The DEFINITIVE Beatles song

And ...Pete Townshead says it The Beatles tune he wished he wrote.

 

Real time
Hello Goodbye
Can't pick one these daze
But I'll try...
MMT
Ballad of John & Yoko
Old Brown Shoe
Don't Pass Me By

 

Thanks, I didn't know that.

 

"There's A Place."

It has the beat, the melodies, the unique harmony, it even has the mystical aspect. The soaring bridge is transporting - "There'll be no sad tomorrow, don't you know that it's so?" It doesn't sound like anyone else to me, and yet it was one of their earliest songs.

It's a masterwork. I'd proudly play it for anyone and say, "This was The Beatles."

 

"I Am The Walrus"
"A Day in the Life"
"I Want To Hold Your Hand"
"Yesterday"

None are my absolute favorites, but those are the definitve, I think. And a dozen or so others.

 

Pick a side...

 

Here is his quote:

In a 1967 interview Pete Townshend "I think 'Eleanor Rigby' was a very important musical move forward. It certainly inspired me to write and listen to things in that vein".

 

"Here Comes the Sun"

 

Ticket to Ride.

Without a doubt the correct answer.

 

A mind bending topic. I thought it was going to be Can't Buy Me Love but ended up being HELP! And I love the way the song ends in "oooooooon". But I really would have to customize a suggestion based on the recipient.

 

That's like John McLaughlin. Not the guitarist, but the host of the long-running U.S. political commentary TV program The McLaughlin Group. He listens to all opinions before he says, "The correct answer is…" and gives his opinion.

 

Hey Jude.

 

Back in the 1980s leading researchers in socio-political-popular music studies at the University of Liverpool polled a representative sample of 50,000 Beatles fans worldwide and concluded that "Dig A Pony" was the definitive Beatles song. I won't bother you with the charts, graphs, and findings (which are intimidatingly voluminous), but suffice it to say that fans polled liked the fact that they can celebrate anything they want. and also roll a stoney. Especially roll a stoney.

 

To everyone that picked Eleanor Rigby: only Paul even does anything on it, which I don't think is fair to the rest of the band to be used as an introduction.

 

So many possibilities but I think "Day Tripper" would be a good intro. Nice mix of their earlier period with a touch of the later period. And it has that killer riff!

 

Penny Lane

 

You make a good point, but for what it's worth, John and George do appear on "Eleanor", at least according to Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, which lists them on harmony vocals. No sign of Ringo.

Still, to make a case for "Eleanor" being more than just a spotlight for Paul, it does represent Lennon-McCartney as a songwriting team in an interesting way. Paul wrote most of it, but he had the character of Eleanor winding up coupled together with Father McKenzie in the end. It was John who said, no, they should kill her off.

 

Please Please Me worked for me - England, spring 1963 ...

 

Rain

 

Yes, either "Rain" or "Nowhere Man".

 

Hey Jude

 

Eleanor Rigby was a rare group co-write - Paul's original idea and a verse or two was completed by all four Beatles. Should have been credited to all four.

 

"A Day in the Life" or "Please Please Me"

 

She Loves You. Every time I hear it I just can't help singing along. You have to not have a pulse to feel the energy just bursting through the speakers. It gets ME every time !

 

Ian MacDonald was quite often wrong about these things. He claimed there's only bass and piano on Long And Winding Road, clearly deaf to the drums and guitar.
George Harrison, in August 1966, when asked if they would ever make solo records said; "Paul recorded Eleanor Rigby on his own, we were just drinking tea". It does sound like all Paul, when listening to the extracted files.