The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[cobl04]

White Album Rushmore?

While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Dear Prudence / Rocky Raccoon / Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey

Geez there's so many good songs on it.

 

[prbiker15]

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da / While My Guitar Gently Weeps / Blackbird / Dear Prudence

Looking forward to it.

 

[lazarus]

This is Lennon's best album so I can barely make any room for Macca, let alone Harrison:

Happiness is a Warm Gun/Dear Prudence/Julia/Rocky Raccoon


Julia is maybe the most personal song he wrote before he went solo and it's beyond heartbreaking. If Harrison's Not Guilty had made the cut it would be a contender here. I blame Paul for keeping it off the album because he's a controlling asshole, but who knows, maybe John was also to blame.

 

[cobl04]

lololol so predictable. McCartney kills it on the White Album. Back in the USSR, Martha My Dear, Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Birthday, Mother Nature's Son, Helter Skelter, I Will and Do it in the Road is great too.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I'm So Tired
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Rocky Raccoon
Sexy Sadie

Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence would probably come in 5th and 6th for me. Guitar Gently Weeps and Blackbird and Julia and Glass Onion and Cry Baby Cry and fuck ranking the Beatles is really hard don't make me do it again.

 

[namkcuR]

Ranking the Beatles is near impossible. But my White Album rushmore is probably...

While My Guitar Gently Weeps(The best song on the album)
Blackbird
Dear Prudence
Helter Skelter
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
(impossible to eliminate one of those)

(with Glass Onion, I Will, Long Long Long, Ob-la-di Ob-la-da, Mother Nature's Son, Rocky Raccoon, Julia, and Good Night also in contention)

Also, if Hey Jude and the electric Revolution had been on the album, they'd rank high too. Jude would be on the Rushmore.

But on the whole, as much as I love the White Album, I can't agree with Laz's assertion that it's their best. Abbey Road is always #1 for me(and I know Laz strongly disagrees with that). I've always thought there was something breathtaking about it - how after all the chaos and bad blood during the White Album and the Get Back sessions, this beautiful, perfectly-cohesive swan song - their most 'studio' project since Sgt Pepper/MMT - rose from the ashes. Starting with the immortal Come Together bassline and ending with 'and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make'. Just perfect.

Also, as far as best John album, I don't think that's the White Album either. I'd give the nod to Revolver(I'm Only Sleeping/And Your Bird Can Sing/She Said She Said/Doctor Robert/Tomorrow Never Knows/non-album track Rain), and I might even put Rubber Soul(Norwegian Wood/Nowhere Man/Girl/In My Life) above WA in that regard. And if Strawberry Fields had been on Sgt. Pepper, that might get the nod(Lucy In The Sky, Being For The Benefit, Strawberry Fields, Day In The Life).

 

[LemonMelon]

Dear Prudence
Blackbird
Helter Skelter
Long, Long, Long

The White Album isn't even close to being their best as far as I'm concerned, but it's obviously amazing like nearly everything else they released after 1964.

 

[lazarus]

lololol so predictable. McCartney kills it on the White Album. Back in the USSR, Martha My Dear, Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Birthday, Mother Nature's Son, Helter Skelter, I Will and Do it in the Road is great too.

I didn't say Paul's stuff wasn't good, merely that the album featured Lennon at his best. I enjoy all the songs you mentioned above. But Paul shines considerably brighter on Abbey Road, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's.

Also, as far as best John album, I don't think that's the White Album either. I'd give the nod to Revolver(I'm Only Sleeping/And Your Bird Can Sing/She Said She Said/Doctor Robert/Tomorrow Never Knows/non-album track Rain), and I might even put Rubber Soul(Norwegian Wood/Nowhere Man/Girl/In My Life) above WA in that regard. And if Strawberry Fields had been on Sgt. Pepper, that might get the nod(Lucy In The Sky, Being For The Benefit, Strawberry Fields, Day In The Life).

Those lists all have good runs but it's hard to compete with the sheer volume when you're as consistently great as Lennon is:

Dear Prudence
Glass Onion
Happiness is a Warm Gun
I'm So Tired
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something To Hide...
Sexy Sadie
Revolution 1
Cry Baby Cry
Good Night

Now, leaving off the divisive Bungalow Bill and Revolution 9, both of which I enjoy, that's a ridiculous lineup right there, stylistically diverse and not a bum track among them. Is there a song here as great as Strawberry Fields or A Day in the Life? Probably not but I think it's his best overall contribution, which may be unfair because of the album's length but I'm just impressed more by the range of what he had to offer.

Also:

Harrison: "I mainly listen to Side One, which I like very much." *(there are 4 Lennon songs on Side One, only 1 George, and 2 Paul)

Lennon: "I keep saying that I always preferred the double album, because my music is better on the double album...because I'm being myself on it"

Ringo: "As a band member, I always felt the White Album was better than Sgt. Pepper because by the end it was more like a real group again."

I'm So Tired
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Rocky Raccoon
Sexy Sadie

^^ This guy gets it.

 

[DaveC]

while my guitar gently weeps
dear prudence
yer blues
happiness is a warm gun

honourable mention:

 

[iron yuppie]

Curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.


One of my favorite Beatles lines.

 

[iron yuppie]

Also, as far as best John album, I don't think that's the White Album either. I'd give the nod to Revolver(I'm Only Sleeping/And Your Bird Can Sing/She Said She Said/Doctor Robert/Tomorrow Never Knows/non-album track Rain)

Agreed on this. Those Revolver tracks are another level of awesome.

 

[cobl04]

Curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.


One of my favorite Beatles lines.

White Album is STACKED with songs that are soooo much fun to sing along to because of great lines.

Glass Onion ("tryna make a dovetail joint yeah"), Rocky Raccoon all the way through.

 

[lazarus]

Curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.

One of my favorite Beatles lines.

It's "get", not "git". Which isn't a misprint, and various Liverpudlians have verified its slang usage.

 

[lazarus]

Geoff Emerick, Beatles Chief Recording Engineer, Dies at 72

rip

 

[iron yuppie]

It's "get", not "git". Which isn't a misprint, and various Liverpudlians have verified its slang usage.

How about that. Apparently it comes from "misbegotten."

 

[iron yuppie]

Glass Onion / I'm So Tired / Happiness Is a Warm Gun / Helter Skelter


Ob La Di is one of my least fav Beatles songs though.

 

[Hewson]

Back in the U.S.S.R.
Glass Onion
Yer Blues
Helter Skelter

 

[the tourist]

Dear Prudence (some of my favorite drums on any Beatles song)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
I’m So Tired
Julia

Insanely difficult to leave out Glass Onion, Good Night (which I sing to my kids at bedtime fairly often), Mother Nature’s Son, and Sexy Sadie.

Damn what a great album!

 

[DaveC]

Dear Prudence (some of my favorite drums on any Beatles song)

i already put dear prudence on my white album rushmore so clearly i love that song but for me ringo's #1 track is rain (tomorrow never knows being #2).

i'm currently reading bob spitz's excellent beatles biography (just about to the point where they record love me do for the first time and sack pete best). extremely highly recommended - there's a ton of detail especially about the liverpool days of the band that you can't find anywhere else. for me it's great because it's broken down into small discrete sections in short chapters, which is excellent for reading on the streetcar during my commute.

 

[the tourist]

Without listening to transitions, I'd do something like this on paper:

1. Back In The USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
5. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
6. Blackbird
7. Martha My Dear
8. Piggies
9. Rocky Raccoon
10. Mother Nature's Son
11. Julia

1. Birthday
2. Everybody's Got Something To Hide
3. Sexy Sadie
4. Helter Skelter
5. Long Long Long
6. I'm So Tired
7. Revolution
8. Savoy Truffle
9. Cry Baby Cry
10. Hey Jude
11. Good Night

8 Paul songs, 9 John songs, 4 George songs, 1 Ringo song.

There are a few differences in my current White Album playlist, but it’s close to the same.

1. Back In The USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
6. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
7. Blackbird
8. Martha My Dear
9. Piggies
10. Rocky Raccoon
11. I Will
12. Julia

1. Birthday
2. Everybody's Got Something To Hide
3. Sexy Sadie
4. Mother Nature’s Son
5. Helter Skelter
6. Long Long Long
7. I'm So Tired
8. Revolution [Single Version]
9. Savoy Truffle
10. Cry Baby Cry
11. Hey Jude
12. Good Night

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Long Long Long has never really clicked with me because of the way it was recorded. It always felt so quiet. I can't even hear that shit. And I wish I could, I love George as a songwriter.

I'm sure the remasters have cleaned it up and all that but I'm still rocking with the CD version of the White Album I've owned since I was in high school.

 

[cobl04]

Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers, White Album and Abbey Road remain the only Beatles albums I've heard.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Cool story, bro.

 

[the tourist]

Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers, White Album and Abbey Road remain the only Beatles albums I've heard.

Fix that. Those early albums are short.

 

[cobl04]

But they're also filled with throwaway saccharine pop songs like All My Loving that do nothing for me at all.

I get that statement is going to make people angry but I've never liked that sound. That's why I don't like early Who, either.

 

[LemonMelon]

All My Loving is fantastic. Great pop is great pop, even if there's less experimentation or sonic ambition involved.

I actually just listened to A Hard Day's Night for the first time in ages and was blown away all over again by the sophistication of the chord progressions.

 

[lazarus]

There are a few differences in my current White Album playlist, but it’s close to the same.

1. Back In The USSR
2. Dear Prudence
3. Glass Onion
4. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
6. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
7. Blackbird
8. Martha My Dear
9. Piggies
10. Rocky Raccoon
11. I Will
12. Julia

1. Birthday
2. Everybody's Got Something To Hide
3. Sexy Sadie
4. Mother Nature’s Son
5. Helter Skelter
6. Long Long Long
7. I'm So Tired
8. Revolution [Single Version]
9. Savoy Truffle
10. Cry Baby Cry
11. Hey Jude
12. Good Night

I'm not saying there's not any filler on The White Album, but cutting 6 songs still seems like too much to me.

I'd get rid of Savoy Truffle, but replace it with Not Guilty. Wild Honey Pie and regular Honey Pie can disappear. I like Ringo's track and would keep it, plus the little saloon piano flows perfectly from Rocky Raccoon. Revolution 9 is pretty groundbreaking and while I'm not always in the mood for it I think it's an important thing to have on there. Why Don't We Do It is one of the best things Paul ever recorded, and its excited vocal isn't forced like it is Oh Darling and Helter Skelter. And cutting Yer Blues? Jesus.

Long Long Long has never really clicked with me because of the way it was recorded. It always felt so quiet. I can't even hear that shit. And I wish I could, I love George as a songwriter.

I have the remasters and I'm still not able to connect with it. It's pretty but just too slight for me.

Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Peppers, White Album and Abbey Road remain the only Beatles albums I've heard.

Fix that. Those early albums are short.

All My Loving is fantastic. Great pop is great pop, even if there's less experimentation or sonic ambition involved.

I actually just listened to A Hard Day's Night for the first time in ages and was blown away all over again by the sophistication of the chord progressions.

What's with all the young Beatles recommendations? None of those pre-Rubber Soul albums are more essential than Let It Be.

But they're also filled with throwaway saccharine pop songs like All My Loving that do nothing for me at all.

I get that statement is going to make people angry but I've never liked that sound. That's why I don't like early Who, either.

Cobbler, don't be ashamed. There are some great early tracks but go forward and fill in that blind spot before going back. Original version, Naked version, whatever.

Two of Us
Dig A Pony
Let It Be
Across the Universe
I've Got a Feeling
The Long and Winding Road
I Me Mine
One After 909

And actually, more important than that, if you haven't heard Past Masters, particularly Vol. 2, that should be the #1 priority. More great songs on that than most Beatles albums. Prob my second most-played after The White Album. These aren't just B-sides but some essential A-sides that aren't on studio albums:

Day Tripper
We Can Work It Out
Paperback Writer
Rain
Lady Madonna
Revolution
Hey Jude
Ballad of John and Yoko
Don't Let Me Down
Old Brown Shoe

 

[intedomine]

My Beatlerank exercise of two years ago, an attempt to rank all songs based on various factors, would make this my Rushmore:

Long Long Long
Martha My Dear
Piggies
Happiness is A Warm Gun

Feel that Dear Prudence and Savoy Truffle are two I might have included had I not done that Beatlerank.

The White Album is such a fun journey

 

[LemonMelon]

One could work through the Beatles' studio albums in a single day, so I don't really see the need in prioritizing anything. Just take a weekend and listen to the most important, influential rock discography of all time instead of whatever else you were going to listen to. Every single album is worthwhile and has at least 4-5 excellent songs on it.

 

[the tourist]

Yeah, I just suggested the early ones because they’re short and you could get through all 5 in less than the time it would take to watch 3 episodes of a show like Stranger Things.