John Lennon's best Beatle year as a songwriter

1965

 

I think the quality of 66 and 67 is just as good as 65, but the quantity isn't there.
Likewise 64 and 68 have a quantity comparable with 65, but I don't think there are as many high quality songs.
So I guess 1965 is a good choice!

 

The thing I love about Lennon's 1968 material is that, more than Paul's or George's '68 songs, the whole group recorded the basic tracks. At least it seems that way. I guess I should research that claim.

 

I'd say that 1965 probably is his best year. 1967 comes close, but, as others have noted, he didn't really write enough that year for it to beat out '65. 1966 had some great songs, too, but he wrote few songs at all, and a lot of the ones he did write were throwaways.

 

I agree with this. I don't know if it was his best year but he really shines on that album.

 

Agreed. Bungalow Bill & Revolution 9 aside, all the tracks he did were great. Most of the filler were from the other guys, and Lennon's not even my favorite Beatle.

 

I don't think John ahad a bad year as a Beatle.
I would pick 65.
As a solo artist, I don't think his material has stood the test of time.
Sadly, I never listen to his solo albums.

 

1966 for Tomorrow Never Knows and Strawberry Fields or 1969 for Come Together and I Want You (She's So Heavy) Hard to pick between the two.

 

Well of course it's largely subjective, I suppose we could come back in another 30 years & see which songs are still remembered.

 

1965: His material for Help! and Rubber Soul is nothing short of amazing, with a string of classics. His lyrics improved, some of them with confessional themes, and his music became more sophisticated. RS is his peak as a composer for me.

I think that in 1966-67 he declined, probably because of his adventures with LSD (despite some masterpiece like Strawberry Fields or his part in A Day in the Life), he was "only sleeping". In 1968 he recovered for the White Album, but I don't find his material there as compelling. There's already a hint of the self-consciousness that characterized his solo work. Don't get me wrong, he wrote some great songs for that album, I just don't find them as powerful and authentic as his 1965 harvest.

In 1969 his contribution was minimal.

 

Minimal might be wrong. In 69 he recorded 10 of his Beatles songs including 2- #1 Lennon written hits.

He also released two self written solo hits under the Plastic Ono Band moniker, before anybody knew what that was... Both top 40 hits, & long term classics..

So 69 wasn't Lennon's best year as A Beatle. He had a foot out the door & was focused on Yoko & heroin.. but he still did pretty good.

 

I've always thought "I'll be back" is a song that doesn't garner the praise and consideration it deserves. Very interesting chord change and structure.

 

1964 overall for me, though In My Life from '65 was one of his best also. And Run For Your Life!

 

1965. If I am forced to pick one. He was perhaps the first that had a peak year.

 

I meant his contribution to the Beatles was minimal. Only two compositions for the Get Back/Let It Be project (Across the Universe being an old recording and One After 909 a 1963 composition). Then Ballad of J&Y and a few tracks for Abbey Road (the ones in the medley being 1968 compositions), of which Come Together stands out by a mile.

I agree with the people praising his 64 work. He peaked the next year, but the ramp up is really amazing. This would be my Lennon top in the Beatles:

-1965
-1964
-1966 (including Strawberry Fields)
-1968
-1963
-1967
-1969

 

Arguably doesn't count against him as a songwriter.

 

Already mentioned Lennon.
But, I think Let It Album is McCartney's best showcase album for songs.

 

best year was '64.

 

To me, Paul's peak year would be 1966. What he did in Revolver is as astonishing as what John did in Rubber Soul. On top of that, add Paperback Writer and Penny Lane.

 

He dominated the most popular tracks that the Beatles wrote in '63, '64 and '65.

There's a post earlier in this thread about John's 1968 tracks (on the "White Album" + "Hey Bulldog," "Revolution," etc.) essentially being solo Lennon with a backing band -- the same could also be said for almost all of "A Hard Day's Night."


I personally prefer (by a small margin) the 1968 material, but when it comes to being prolific and great, he was on fire in those early years... until a lot of his time was taken up by drugs.

.

 

Yeah, there not a equivalent thread for Paul. Agree that was a great year.

 

1965 !


sean

 

He was quite prolific in '64 with the lion's share of songs on A Hard Day's Night, and the songs are quite remarkable.

 

I agree that he dominated the early years from a composing point of view. But I don't agree at all with the idea that in AHDN it was solo Lennon with a backing band. In those days the group was very tightly united, they all worked on the songs regardless of the composer, there was a much more collaborative atmosphere than in the White Album.

 

Well said. It was a whole other world between those four years.