Opinions vary among Beatles fans, save for in regard to “Hey Jude." Paul said the song was his attempt to write a Little Richard number, but the result is something altogether weirder, a bracing herky-jerky love song at perfect odds with its barnstorming flipside ‘I Feel Fine’. Originally written by Paul McCartney to console John Lennon's son Julian over his parents' impending divorce, 'Hey Jude' is a huge-hearted, super-emotional epic that climaxes with one of pop's most legendary hooks. © 2021 Time Out England Limited and affiliated companies owned by Time Out Group Plc. We already have this email. Archived. Personally, I think it sounds like impending heartbreak – only with George Harrison standing nearby, clacking on the claves. Now, I’ll admit that I’ve stolen my share of Beatles licks, but around the turn of the Nineties, I got to co-write 12 songs with Paul McCartney and even dared to propose that he too reference some of the Beatles’ harmonic signatures — as, astonishingly, he had made up another musical vocabulary for Wings and during his solo career. Amy Smith, The band were approached in 1967 to create a song for 'Our World', the first live, global TV show, broadcast to 25 countries. Question. Close. Amy Smith, Early Beatles or late Beatles? © Copyright 2021 Rolling Stone, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. I’m interested is lesser known songs especially. In 1966 it must have sounded like the end of the world, or the start of a new one. Such is the raw, rock ’n’ roll energy behind the song, in fact, that when Macca belts out ‘I’m Down, I’m really down’, you can’t help thinking that this kid’s gonna be a-ok in the end. Their breakup album, Let It Be, contains songs both gorgeous and jagged. . This is the track to headbang to, a song to get hyped to and is widely recognised as one of the precursors to heavy metal. The stripped immediacy of this 'White Album' classic came from the band squeezing into a closet within Abbey Road studios, a throwback to the intimacy of their early Hamburg days, and you can hear the excitement from Paul, George and Ringo as they holler and yelp in the background. and so on, and so on. 2. Nick Levine, It starts with a growl, a ‘Goon Show’ voice counting in, then George smacks you in the face and we’re away. The majority of titles on this Top Ten Beatles Songs list are pre-‘Sgt. Chris Waywell, ‘The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. Prior to that, the people in show business from the north of England had all been comedians. However, our idea of the top 10 best Beatles songs of all time discussed above is a great place to start on a listening tour of this iconic rock and roll band. With that said, narrowing down their songs to just the best 10 is a tall order. Few people can resist the infectious lure of a good pop song, let alone 50 of the best. Of course, this subject matter makes it oddly topical again in the Brexit era, and its iconic guitar riff obviously hasn’t aged a day in 50 years. Try another? Originally recorded during the ‘Sgt Pepper…’ sessions, George Martin later decided to remove the track from the album along with ‘Penny Lane’, after releasing both songs as a double A-side. Well not exactly, partly because the form wasn’t quite invented yet in 1964 and partly because that’d be bloody horrible. Amy Smith, The second side of ‘Abbey Road’ is the most perfect thing The Beatles ever recorded: inspired by Brian Wilson’s experiments in sonic stitching, Paul created a rolling tapestry of burbling bass, guitar chimes and cosmic harmony, with the occasional spike of feedback, melody and guttural Scouse humour to keep the listener interested. Everyone has a favorite song by The Beatles… Most important, they always fit right into the arrangement. The Beatles influenced the course of popular music history, inspired countless rock and pop artists, and stole the hearts and minds of music fans all over the world. While Paul’s fresh, pleading voice lends a boyish innocence to the track, it is John’s flirting, deeper register that points to the band’s future transition away from teen heartthrobs. 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