In this thread I rank my favorite Beatles songs: 204-1. (3 Viewers)

[krista4]

Cool. Maybe I'll pick a time to start at which posting a few per day here will catch up to my posting one per day at Facebook and the other site so that everything will end around the same time. And it's now a top 101 because a few weeks after I made the list, Neil put out an archival release with a song I hadn't heard before that would have been in the top 100 if I'd knew about it at the time. 

As evidence of how much less time I put into this sort of thing that you did, I went back to the Neil song draft I did in 2011 and used that as a rough guide -- what did I pick and when, how did I value other people's picks, what I would have taken had the draft kept going (at the time the draft finished, I posted the songs that hadn't been taken but were still on my board). I'd already heard all those songs a bajillion times, even the rare ones, so I didn't do a massive re-listen. I didn't factor in his post-2011 stuff much because frankly most of it hasn't been very good. I excluded covers but included songs he co-wrote with others. 

Teaser: Tomorrow is #50 and what I have ranked there is going to shock people as much as you shocked us with Savoy Truffle. 

Back to the Beatles, I'm up to 122. I'm Down makes me so HAPPY every time I hear it. Like I want to pogo or something. It's so strong that even Yes didn't screw it up. (I like Yes but R&B-influenced rock is not their strong point.)

Oh, you're going to come to a much bigger shock in the 80s in my list.  I do not apologize for it.  But I did make a peace offering for it when I did the My Fab Four on the Beatles Channel.

I do not know Neil Young's work nearly as well as I should, so I'll be excited for your countdown.  

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I do not know Neil Young's work nearly as well as I should, so I'll be excited for your countdown.  

Cool. Since I'm not an expert on the technical/production side of music, I don't really go into that at all (and frankly, most of Neil's stuff is a lot simpler than that of the Beatles, so there isn't as much to say there). In some entries I go into recording and performance history because I geek out about stuff like that, and sometimes I mention if I witnessed a live performance of a song that really made an impact. Counting CSNY I've seen Neil about 15 times.

 

[Man of Constant Sorrow]

... Counting CSNY I've seen Neil about 15 times.

Jealous here. 

I only saw him once - solo - at a Farm Aid fest. 

I think he closed the show, but not sure. 

I'd follow yer countdown.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

And while we're on the subject, I had no idea that Neil and Paul were close until 1999 when Neil inducted Paul into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They'd never played together that I knew of, which makes sense because their styles are so different, so I had no idea that they even knew each other, much less that Paul considered him an important enough person in his life to do the honor. 

 

[Morton Muffley]

Uh oh, now I'm worried since you have your own top 100!  That increases the pressure on me.  But interestingly (to me at least), I think we might be seeing things very similarly.  Two aspects of your post make me think that.  First is your mention that it's hard to find anything to love on Press to Play.  It is definitely the "traditional" album of his I enjoy the least, and it's not particularly close.  Second, you mentioned some lesser known songs each of which will be on my list, but in particular you nailed one that I'm absolutely obsessed with and had never listened to before this project.  I don't want to say more and spoil the fun.   

No pressure at all.  You clearly have an ear for music, I am merely interested in committing myself to a task in order to understand what I am failing to see/hear.  

And if you or others are unaware there is an absolutely  brilliant 5 part documentary on Post-Beatles McCartney  that some regular guy/gal created for, and posted to, youtube that I cannot reccommend highly enough. It is 5+ hours but well worth the time investment. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjjqUCvHNIs

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I LOVE Don’t Pass Me By. Definitely top 100 for me, maybe top 75. Whatever they did to get that effect on the piano is genius.

 

[krista4]

No pressure at all.  You clearly have an ear for music, I am merely interested in committing myself to a task in order to understand what I am failing to see/hear.  

And if you or others are unaware there is an absolutely  brilliant 5 part documentary on Post-Beatles McCartney  that some regular guy/gal created for, and posted to, youtube that I cannot reccommend highly enough. It is 5+ hours but well worth the time investment. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjjqUCvHNIs

Thanks.  I’ll check it out.

 

[krista4]

I LOVE Don’t Pass Me By. Definitely top 100 for me, maybe top 75. Whatever they did to get that effect on the piano is genius.

You and I might be the only people who love that song!  Maybe Ringo, too.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

You and I might be the only people who love that song!  Maybe Ringo, too.

It's got the bounciness of Paul's more tuneful stuff but the rhythm has more gravitas. That stuff is like catnip to me. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Got to Yellow Submarine and Octopus's Garden.

My son is in school choir and they were supposed to do Yellow Submarine for their spring concert, but then COVID happened. The day they started rehearsing it, after I came home from work, he said "dad, have you ever heard of a band called the Beatles"?

I can't think of Octopus's Garden without thinking of the scene in Walk Hard where Dewey meets the Beatles. John, Paul and George are waxing philosophical (and later devolve into fighting) while Ringo deadpans "I've got a song about an octopus." (I don't remember if this was in the actual movie or the outtakes.)

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Aw, I wish I'd been around for the lists and predictions and stuff. 

Rocky Raccoon is deeply odd and a little unsettling to me. I lean very heavily toward mid and late Beatles as opposed to early, but Rocky would be pretty far down on my list. I much prefer almost everything else below it on your list from the White Album with the exception of the worst of the worst (Rev 9, Piggies, the Honey Pies). I might even have it below Do It in the Road, which I find hilarious and like the music for. I'm also a big Ween fan so I have a greater tolerance for tossed-off oddities than most. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

She's a Woman is another one that made my 90-minute cassette* and which I would have ranked much higher. I kept it right after I Feel Fine, they are a perfect pair to me. 

* - for those of you who aren't reading the jukebox draft thread, in 1989 I received the entire Beatles' catalog on CD for my 18th birthday and made a 90-minute cassette of my favorites to play in my Walkman. Apologies to anyone under 35 who has no idea what much of that sentence means. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Yeah, I'm way higher on Come Together. I don't care that the lyrics are borrowed/lazy/dumb. The production and arrangement are killer and it's one of the best uses I can think of of electric piano. And as everyone said, the drumming is stunning. It's probably top 20 for me. 

ETA: Also higher on Penny Lane but not excessively. Probably top 50. It's a nice bouncy Paul song, of which there are many. I just feel like Ray Davies did this kind of song better. 

 

[krista4]

Yeah, I'm way higher on Come Together. I don't care that the lyrics are borrowed/lazy/dumb. The production and arrangement are killer and it's one of the best uses I can think of of electric piano. And as everyone said, the drumming is stunning. It's probably top 20 for me. 

ETA: Also higher on Penny Lane but not excessively. Probably top 50. It's a nice bouncy Paul song, of which there are many. I just feel like Ray Davies did this kind of song better. 

Come Together seemed to be a real "love it or hate it" track for most people.  For me, right around the middle.  As I mentioned, the drumming was named by pretty much every great drummer after Ringo as being inspirational for them.  But other than that, not much I care about.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

The only George Beatles song that is definitively higher for me than If I Needed Someone is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which is a contender for my #1 overall. IINS is probably in my top 20. 

 

[krista4]

The only George Beatles song that is definitively higher for me than If I Needed Someone is While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which is a contender for my #1 overall. IINS is probably in my top 20. 

I think you're going to find your top 20 or top 50 or whatever very crowded.    Lots of people did that until they actually had to sit down and make a list for Getzlaf's side-rankings.   

 

[krista4]

I could use some advice from the smart people here on how to address the Traveling Wilburys songs in my countdown.  I initially thought I'd just include them, but some seem "George-ish" like "Handle with Care" since he has a huge vocal part in that, while others don't.  I will be including Wings songs where Paul isn't the lead vocalist, but those still are Paul compositions or feel like he's the driving force behind them.  With some of these, instead it feels like I'd just be including a Bob Dylan song.   What do you guys think?

 

[krista4]

I could use some advice from the smart people here on how to address the Traveling Wilburys songs in my countdown.  I initially thought I'd just include them, but some seem "George-ish" like "Handle with Care" since he has a huge vocal part in that, while others don't.  I will be including Wings songs where Paul isn't the lead vocalist, but those still are Paul compositions or feel like he's the driving force behind them.  With some of these, instead it feels like I'd just be including a Bob Dylan song.   What do you guys think?

And if it matters, my general rule on collaborations is that I've only been including if the Beatle in question had a lead vocal role - e.g., George played guitar on a whole lot of songs I'm not considering for the countdown.  But that's more clear to me than a situation where the Beatle is a member of a band, rather than just filling a role on a song or two.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I could use some advice from the smart people here on how to address the Traveling Wilburys songs in my countdown.  I initially thought I'd just include them, but some seem "George-ish" like "Handle with Care" since he has a huge vocal part in that, while others don't.  I will be including Wings songs where Paul isn't the lead vocalist, but those still are Paul compositions or feel like he's the driving force behind them.  With some of these, instead it feels like I'd just be including a Bob Dylan song.   What do you guys think?

It's your countdown, so it's ultimately up to you. For my Neil countdown, I considered any song he wrote or had a hand in writing. I guess that's harder with the Wilburys because they didn't credit the songs individually. However, Wikipedia has this for Wilburys Vol. 1:

However, the publishing credits on the Collection book are more revealing about the actual songwriters, as each of the credited publishers belongs to a single member:

Harrison's Umlaut Corporation (formerly Ganga Publishing) is credited for "Handle with Care", "Heading for the Light", "End of the Line" and the bonus track "Maxine", identifying him as the main writer of those songs. In a behind-the-scenes interview included among the bonus features on the 2003 DVD release of the 2002 tribute Concert for George, Petty recalls that the lyrics to "Handle with Care" were the result of a game held by Harrison during a barbecue outside his home studio, with all of the band members (including himself) shouting out lines and Harrison keeping the ones that stuck and writing them in a notebook. According to Petty, the line "Oh, the sweet smell of success" is his.

Dylan, credited via his Special Rider Music publisher, wrote "Dirty World" (according to Harrison and Lynne's recollections on the documentary, Dylan and all the other band members gave their input to the song by pitching in funny lines to complete the lyric line "He loves your ..."[5]), the long narrative of "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" (which was apparently intended as either a parody of or tribute to Bruce Springsteen's early, verbose songs[7]), "Congratulations", and the other bonus track "Like a Ship".

Petty, published by Gone Gator Music, wrote "Last Night" (again, with substantial lyrical contributions from the entire band[5]) and "Margarita".

Lynne's publisher, Shard End Music (named after his birthplace), identifies him as the main writer of "Rattled" and "Not Alone Any More".[8]

All publishing companies shared credit for all songs on Vol. 3, so this kind of sleuthing is not possible for that one.

 

[krista4]

It's your countdown, so it's ultimately up to you. For my Neil countdown, I considered any song he wrote or had a hand in writing. I guess that's harder with the Wilburys because they didn't credit the songs individually. However, Wikipedia has this for Wilburys Vol. 1:

All publishing companies shared credit for all songs on Vol. 3, so this kind of sleuthing is not possible for that one.

That helps a lot on Vol. 1.  Thanks for that.  Vol. 3:  sigh.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I could use some advice from the smart people here on how to address the Traveling Wilburys songs in my countdown.  I initially thought I'd just include them, but some seem "George-ish" like "Handle with Care" since he has a huge vocal part in that, while others don't.  I will be including Wings songs where Paul isn't the lead vocalist, but those still are Paul compositions or feel like he's the driving force behind them.  With some of these, instead it feels like I'd just be including a Bob Dylan song.   What do you guys think?

Traveling Wilburys reaction

 

[krista4]

Traveling Wilburys reaction

This was not particularly helpful.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

This was not particularly helpful.

if it means anything, the fact that it was not helpful was carefully considered - and almost prevented me from posting

 

[krista4]

if it means anything, the fact that it was not helpful was carefully considered - and almost prevented me from posting

   

 

[Eephus]

I could use some advice from the smart people here on how to address the Traveling Wilburys songs in my countdown.  I initially thought I'd just include them, but some seem "George-ish" like "Handle with Care" since he has a huge vocal part in that, while others don't.  I will be including Wings songs where Paul isn't the lead vocalist, but those still are Paul compositions or feel like he's the driving force behind them.  With some of these, instead it feels like I'd just be including a Bob Dylan song.   What do you guys think?

And if it matters, my general rule on collaborations is that I've only been including if the Beatle in question had a lead vocal role - e.g., George played guitar on a whole lot of songs I'm not considering for the countdown.  But that's more clear to me than a situation where the Beatle is a member of a band, rather than just filling a role on a song or two.

If George gets more than one verse or a verse and a solar, it's his.

The Wilburys were a happy accident.  It sounds more like a Jeff Lynne record than anyone else's.

 

[krista4]

The Wilburys were a happy accident.  

So true.  It's amazing that "Handle with Care" was meant to be a b-side on one of the Cloud Nine singles.

ETA:  Your thoughts on how to handle the songs make sense. 

 

[Eephus]

So true.  It's amazing that "Handle with Care" was meant to be a b-side on one of the Cloud Nine singles.

ETA:  Your thoughts on how to handle the songs make sense. 

It was nice for Orbison to get some acclaim although he would have liked to change the ending.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I could use some advice from the smart people here on how to address the Traveling Wilburys songs in my countdown.  I initially thought I'd just include them, but some seem "George-ish" like "Handle with Care" since he has a huge vocal part in that, while others don't.  I will be including Wings songs where Paul isn't the lead vocalist, but those still are Paul compositions or feel like he's the driving force behind them.  With some of these, instead it feels like I'd just be including a Bob Dylan song.   What do you guys think?

I’d probably only include ones where George handles most of the vocals, as from what I have read most of the songs, including lyrics, were true collaborations where guys would just throw lines or ideas out.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

As you may have guessed from my Neil thread and the jukebox draft thread, I really like heavy music, so I Want You is a big one for me. 
I’ve seen it covered live twice. Once by Umphrey’s McGee and once by Ambrosia. Yes, the yacht rock band. Don’t laugh, they’re incredibly talented and were prog before they were yacht rock. When I saw them a few years ago, they had played a Beatles festival the week before and included 5 (!) Beatles songs in their set.

Girl is one of those that I like but I tend to forget about because it’s surrounded by stuff I mostly like better. Such as Wait, which you ranked lower. To me, Wait is almost as groovy as The Word, and was also included on my 90-minute cassette.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I made myself believe that Run for Your Life is from a third-person perspective, but after learning about John’s history with women, I just can’t with it anymore. It’s in the same “too skeevy to listen to again” pile as You’re Sixteen. (Notice that one was nowhere to be found in Ringo’s birthday special.)

 

[Binky The Doormat]

As you may have guessed from my Neil thread and the jukebox draft thread, I really like heavy music, so I Want You is a big one for me. 
I’ve seen it covered live twice. Once by Umphrey’s McGee and once by Ambrosia. Yes, the yacht rock band. Don’t laugh, they’re incredibly talented and were prog before they were yacht rock. When I saw them a few years ago, they had played a Beatles festival the week before and included 5 (!) Beatles songs in their set.

Girl is one of those that I like but I tend to forget about because it’s surrounded by stuff I mostly like better. Such as Wait, which you ranked lower. To me, Wait is almost as groovy as The Word, and was also included on my 90-minute cassette.

how was the Ambrosia cover?  They get a lot of well-deserved grief, but their first album is just a thing of beauty.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

how was the Ambrosia cover?  They get a lot of well-deserved grief, but their first album is just a thing of beauty.

Musically, it was quite good. Vocally, it was cheesy, as they turned it into a duet between the drummer and his wife, who is now one of their keyboard players. 

Their second album is INSANE. As in, none of the songs sound anything like each other and some of them are ridiculously ambitious. The yacht rock started on the third album. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Holy s**t, Da Raiders' dad was in Country Joe and the Fish? 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My friend who is both a Beatles and R&B fanatic (his dad was an R&B musician and record store owner) HATES the Beatles version of Got to Get You into My Life but LOVES EWF’s version.

In fact, he hates all of Paul’s songs on Revolver (but loves John’s and George’s).

 

[krista4]

My friend who is both a Beatles and R&B fanatic (his dad was an R&B musician and record store owner) HATES the Beatles version of Got to Get You into My Life but LOVES EWF’s version.

In fact, he hates all of Paul’s songs on Revolver (but loves John’s and George’s).

I have a strong preference for John’s songs on Revolver, but anyone who hates “For No One” has lost me entirely.  Speaking (as we were in your Neil thread) of devastating...

 

[heckmanm]

Holy s**t, Da Raiders' dad was in Country Joe and the Fish? 

I wonder if he used to yell "Gimme an F!" to initiate sexy-time.  Could have been quite traumatizing for a young DaR, I would think.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I never specifically asked about For No One to see if he wanted to clarify anything beyond his blanket statement. But he feels that Paul's stuff is so much out of step with John's and George's here that it's as if he missed a message on how they were going to advance their sound, or something like that. It's not an overall Paul bias because he loves what Paul did on Sgt Pepper and thereafter. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

I made myself believe that Run for Your Life is from a third-person perspective, but after learning about John’s history with women, I just can’t with it anymore. It’s in the same “too skeevy to listen to again” pile as You’re Sixteen. (Notice that one was nowhere to be found in Ringo’s birthday special.)

I know about John but don't have a clue about Ringo with 'possibly' underage girls?  Whats this?

My friend who is both a Beatles and R&B fanatic (his dad was an R&B musician and record store owner) HATES the Beatles version of Got to Get You into My Life but LOVES EWF’s version.

In fact, he hates all of Paul’s songs on Revolver (but loves John’s and George’s).

LOL, just the opposite with a Dead Head room mate from the 80s who absolutely HATED EWFs version and claimed to be a Beatles fan but he didn't have a single Beatle album but had every Dead album and had 40 hours of Dead bootlegs.

Over the course of the time I was his room mate (about 9 months) he compiled over 400 hours of the most hideous Dead bootleg 'music'.  I hated everything, the awful drum solos that went on endlessly, terrible vocals, everything bootleg Dead sucked so as you can imagine I am an anti-Dead Head and I didn't value his musical tastes.

I like both versions FWIW.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

I know about John but don't have a clue about Ringo with 'possibly' underage girls?  Whats this?

LOL, just the opposite with a Dead Head room mate from the 80s who absolutely HATED EWFs version and claimed to be a Beatles fan but he didn't have a single Beatle album but had every Dead album and had 40 hours of Dead bootlegs.

Over the course of the time I was his room mate (about 9 months) he compiled over 400 hours of the most hideous Dead bootleg 'music'.  I hated everything, the awful drum solos that went on endlessly, terrible vocals, everything bootleg Dead sucked so as you can imagine I am an anti-Dead Head and I didn't value his musical tastes.

I like both versions FWIW.

Ringo didn't write You're Sixteen, but his cover of it went to No. 1 in 1973. So I don't think we can infer anything about Ringo personally from it. Regardless, it comes off as gross.

I'm that rare person who loves Phish but hates the Dead. Garcia is a brilliant guitar player, but their jamming style just totally bores me. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Ringo didn't write You're Sixteen, but his cover of it went to No. 1 in 1973. So I don't think we can infer anything about Ringo personally from it. Regardless, it comes off as gross.

I'm that rare person who loves Phish but hates the Dead. Garcia is a brilliant guitar player, but their jamming style just totally bores me. 

I misinterpreted 'skeevy' since I don't consider covering songs skeevy.  

I can't go anywhere near Dead, not even Phish.  The guttural reaction is repulsion.  I am sure I'd be more open if not for having the worst of the Dead shoveled down my ears at such a formative stage in listening to music.

 

[krista4]

Ringo did a nice job of that song, but a guy in his 30s singing about a 16-year-old sounds skeevy.  I doubt Ringo meant anything by it, though.  

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Ringo did a nice job of that song, but a guy in his 30s singing about a 16-year-old sounds skeevy.  I doubt Ringo meant anything by it, though.  

'She was JUST seventeen.  If you KNOW WHAT I MEAN?' 

I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it.

 

[krista4]

'She was JUST seventeen.  If you KNOW WHAT I MEAN?' 

I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it.

There was a long discussion of this one earlier in the thread.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

There was a long discussion of this one earlier in the thread.

Yeah. I see a distinct difference between the two, but I'll wait until I reach the other song before getting into that if I feel like I have anything to say. 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

@krista4 I see there are complaints about the monkey monkey song being higher than Can’t Buy Me Love. I will go to bat for the monkey monkey song when I get to it.

 

[krista4]

@krista4 I see there are complaints about the monkey monkey song being higher than Can’t Buy Me Love. I will go to bat for the monkey monkey song when I get to it.

I just happen to love that one.  Makes me bounce around and dance.  If I were to re-rank, I'd put it even higher.  I can understand that if someone hates the firemen's bell, that song would be unlistenable, but I love all that noise.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Makes me bounce around and dance.

This is actually a big part of my jukebox draft theme, so monkey monkey song is one of the Beatles songs that fits. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

There was a long discussion of this one earlier in the thread.

I only began visiting this forum this winter.  A 135 page thread should cover it all but my interest only goes so far before I get distracted, OH LOOK A BRIGHT SHINEY OBJECT!  

 

[krista4]

I only began visiting this forum this winter.  A 135 page thread should cover it all but my interest only goes so far before I get distracted, OH LOOK A BRIGHT SHINEY OBJECT!  

I realized I should have tried to link it for you instead.  I will when I have a little more time. 

 

[Alex P Keaton]

I have a strong preference for John’s songs on Revolver, but anyone who hates “For No One” has lost me entirely.  Speaking (as we were in your Neil thread) of devastating...

Yeah, I grew up in a household where only early Beatles songs were played, and basically hadn’t heard For No One until maybe 6-7 years ago.  Really a big fan of that song, even though it makes me melancholy.