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In this thread I rank my favorite post-Beatles Beatles songs: 291-1. (4 Viewers)

34.  The Traveling Wilburys – Handle With Care (The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, 1988)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #14)

33.  Any Road (Brainwashed, 2002)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #13)

I wrote at length about “Handle With Care” and its genesis in my ---INTERLUDE--- on The Traveling Wilburys.  And you don’t need me to talk about why it’s great, anyway.  I’m combining it with yet another song from Brainwashed because this song, “Any Road,” could not sound more like a Traveling Wilburys song, no doubt in part due to Jeff Lynne’s production.  It’s like a redo of “Heading For the Light” with more wisdom and sparkling guitars.  I give “Any Road” the slight nod over the Wilburys song because it has more George.  Both are freaking delightful.  That’s my review.  Yep, that’s it.  They are delightful.  Freaking delightful, even.  Next.

 
I know that last write-up was lame, but no one reads them anyway.  Not sure if it's that I'm burnt out or tired or hitting songs that everyone knows well anyway...I will try to do better.  :lol:  

 
This is craziness on my mom's house purchase.  There were six offers.  One was like $20k lower than theirs (but still $20k over asking price), but then there were one at $2k less than their offer, one at $1k less than their offer, and one at exactly the same price as theirs!  But the evidence of funds for the one at the same price said "gift from a friend."  :lol:   There was also one $10k more than their offer, but it had contingencies on it that my mom didn't have.  Wacky!  It's the "Coming Up" of house purchases!

 
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krista4 said:
I will be posting a Spotify playlist at the end.  I have a full 291+-song playlist that I'll complete, and I could also do individual playlist by Beatle if anyone wants them (I know the Ringo one will be in high demand).

At the moment I have the current playlist (minus the top 44) randomizing, and I think I like a lot of other songs more than "It Don't Come Easy."  :lol:   
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Well that would have saved me a ####-ton of reading :mad:

 
Aw hell, I'm going to even it back up again between George and Paul tonight.  Last one, I promise.

32.  Wings - Daytime Nighttime Suffering (single, 1979)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #13)

As much as I love this song, I might love the story behind it even more.  During the Back To The Egg sessions, Paul issued a challenge to the other members of Wings:  they would each take the weekend to write a new song, and whichever song was deemed best would become the b-side to their next single.  So Steve Holley, Lawrence Juber, Denny Laine, and Linda each toiled away to write their best songs.  On Monday, a winner was declared:  Paul!    This was Paul's competition-winning song, which became the b-side to "Goodnight Tonight."  Paul has said at various times that it's one of his favorites of his post-Beatles songs, but he never performs it live - I think he could still do this one justice and wish he'd add it to his repertoire.  It has all the good stuff (and more) you'd hope for in a Paul song:  fabulous walking bass line, outstanding lead vocal and multi-layered harmonies, cool bridges in a minor key, banging and explosive ending, even lyrics with a pro-feminist statement.  Plus it sounds like it could be used in a Nyquil ad.  What more could you want?

 
krista4 said:
---INTERLUDE – The Traveling Wilburys---

As mentioned in the interlude for Cloud Nine, the Traveling Wilburys were born out of the sessions for that record.  While recording, George and Jeff Lynne often talked about how they’d love to put together a full band together.  George dreamt of adding Bob Dylan, with whom he’d been close for years, drawing even closer after Dylan contributed songs to All Things Must Pass and performed at the Concert for Bangladesh.  Lynne named Roy Orbison, for whom he was then producing an album, as his dream participant, and George had known and been a fan of Orbison’s since the Beatles opened for him on tour in 1963.  Both Lynne and George were close to Tom Petty, with George having frequent ukulele jam sessions at Petty’s house, and Lynne in the midst of producing Petty’s first solo album.  George even mentioned his dream of a band of “me and some of my mates” called the Traveling Wilburys in an interview in February 1988, but the band’s formation ended up happening largely by accident. 

With very little notice, Warner Brothers had informed George in April 1988 that he needed a non-album b-side for his “This Is Love” single out of Cloud Nine.  While having dinner with Lynne and Orbison, George asked Lynne to help with the recording the next day, and Orbison decided to come along for it.  But they needed a place to record on short notice, so George arranged with Dylan to use his garage studio in Malibu.  On the way to record, George stopped by Tom Petty’s house to pick up a guitar, and Petty decided to come over for the recording, too. 

The five of them gathered with George’s half-finished song.  George wrote a little vocal part in it for Orbison, because IF YOU HAVE ROY ORBISON IN YOUR RECORDING STUDIO YOU DAMN WELL WRITE A VOCAL PART FOR HIM.  All of the group participated in finishing the song, then recorded it the same night, all of this accomplished in about five hours.

When he brought it to Warner Brothers, they predictably said it was too good to be a mere b-side.  In fact, they wondered, could they get a whole album of this?  Dylan was due back on his Never-Ending Tour in June, the band gathered in early May and dedicated ten days to putting the album together.  They would sit around with their acoustic guitars, each member of the group throwing out musical ideas from which they’d lay down an initial track.  Then at dinner, they’d sit at a communal table and pass the lyrics around and work on those during the meal.  They’d draw straws to see who would sing the initial version, and then George would generally decide whose vocal fit which parts the best.  By the end of ten days, they had all of the songs written, with the basic parts and rough vocals recorded.  During the summer, George and Lynne then worked on the refining of the recordings, adding Jim Keltner on drums and Jim Horn on sax, and having Petty and Orbison come over for re-recordings where necessary.

This was a particularly joyous time for George, and indeed for all of the Wilburys.  George’s first and most important rule in putting the band together was that he would only admit as members people that he liked to hang out with.  By all accounts, the sessions were relaxed and free of ego, and the group laughed as much as recorded and shared a similar sense of humor (and a love for Monty Python).  While certain songs came from ideas from one or another Wilbury, the writing was truly collaborative, the vocal parts were equally shared, and each member was participating from a pure love of making music with people whom they respected and considered friends.  Preserving those friendships was most important to each of them; they were beyond a point where they needed to prove anything.

Despite this “community of equals,” it was clear that George was the driving force and ultimately in charge, and he set the tone for the sessions.  He had put the band together and organized all the sessions, he did by far the most promotion for the album, and he and Lynne co-produced the album together.  George is the one who had, two months before that first recording session occurred, mentioned “The Traveling Wilburys,” the name coming from the Cloud Nine sessions during which, upon numerous issues with faulty equipment, George had repeatedly joked to Lynne, “We’ll bury ‘em in the mix.”  He and Lynne started using the word “Wilbury” to refer to any mishaps in the recordings.  George had then suggested “The Trembling Wilburys” for their dream band, which Lynne adapted to “Traveling Wilburys.” 

Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was released in October 1988 to huge critical acclaim and commercial success.  It went platinum quickly and eventually sold over five million copies, and it won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group.  In the liner notes, each of the band members adopted a fictitious Wilbury first name, and Michael Palin (under a fake name) put together a whole history of how this group of half-brothers had traveled the land for many years.  That part was kinda dumb to me, but hey, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, and this “half-brother” notion had enhanced their camaraderie.

About six weeks after the release, however, tragedy struck when Orbison died suddenly of a heart attack at age 52.  All of the Wilburys were shocked, but Lynne remembers being devastated for years.  The video for their second single from the album, “End of the Line,” was shot to show the surviving Wilburys singing to a chair holding Orbison’s guitar.  Be forewarned if you watch this now:  it is not an easy viewing given that three of the Wilburys have now passed.

The other four Wilburys gathered two years later to record a second album, which George the little scamp insisted be called Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3.  They had considered adding a new member to the group to fill Orbison’s spot – both Del Shannon and Roger McGuinn had been mentioned – but in the end remained a quartet.  This second album features more vocals from Dylan and Petty, with George taking a backseat on vocals but featuring more prominently on lead guitar.  The songs for the album were more fully developed rather than being put together in the kitchen sitting around a table.  The songs sound good, but to me, this album is missing something.  I suspect that it’s not just Orbison’s unmatched vocal, but some of the magic that he naturally brought.  While there was mutual respect among all the Wilburys, Orbison was the one they all idolized the most, and I think the glee that they all evidenced in the first record was down a notch in the second one.  This album still did well, going platinum, but was not the enormous success of the first.

George over the course of the rest of his life would occasionally talk about recording another album, or going on tour as the Wilburys.  Lynne remembers that George would say, “We’re going to get an aircraft carrier and follow the sunshine” for their Wilbury tour.  Of course, it never happened, but it shows just how much pleasure this endeavor continued to give George, as he stated that from this time on he always considered himself “a Wilbury.”
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Bump for new guy, though I'm not sure you deserve it if you're not committed to reading every page of this thread.  ;)  

 
krista4 said:
Aw hell, I'm going to even it back up again between George and Paul tonight.  Last one, I promise.

32.  Wings - Daytime Nighttime Suffering (single, 1979)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #13)

As much as I love this song, I might love the story behind it even more.  During the Back To The Egg sessions, Paul issued a challenge to the other members of Wings:  they would each take the weekend to write a new song, and whichever song was deemed best would become the b-side to their next single.  So Steve Holley, Lawrence Juber, Denny Laine, and Linda each toiled away to write their best songs.  On Monday, a winner was declared:  Paul!    This was Paul's competition-winning song, which became the b-side to "Goodnight Tonight."  Paul has said at various times that it's one of his favorites of his post-Beatles songs, but he never performs it live - I think he could still do this one justice and wish he'd add it to his repertoire.  It has all the good stuff (and more) you'd hope for in a Paul song:  fabulous walking bass line, outstanding lead vocal and multi-layered harmonies, cool bridges in a minor key, banging and explosive ending, even lyrics with a pro-feminist statement.  Plus it sounds like it could be used in a Nyquil ad.  What more could you want?
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Nice!  Was hoping this might show up in your countdown and had just about given up hoping as top 15 seemed unlikely.  Love it...but just outside my top 25.  FWIW, I had this one and Goodnight Tonight both classified under Back to the Egg.  I knew this was a bonus track on recent re-releases and had wrongly assumed Goodnight Tonight was as well.  Hope that partly explains how I managed to get so many "Back to the Egg" songs in my top 100. ;)

And just to be clear I have ZERO Press to Play songs on my list...ZERO!  If I could have posted up a negative number on this I surely would have.

 
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Morton Muffley said:
Nice!  Was hoping this might show up in your countdown and had just about given up hoping as top 15 seemed unlikely.  Love it...but just outside my top 25.  FWIW, I had this one and Goodnight Tonight both classified under Back to the Egg.  I knew this was a bonus track on recent re-releases and had wrongly assumed Goodnight Tonight was as well.  Hope that partly explains how I managed to get so many "Back to the Egg" songs in my top 100. ;)

And just to be clear I have ZERO Press to Play songs on my list...ZERO!  If I could have posted up a negative number on this I surely would have.
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It's the one that got accidentally deleted somewhere along the way and caused me to go to 291 songs when I re-inserted it.  It's bounced around a bit like most of them, so could be outside the top 25 or in the top 10 on a given day.  I thought this could be one of your "Wings deep tracks" you referenced.

And yes, only one true Back To The Egg song on my list, based on the original release.

 
krista4 said:
34.  The Traveling Wilburys – Handle With Care (The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, 1988)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #14)

33.  Any Road (Brainwashed, 2002)  Spotify  YouTube

(George #13)

I wrote at length about “Handle With Care” and its genesis in my ---INTERLUDE--- on The Traveling Wilburys.  And you don’t need me to talk about why it’s great, anyway.  I’m combining it with yet another song from Brainwashed because this song, “Any Road,” could not sound more like a Traveling Wilburys song, no doubt in part due to Jeff Lynne’s production.  It’s like a redo of “Heading For the Light” with more wisdom and sparkling guitars.  I give “Any Road” the slight nod over the Wilburys song because it has more George.  Both are freaking delightful.  That’s my review.  Yep, that’s it.  They are delightful.  Freaking delightful, even.  Next.
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Have always loved Any Road.  Upbeat George is my favorite, followed closely by Deeply Spiritual George.

Handle With Care was covered earlier and I probably made a bunch of absurd comments then.  That whole album was so special when it came out.  Handle With Care was a near-perfect collaboration from the only post-Beatles group that rivaled the talent of the original Beatles.

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Have always loved Any Road.  Upbeat George is my favorite, followed closely by Deeply Spiritual George.

Handle With Care was covered earlier and I probably made a bunch of absurd comments then.  That whole album was so special when it came out.  Handle With Care was a near-perfect collaboration from the only post-Beatles group that rivaled the talent of the original Beatles.
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You did post about the emotional family connection you have to the album.  I thought about it when I posted the song.  :heart:  

 
krista4 said:
Good morning!  Let's rock!

38.  Paul McCartney and Wings - Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five (Band On The Run, 1973)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #16)

This song began with just that one lyric:  "No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five," which Paul said he had buzzing around in his head for months.  While critics tried to connect this to Paul somehow predicting apocalyptic doom relating to Orwell's 1984, Paul's explanation was more simple:  it rhymed.  While this song certainly sounds dated (OH was not a fan during the listening party), it's so awesome I don't care.  The piano riffs start this song off dramatically, and it builds strength from there.  It builds so well that it feels like a bit of a descent into madness to me, which enhances the sense of relief when we hit the ethereal bridge.  Paul uses an unusual vocal on the verses that might be a turn-off to some, and sometimes I fall into that category, but it fits the chaos of the song.  The ending, which forms the finale of the album Band On The Run, is phenomenal, starting with a big guitar solo that is then accompanied by a driving drum part and then that huge orchestral arrangement, which gets stronger and more tumultuous until it's nearly overwhelming and then BAM, it stops and is followed by that little "Band On The Run" reprise.  Shake it don't break it!
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This thread moves too fast for me. So does the TV draft.

This was my pick for your top Paul (way off!) 

I do love this song. It's really quirky, in a really good way. I can't imagine it with a different vocal, strange as it is. I love the piano too. 

 
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jwb said:
This thread moves too fast for me. So does the TV draft.

This was my pick for your top Paul (way off!) 

I do love this song. It's really quirky, in a really good way. I can't imagine it with a different vocal, strange as it is. I love the piano too. 
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Yes, I knew it was your pick, and even though you say "way off" it really isn't.  Would be in my top 10 on a given day, and several of my top songs are quirky.  To choose #15 or whatever this was out of Paul's immense catalog is very close to correct.  Like most of these last songs, as I was writing up, I thought, "This needs to be higher," but then I don't know what to move down.  The Paul songs moved around much more than any of the others, due to the breadth of his styles.

 
Morton Muffley said:
No, the remaining three in my top 10 are from: Ram, Band on the Run, and McCartney.
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McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed

Ram - I know you hate Uncle Albert, so that leaves Too Many People as the only obvious choice.  Except your counting system is different and includes non-album singles from the same period in the album count, so you could have Another Day instead.  Final answer:  Another Day

Band on the Run - You said it's not Band on the Run, so reasonably that leaves Let Me Roll It or Bluebird cuz it had damn well better not be the others.  I'm going with the former.

 
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I'd forgotten that I played some of my George choices for OH, who vomited on some of them but I left them on my list anyway.  Was just looking through his comments and found this one on "Any Road":  "Fun, hippie ####.  Makes me smile.  Reminds me of the music from Peter Paul and Mary PBS pledge drive specials, and elementary school music sing-alongs where we all got to play a tambourine."

 
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krista4 said:
McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed

Ram - I know you hate Uncle Albert, so that leaves Too Many People as the only obvious choice.  Except your counting system is different and includes non-album singles from the same period in the album count, so you could have Another Day instead.  Final answer:  Another Day

Band on the Run - You said it's not Band on the Run, so reasonably that leaves Let Me Roll It or Bluebird cuz it had damn well better not be the others.  I'm going with the former.
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So, you DO read my posts!

Bluebird?  Good God no.  Do people like that song?  Do you like that song?

 
krista4 said:
 I do not and am happy you don't either.  You never know.
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Am mildly insulted ;)

But otherwise, well done:

Maybe I'm Amazed (obviously, what else)

Too Many People (Another Day is around #30 if I recall correctly. So you were correct and only thrown off by my imprecise categorizations)

Let Me Roll It: love the off kilter guitar work.

 
krista4 said:
Kreen-Akrore!  :lol:

By the way, you owe an accounting of the hits on my last several Paul picks.  I have 1985 noted but don't have #s for Junk and maybe others.
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Will do.

Also, I should have told you the remaining Band on the Run song was Picasso's Last Words due to my love of both Cubism and Dustin Hoffman.  

 
krista4 said:
Bump for new guy, though I'm not sure you deserve it if you're not committed to reading every page of this thread.  ;)  
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Can I at least skip the Ringo posts?   :P

Thanks for sharing the Traveling Wilburys post. I loved the collaboration and was a fan of all the other musicians work with the exception of Jeff Lynne. I like some ELO songs but never loved them. Handle With Care was always my favorite song by them. 

 
krista4 said:
And with my last post, George takes the lead!!

Also with my last post, I knocked out two in a row of @Uruk-Hai's selections for my #1s.  I'm sorry, GB.  :bag:   I bet "Coming Up" is your favorite Paul?  I could see you loving that groove.
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It would be in my Top 10 and, depending on the day, could be my #1. When guessing at your #1s, I tried to go just a little off the beaten path on Paul's even though this was a huge hit. I'm never good at picking these and tried for something I didn't think anyone else would take that still could rank highly. I'm good with where it is.

Actually, of your recent picks, "Eighty-Five" was the one that brought me up short. I'm not following any outside list as we go here to see what might be coming up [narrator: he's lazy], and had totally forgotten about that one. I think it's as good a record as Paul ever made.

Oh, I saw a review for McCartney III the other day. I won't link it or comment until the LP comes out.

 
krista4 said:
Aw hell, I'm going to even it back up again between George and Paul tonight.  Last one, I promise.

32.  Wings - Daytime Nighttime Suffering (single, 1979)  Spotify  YouTube

(Paul #13)

As much as I love this song, I might love the story behind it even more.  During the Back To The Egg sessions, Paul issued a challenge to the other members of Wings:  they would each take the weekend to write a new song, and whichever song was deemed best would become the b-side to their next single.  So Steve Holley, Lawrence Juber, Denny Laine, and Linda each toiled away to write their best songs.  On Monday, a winner was declared:  Paul!    This was Paul's competition-winning song, which became the b-side to "Goodnight Tonight."  Paul has said at various times that it's one of his favorites of his post-Beatles songs, but he never performs it live - I think he could still do this one justice and wish he'd add it to his repertoire.  It has all the good stuff (and more) you'd hope for in a Paul song:  fabulous walking bass line, outstanding lead vocal and multi-layered harmonies, cool bridges in a minor key, banging and explosive ending, even lyrics with a pro-feminist statement.  Plus it sounds like it could be used in a Nyquil ad.  What more could you want?
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Did Linda come in second?

 
Uruk-Hai said:
It would be in my Top 10 and, depending on the day, could be my #1. When guessing at your #1s, I tried to go just a little off the beaten path on Paul's even though this was a huge hit. I'm never good at picking these and tried for something I didn't think anyone else would take that still could rank highly. I'm good with where it is.

Actually, of your recent picks, "Eighty-Five" was the one that brought me up short. I'm not following any outside list as we go here to see what might be coming up [narrator: he's lazy], and had totally forgotten about that one. I think it's as good a record as Paul ever made.

Oh, I saw a review for McCartney III the other day. I won't link it or comment until the LP comes out.
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I don’t know what outside lists exist, but I don’t think they’d help.

No way am I reading any reviews of the new album!

Dr. Octopus said:
Did Linda come in second?
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:lmao:  Good question.

 
krista4 said:
Oh, don't pretend you were reading the posts.
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I'll have you know I re-scoured the first 6 pages yesterday trying to figure out the "bolded ampersand", which I now assume must have come from a different thread, since the first mention of it in THIS thread was someone asking where it was.

(Apologies if I skimmed over it in the original Beatles thread :bag:  )

 
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