April 16, 20241 yr I'm always surprised Ballad of John & Yoko isn't more appreciated. Yeah, it's pretty straightforward but it hasn't been overthought and is also probably the last time Lennon & McCartney really got on well.
April 17, 20241 yr Author 55th: 183 points Here, There And Everywhere FusIKjztap8 Voters: King Rollo 41 dandy* 31 Bjork 19 ben08 19 jimwatts 16 Jade 14 popchartfreak 12 WhoOdyssey 11 JulianT 11 danG 4 Roba. 3 Chez Wombat 2 Paul said “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys was an inspiration for this ballad included on “Revolver”. It’s a particularly atmospheric track with multi-tracking and layered backing vocals, and George’s strumming having been given an echo effect. A record 12 votes for this, but it suffered from most of its scores being low. Art Garfunkel singled this out as his favourite ever pop song, describing it as “intoxicating” and music that “perfumes the atmosphere”.
April 17, 20241 yr Ballad Of John & Yoko is def under-rated, though I'm biased as I still recall it being fresh and new and daring and a quick unexpected release right after Get Back was huge, and just before Plastic Ono Band's peace anthem, so John & Yoko were culturally centre-stage at this point in the Summer of '69, with the Bed-In and all that. It would have seemed highly unlikely if anyone had said this would be their final number one for 54 years (we had no idea what was going on behind the scenes)....
April 17, 20241 yr I think Here, There and Everywhere is really beautiful in its simplicity. It’s had some lovely cover versions over the years too.
April 17, 20241 yr It's a lovely song. I knew it before the listenthrough but wasn't that familiar with it.
April 17, 20241 yr was gonna say I hate Free as a bird with a passion and its a weak song and then I realised I did vote for it :D
April 17, 20241 yr Author 54th:191 points Eight Days A Week kle2xHhRHg4 Voters: …ready for it 48 Brer 32 WhoOdyssey 31 JulianT 30 Notorious D.O.T. 16 ben08 9 Severin 8 popchartfreak 7 steve201 6 Bjork 4 Included on the 1964 album “Beatles For Sale” this wasn’t a UK single but was a US #1, a record 7th for them in the space of a year. It was the first pop recording to begin with a fade-in. For me this is a joyous pop song, similar in mood to some of their 1963 singles but a step up in maturity.
April 17, 20241 yr Author 53rd: 196 points Get Back oI8Aw0IGM1I Chart run: {1}-1-1-1-1-1-2-5-6-18-21-26-27-33-36-47-45->17 Voters: danG 37 dandy* 26 …ready for it 25 Ben08 25 gooddelta 20 WhoOdyssey 19 Bjork 14 steve201 11 JulianT 8 popchartfreak 6 Severin 5 Credited to The Beatles With Billy Preston, this is the only time they featured another artist on a single thanks to the latter’s electric piano contribution. Until “Now And Then” it was their only track to debut at the top of the UK singles chart, and it’s one of the few tracks featuring John on lead guitar. It was included as the closing track on “Let It Be”. Stylistically the track is like an improvised blues jam, quite different to most Beatles records, and to some people’s taste more than others’.
April 17, 20241 yr Ballad Of John & Yoko is def under-rated, though I'm biased as I still recall it being fresh and new and daring and a quick unexpected release right after Get Back was huge, and just before Plastic Ono Band's peace anthem, so John & Yoko were culturally centre-stage at this point in the Summer of '69, with the Bed-In and all that. It would have seemed highly unlikely if anyone had said this would be their final number one for 54 years (we had no idea what was going on behind the scenes).... I do agree that Ballad... is underrated for sure. Was there no public hint whatsoever of the tensions in the band before the 1970 announcement from Paul then?
April 17, 20241 yr Eight Days A Week is a great one from their early stuff imo. I've never liked Get Back though, sorry.
April 18, 20241 yr Author 52nd: 204 points Taxman gMdcE8jdz70 Voters: jimwatts 38 …ready for it 27 Notorious D.O.T. 27 Jade 24 steve201 23 danG 19 Roba. 14 Chez Wombat 10 King Rollo 10 Brer 6 JulianT 5 gooddelta 1 This was written by George and included as the first track on “Revolver”. It’s a protest regarding the taxes faced by the band at the time, as their earnings made them liable for a 95% supertax (hence the line “There’s one for you, nineteen for me”). You can here the beginnings of Indian and psychedelic flavours in the guitar parts. Although this track was very much a joint effort by all the group, the fact that it had been led by George and was the opening track on their best received album to date certainly led to him being taken more notice of as a songwriter.
April 18, 20241 yr Author 51st: 209 points And I Love Her 9_c2XZd9mMo Voters: dandy* 44 danG 41 JulianT 34 …ready for it 23 Brer 18 ben08 17 King Rollo 12 Jade 10 popchartfreak 3 Bjork 3 Roba. 2 Severin 1 Chez Wombat 1 A 1964 track from “A Hard Day’s Night”, this ballad was a #12 hit in the US but not a UK single. It’s mainly a Paul ballad though John contributed to the middle 8 and George provided the guitar riff. It has been covered by various artists, including one by Kurt Cobain which was discovered and released in 2015.
April 18, 20241 yr I do agree that Ballad... is underrated for sure. Was there no public hint whatsoever of the tensions in the band before the 1970 announcement from Paul then? Not that I recall at all. I mostly remember get back being a big video exclusive and everyone getting excited about the concert on the roof, and then John & Yoko's bed-in which made headlines all over the world with older people tut tutting a lot about the state of the "daft boggers" and the double promos of Ballad Of John & Yoko and Give Peace A Chance. Paul's wedding made headlines, and writing Mary Hopkin's hit, and that was that really, it was all about John, the others not so much. First I heard of "trouble at mill" was reading about the split in the Daily Mirror! :o
April 18, 20241 yr Author 1962-1966 Disc 1) 1. Love Me Do 2. Please Please Me 3. I Saw Her Standing There 4. Twist And Shout 5. From Me To You 6. She Loves You 7. I Want To Hold Your Hand 8. This Boy 9. All My Loving 10. Roll Over Beethoven 11. You Really Got A Hold On Me 12. Can’t Buy Me Love 13. You Can’t Do That 14. A Hard Day’s Night 15. And I Love Her 16. Eight Days A Week 17. I Feel Fine 18. Ticket To Ride 19. Yesterday (1962-1966 Disc 2) 20. Help! 21. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away 22. We Can Work It Out 23. Day Tripper 24. Drive My Car 25. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 26. Nowhere Man 27. Michelle 28. In My Life 29. If I Needed Someone 30. Girl 31. Paperback Writer 32. Eleanor Rigby 33. Yellow Submarine 34. Taxman 35. Got To Get You Into My Life 36. I’m Only Sleeping 37. Here, There And Everywhere 38. Tomorrow Never Knows (1967-1970 Disc 1) 39. Strawberry Fields Forever 40. Penny Lane 41. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 42. With A Little Help From My Friends 43. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 44. Within You Without You 45. A Day In The Life 46. All You Need Is Love 47. I Am The Walrus 48. Hello, Goodbye 49. The Fool On The Hill 50. Magical Mystery Tour 51. Lady Madonna 52. Hey Jude 53. Revolution (1967-1970 Disc 2) 54. Back In The U.S.S.R. 55. Dear Prudence 56. While My Guitar Gently Weeps 57. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 58. Glass Onion 59. Blackbird 60. Hey Bulldog 61. Get Back 62. Don’t Let Me Down 63. The Ballad of John and Yoko 64. Old Brown Shoe 65. Here Comes The Sun 66. Come Together 67. Something 68. Octopus’s Garden 69. Oh! Darling 70. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) 71. Let It Be 72. Across The Universe 73. I Me Mine 74. The Long And Winding Road 75. Now And Then 90s Top 10 hits: 76. Baby It’s You 77. Free As A Bird 78. Real Love
April 18, 20241 yr Author Points left to give /1,275: 1 (1) gooddelta 1,195 2 (4) Roba. 1,192 3 (2) King Rollo 1,151 4 (7) Severin 1,147 5 (9) Chez Wombat 1,141 6 (10) Notorious D.O.T. 1,140 7 (6) steve201 1,133 8 (5) ben08 1,125 9 (11) popchartfreak 1,115 10 (12) Jade 1,106 11 (3) JulianT 1,104 12 (8) danG 1,099 13 (16) Bjork 1,081 14 (13) Brer 1,066 15 (14) dandy* 1,058 16 (15) jimwatts 1,051 17 (18) WhoOdyssey 985 18 (17) …ready for it 948
April 18, 20241 yr Not that I recall at all. I mostly remember get back being a big video exclusive and everyone getting excited about the concert on the roof, and then John & Yoko's bed-in which made headlines all over the world with older people tut tutting a lot about the state of the "daft boggers" and the double promos of Ballad Of John & Yoko and Give Peace A Chance. Paul's wedding made headlines, and writing Mary Hopkin's hit, and that was that really, it was all about John, the others not so much. First I heard of "trouble at mill" was reading about the split in the Daily Mirror! :o Cheers PCF, really interesting to be able to put these things into the context of the time. I suppose there was little to no precedent for groups splitting to all forge separate solo careers when they were still at the height of their commercial power back then so nobody would have been 'waiting' for them to split up.
April 18, 20241 yr I see I lost 'Here, There And Everywhere', 'Taxman' (was cool that Revolver inspired two #1s in 'Start!' and also 'Setting Sun') + 'And I Love Her' - I was expecting the latter to finish a little higher.
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