It only took a few days of the Get Back project for George to lose any real optimism he may have entered it with. Malaise, indecision, and ego had been building for a while, and as they took root in the project, George took to pen to put down his feelings towards his song-writing bandmates’ (and humanity in general’s) egos and selfishness, the minor key “I Me Mine.” In the end, the track only features the lineup that would go on in the 90s to be coined The Threetles, as John was on holiday and a...
Nov 15, 2022•57 min•Season 5Ep. 9
By the time of Beatles for Sale at the end of '64, the band were exhausted, overworked, and for good reason. They'd been working nonstop for YEARS with a schedule that most artists would shudder at. While their previous album had been their first of all originals, this time, the tank was a bit lower than before, and the band had to revert back to covers they'd been doing since the Cavern and Hamburg days. Even though they may have been tired, they pulled out a fiery cover of Little Richard's ver...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Note: This episode was originally taped several days before the release of "Got To Get You Into My Life (Second Version/Unnumbered Mix)" from the upcoming Revolver Super Deluxe reissue. We reconvened several days after that track's release to discuss the alternate version, and how it not only compares to the original, but how it changes our perceptions of the track. That conversation has been added to the end of our ranking discussion. One of the defining traits of Revolver is the vast differenc...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 52 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Following the flower power vibes of 1967, 1968 found the Beatles diving into transcendental meditation, looking inward, and grounding themselves back to the real world around them, which was getting pretty tumultuous. A back-to-basics vibe that was moving through the music scene, combined with John's growing want to speak his mind on current events (aided by the artistic awakening he was experiencing with his new girlfriend, Yoko Ono), lead to the creation of "Revolution 1," a slow bluesy shuffl...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 6
The yin and yang of Lennon and McCartney are rarely so perfectly on display as they are in the chorus of "Getting Better." Paul's eternal optimist, "I've got to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time" runs right up against the sardonic side of John: "It can't get no worse." On this Sgt. Pepper tune, they find meld an upbeat, bouncy melody with darker, quite self-aware lyrics about the worst parts of one's personality, and the human want to better one's self when love is involved...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Perhaps the ultimate song written for the purpose of playing it on a beat up old acoustic at a party so you can meet girls (apologies for that run on sentence), "Michelle" was written by Paul back in 1959 for just that purpose. You can easily imagine him brooding in a smokey corner, wearing a turtle neck, and singing an early version of this tune. It get shined up and completed for inclusion on 1965's Rubber Soul, and has become a much-loved, though often maligned Macca classic. I think it's got...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 4
If there was any inclination the Fab Four were down to “expand their minds,” by the time Revolver came around, there was very little second guessing. The sounds are out there, backwards, mystical. And on "Dr. Robert," what might have been a nudge and wink previously is now just a punch in the face: THESE GUYS TAKE DRUGS. Whether it’s autobiographical or a character piece though, it’s a fantastic mind movie, where the band paint a great picture sonically of the good Doctor, while John’s vocal mov...
Sep 21, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 3
If ever a Paul song fit the oft-used descriptor of “jaunty,” it’s “ Good Day Sunshine. ” A tune written during the Revolver sessions, it’s one of the sunnier moments on an album that sees a bit of a darker side of the Beatles than we’d seen before. It’s maybe not the weightiest thing he’s ever done, but it’s amazing how Paul has the ability to soundtrack human emotions so easily; the song really has the bounce and light and fun of new love and a beautiful day. It’s the part of the ying and yang,...
Sep 13, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 2
The break's over friends! We've missed you all, but we're tanned, rested, and ready to rank! Well, actually we're still quite pasty (Jonathan especially), we're still always tired, but we're definitely ready to get back to the business of ranking! To say the Beatles were working hard in 1964 is more than an understatement. Tours, bbc sessions, t.v. appearances, movies, recording sessions, sometimes multiple of these things in the same day...yeah, it was a lot. So in this situation, one would may...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Season 5Ep. 1
We've been on a break between seasons, but being Paul McCartney's 80th birthday, we felt we wanted to contribute our little part to the conversation and global love fest. When our friend and previous guest, musician Sean Nelson reached out and asked if we wanted to chat about our favorite Paul songs, it seemed the perfect way to do so. There's certainly no shortage of words being written to sing his praise, but to us, the best way to show our appreciation is with his music. What can be said that...
Jun 18, 2022•2 hr 39 min
“If you tried to give rock and roll a different name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry." - John Lennon To say Chuck Berry was influential on the Beatles would be an understatement. They covered more of his songs during their career than any other artist, and "Roll Over Beethoven" was in their live set all the way back in 1957. So when recording their 2nd album, With The Beatles, in 1963, and having a bit more say on what songs they would record, it's not surprising they went with paying tribute to...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 10
It’s interesting to think that in 12 months the Beatles had gone from recording almost an entire album in one day, to showing up at EMI’s Abbey Road studio with songs half complete. But by the spring of 1964, needing to finish their 3rd album (which would accompany their first film), that’s just what they did with John’s “Any Time At All.” Coming up with an inventive instrumental bridge in the studio, and a cracking arrangement, the band, George Martin, and the EMI production staff turn in an in...
Apr 12, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Riding a serious creative hot streak in 1967, Paul was inspired by the "mystery tour" trips of his younger years, a bus trip to an unknown destination, and developed an idea for a film version of that, starring the Beatles. Of course, being the psychedelic year of 1967, it'd be magical, a Magical Mystery Tour . In needing a theme song or fanfare for the project, not dissimilar to what the band needed for the Sgt. Pepper album a few months prior, the band put together a bombastic track, with rock...
Mar 29, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 4Ep. 8
It's no secret that John Lennon was often trying to fill the hole left his parents' absence. His need of a father figure had definite impacts on his relationships with men his senior and of perceived power, like Brian Epstein and George Martin. The same could be said about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Once turned on to his teaching, John immediately dove into his teachings of transcendental meditation and was eager to study at his ashram. Stories (along with video and pictures) show John jockeying for...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 7
OK WE'RE FINALLY HERE!! Let's get down to it. During the creation of the White Album as tensions built among the ranks of the Beatles, the members often found themselves working on their own tracks in different studios, sometimes bringing in other members as needed, or working by themselves. While John and Ringo tended to a mix session for Revolution 9, which Paul hadn't been a part of, Paul was in another studio overseeing overdubs on his own "Mother Nature's Son." Following work on that tune, ...
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Season 4Ep. 6
After enjoying the anonymity of traveling incognito during the Beatles 1966 post-touring break, Paul came up with the idea of creating alter ego for The Beatles as a band, allowing them the freedom to do whatever they wanted, without the weight of the Beatles name attached. Once the project began with that idea in mind, he (along with Beatles' tour manager and assistant Mal Evans) wrote what would essentially be the intro, fanfare, and title track of the album of same name for Sgt. Pepper's Lone...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 51 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Even after conquering the world and experiencing the highest highs celebrity had maybe ever known, by summer 1964 John found himself at odds with the public persona he'd been living with. After a journalist told him he felt John was more revealing in his offbeat poetry and prose than in his music, and with a little help from their new friend Bob Dylan and the party supplies he turned them on to, John began looking inward more than he had previously on the band's 4th lp, Beatles for Sale . The al...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Written in Hamburg at the end of 1962, and inspired by a very early memory of his mother, "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" is a John tune given to George (or maybe a John & Paul tune written specifically for George, depending on who's telling the story) to sing on their debut album. It's genetic make up is a bit all over there place...a dash of Disney, a pinch of Spanish soap opera dramatics, a hint of a band called The Stereos, and just a kiss of the doo-wah-doos. It makes for a perfectly pl...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 3
On the A Hard Day's Night album, John is absolutely on fire creatively, and at his most prolific. Tossed off on vacation, possibly as a tribute to Del Shannon's "Runaway," "I'll Be Back" is an oft-overlooked song deserving of way more attention than it usually gets. It's unique in that on a really upbeat album, it serves as a darker closer than one would expect. It features really smart 3 part harmonies that only serve to add to a real maturity found on this track. With the song's journey tracke...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Guess who's back? It's your old pals at Ranking The Beatles! It's 2022, and we're back for Season 4, with new episodes and ready to rank more Beatles songs. We're starting this season off by looking at a track the boys recorded because Capitol Records wanted a couple of new songs to tack onto yet another cobbled together American release. So the boys reached back into their Cavern/Hamburg bag of tricks, and dusted off a few belters by (fellow New Orleanian) Larry Williams . They liked the end re...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In honor of the late Michael Nesmith , we wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the man, his art, his amazing life journey, and the impact it's had on us. His career will always be somewhat intertwined in the Beatles story as a member of the Monkees, a tv show about a band, created in the image of the Beatles, so we think it's not too far a stretch to do this in the confines of a Beatles podcast. To say his music plays a big role in our lives would be saying the bare minimum. Our lives ha...
Dec 17, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Written during his house-husband years in the late 1970s, John wrote "Real Love" as part of a planned musical about his and Yoko's life. Despite demoing it a number of times, he didn't record it for his Double Fantasy album in 1980. The song was given a new life though when it was chosen by the remaining Beatles as a song to work on for the Anthology project, eventually making it's home as the second "new" Beatles song associated with the landmark project. It's the more uptempo of the two, and s...
Dec 14, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Imagine a world where your favorite band could release a new album, and a double-A side single with two songs not from that album on the same day. That's exactly what happened when The Beatles released Rubber Soul along side the double-A sided "We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper" single. Paul's side featured a relatively autobiographical tale of ongoing relationship woes with his long time girlfriend Jane Asher. Paul's verses are pleading with her to just understand and see things the way he sees th...
Dec 07, 2021•58 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Y'ALL. HOW GOOD IS GET BACK? We're absolutely reeling over this masterpiece docuseries. There's so much to absorb, so much to learn, so much to love. It's going to take many, many, many more viewings to take it all in. We were delighted when our pod pals Tommy, Scotty and Becker from Blotto Beatles invited us to join them online for a conversation with more pod pals, Sam from Paul or Nothing, Allison and Erika of BC The Beatles, and Ethan of Fans on the Run at the end of release weekend to talk ...
Nov 30, 2021•2 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 13
It's hard to imagine any other band in history who could pull off recording an album that contains both a genre-defying acid journey like "Tomorrow Never Knows," and full-on children's song like "Yellow Submarine," but that's exactly what the Beatles pulled off on their 1966 album Revolver . In needing a customary Ringo track, Paul, with help from John (as well as Donovan), managed to come up with the perfect vehicle for Ringo's "jovial uncle" persona, while also creating a song that embodied th...
Nov 30, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Not many bands in history could, within the space of a few days, go from recording the genre-bending "Strawberry Fields Forever" to the genre-specific "When I'm 64." Then again, not many bands are...The Beatles. Written by Paul at the ripe old age of FOURTEEN, and frequently utilized as a way to kill time when stage power blew at the Casbah or Cavern Club, this jazzy, music hall number may seem worlds apart from the preceding "Within You Without You," but on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 11
By 1966, The Beatles, particular George Harrison, are growing in all sorts of ways. George is living out the most incredible life experiences, immersing himself in eastern religion and culture, and truly blossoming as a songwriter. For the first time, he gets three songs on the band's new album Revolver , and on " I Want To Tell You" , he's letting the listener know that there's so much he's seen and learned that he wants to relay, only, he can't find the right way to do it. The frustration turn...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 3Ep. 10
By the time The Beatles were writing songs for their first film A Hard Day's Night, John was absolutely on fire. "Tell Me Why," a song he went on to consider as nothing more than a throwaway, was a song he seemed to be able to just toss off with no problem at this point in time, absolutely on top of his game. But what comes off as a perfect slice of early Beatle songcraft may actually have way more meaning than what it seems on the surface, and this meaning may be one that appears way more regul...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Season 3Ep. 9
After George's infamous walk-out during the Get Back/Let It Be session, his return was one of several conditions. He insisted the band move from Twickenham to their own Apple Studio, the idea of the big live show/tv program had to go, and he pulled almost all of his songs from consideration. After spending the winter holidays in the US with Bob Dylan and the Band and other musician pals, he was keenly aware that his songwriting had reached the same level of John and Paul. Songs like "Hear Me Lor...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Season 3Ep. 8
*NOTE - Audio has been corrected! Apologies!* There's no shortage of songs in the Beatles' catalog in which the listener can project their own lives and stories into the lyrics. A song complaining about being on the short end of bad publishing deal may not be one of those songs, but that's just what "Only A Northern Song" is. George's first attempt at a track for Sgt. Pepper is a droney, somewhat monotone diatribe about the needlessness of writing lyrics with meaning, or singing a song in tune, ...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 3Ep. 7
