On That Note: Get Back (to the A-Sides)

[cyclones500]

11-20 … my most difficult segment to rank



11. Nowhere Man
12. She Loves You
13. Can't Buy Me Love
14. Yesterday
15. Lady Madonna
16. From Me To You … underrated early-period
17. All You Need Is Love … lyrics are meaningless, but it captures that period and the chorus is catchy … love the “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” during the coda.
18. Get Back
19. Let It Be
20. The Ballad of John and Yoko

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

These top I went back and forth. They are both amazing songs.

#2 Yesterday - just another iconic Beatles track

 

[cyclones500]

8. Hard Day's Night - Banging opening chord to the end. From their first, and best, and funnest movie.

That opening chord to AHDN is KILLER.

 

[CycloneRulzzz]

#1 Let it Be

After seeing a few posts in here maybe this one could get the most flack. It's a great song that has brought back in current times by being played at stadiums when a video review is going on that if the call stands the home team will be happy.

 

[MeanDean]

My bottom 7:

21. Paperback Writer
22. Can't Buy Me Love
23. Hello Goodbye
24. Lady Madonna
25. From Me To You

26. Love Me Do
27. Yellow Submarine

The only one that probably I'm significantly under-rating versus others might be From Me to You. They've always said they wanted to move on from what they'd just done before. This feels like they didn't move on much at all from Please Please Me. that had preceded it. Almost a step back.

I can't blame them, as they had their first big hit with Please Please Me so the easy road was to follow a similar formula for the follow-up. It just seems like there was no growth between PPM and this, but then came She Loves You which was hugely different. and from there the growth just kept going.

 

[cyclones500]

My “Bottom 7” … relatively speaking (and I still like all of these, but not as much as the others)

21. Please Please Me - iconic single with key elements of songcraft at onset of Beatlemania, but I think the production and performance is sloppy and I can’t get past it.
22. Something … the bridge is top-10 worthy, but overall, it doesn’t do it for me. I prefer at least five songs George wrote & sang while in The Beatles.
23. Twist and Shout …I dropped it a few slots due to it being a cover, although it’s a GOOD cover.
24. Hello Goodbye … A reliable Paul single, sounds good, but … too routine. I do like the silent segment at the end, followed by the “hey-la, heba helloa…”
25. The Long And Winding Road
26. Yellow Submarine … fun, but it’s the least-Revolver-ish song on “Revolver,” and I’m not going to forgive it for that.
27. Love Me Do … barely hinted at capability of the group. Almost doesn’t even “sound” like The Beatles.

 

[MeanDean]

My “Bottom 8” … relatively speaking (and I still like all of these, but not as much as the others)

21. Please Please Me - iconic single with key elements of songcraft at onset of Beatlemania, but I think the production and performance is sloppy and I can’t get past it.
22. Something … the bridge is top-10 worthy, but overall, it doesn’t do it for me. I prefer at least five songs George wrote & sang while in The Beatles.
23. Twist and Shout …I dropped it a few slots due to it being a cover, although it’s a GOOD cover.
24. Hello Goodbye … A reliable Paul single, sounds good, but … too routine. I do like the silent segment at the end, followed by the “hey-la, heba helloa…”
25. The Long And Winding Road
26. Yellow Submarine … fun, but it’s the least-Revolver-ish song on “Revolver,” and I’m not going to forgive it for that.
27. Love Me Do … barely hinted at capability of the group. Almost doesn’t even “sound” like The Beatles.

This applies to my bottom list as well

 

[matclone]

Some songs that deserve some love:

Something.
This has probably been overplayed on the radio, but a great example of George's mature songwriting (his only "A" single) and phenomenal guitar playing (the latter which is all over Abbey Road).

Ballad of John and Yoko:
On the first Beatles BBC record (I think--and worth having), there is a Johnny Burnette song with the same riff that John later plays on the Ballad. Anyway, this record foreshadows his style of guitar used on the Mother (Plastic Ono Band) album: raw and funky, to my ears, pretty cool. Also, his usual wordplay. This record is only John and Paul.

 

[cyclones500]

Keep the contributions coming!

As a "Beatlemaniac," there's an advantage of debating/compiling lists of favorite songs, since the group released so many singles-only tracks that weren't included on LPs (at least when the band was together). So you can have almost entirely separate rankings.

 

[cyclones500]

#4 Yellow Submarine

Probably will get the most flack for having this one this high. As mentioned above it probably is a tad gimmicky but something about it I really enjoy.

Although I have this in my bottom-5, you can't deny the singability of the chorus.

On rare occasions when I've done karaoke, I ought to use this as a go-to.

 

[cyclones500]

Additional random notes -- I struggled to rank a few of these, notably:
* Can't Buy Me Love ... if I think about the song, my thought is "meh." When I actually listen to it, my admiration rises. ("I Feel Fine" is a similar mental process, but ultimately I like it better).
* Yesterday --> I try to appreciate it for its impact and love its simplicity/universal appeal, then I get distracted by its oversaturation … almost like it’s overrated and underrated at the same time. Hence, why I placed it almost smack-dab in the middle.

 

[MeanDean]

Additional random notes -- I struggled to rank a few of these, notably:
* Can't Buy Me Love ... if I think about the song, my thought is "meh." When I actually listen to it, my admiration rises. ("I Feel Fine" is a similar mental process, but ultimately I like it better).
* Yesterday --> I try to appreciate it for its impact and love its simplicity/universal appeal, then I get distracted by its oversaturation … almost like it’s overrated and underrated at the same time. Hence, why I placed it almost smack-dab in the middle.

Like you said with Yesterday, I kind of have that approach with Something. Some people love it so so much, but it feels a bit forced in spots to me. Then other times it does feel magical.

 

[Bipolarcy]

As a child of the 60s when all you heard on the radio was the Beatles and every time you turned on the TV, girls were screaming and throwing themselves at the Beatles and every time I was home, my teenage sister had nothing but the Beatles on her turn table, I can tell you without equivocation that there are no good Beatles A sides or B sides, or any sides. That is all.

 

[Angie]

My opinion is that Revolver and its time frame were hugely pivotal for them, so I really enjoy everything on it (maybe just not so much as singles?). Anyway, I have sort of odd tastes - I do love their more plaintive stuff:

Something
Yesterday
Lady Madonna
A Hard Day's Night
Ballad of John and Yoko

 

[cyclones500]

#9 She Loves You

Another just good solid song from start to finish

It's easy to take this song for granted. ... Depending on the day, I could switch it in my order w/ "Hand," as a "Signature Beatlemania" selection.

 

[Rural]

You tell lies thinking I can't see
You can't cry 'cause you're laughing at me.

 

[matclone]

It's easy to take this song for granted. ... Depending on the day, I could switch it in my order w/ "Hand," as a "Signature Beatlemania" selection.

I believe this one kicked off Beatlemania in Great Britain and maybe the first where the band really shows their confidence in what they're doing.

 

[MeanDean]

You tell lies thinking I can't see
You can't cry 'cause you're laughing at me.

B-side of Help = I'm Down.

We did B-sides here:

On That Note: The B-tles - The B-Sides

Hello and welcome to another weekly offering of On That Note. OTN is a musical discussion thread hosted alternately by @CycloneRulzzz, @cyclones500 and me. Last Week's OTN "IN BLOOM" can be found here: https://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/threads/on-that-note-in-bloom.255986/ This week we're going...

cyclonefanatic.com

 

[Entropy]

Some songs that deserve some love:

Something.
This has probably been overplayed on the radio, but a great example of George's mature songwriting (his only "A" single) and phenomenal guitar playing (the latter which is all over Abbey Road).

My wife and I danced to that song at our wedding. An absolute favorite.

 

[Rural]

B-side of Help = I'm Down.

We did B-sides here:

On That Note: The B-tles - The B-Sides

Hello and welcome to another weekly offering of On That Note. OTN is a musical discussion thread hosted alternately by @CycloneRulzzz, @cyclones500 and me. Last Week's OTN "IN BLOOM" can be found here: https://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/threads/on-that-note-in-bloom.255986/ This week we're going...

cyclonefanatic.com

I get that, somewhere around here I have a 45 (ATCO maybe?) where it's the A side.