Best Songs By Former Beatles

     When I was trying to come up with ideas for Sound Mind's 100th post one idea had been to list the 100 best songs by former Beatles. Piece of cake. However, when I actually sat down to do it I was hard pressed to compile 60. Had I spent several days listening to all their deep cuts I probably could have found 100, but that would have been too much like work. For some reason, my obsession with the Fab Four has not extended to their post-Beatles music. When I was younger, John Lennon was my favorite Beatle. In college, I had to write an essay about the person who I most admired and I chose John Lennon. As of this writing, I own none of his studio albums. I had Double Fantasy on cassette when it came out, but it was eaten by my tape player (by the way, I lost all my cassettes in our recent basement flood). All I have is the Lennon Legend collection. I don't own any Ringo at all. Technically, all of our George Harrison albums are my wife's, not mine. And most of my McCartney is Wings. The funny thing about Paul is I bought that McCartney Years DVD box set and I had never seen most of those videos or even heard those songs. That's almost unbelievable, because I spent most of the 80's watching MTV. It's also interesting that even though Lennon and McCartney are the greatest songwriters of the 20th Century, they are responsible for two of the worst Christmas songs of all-time. At any rate, after going through the exercise of trying to come up with 100 songs I realized that John, Paul, George and especially Ringo have recorded hundreds of songs that I've never heard. I feel like I've been negligent and intend to make amends. It's actually an exciting prospect to really dig into their entire catalogs.
     For my "Best Songs By Former Beatles" list, I decided to go with the Top 20, with a few comments as I go. I have to mention up front that I screwed over George a bit. I didn't include "Got My Mind Set On You" because it's a cover and "Handle With Care" because it ended up being a Traveling Wilbury's song. However, they are great songs.

1) What is Life- I decided to make this #1 because All Things Must Pass is the best post-Beatles album and it's always been one of my favorite songs.

2) Maybe I'm Amazed- Brilliant song that arguably is #1.

3) Working Class Hero- Angry Lennon at his best.

4) All Things Must Pass- This will be played at my funeral.

5) Jealous Guy

6) Jet

7) It Don't Come Easy- Great song and I had to get Ringo in the Top 10.

8) Band On The Run

9) Venus and Mars / Rock Show- "In my green metal suit I'm preparing to shoot up the city". Classic!

10) Junior's Farm- I know it's not a "great" song, but I love it.

11) Photograph- Ringo and George!

12) Blow Away

13) Nobody Told Me- "most peculiar mama, whoa". One of my favorite lines just because it's goofy.

14) When We Was Fab- Great song and video.

15) Instant Karma

16) Take It Away

17) Helen Wheels- Awesome jam and clever word play.

18) Live And Let Die

19) Mrs. Vandebilt

20) Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey- I'm counting this as one song like Venus and Mars / Rock Show. It probably should have been higher on the list, but it's in the Top 20. I love the part where Paul says "Butter Pie". Then Linda incredulously asks "Butter Pie?" Then Paul replies "The butter wouldn't melt, so I put it in the pie." Nothing brilliant, just goofy fun. It's the only time I welcome the involvement of one of their wives in their music. That's the great thing about George and Ringo; they kept their spouses out of their music.

Honorable Mention: Magneto and Titanium Man, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, Silly Love Songs, Too Many People, Young Boy, #9 Dream, Whatever Gets You Through The Night, Watching The Wheels, My Sweet Lord, All Those Years Ago, Beware Of Darkness, Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp, Wah-Wah.

     Obviously, I recommend these songs to my kids and I hope they explore the Beatles' solo albums as well. Peace.