John Lennon's best song & runner up for 1966.

based on Rubber Soul it's less a step up in recording and more of a ****ing quantum leap. I don't think they ever made such a leap again other than Revolution 9 which is the opposite of easy listening and not a group effort which TNK certainly is.

 

Yes but look at what McCartney was writing at the same time on Revolver and with Penny Lane. What an unbelievable combination those two were and almost without exception, Macca added some real positives to Lennon's work, arguably far more than John added to his. His bass-work and harmonies alone are quite spectacular. Lucy In The Sky is perhaps the best example - Macca on the keyboard intro, amazing baseline, killer harmony plus advising John on the the rhythm of the melody line making it more fluid.

 

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is winning by a mile here, but I couldn't bring myself to vote for it. I admire it and understand that it's a remarkable record, but it doesn't grab me emotionally like the 2 I voted for, "Rain" and "And Your Bird Can Sing." The latter may be the greatest example ever recorded of a subgenre of rock, pop and country that could be called the We've Broken Up and Now I Hate You songs. There's a frenzy in Lennon's voice when he sings "But you can't have me" that captures that feeling more perfectly than anything I've ever heard. This is one of the all time great rock vocals.

 

It has been rumoured that the "bird" in "And Your Bird Can Sing" could be either Mia Farrow or Marianne Faithfull but I have a suspicion that it might actually be an obscure reference to Joan Baez (the "Queen of Folk"/"Queen Jane Approximately") who had "a thing" for John after she and Bob Dylan split. On the Anthology 2 version of the track, it sounds like they are actually singing "and your bird is queen" not "and your bird is green". I'd be inclined to think that the song just might be a Dylanesque gobbledygook song aimed back at Dylan from John.

 

Strictly on songwriting terms, I chose Strawberry Fields and She Said She Said. Those are the best songs in my mind.

The record Vs. song thing is pretty entertaining though. No doubt McCartney wrote better songs in '66. I say that as someone who thinks that SFF is one of the best song uh record of the century and that TNK is crucial to the music as we know it now.

 

For my money, it's TNK and She Said She Said, in that order. Dr. Robert is good, but the rest of those songs are all in an elite tier for me. So hard to pick.

 

Went with SFF and I'm Only Sleeping, I love the vocal cadence of that track and melody. Can't argue that technically Rain, Tomorrow, etc are "better" but sometimes simple is more.

 

Of course, in the same sentence I did say it was an "extremely innovative piece of work." I didn't want too many superlatives in the same sentence. Since it feels a bit unfinished...and/or less than satisfying.

DRM said: ↑
Tomorrow Never Knows was an extremely innovative piece of work and a step up in recording. That included great drumming and creative tape work/production. John could describe what he wanted (like he did for the ending of A Day In The Life) and George Martin would inevitably implement John's ideas superbly.

Tomorrow Never Knows, though, feels a bit unfinished...and/or less than satisfying.
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Eight Miles High in 1966 sounded pretty innovative as well, even if it didn't have seagulls:

 

Ever since I began to - sort of - analyse that lyric, I thought that it was addressed at the beatniks. The highly intellectual and hip old guard.

 

I'm Only Sleeping
Rain

I too wondered where was Nowhere Man, my favourite Beatles song these days, but Wiki says recorded Oct. '65.

 

The Yesterday & Today album, certainly made it appear that The Beatles did 2 -1966 studio albums. I'm like 98% of all the other USA fans. Who didn't realize how extensively track lists & content had been changed by Capitol for USA releases. Hardly anyone knew prior to Beatles on CD in the 80s.

But literally millions & millions of people heard Nowhere Man on radio & on record in 1965. It's just a red herring to keep mentioning it over & over. It's not a song or recording from 1966.

I like the idea of Y&T as another 1966 studio album. But they butchered the existing albums hence the original cover. Ironically they had enough material to put a non invasive alternate type of Y&T album together. Pback Writer, Rain, Day Tripper I'm Down etc etc.

Nowhere Man was a huge USA single, I suppose if they'd only nicked that one song along with the non LP tracks, to spearhead an album it might've been alright.

I like all 7 1966 Lennon songs .

 

Personally, I've always felt Rain was way overrated as a classic.
I voted Strawberry Fields Forever although I still prefer his more natural voice on the earlier takes.
I also voted And Your Bird Can Sing

 

Didn't need seagulls, it had Byrds on it already !

 

Top one is easy - Tomorrow Never Knows. Runner-up is harder, with Rain and Strawberry Fields definitely in contention. But I went with I’m Only Sleeping - great melody, has a rainy-day jazzy vibe, and it’s like a tiny little window into John’s humanity in a superficially mundane context.

 

Best - Strawberry Fields Forever
Runner up - Tomorrow Never Knows

Strawberry first because it was entirely his creation as the demo tapes show whereas Tomorrow wasn't, lyrically.

Absolute favourite on balance (by a short head from any of the possible others, which is most of them) - She Said She Said.

 

TNK

 

Strawberry Fields Forever.
And Your Bird Can Sing.

I also love I'm Only Sleeping.

 

They're all great, but Strawbery Fields is one of the best songs ever. IMHO.

 

Went with SFF and SSSS.

They are ssential.

 

The Beatles Illustrated Record oversized book was really handy to have as a young Stateside Beatles fan in the 70s; it covered all the releases in chronological order with the 'proper' UK release structures.

The curious thing about Y&T is why George Martin would send three of John's new songs off to Capitol, even if it meant they would get left off of the Capitol Revolver offering. He probably could have asked them to just put 'I'm Down', 'Rain', and 'Paperback Writer' on Y&T instead, but he probably didn't know what was in the can leftover and what wasn't.

Y&T's not a bad album without John's Revolver songs, but it suddenly becomes less of a John album and leans more towards Paul or just becomes more balanced in song-author regard. I guess the readiness of John's Revolver songs also proves that John's songs tended to get worked on and considered first by the band and Martin, at least much of the time.

Side one

1. "Drive My Car" – 2:25
2. "Rain"
3. "Nowhere Man" – 2:40
4. "I'm Down" – 2:14
5. "Yesterday" – 2:04
6. "Act Naturally" (Morrison–Russell) – 2:27

Side two

1. "Paperback Writer"
2. "If I Needed Someone" (George Harrison) – 2:19
3. "We Can Work It Out" – 2:10
4. "What Goes On" (Lennon–McCartney–Richard Starkey) – 2:44
5. "Day Tripper" – 2:47

But (since we're revising things for revision's sake) rather than removing those three Lennon tracks, I'd say let's maximize Yesterday & Today's full potential by adding those orphaned songs of the time - namely, 'I'm Down', 'Paperback Writer', 'Rain' - to what's already there, thereby forging a mega-14-track Y&T:

Side one

1. "Drive My Car" – 2:25
2. "I'm Only Sleeping" – 2:58
3. "Nowhere Man" – 2:40
4. "Doctor Robert" – 2:14
5. "Yesterday" – 2:04
6. "Act Naturally" (Morrison–Russell) – 2:27
7. "I'm Down"

Side two

1. "Paperback Writer"
2. "And Your Bird Can Sing" – 2:02
3. "If I Needed Someone" (George Harrison) – 2:19
4. "We Can Work It Out" – 2:10
5. "What Goes On" (Lennon–McCartney–Richard Starkey) – 2:44
6. "Day Tripper" – 2:47
7. "Rain"

 

I think so too. As the single B-side it is, it's quite excellent. But kind of She Said, She Said's poor sister to me. A great production and record, but as a song there is more "musical meat" on SSSS.

 

"Revolver" is considered by many as the best Beatles album. It is certainly a classic. In my opinion, it is also John's finest hour as a ROCK musician. I voted for "And Your Bird Can Sing". My other vote went to "Strawberry Fields Forever".

 

Strawberry Fields Forever is my favorite song by anyone, ever.

And Tomorrow Never Knows is my runner up for Best Beatles song ever (tied with A Day in the Life).

So, yeah, Lennon wrote a lot of the top Fabs' best songs (especially in 1964), but he really hit a peak in 1966.

.

 

I actually have a firm top ten list of favorite Beatles songs/recordings of all time in which AYBCS sits at number 6 preceded by TNK. Both songs are examples of the innate talent The Beatles had of creating mind blowing recordings out of some , in my opinion, okay songs. In addition to what they physically put into the recordings, I've always felt that their not-fully-definable appeal/charisma as individuals and a unit also crept it's way into the records. This is a big reason-again, just my opinion-why what loyal fans consider some of the greatest Beatle songs of all time, fall flat when done by the voices/instrumentation of other people.

 

Wow..verrry interesting...I, also, have always thought of Rain as a relatively weaker SSSS.