In one of my previous jobs, I worked alongside a guy named Al. A hopeless know-it-all, he tended to opine in an ex cathedra manner; his was to speak, and yours was to listen. He brooked no disagreement on any subject. As a result, we tangled a few times. One of them pertained to the Beatles. He insisted that every song they ever did was pure gold, and I felt otherwise. Al was indignant that I would say a halfway-negative word about John, Paul, George and Ringo. In my view, since they were human it ought to come as no surprise that the quality of their music fluctuated somewhat. In not-so-fond memory of Al, I will present proof—albeit of the subjective kind.
The Beatles oeuvre—how’s that for a $3 word?—was slightly erratic. I have to think that Charlie Parker, Andres Segovia and Vladimir Horowitz issued a few stinkers, too. Although I do not consider myself a Beatles fanatic, I have probably a dozen books about them in my library. So I feel confident in saying that their musical education while growing up in Liverpool in the 1950s was less than ideal. They were all self-trained, and few knowledgeable people would claim that Lennon was the best rhythm guitarist, McCartney the best bass guitarist, Harrison the best lead guitarist and Starr the best drummer in the rock & roll field. While their singing, like their playing, was far above average it was not world-class. They complemented each other splendidly, but let’s not get carried away when assessing their musical skills.
Furthermore, it should be remembered that when they were just starting out, they were doing covers of the songs of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and other established stars. The Beatles’ first recorded song was “My Bonnie” in June 1961, and how uncool is that from a perspective of five decades? Their producer, George Martin, recalled that in the early years they stole shamelessly from other musicians.
The writers of Rolling Stone magazine are pretty hip, and so I would not gainsay their 2011 ranking of the Beatles’ 100 best songs. The top 10 of that group, in ascending order, were “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Come Together,” “Let it Be,” “Hey Jude,” “Something,” “In My Life,” “Yesterday,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “A Day in the Life.”
One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor, so we will not all agree on matters such as these. I have come up with a partial list of the Beatles less-than-optimum offerings. Some of the worst Beatles songs—I’m talking to you, Al—would include “Run for Your Life,” “Doctor Robert,” “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” “Honey Pie,” “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “Helter Skelter,” “Revolution 9,” “Drive My Car,” “Dig It,” “Bungalow Bill,” “Hey, Bulldog,” “Honey Pie” and “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide.” In fact, that list could have been considerably longer. As Lennon said in an interview before his death in 1980, some of the Beatles’ songs were thrown together quickly and little effort was made to polish them. He admitted that listening to them made him cringe.
Check out these lyrics from “I Am the Walrus” and tell me if they spring from genius: Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog’s eye / Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess / Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down / I am the eggman, they are the eggmen / I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob.
To conclude, I would like to name five of the Beatles’ more underrated songs, those that are gems even if not always acknowledged as such. Whether they reached No. 1 on the charts is immaterial. In no particular order, they are “Get Back,” “Fixing a Hole,” “Across the Universe,” “Here, There and Everywhere” and “It’s All Too Much” (Honorable mention: “Fool on the Hill,” “Act Naturally,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Please Please Me” and “The End”).
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