sing and actually carry a tune.  Yeah, the songs don’t have much range, but he injects just as much personality into his singing as he does in his drumming.

One such song that I like that many people hate is Octopus’s Garden.  Some people view it as just kind of a Yellow Submarine Part II (many people hate that song too).  And true, much like Yellow Submarine, it takes place underwater and has the requisite sound effects.  

But I like it for several reasons.  First, I love the story behind it. Ringo read something about octopuses stacking stones on the seabed making little gardens, just like people.  He thought it was a beautiful image.  Second, I love the way Ringo says things that are profound, almost by accident, like A Hard Day’s Night or Tomorrow Never Knows.  In Octopus’s Garden he talks about “we would be warm, below the storm….” which perfectly describes what was going on with the band at the time.  Certainly a storm within the group, but they all rally around Ringo to help him with his song which has a certain peaceful vibe.  He is the everyman.  The glue that holds them together.  Third, I have no idea idea how anybody could ever completely dismiss a song with that guitar solo by George.  If nothing else, it’s worth that little 20 second passage.  Fourth, love the harmonies by Paul and George. 
Click to expand...
64 List Rank: 121

64 List Voters/Points: 4/74

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (24)

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

 
Here's the 17 songs with zero votes on the 1-25 countdown that received votes on the 1-64 countdown.

There's a Place 3-76

Doctor Robert 3-63

One After 909 2-50

When I Get Home 1-38

Yes It Is 1-35

It's Only Love 1-34

Sexy Sadie 2-33

Devil In Her Heart 1-29

Slow Down 2-28

I Wanna Be Your Man 1-22

Hold Me Tight 2-21

Little Child 1-19

Good Night 1-18

Baby It's You 1-7

You Never Give me my money 1-4

Misery 1-1

Piggies 1-1

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Money (That’s What I Want)
2022 Ranking: 170
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 2
Ranked Highest by: @jwb
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 111T/1/11

Getz: Our first live youtube. Has stock crowd inserts that I've seen in a few early songs on YT.

@jwb posted comments on his songs…  Here’s this one:
Wanted one of those early covers on my list, as they are good/important. This one is my favorite, and like Twist and Shout, the definitive version of the song.

Krista4

My 2019 ranking:  90

2019 write-up:

Money (That's What I Want) (With the Beatles, 1963)

Featuring another blistering vocal by John, this is the second of three Beatles covers that I enjoy much more than their originals.  The original by Barrett Strong had a great Motown vibe, but the Beatles's version flat-out rocks.  There's a lot to rave about here, including the backing vocals and George Martin's piano work, but for me it all comes back to that John lead vocal - it seems to encapsulate all of his emotions into this one song by being at times angry, at times vulnerable, at times wild, at times humorous, and always powerful and intense.

Mr. krista:  "I like the Beatles's better than the original; it seems heavier and more rougher-edged.  Original lacks sense of fun.  'Your love don’t pay the bills':  it’s depressing, especially given how Motown treated their artists.  Beatles were more aware of it being funny, but also heavy and rough-hewn and jagged where it needed to be jagged.  A good fun, tough, rock song."

2022 Supplement:  One of the aspects of the Beatles that we haven’t talked about much is how similar their musical influences had been and how much that brought them together as a group.  Ringo has said, with respect to the covers they performed on this album:  “The cover songs recorded for With The Beatles were chosen by whoever liked them. It was interesting that when I joined The Beatles we didn’t really know each other, but if you looked at each of our record collections, the four of us had virtually the same records. We all had The Miracles, we all had Barrett Strong and people like that. I suppose that helped us gel as musicians, and as a group.”

I raved in 2019 about John’s vocal, but this is just a monster rock song from everyone, including George Martin on that driving piano part.  Ringo’s drumming and the harmonies from Paul and George become increasingly frenetic and off-kilter, with Paul contributing some of his trademark screams and a powerful bass part, adding to the desperation and urgency of the song.  Rip-roaring raver.

Guido Merkins

Motown was one of the reasons why the 60’s was the best decade for music.  In 1959, it was just a new company when Berry Gordy and Barrett Strong wrote a song called Money (That’s What I Want), which is probably appropriate for someone starting a new company.  “The best things in life are free, but you can keep them for the birds and bees” kind of tells you the story of the song.  In the hands of Barrett Strong, it almost sounds tongue and cheek, though.

Soon after it was released, a young John Lennon heard the song.  In Lennon’s hands, the tongue and cheek aspect seemed to disappear, however, as Lennon so lustily delivered the song that you kind of believed every word he was saying.

Like Twist and Shout, the moment Lennon opened his mouth and sang this song, it was his.  Money ends With the Beatles the same way that Twist and Shout ended Please Please Me, with Lennon absolutely leaving a smoking crater in his wake.  Once again, Paul, George, Ringo, and George Martin on piano struggle to just barely match Lennon’s energy.

To my ear, it doesn’t sound QUITE as unhinged as Twist and Shout, but you could hardly expect to do that again.  Overall, it is easily one of the Beatles best covers and probably one of the best covers by anyone, absolutely leaving the Motown version in the dust.
Click to expand...
64 List Rank: 119

64 List Voters/Points: 4/76

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 4

1-64 helped out here...

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Another Girl
2022 Ranking: 145T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 13
Ranked Highest by: @Shaft41 (13)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz:  The first from four different lists from the @Shaft41 family. Another song that should have more votes.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  128

2019 write-up:

Another Girl (Help!, 1965)

I'm grouping these two together [EDITOR’S NOTE:  In 2019 I paired this with “Tell Me Why”] because, after I saw they had ended up side-by-side in my rankings and checked my initial notes, I saw that I had written similar write-ups for both, making reference to their being enjoyable but kind of messy.  Also both were written in a hurry as "filler" for their records - "we needed a song and so I ripped this one off" in only the way that John or Paul could do.  Maybe someone loves one of these so much they'll make a case for one as being substantially better than the other.  

"Another Girl" is another standout "filler" song, with a fascinating structure and again with fabulous three-part harmonies, but this time with some biting, acerbic lyrics.  I had written in my initial notes:  "Kinda mean."  John's not the only one who could be a bit cruel, as this was thought to refer to Paul's relationship with Jane Asher: 

You're making me say that I've got nobody but you

But as from today well I've got somebody that's new

I ain't no fool and I don't take what I don't want

For I have got another girl, another girl

She's sweeter than all the girls and I've met quite a few...

Paul replaced George's lead guitar on this song because George was having trouble with the solo, though @Officer Pete Malloy (perm banned) will insist that is really George playing it.  Don't know what George's version sounded like, but I love Paul's wacko sound on this.

Mr krista:  [singing] "'I don't want to say that I've been, unhappy with you.' Guitar playing was awesome, great bluesy guitar.  If The Who played that at that time, it would be a rocker.  Sounds like a Who kind of song."

Suggested cover:  Since I can't find a proper cover, here's Paul McCartney doing it a few years ago.  Rock on, Sir Paul.

2022 Supplement:  I don’t have a good recollection (other than what I posted) of why I grouped this with “Tell Me Why,” but in 2022 I would consider the latter my strong favorite over this song.  I do love Paul’s guitar work on this as well as Ringo’s swinging beat.  The middle eight is my favorite segment of the song, with John doing excellent work on high harmonies.  Paul wrote this one while on vacation in Tunisia, at a secluded villa provided to him for the holiday by the British government.  He found that a bathroom in the villa had what he considered perfect acoustics for composing with his guitar.  What is it with Beatles and bathrooms?  John had Alan White record in the bathroom for “I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama,” and George stuck Klaus Voormann in a bathroom with his stand-up bass for “Be Here Now.”  And several other George songs – “Old Brown Shoe” and “Dark Horse” chief among them – sound like bathroom recordings.  I’m going to head to my loo and see if I can be creative!

OK, I’m back.  It didn’t work, but it did fascinate the cats.

This song has a cute video associated with it, from Help!:  https://vimeo.com/246273354?fbclid=IwAR37cxXPMDuqlEyZzsALpwdFRbuwyMd7HPq10Z5mXksBMVvRb_ncDIWXMGw  Hey @simey, check out the dad jeans!

Guido Merkins

The Beatles were unique in the 1960s in that they had 3 guitarists who, at different times, were featured on lead guitar.  John had played some lead on You Can’t Do That in 1964.  George, of course, played lead on most of the Beatles songs.  In 1965, Paul appeared on lead guitar for the first time on a Beatles record on Another Girl from the Help album.

The sequence in Help features the Beatles mock playing their instruments with bikini clad girls around.  The best part of the song, IMO, are Paul’s lead guitar flourishes, including the ending flourish.  The song’s lyrics probably, once again, refer to something with Jane Asher and Paul who had a stormy relationship (I don’t wanna say that I’ve been unhappy with you, but as of today I’ve seen somebody that’s new.)  Apparently this is one of the only instances of John singing the high harmony, also

Not a great track, but a solid album track and the video in the Help movie is one of the movie’s best with the quick cuts and the Beatles being silly on the beach with girls around.  These sequences in these movies basically created the Monkees entire career, not that there is anything wrong with the Monkees, but watch the video, then go watch one of the videos in the Monkees show and you’ll see what I mean.
Click to expand...
64 List Rank: 118

64 List Voters/Points: 3/77

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 0

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Love You To
2022 Ranking: 161T
2022 Lists: 1
2022 Points: 7
Ranked Highest by: @MAC_32
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz: Our 4th song not rated in 2019. Ranked 19th by  Mac_32.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  84

2019 write-up:

Love You To (Revolver, 1966)

My favorite of the George classical Indian songs, at least today - as mentioned previously, you could make an argument for any of the three.  I do wish this song were longer, because too soon after it seems to get going it builds and builds into...an unexpected conclusion.  This starts off with such a powerful sitar part, telling you right away that it's not going to be simple pop music and that you are listening to something different than you'd ever heard before.  Love the boldness of that and of having such a long instrumental intro.  That long intro leading into the loud tablas and strumming guitar at ~0:35 is mesmerizing and energizing.  Can only imagine being a teenybopper in 1966 putting the new Beatles record on and wondering WTF was this all about.  But somehow in this one George also manages to keep a pop vibe, integrating the sitar and the droning Eastern influence with a structure that (after the intro) is familiar in pop music, a lovely melody and vocal, and lyrics that could fit as well in a pop love song.  All of this gives the song such a deep, lush texture.  

Mr. krista:  "This is a rare example where I wish the song were longer.  That time signature where the melody seems one note off, and it needs time to develop. Then when I was starting to understand it, it sped up and fades out in a pop format.  The point of that music is almost like hypnosis, the transcendental quality of music, it needs time to develop.  It’s a neat experiment and really bold and courageous.  But making it into a pop song doesn’t work."

Suggested covers: In the category of "at least they tried," The Trypes Bongwater

2022 Supplement:  George had a hard time naming his songs, and John often made fun of him for it.  This one was called “Granny Smith” for some reason but being renamed with the only slightly more sensible “Love You To.”  It was the first song by George that he wrote on a sitar instead of guitar and the first that fully showed the Indian influences that became so much a part of his songwriting in later years. 

As with many George songs, and as I’ve discussed in another supplement that might or might not be posted before this one, John did not appear on this song as he became oddly absent in the work on many George songs.  But George also didn’t get a ton of support from the others on this track, either, with Paul supplying some backing vocals and Ringo playing the tambourine.  The majority of what you hear on this track is either George (not only on vocals and sitar but playing a variety of guitars) and musicians from the Asian Music Circle, a (now extinct) London organization that promoted Asian, and particularly Indian culture in the UK and is also credited with introducing yoga into Great Britain for the first time. George Martin had introduced the group to the Beatles during the recording of “Norwegian Wood”, having worked with them previously on a Peter Sellers recording.  It was also through this group that George met Ravi Shankar, who with the possible exception of Jeff Lynne became George’s closest post-Beatles collaborator.

Guido Merkins

Geroge Harrison’s love of Indian music is well-known.  The sitar was kind of used as window dressing on Norwegian Wood, but for Revolver, Geroge wanted more than just window dressing, enter Love You To.

George was very much in charge when recording Love You To.  The other Beatles involvement was minimal, but only George knew how to communicate with the Indian musicians.  George played sitar and, of course, sang lead.  Paul sang harmony, which didn’t appear in the final mix and Ringo played tambourine.  Anil Bhagwat played tabla.

The song itself is a melding of western and eastern music, Indian instrumentation, but with a rock beat.  The lyrics are interesting with things like “there’s people standing round, who’ll screw you in the ground” and “make love all day long, make love singing songs.”  I’ve read various interpretations from being about his fellow Beatles to a commentary on anti materialism.  Not sure either way.

This is a song that took a while for me to “get.”  It was very strange to my ear as a 14 year old kid.  Decades later, I appreciate how groundbreaking it was.  Others may claim to have used Indian influences before Harrison in pop music, but I’m not sure anybody else can claim to have put an actual Indian song on a pop record before George Harrison.  And the influence of Indian music on the Beatles, mostly led by George, is heard on so many of the songs on Revolver.  Tomorrow Never Knows, She Said She Said, I’m Only Sleeping, and Rain.  
Click to expand...
64 List Rank: 117

64 List Voters/Points: 4/77

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (23)

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Long, Long. Long
2022 Ranking: 137T
2022 Lists: 2
2022 Points: 17
Ranked Highest by: @Eephus (10) @Binky The Doormat (25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz: Krista did not know Binky had this ranked....  This version came up after listening to all the links. I liked it best! Listen and let me know what you think?

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  96

2019 write-up:

Long, Long, Long (White Album, 1968)

Binky, it makes you feel better, this is my highest ranked of the three Beatles songs beginning with the word "long"!  It took me a long time (no pun intended) to get into this song, but I've grown to love it.  When in the right mood for it, there's probably nothing much better.  Sounds like it could be a love song but was actually written by George about God (which I guess could be a love song, too).  This is one of the times where I might find listening to a White Album song in isolation improves it; coming right after "Helter Skelter" on the album, this seems too jarring.  As a stand-alone piece, the ethereal sound of George's delicate voice, punctuated by those crashing drums (often pausing one beat behind where I expect them), is stunningly beautiful.  I find this one nearly impossible to rank.  In the "is it a great song" rankings, it would be higher since I think that, for what it is, it's nearly perfect and it sounds like something that could still be put on an album today.  In the "what do I want to listen to when I choose something on Spotify," this is where it goes.

Mr. krista:  [After I mention that it seems modern enough to fit on an alternative record right now...]  "A million times better.  Have you heard…the Killers?  I love that Ringo’s drums sound like they were recorded at the bottom of the stairwell.  It’s like when the levee breaks.  Sounds like Sad Eyed Lady, the Dylan song."*

*George has acknowledged this inspiration for the chord progressions.

Suggested covers:  Low  Elliott Smith (again)

2022 Supplement:  Still adore this one, maybe even more now.  It’s so peaceful, despite the crashing drums.  I sort of enjoy how low in the mix George’s vocal is, allowing for more of a “build” in the song.  Paul and Ringo worked diligently on this one with George, completing 67 takes in a session that literally went all night.  Recordings from the time show Paul in particular being very encouraging to George about the song, and George seemed to enjoy the marathon session in which they recorded it.  Something I’ll never understand was how George developed such fond feelings for John over Paul, when John was often conspicuously absent when George’s songs were worked on, as he was for this one, while Paul spent a lot of time helping George with his compositions.  Perhaps absence made George’s heart grow fonder.  Anyway, this is a beautiful song, and here’s an earlier take of it that gives you some idea of the process:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0Y8MFT_KE

Guido Merkins

George was absolutely the most spiritual of the Beatles.  His study of Eastern philosophy and him connecting it to his Catholic upbringing was something he talked about in interviews.  The struggle of life and tying that to Jesus carrying his cross.  By 1968, George was really into spirituality.

So it’s not a surprise that in 1968 George wrote the first (and maybe only) Beatles song that is about God called Long Long Long from the White Album.

Actually, it took me a bit to get into this song,  mostly because the mix on the White Album is dreadful, mixed way too low as to not being able to hear it.  The 2018 mix done by Giles Martin really uncovered this gem of a song.  Like many of George’s spiritual songs, you could also interpret it as a song to a woman, but the middle with “so many years I was searching.  So many years I was wasting….now I can see you” are a clear message to God.  

After this gentle love song to God, there was a bottle of Blue Nun wine on the top of the Leslie speaker cabinet and when Paul hit a certain note on the Hammond Organ, the bottle would vibrate.  So, the Beatles always took advantage of accidents, so they reproduced it and stuck it on the end of Long Long Long with Ringo kind of shrieking like a horror movie.  Strange, but interesting ending to a lovely song.
Click to expand...
64 List Rank: 116

64 List Voters/Points: 3/79

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (25)

64 List 26-64 votes: 2

 
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