Greatest Post-Beatles songs

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

But let's also not forget that by their own accounts, "Yesterday" began as a simple little melody that Paul came up with one breakfast time and initially fitted the words "Scrambled eggs, Oh my darling, you've got lovely legs" to, and then Lennon and McCartney kicked it around for months before finally agreeing to sit down and even use it on Help!, writing some lyrics to it that while gave it its now legendary mournful legacy, weren't actually part of the song's genesis at all - they were more to do with just throwing words at the melody.

Maybe an example of genius creating a masterpiece inadvertently, but equally, perhaps, not.

[G-Man]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

McCartney said the melody came to him in a dream. Apparently he spent weeks singing it to people because he thought he had subconsciously plagiarised somebody else's tune. But nobody could recognise it (some people claimed he nicked a bit from a Nat King Cole song from 1953, "Answer Me My Love").

[Amor de Cosmos]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Nefertiti2 wrote:

Amor de Cosmos wrote:

And I think George's solo stuff was so good because he finally got out from under the thumbs of the two egomaniacs. He needed freedom and space to thrive, while John and Paul needed constraint, conflict, and compromise.

At the latter end of the Band's life they had other interests, he really didn't.

Assuming you're talking about George Harrison here, AdC we should maybe acknowledge his contribution to cinema post-Beatles

as a producer his company was responsible for

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
The Long Good Friday (1980)
Time Bandits (1981)
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
The Missionary (1982)
Privates on Parade (1982)
Bullshot (1983)
Scrubbers (1983)
A Private Function (1984)
Water (1985)
Mona Lisa (1986)
Shanghai Surprise (1986)
Withnail and I (1987)
Five Corners (1987)

There are a few turkeys in there but some incredible films; he (and Film Four) could be said to have single-handledly dragged British cinema out of the 60's

Michale Palin's diaries are good on Harrison's involvement -he comes over as a rather lonely but very likeable chap.

I was talking about McCartney not Harrison.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Anyway, I'm probably out of my depth arguing about the Beatles. All in all, I prefer The Kinks.

I'm more Who-ish myslf.

Nevertheless, although I never bought any of their records the Beatles were a sort of Lingua Franca to growing up in the 60s. They were just...'There'. All the time. If you were under thirty you couldn't avoid them even if you wanted to, and most of us didn't.

[Renart]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

I'm a big Who fan, too. I like the Kinks and the Who better than the Stones and the Beatles, if I had to rank the "British Invasion" groups.

I completely agree with the Lingua Franca tag, though. I am a child of the seventies, and growing up among Northern California hippies and semi-hippies the Beatles (and Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones) were ubiquitous on the turntables of my parents, their friends, and my friends' parents.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Sure. In 1965-66 there were only three radio stations covering South-Eastern England that played pop-music — and fewer elsewhere. I reckon if you listened to Caroline, London, or Luxembourg regularly — and we did, all of us — you'd hear a Beatles song on one of them every half hour at least. I don't know that it'll ever be possible to create that type of media/market saturation in music again — and TBH in most ways that's probably a good thing — it did build a real solid bond though.

[multipleman78]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

I hate comparing any of the Beatles as i think as a band they are unsurpassed in rock n roll history especially considering how short a time their recording career was.

In my opinion there is no finer example of the Lennon/McCartney magic than She's Leaving Home. When that harp kicks in at the start i never find the heart to skip.

[Joe Wiz]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Good thread this.

With the exception of "Plastic Ono Band", which in it's own way is one of the most remarkable rock records ever, Lennon's solo output is very, very patchy. Last years reissue campaign seem to throw some weight behind "Walls and Bridges"; Yoko gave it about 30 mentions in the Signature box set and tried to suggest it was some kind of lost classic but apart from the blissful "Bless You" it really is typical of much of Lennon's solo stuff, lazy, unfocused, half hearted and just plain dull in parts. Lennon himself knew this, his 5 year break was as much about this as it was his newborn son. "Double Fantasy" I actually quite like, there's a domestic warmth to it which, while some could see as Macca-esq schmaltz, comes across as pretty genuine to me. He had a couple of world beaters in the wings to "Grow Old with Me" would've been a romantic standard and "I don't wanna face it" bristles with a new wave energy McCartney couldn't hope to recreate by this stage in his career.
Harrison is for me, where much of the real bilge lies. Yes "All Things Must Past" is very good, but after that there is very, very little of worth until cloud 9. "Gone Troppo" and "Dark Horse" are particular nadirs. "Cloud 9" has dated somewhat, mostly due to the horrible Jeff Lynne production, but there's some excellent songs, the aforementioned "When we was Fab" is all the more remarkable when you consider it came from the Beatle least willing to look back.
McCartney is peerless for me. Only "Wild Life" nad "Press to Play" are real stinkers, and "..Play" has the shimmering "Pretty Little Head" complete with wet Trig from Only Fools video. McCartney is a warm folk filled delight, band on the Run is arguably the most complete Beatles solo album of them all, "Ram" at times fizzles with invention, "Tug of War" is staggering work, as is 2005's "Chaos and Creation". His solo work is full of glistening pop gems waiting to be rediscoverd.
Ah, I give in....

[Outside Agent]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Both Lennon & McCartney's immediate post-Beatles work is of really good quality. Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are fine albums, with some fucking brilliant tracks in there (Isolation, Jealous Guy, How), and McCartney, Ram and Band On The Run are great listens. So, for me, it ends around 1973, because the output from both after that, with the exception of Wings At The Speed Of Sound, is pretty lame.

[historyman]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Joe Wiz wrote:

Harrison is for me, where much of the real bilge lies. Yes "All Things Must Past" is very good, but after that there is very, very little of worth until cloud 9. "Gone Troppo" and "Dark Horse" are particular nadirs. "Cloud 9" has dated somewhat, mostly due to the horrible Jeff Lynne production,

Which is a shame, because Jeff Lynne was and is a very talented musician and producer.

It's the same with ELO - so much of their material sounds horribly dated because of his production, in particular the backing vocals.

[G-Man]

Greatest Post-Beatles songs

Joe Wiz wrote:

Last years reissue campaign seem to throw some weight behind "Walls and Bridges"; Yoko gave it about 30 mentions in the Signature box set and tried to suggest it was some kind of lost classic but apart from the blissful "Bless You" it really is typical of much of Lennon's solo stuff, lazy, unfocused, half hearted and just plain dull in parts.

"Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out" is the stand-out track on Walls & Bridges, and one of the best Lennon solo songs.

Agree on Double Fantasy. Lennon's half is very good. Once I became a father, I began to love even the one song I had never really rated, "Beautiful Boy".