Rolling Stone declares Greatest Beatles Songs

johnnysain · Post by **johnnysain** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:31 pm

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... d=11482340

Top 10 seems to short change McCartney as would be expected......

dbailey62 · Post by **dbailey62** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:43 pm

johnnysain wrote:http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... d=11482340

Top 10 seems to short change McCartney as would be expected......

How so?

Two John and Paul co-writes in one and two.
Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps for George.
Three for Paul and three for John.

It seems fair enough to me.

johnnysain · Post by **johnnysain** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:47 pm

I think even Paul would tell you 'A Day in the Life' is John's despite his own contribution. Plus it's not only the amount of mentions (and 90 will follow),...it's the 'ranking'.

What's strange is that the same magazine had 'Hey Jude' & 'Yesterday' as the Beatles 2 best 3 months ago.

http://recentissuetoday.com/entertainme ... -all-time/

I'm guessing this list is the perceived 'public view' while the new list is the 'Rolling Stone' view alone. Rolling Stone has always been a political magazine and Lennon was simply more of a political activist than Paul.

winston · Post by **winston** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:44 am

While My Guitar Gently Weeps at number 10? All I can say is.......... thank you George for one of the greatest songs ever written by anybody.

johnnysain · Post by **johnnysain** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:52 am

winston wrote:While My Guitar Gently Weeps at number 10? All I can say is.......... thank you George for one of the greatest songs ever written by anybody.

And Eric Clapton for his great solo......

antipodean · Post by **antipodean** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:03 am

Not another Beatles list.....

Must have been a slow week at Rolling Stone....

lennon211 · Post by **lennon211** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:39 am

I quit looking at Rolling Stone lists a long time ago. They seem to be operating under the belief that they must include a lot of newer stuff that, in most cases, is not worthy of the list, in order for the list to seem relevant and push their magazine. While this list won't have that, it will have the taint of their other lists struggling for legitimacy by compromising on quality.

manta · Post by **manta** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:41 am

Hear, hear. I second that emotion for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". A timeless masterpiece.

#10? I think not.

It should be in the top ten of all Rock songs.

Manta

Clint · Post by **Clint** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 10:07 am

johnnysain wrote:I think even Paul would tell you 'A Day in the Life' is John's despite his own contribution.

Well, then I would have a disagreement with Sir Paul about that. I think that middle bit is what makes the song the masterpiece that it has become. From the abrupt alarm clock intro to the line "Somebody spoke and I went into a dream" setting up Lennon's "Ahhh..." on the middle's outro. It's what changes 'A Day in the Life' from a pop song into an epic.

I believe McCartney conducted the orchestra as well.

johnnysain · Post by **johnnysain** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 10:27 am

“I love John’s songs. In the Beatles, if you said it was one of your songs, it basically meant it was your idea. So Eleanor Rigby was my song, but John helped me finish it. A Day in the Life was his, but I helped him finish it."

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/ ... 188290.ece

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:20 pm

Didn't we have an RRF thread with members listing our top-10 or top-20 Beatle songs, awhile back ?
I think the RRF members suggested better choices for Beatles favorites then this Rolling Stone list does.

Every time Rolling Stone creates another duplicative list, they water-down and cheapen the value of their own prior lists ...

I'm with those Forumites who think "Guitar Gently Weeps" rates a lot higher than some of the songs mentioned by Rolling Stone

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:34 pm

Personally, I think it's personal preference and I couldn't give a hoot what Rolling Stone thinks.

1. "A Day in the Life"
2. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
3. "Strawberry Fields Forever"
4. "Yesterday"
5. "In My Life"
6. "Something"
7. "Hey Jude"
8. "Let It Be"
9. "Come Together"
10. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:34 pm

I can't come up with a best of list when it come to the Fabs. There are little gems, such as "Every Little Thing" or "No Reply" (Macca's killer backing vocals in this are to die for) lost in the shuffle simply because they are early album cuts. There's brilliance in many of the lost or overlooked songs.

johnnysain · Post by **johnnysain** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 5:46 pm

johnnysain wrote:http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... d=11482340

Top 10 seems to short change McCartney as would be expected......

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_ ... n-or-paul/

"Why do critics tend to favor Lennon? There are two main reasons. Lennon was edgier and more envelope-pushing, and rock critics tend to favor those qualities over McCartney's more tradition-bound, pop-minded virtues. Also, Lennon died at 40, shot to death outside of his apartment. McCartney is 68. He has lived to receive all awards and honors a man could ever want. To cite just one example, both Lennon and McCartney were voted Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Recording Academy, but only McCartney lived to receive it.

It's just human nature that critics will tend to favor the one whose life was cut short so senselessly.
I imagine that McCartney occasionally chafes when critics habitually favor Lennon, but I assume he understands the reasons for it."

manta · Post by **manta** » Sat Aug 28, 2010 1:42 am

shamustwin wrote:I can't come up with a best of list when it come to the Fabs. There are little gems, such as "Every Little Thing" or "No Reply" (Macca's killer backing vocals in this are to die for) lost in the shuffle simply because they are early album cuts. There's brilliance in many of the lost or overlooked songs.

I agree Jerry. Some of the clever songs/arrangements like you mention and interesting interps (Buddy Holly's "Words of Love") rank up there higher for me than the ones that get all the airplay and cover. A real list would takes lots of listening, which would not be a tough job but a bit time-consuming. From the looks of the RS list, I don't think a lot of effort was put into it.

Manta

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