Rolling Stone declares Greatest Beatles Songs

[winston]

I have said it before and it's worth repeating Gee...........Ringo is one of the best drummers of all time. He was almost certainly one of the best, if not the best in the land when he was asked to join The Beatles.

My point is that his vocals are not on par with John, Paul and George IMO.

[kiramdear]

I thought Ringo was the soul of the early years. He was my first favourite Beatle, in '64 when I was seven. He seemed like one of us, the friendliest. George seemed thoughtful and dark. Paul seemed perfect but untouchable. I took John for a bully.

[Folkie]

I'm not the first to have said this, but I think George Harrison was a wildly underrated songwriter and guitarist. I've listened to the Beatles since I was six years old, and the songs that I return to over and over--"If I Needed Someone," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "I Want to Tell You," and "Within You, Without You"
among them--are all Harrison songs. Without Harrison, the Rickenbacker 360/12 might never had become as iconic and influential a guitar as it was. I don't think much of any of the "Rolling Stone" best of lists (I think the first was the 100 greatest albums of all time, then the 100 greatest singles, the 100 greatest guitar players, and so on.) It all comes down to some very subjective judgements; and music critics tend to speak their opinions as fact. Even though I'd been a huge R.E.M. fan since 1984, I was livid when "Document" came out, and they put R.E.M. on the cover as "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band." I tend to take such superlatives with a grain of salt.

[craigh]

If it's in Rolling Stone, it has to be true.

Craig

[johnnysain]

True Jim, but let's face it I Wanna Be Your Man was a train wreck compared to The Stones version.

Still,...that song had some of the Beatle's best screams!

go to :59 here....

[shamustwin]

Ya gotta remember the pace at which they worked. There are instances of J&P writing a song and recording it almost instantly. Not a lot of time for Ringo to work out drum parts, and the arrangements in general were pretty much as the song was written.

[Folkie]

Here's my top ten list, for what it's worth:

10. Rain
9. And Your Bird Can Sing
8. Yesterday
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
6. I'm Looking Through You
5. Norwegian Wood
4. I Want to Tell you
3. I've Just Seen a Face
2. If I Needed Someone
1. Strawberry Fields Forever