The reasons for yet another Beatles playlist are:
- We saw Ringo and the All Star Band last week, as Dave scored last-minute tickets.
- My Fab Four segment was on The Beatles Channel today!
- I am consistently in disagreement with other fans on social media as to what the worst track is per album - so I will defend a song, if need be.
- Finally, I know I wrote a blog piece 10 years ago as to what my least favorite Beatles songs are, and I'd be interested to know how my taste changed.
I'll do it British album by British album, a moot point by the time we hit Sgt. Pepper.
Please Please Me
Worst: There's a Place - harmonies don't work, they sound garbled. Paul hits a couple bum notes as well.
Defending: Boys - it's an enthusiastic vocal by Ringo, you can feel it in his gut and his throat. Plus, it's uniquely Starr Time, a song he has sung since 1960, "Before The Lads," when he was with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
With the Beatles
Worst: All I've Got to Do - sandwiched between It Won't Be Long and All My Loving it's weak in comparison.
Defending: Don't Bother Me - George's first song sets a moody blueprint for the quiet Beatle, writing about having a cold. I love the shuffle, the guitar, and echo-y vocals that sound like he's shouting into a can.
A Hard Day's Night
Worst: When I Get Home - weak sauce from Lennon.
Defending: I'll Cry Instead - awesome sauce from Lennon.
Beatles for Sale
Worst: Words of Love - I get that it's a remake, but I feel like it didn't suit them. John felt stuffed in a sweet box.
Defending: Mr. Moonlight - I think I'm defending a previously hated, but points to make: John's vocals are on fire, the harmonies are stellar, and Ringo can drum any song into respectability.
Help!
Worst: You Like Me Too Much - sorry George, not this time.
Defending: It's Only Love - I glossed over the version of this song on the album as too slick and coy, but the version on Anthology 2 with simple delivery and acoustic guitar brings out the intimate charm.
Rubber Soul
Worst: What Goes On - Ringo's turn to get scolded. It's a little too country to be folk, a little too folk to be country, and the delivery is almost as if there's a joke we need to be in on.
Defending: Run for Your Life - oh lord did I hate this song. Then one day driving in the car, I had some sort of all-female band of superheroes fantasy where this song was an empowering call to action. At one point, I imagined an old lady using knitting needles in some sort of fight to save the world. A mom in a minivan with peeling paint outdriving the bad guys. Figure skates as weapons.
Revolver
Worst: Nothing. I have no hate for this album.
Defending: Yellow Submarine - I've seen arguments that this song put Ringo firmly in the novelty/kid's song category, but man, go to an All-Star show and see everyone sing along and then come back and complain. I think I've mentioned it before, being in the presence of a bachelor party at a baseball game, drunks belting it out at the top of their lungs - it was a beautiful thing.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Worst: She's Leaving Home - I'm stretching to find something bad to say, so I find the drama of the strings to be a bit much.
Defending: Good Morning, Good Morning - I don't get the hate for this. Ringo's drumming is awesome, the horns are fat, and John is actually cheerful about waking up in the morning. Plus, it's one of the few moments the Beatles let their music be used by someone else, see Great Frodis Caper, the last episode of The Monkees TV series.
Magical Mystery Tour
Worst: Your Mother Should Know - dance hall Paul. Still, they all looked pretty great in their white tuxes.
Defending: Blue Jay Way - first, it is part of the whole psychedelic movement of the time. And it's classic George singing about a moment in time when friends got lost trying to visit him.
The White Album
Worst: Piggies - I can't STAND this song. Classic George bitching about the establishment.
Defending: Revolution #9 - Will thinks it's hilarious. If you are stuck in the car and want to examine it closely, there's some cool, weird shit in there. Still, it's not high on my playlist.
Yellow Submarine
Worst: There's not enough here to warrant a worst.
Defending: George Martin film score side. I, at one time, contemplated skating a bronze free skate to Sea of Holes.
Abbey Road
Worst: Her Majesty - you take a deeply profound way to end a record with The End, then you drop this ditty 30 seconds later? Damn you Paul.
Defending: Sun King - which is one of the online arguments that compelled me to write this in the first place. Those lush vocals! Made up Spanish! Dreamy lyrics about the King of France! Its very inclusion on the epic side two of Abbey Road makes it an essential track - you can't jump from You Never Give Me Your Money to Mean Mr. Mustard, it's just not done.
Let it Be
Worst: There's some weak material, but nothing that makes me want it banished from the album. I think of this as the Beatles garage band record and watching the Get Back documentary, it was.
Defending: I've seen plenty of grousing about the short jams Dig It and Maggie Mae, but they serve as transitions from I Me Mine to Let It Be to I've Got a Feeling. Leave them.
Past Masters Vol. 1
Worst: Yes It Is - I still hate it.
Defending: Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand und Sie Liebt Dich - these are the German versions of She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand. Having now housed two German exchange students, the look of recognition on their faces while playing these tracks is pretty joyful.
Past Masters Vol. 2
Worst: You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) - I always skip it, although it is a snicker to hear John welcome me to Slaggers.
Defending: Everything is pretty solid, so nothing to defend here.
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