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All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!!
- Thread starter Rumble Thunder
- Start date
Thanks, that's very kind of you all. 19 years old at the time...
I read the biography by one of Lennon’s childhood friends years ago who said that he gave McCartney the idea of how the lyrics could resolve at the end on Eleanor Rigby. I think his name was Pete Shotton.
That’s interesting. I never knew Lennon had anything to do with Eleanor Rigby. I always thought it was all Paul. Interesting.
From what I recall he suggested that the two could characters could be linked somehow in the final verse, and Paul used the idea to write the final verse.
Unless I missed it, the only thing John said he wrote was the Lonely People line. Which makes sense. It sounds very Johnesque and it's known that they always tried to collaborate or add to each others songs.
According to the video (which is John in his own words), he claims that Paul had the first verse finished and then asked “the others” to finish it up. John says they added the character Father McCartney but later on Paul objected since he didn’t want to put that on his dad so they changed it to Father McKenzie. It sounded like to me that John contributed heavily to the verses two and three. And like you said, John wrote the Aaaaahh, look at all the lonely people bit. I should have intuitively known that because like you say it is very John-esque but for some reason I just had it in my mind, I suppose, that this song was all Paul in the same manner as Yesterday was. It’s surprising to me that all these years later, I find out that John substantially contributed to this piece. I’ll have to go listen to this piece again with new ears.
What surprised me was to find out Paul may have written the main melody for "In My Life". I know that John said that Paul wrote the melody for the middle part, but the styles sound opposite. And I think Paul did later say that he wrote the main melody.
I never knew that ELO covered this tune until I stumbled upon it a few minute ago. Too cool. 
Rumor has it that Lennon performed with Hendrix at the BBC sessions. He didn’t.
I am going to attempt to rank the Beatle albums from worst to best.
I am using the UK track listings except for Magical Mystery Tour. I’m also using the 13 studio albums without any of the collections or anthologies.
Not all the singles are on their corresponding albums (which led to the release of the Past Masters collection) so I can’t help but attach some weight to the albums with their associated 45’s. So here we go.
13) Yellow Submarine
Well something had to be last and this is the one. You only get one side of Beatle tunes since the other side is George Martin’s score of the animated film. I like the George Harrison contributions and Hey Bulldog is a fun song but ultimately this record comes in at last place.
12) Let It Be
This record is a little sloppy for a Beatle endeavor. John doesn’t seem focused on this project, George, at times, isn’t very happy and there is a new producer. In fact, it is way overproduced in my opinion. There are not enough tunes on this record even though the material is good.
11) Please Please Me
Props to the band since this was recorded in one day and Twist and Shout was recorded in only two takes but there are some tunes that don’t quite measure up. An outstanding first effort by the band with some solid songs (that include perhaps my favorite of all time, I Saw Her Standing There), showcases a good energy on this album. The beginning and the ending of the album is colossal.
10) Beatles For Sale
Nice effort with some under appreciated songs on this one like No Reply, Baby’s In Black, I’ll Follow The Sun and What You’re Doing. Although I am not a big fan of I’m a Loser and Mr. Moonlight, the record still has a good flow to it and is very entertaining. There is quite a bit of cover material on this one and therefore less Lennon and McCartney compositions but a fun record nonetheless.
9) Magical Mystery Tour
I like this record more and more every day! The Title track is awesome along with the literary excellence and madness of I Am The Walrus. Also Harrison’s Blue Jay Way is a fascinating adventure into even more strange madness. The instrumental Flying is a novel tune written by all four of the band members.
8) With The Beatles
This record is monumental and if you include the singles, I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You, then you have a groundbreaking effort. I love Paul’s All My Loving and his cover of ‘Til There Was You. George gets in on the action with Don’t Bother Me which is a pretty cool tune.
7) Help!
This is a wonderful record as well as a fun film. It has Paul’s massive song Yesterday on it which was recorded in only two takes. There are a few under the radar tunes on it as well like Another Girl and It’s Only Love. Ringo’s cover of Act Naturally is sweeet.
6) The Beatles (White Album)
There are so many songs on this double album, it’s great. The songs are not as collaborative but more individualistic in nature. Paul really showcases his amazing talent, genius and ability. Some of the songs, however, seem a bit loose and underproduced giving the album a raw feel but there are many incredible moments on this record.
5) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
This is the ultimate brilliant masterpiece. Normally, this would be a band’s number one effort but we are talking the Beatles here. From the haunting Lennon vocals to the feel good magnificence of McCartney to the international timbre of Harrison to the quirkiness of Ringo Starr, you have the progression and development of Rock and Roll into a whole new brand of Rock music. Pepper is the ultimate concept album.
4) Rubber Soul
This is once again, another groundbreaker yet genuinely Beatle-esque sounding record. The Sitar shows up, Paul sings in French and John’s lyrics are really leveling up. Despite all this new development though, Nowhere Man is about as Beatle-ly as it gets.
3) Hard Day’s Night
This record is immersed right at the height Beatlemania! A great Title song and a phrase that Ringo coined coupled with a classic film that still is great in the 21st century. All the songs are super and the band sounds awesome! A Hard Day’s Night is time capsule material.
2) Revolver
From Taxman to Tomorrow Never Knows this album rocks! Another monster growth and development album, the Beatles talent as songwriters is demonstrably evident. There is not enough words to appropriately articulate what a juggernaut this record is. Contextually speaking, this record is matchless.
And finally…the number one Beatle record of all time is:
1) Abbey Road
What an insanely brilliant record! From the conventional mastery of side one to the conceptual genius of side two, this amazing piece of work is a fitting swan song for the greatest rock and roll band ever. George’s contributions are legendary and the album cover is legendary and iconic. Also the hidden track is especially cool.
And so…that’s my take on the Beatle albums from the least to the greatest. Every one of their albums is fabulous so it’s almost impossible to rank them. What a collection of songs they gave us!
I am using the UK track listings except for Magical Mystery Tour. I’m also using the 13 studio albums without any of the collections or anthologies.
Not all the singles are on their corresponding albums (which led to the release of the Past Masters collection) so I can’t help but attach some weight to the albums with their associated 45’s. So here we go.
13) Yellow Submarine
Well something had to be last and this is the one. You only get one side of Beatle tunes since the other side is George Martin’s score of the animated film. I like the George Harrison contributions and Hey Bulldog is a fun song but ultimately this record comes in at last place.
12) Let It Be
This record is a little sloppy for a Beatle endeavor. John doesn’t seem focused on this project, George, at times, isn’t very happy and there is a new producer. In fact, it is way overproduced in my opinion. There are not enough tunes on this record even though the material is good.
11) Please Please Me
Props to the band since this was recorded in one day and Twist and Shout was recorded in only two takes but there are some tunes that don’t quite measure up. An outstanding first effort by the band with some solid songs (that include perhaps my favorite of all time, I Saw Her Standing There), showcases a good energy on this album. The beginning and the ending of the album is colossal.
10) Beatles For Sale
Nice effort with some under appreciated songs on this one like No Reply, Baby’s In Black, I’ll Follow The Sun and What You’re Doing. Although I am not a big fan of I’m a Loser and Mr. Moonlight, the record still has a good flow to it and is very entertaining. There is quite a bit of cover material on this one and therefore less Lennon and McCartney compositions but a fun record nonetheless.
9) Magical Mystery Tour
I like this record more and more every day! The Title track is awesome along with the literary excellence and madness of I Am The Walrus. Also Harrison’s Blue Jay Way is a fascinating adventure into even more strange madness. The instrumental Flying is a novel tune written by all four of the band members.
8) With The Beatles
This record is monumental and if you include the singles, I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You, then you have a groundbreaking effort. I love Paul’s All My Loving and his cover of ‘Til There Was You. George gets in on the action with Don’t Bother Me which is a pretty cool tune.
7) Help!
This is a wonderful record as well as a fun film. It has Paul’s massive song Yesterday on it which was recorded in only two takes. There are a few under the radar tunes on it as well like Another Girl and It’s Only Love. Ringo’s cover of Act Naturally is sweeet.
6) The Beatles (White Album)
There are so many songs on this double album, it’s great. The songs are not as collaborative but more individualistic in nature. Paul really showcases his amazing talent, genius and ability. Some of the songs, however, seem a bit loose and underproduced giving the album a raw feel but there are many incredible moments on this record.
5) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
This is the ultimate brilliant masterpiece. Normally, this would be a band’s number one effort but we are talking the Beatles here. From the haunting Lennon vocals to the feel good magnificence of McCartney to the international timbre of Harrison to the quirkiness of Ringo Starr, you have the progression and development of Rock and Roll into a whole new brand of Rock music. Pepper is the ultimate concept album.
4) Rubber Soul
This is once again, another groundbreaker yet genuinely Beatle-esque sounding record. The Sitar shows up, Paul sings in French and John’s lyrics are really leveling up. Despite all this new development though, Nowhere Man is about as Beatle-ly as it gets.
3) Hard Day’s Night
This record is immersed right at the height Beatlemania! A great Title song and a phrase that Ringo coined coupled with a classic film that still is great in the 21st century. All the songs are super and the band sounds awesome! A Hard Day’s Night is time capsule material.
2) Revolver
From Taxman to Tomorrow Never Knows this album rocks! Another monster growth and development album, the Beatles talent as songwriters is demonstrably evident. There is not enough words to appropriately articulate what a juggernaut this record is. Contextually speaking, this record is matchless.
And finally…the number one Beatle record of all time is:
1) Abbey Road
What an insanely brilliant record! From the conventional mastery of side one to the conceptual genius of side two, this amazing piece of work is a fitting swan song for the greatest rock and roll band ever. George’s contributions are legendary and the album cover is legendary and iconic. Also the hidden track is especially cool.
And so…that’s my take on the Beatle albums from the least to the greatest. Every one of their albums is fabulous so it’s almost impossible to rank them. What a collection of songs they gave us!
Last edited:
I am going to attempt to rank the Beatle albums from worst to best.
I am using the UK track listings except for Magical Mystery Tour. I’m also using the 13 studio albums without any of the collections or anthologies.
Not all the singles are on their corresponding albums (which led to the release of the Past Masters collection) so I can’t help but attach some weight to the albums with their associated 45’s. So here we go.
13) Yellow Submarine
Well something had to be last and this is the one. You only get one side of Beatle tunes since the other side is George Martin’s score of the animated film. I like the George Harrison contributions and Hey Bulldog is a fun song but ultimately this record comes in at last place.
12) Let It Be
This record is a little sloppy for a Beatle endeavor. John doesn’t seem focused on this project, George, at times, isn’t very happy and there is a new producer. In fact, it is way overproduced in my opinion. There are not enough tunes on this record even though the material is good.
11) Please Please Me
Props to the band since this was recorded in one day and Twist and Shout was recorded in only two takes but there are some tunes that don’t quite measure up. An outstanding first effort by the band with some solid songs (that include perhaps my favorite of all time, I Saw Her Standing There), showcases a good energy on this album. The beginning and the ending of the album is colossal.
10) Beatles For Sale
Nice effort with some under appreciated songs on this one like No Reply, Baby’s In Black, I’ll Follow The Sun and What You’re Doing. Although I am not a big fan of I’m a Loser and Mr. Moonlight, the record still has a good flow to it and is very entertaining. There is quite a bit of cover material on this one and therefore less Lennon and McCartney compositions but a fun record nonetheless.
9) Magical Mystery Tour
I like this record more and more every day! The Title track is awesome along with the literary excellence and madness of I Am The Walrus. Also Harrison’s Blue Jay Way is a fascinating adventure into even more strange madness. The instrumental Flying is a novel tune written by all four of the band members.
8) With The Beatles
This record is monumental and if you include the singles, I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You, then you have a groundbreaking effort. I love Paul’s All My Loving and his cover of ‘Til There Was You. George gets in on the action with Don’t Bother Me which is a pretty cool tune.
7) Help!
This is a wonderful record as well as a fun film. It has Paul’s massive song Yesterday on it which was recorded in only two takes. There are a few under the radar tunes on it as well like Another Girl and It’s Only Love. Ringo’s cover of Act Naturally is sweeet.
6) The Beatles (White Album)
There are so many songs on this double album, it’s great. The songs are not as collaborative but more individualistic in nature. Paul really showcases his amazing talent, genius and ability. Some of the songs, however, seem a bit loose and underproduced giving the album a raw feel but there are many incredible moments on this record.
5) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
This is the ultimate brilliant masterpiece. Normally, this would be a band’s number one effort but we are talking the Beatles here. From the haunting Lennon vocals to the feel good magnificence of McCartney to the international timbre of Harrison to the quirkiness of Ringo Starr, you have the progression and development of Rock and Roll into a whole new brand of Rock music. Pepper is the ultimate concept album.
4) Rubber Soul
This is once again, another groundbreaker yet genuinely Beatle-esque sounding record. The Sitar shows up, Paul sings in French and John’s lyrics are really leveling up. Despite all this new development though, Nowhere Man is about as Beatle-ly as it gets.
3) Hard Day’s Night
This record is immersed right at the height Beatlemania! A great Title song and a phrase that Ringo coined coupled with a classic film that still is great in the 21st century. All the songs are super and the band sounds awesome! A Hard Day’s Night is time capsule material.
2) Revolver
From Taxman to Tomorrow Never Knows this album rocks! Another monster growth and development album, the Beatles talent as songwriters is demonstrably evident. There is not enough words to appropriately articulate what a juggernaut this record is. Contextually speaking, this record is matchless.
And finally…the number one Beatle record of all time is:
1) Abbey Road
What an insanely brilliant record! From the conventional mastery of side one to the conceptual genius of side two, this amazing piece of work is a fitting swan song for the greatest rock and roll band ever. George’s contributions are legendary and the album cover is legendary and iconic. Also the hidden track is especially cool.
And so…that’s my take on the Beatle albums from the least to the greatest. Every one of their albums is fabulous so it’s almost impossible to rank them. What a collection of songs they gave us!
Wow! Rumbler, that's cool. So concise, so straightforward, so hard hitting. Me? We-ee-ll, not so much.
I'm too emotionally scarred from what Capitol did to me, and millions of others, when they sliced & diced the UK albums into the US albums, which then became the incorrect, mangled soundtrack to my formative years. But who knew, back then, that these songs would become such important cultural creations?
.
Wow! Rumbler, that's cool. So concise, so straightforward, so hard hitting. Me? We-ee-ll, not so much.
I'm too emotionally scarred from what Capitol did to me, and millions of others, when they sliced & diced the UK albums into the US albums, which then became the incorrect, mangled soundtrack to my formative years. But who knew, back then, that these songs would become such important cultural creations?
.
But you had a shared soundtrack experience with millions of others who listened to the same Capitol albums.
Yeah, I see what you mean. After reading that article you posted, there was clearly some slicing and dicing going on probably all in the name of the almighty dollar. Such a shame to cut up an artist’s work and present it differently than what they originally intended. Aren’t the albums in the US and UK similar after Magical Mystery Tour and including Pepper?Wow! Rumbler, that's cool. So concise, so straightforward, so hard hitting. Me? We-ee-ll, not so much.
I'm too emotionally scarred from what Capitol did to me, and millions of others, when they sliced & diced the UK albums into the US albums, which then became the incorrect, mangled soundtrack to my formative years. But who knew, back then, that these songs would become such important cultural creations?
.
Alkali Ike
Gold Supporting Member
- Jan 1, 2011
- 2,847
- 15,640
- Disclosures
- I never actually learned to play very well
I’m not gonna say Capitol butchered the albums. None of us in the US really knew what Capitol did at the time yet somehow we still loved the music and the albums.
The soundtrack to Hard Days Night was released on United Artists records. My impression at the time was that it was a cut above the then previous albums in terms of production and audio quality. It was as if UA got the studio masters instead of safety copies Capitol presumably worked from.
I’ve long maintained that Abbey Road is a masterpiece, both the songs and the clean production. And the 50th Anniversary Remix takes it up another level.
We are so lucky to have all this so well preserved after decades, with new mixes striving for even higher quality.
The soundtrack to Hard Days Night was released on United Artists records. My impression at the time was that it was a cut above the then previous albums in terms of production and audio quality. It was as if UA got the studio masters instead of safety copies Capitol presumably worked from.
I’ve long maintained that Abbey Road is a masterpiece, both the songs and the clean production. And the 50th Anniversary Remix takes it up another level.
We are so lucky to have all this so well preserved after decades, with new mixes striving for even higher quality.
I’ll just put in a top 5.I am going to attempt to rank the Beatle albums from worst to best.
I am using the UK track listings except for Magical Mystery Tour. I’m also using the 13 studio albums without any of the collections or anthologies.
Not all the singles are on their corresponding albums (which led to the release of the Past Masters collection) so I can’t help but attach some weight to the albums with their associated 45’s. So here we go.
13) Yellow Submarine
Well something had to be last and this is the one. You only get one side of Beatle tunes since the other side is George Martin’s score of the animated film. I like the George Harrison contributions and Hey Bulldog is a fun song but ultimately this record comes in at last place.
12) Let It Be
This record is a little sloppy for a Beatle endeavor. John doesn’t seem focused on this project, George, at times, isn’t very happy and there is a new producer. In fact, it is way overproduced in my opinion. There are not enough tunes on this record even though the material is good.
11) Please Please Me
Props to the band since this was recorded in one day and Twist and Shout was recorded in only two takes but there are some tunes that don’t quite measure up. An outstanding first effort by the band with some solid songs (that include perhaps my favorite of all time, I Saw Her Standing There), showcases a good energy on this album. The beginning and the ending of the album is colossal.
10) Beatles For Sale
Nice effort with some under appreciated songs on this one like No Reply, Baby’s In Black, I’ll Follow The Sun and What You’re Doing. Although I am not a big fan of I’m a Loser and Mr. Moonlight, the record still has a good flow to it and is very entertaining. There is quite a bit of cover material on this one and therefore less Lennon and McCartney compositions but a fun record nonetheless.
9) Magical Mystery Tour
I like this record more and more every day! The Title track is awesome along with the literary excellence and madness of I Am The Walrus. Also Harrison’s Blue Jay Way is a fascinating adventure into even more strange madness. The instrumental Flying is a novel tune written by all four of the band members.
8) With The Beatles
This record is monumental and if you include the singles, I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You, then you have a groundbreaking effort. I love Paul’s All My Loving and his cover of ‘Til There Was You. George gets in on the action with Don’t Bother Me which is a pretty cool tune.
7) Help!
This is a wonderful record as well as a fun film. It has Paul’s massive song Yesterday on it which was recorded in only two takes. There are a few under the radar tunes on it as well like Another Girl and It’s Only Love. Ringo’s cover of Act Naturally is sweeet.
6) The Beatles (White Album)
There are so many songs on this double album, it’s great. The songs are not as collaborative but more individualistic in nature. Paul really showcases his amazing talent, genius and ability. Some of the songs, however, seem a bit loose and underproduced giving the album a raw feel but there are many incredible moments on this record.
5) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band
This is the ultimate brilliant masterpiece. Normally, this would be a band’s number one effort but we are talking the Beatles here. From the haunting Lennon vocals to the feel good magnificence of McCartney to the international timbre of Harrison to the quirkiness of Ringo Starr, you have the progression and development of Rock and Roll into a whole new brand of Rock music. Pepper is the ultimate concept album.
4) Rubber Soul
This is once again, another groundbreaker yet genuinely Beatle-esque sounding record. The Sitar shows up, Paul sings in French and John’s lyrics are really leveling up. Despite all this new development though, Nowhere Man is about as Beatle-ly as it gets.
3) Hard Day’s Night
This record is immersed right at the height Beatlemania! A great Title song and a phrase that Ringo coined coupled with a classic film that still is great in the 21st century. All the songs are super and the band sounds awesome! A Hard Day’s Night is time capsule material.
2) Revolver
From Taxman to Tomorrow Never Knows this album rocks! Another monster growth and development album, the Beatles talent as songwriters is demonstrably evident. There is not enough words to appropriately articulate what a juggernaut this record is. Contextually speaking, this record is matchless.
And finally…the number one Beatle record of all time is:
1) Abbey Road
What an insanely brilliant record! From the conventional mastery of side one to the conceptual genius of side two, this amazing piece of work is a fitting swan song for the greatest rock and roll band ever. George’s contributions are legendary and the album cover is legendary and iconic. Also the hidden track is especially cool.
And so…that’s my take on the Beatle albums from the least to the greatest. Every one of their albums is fabulous so it’s almost impossible to rank them. What a collection of songs they gave us!
1. Revolver
2. Sgt Pepper
3. Rubber Soul
4. Abbey Road
5. White Album
I feel like Paul might have been the only Beatle who cared about what tracks were featured on the Capitol albums. The others would have shrugged it off. But I'm just guessing.
This article contains a graphical guide to the carnage Capitol did.
There may have been a technological concern over "groove crowding" at first, but it really got out of hand. I suspect some xenophobic tendencies in Capitol rejecting the "Please Please Me" album in 1963, as well, which eventually compounded the so-called backlog "problem".
It doesn't single out any particular Beatle, but I too can imagine Paul being the most artistically offended, just like he was with Phil Spector's overproduced version of the "Let It Be" album.
I lived in blissful ignorance of this tragedy for decades. But, now, in retrospect, I feel cheated and lied to. Capitol Records was my favorite label because of The Beatles, and a few others. Now, I feel a greater empathy to John, Paul and George over what their Northern Songs publishing company did to them, and what many record companies did to many, many other aspiring artists. :sigh:
* These "butcher cover" links are just two of the many interesting things on your All Things Must Beat. Share Anything Beatles!! wiki page.
.
I have seen one of Butcher cover albums. It was torn because the owner had tried to tear off the new top cover.
My two "Yesterday and Today" album covers do not appear to have the butcher pic under them. And my luck with removing such things is not good, so I'm not really sure. I'm also too lazy to try steaming them.
I prefer to think that I have two extremely valuable Schrödinger's butcher covers, instead! And I intend to bill them as such IF* they ever go to auction.
* Big if.
.
