The Beatles' Solo Careers Poll - Voting and General Discussion Thread

xp no it didn't, it's 10th from the beginning of the list

I almost want to redo my already sent ballot...

Xpost so it is. OK, "It happened" the b-side

As much as I'm tempted to submit a ballot of my 100 favourite McCartney songs, I'd only be lying to myself if I didn't vote for my favourite Lennon and Harrison tracks. I couldn't not vote for 'Cold Turkey', for example.

"It happened" the b-side

John is not on this song

sometimes I think that McCartney's production of "Come and Get It" is one of the shittiest things he ever did. Not that it's a bad song (tbf it's a mediocre song) but just the way he treated the band as little more than a vehicle for finding out if he could put out a song without his name on it and still have it be a hit, it's just a shitty thing to do to a fellow artist, to treat them as less than active participants in their own creative output.

i love "Woman Power", with John on guitar. from the explicitly feminist "Feeling the Space" LP. cool revolutionary lyrics:

Two thousand years of male society
Laying fear and tyranny
Seeking grades and money
Clinging to values vain and phony

Woman power! (woman power!)
Woman power! (woman power!)

Do you know that one day you lost your way, man?
Do you know that some day you have to pay, man?
Have you anything to say, man, except
"make no mistake about it, i'm the president, you hear?
"I wanna make one thing clear, i'm the president, you hear?"

Woman power! (woman power!)
Woman power! (woman power!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kVMp7M0rdE

I think that's the one Lennon-era Yoko album I don't have...? Cool track, def in their proto-krautrock vein.

sometimes I think that McCartney's production of "Come and Get It" is one of the shittiest things he ever did. Not that it's a bad song (tbf it's a mediocre song) but just the way he treated the band as little more than a vehicle for finding out if he could put out a song without his name on it and still have it be a hit, it's just a shitty thing to do to a fellow artist, to treat them as less than active participants in their own creative output.

― Οὖτις, Monday, May 14, 2018 8:39 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I agree with you completely about 'Come and Get It', it's pretty much McCartney on autopilot and wouldn't have really got past the others if it had been put forward as a potential Beatles track. Some of the other things he gave away: 'Goodbye', 'Step Inside Love' etc. were far better.

It says a lot about McCartney's ego at that time where he basically was like "you have to copy my demo note for note because this is the hit sound" - Badfinger's own material was stronger: 'No Matter What', 'Day After Day', 'Without You' all knock 'Come and Get It' into a cocked hat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Radha_Krsna_Temple_(album)
https://krishna.org/george-harrison-interview-hare-krishna-mantra-theres-nothing-higher-1982/

the Radha Krsna Temple album, produced by George and feature his guitar, should also be included. this is great stuff, a form of pop bhakti. George Harrison plays with the Krishna temple and together they actually produced a hit single with a recording of the "Hare Krishna" mantra:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVMgEupff-E

Wall of Vedic Sound on Apple records in 1971

that was listed under George's CV and yeah it's pretty good. A couple of the Ravi Shankar albums he did are better imo.

McCartney's list is making me realize how many songs he wrote and gave away but didn't perform on.

(These songs are not eligible FYI)

I think that's the one Lennon-era Yoko album I don't have...? Cool track, def in their proto-krautrock vein.

― Οὖτις, Monday, May 14, 2018 4:47 PM

Yeah, it's her weakest from this period.

no way. its so good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUleDpA3DLE

I'll forever love YO/POB, Fly, and AIU though.

Feeling the Space definitely deserves a listen. the band is pretty nice and has a 70's soul vibe to it. "Growing Pain" w that beat and that flute and some lovely early 70s space r&b. "Woman of Salem" is devastating, vividly re-telling the story of the morning of a witch hanging, like a folk thing Johnny Cash or Nick Cave would do. "Run Run Run" i like a lot because it is a nice breezy pop song with a great catchy chorus about "Run run run run run for your life" almost like on a Pink Floyd satirical tip or something. her style for this album is more political & concrete, less abstract/conceptual. a lot of the album is about the women's struggle, she is confronting an ages old thing that weighs heavy on the world. the music is pretty rad.

John is only performing on a 2 songs here tho, as the album as a whole is mostly her statement, thus outside the rules of this poll.

i dig the vibraphone jazz pop of "Yellow girl (Stand by for life)"

Both songs john plays on from that album were listed as eligible fwiw

Xpip

yes that list is well put together!

This is nuts, and unheard until recent CD reissues i believe? Genuinely amazing and sounds more like a late 80s proto acid-y thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w40MUrFq3xM

I love it.

I like McCartney II and the rest of the stuff that didn't make the album, but it is a touch overrated by people who consider themselves to be too cool to listen to 'Once Upon a Long Ago' or 'My Brave Face' ...

'Dark Room' is another great one from McCartney II ...

dope lists shakey. i'll dig through tomorrow and hype some fave tracks.

"come and get it" is .... okay. i love the "SON-ny! If.. you..." hook. but it's badly underwritten, with basically a verse and a chorus ad nauseum iirc. that's the real impresario sin - the recording is great and it was a top-tenner in the UK and US both. otherwise i'm not sure he did anything worse there than any other producer of a bubblegum single in that period.

"secret friend" was a b-side on the "temporary secretary" 12" single, and would burble up periodically as a "woah, this is the mccartney track for people who hate mccartney" (much like the album as a whole was always slightly on the cusp of cool cred for weirdos) - i remember blount repping for it circa 2005/2006. naturally it's never done a ton for me but it's a good stoner trip thing. as far as castoffs from the mccartney ii sessions go (it was originally conceived, insanely, as a double ablum) i prefer the shorter, one-idea songs like "mr. h. atom" and "you know i'll get you babe," which i knew from mp3s of bootleg albums. not things i would put on a ballot, though one of the "coming up"s has to place. "waterspout" though is the true lost gem of that period.

woah i guess "waterspout" is actually a few years earlier! i'm seeing it on "london town sessions" lists. weird, it feels so mccartney-ii to me.

McCartney II, which I've lived with 25 years, is mostly crap.

"Waterfalls"? Yeah. It was a UK top ten!

"waterfalls" is lovely also!

McCartney II, whichwho I've lived with 25 38 years, is mostly crap.

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

fixed

Where is the mccartney list?

I might put Temporary Secretary on number one and fill the rest with Ringo songs.

ha I was thinking of doing an all-Ringo ballot just to narrow the field but shakey’s lists are great, will definitely be listening to a lot of stuff on there I haven’t heard

I dunno moka, where is your mccartney list

I wrote this about Turrican's beloved Flowers in the Dirt last year when reissued.

McCartney II definitely rules. i love the music video for "Coming Up". i love the drums-and-vocoder breakdown in "Goodnight Tonight". "Waterfalls" is a great song even if inspiring another great song wasn't enough (TLC). there is some great Eno-style ambient stuff on the record too. for the first McCartney he also did some ambient/experimental pop stuff, the instrumental "Junk", the singing crystal glasses, the clipped song "Suicide".

lol moka these lists probably take a shit ton of effort to put together!

also shakey if you can hurry up with the mccartney list, we need it stat

Hahaha I wasn’t pressuring for shakey to post it I was legit looking on mobile and saw the Lennon and Harrison list and thought there was lists for the other two in here but couldn’t find them... thought a link or something was posted upthread and couldn’t find it

McCartney is probably the most daunting one to make a list of so I wont take the herculean task to do it.

I find it incredible that with so many rabid fans of this band there isn’t a site with these sort of lists already arranged. You could set up a website and make money off of these lists you’ve made.

I had no idea shakey was making these himself. Thought it was a copy paste from other site, that’s why I found it confusing why we only had the Lennon songs in here at first.

No pressure shakey, thanks for posting these really appreciate the effort and had no idea these was all you... sorry.

I find it incredible that with so many rabid fans of this band there isn’t a site with these sort of lists already arranged. You could set up a website and make money off of these lists you’ve made.

same here! i guess maybe they're out there, but maybe hidden away in BBS posts from the late 80s, un-googleable

*cough* Discogs appearance/performance credits

where the nerds truly shine

i don't know, i've found them kind of hit and miss, unless i'm just not looking in the right place. is there a better discogs appearance/performance credit for harrison than this one?

https://www.discogs.com/artist/243955-George-Harrison?sort=year%2Casc&limit=500&filter_anv=0&type=Appearances&page=1

https://www.discogs.com/artist/243955-George-Harrison?filter_anv=0&subtype=Instruments-Performance&type=Credits

maybe? I certainly find it useful for less prolific artists

McCartney II's great, you start hassling that you might as well diss Tusk as well (they were both pretty key uncool but cool records for the cool kids of 2005)

AH, now that's funny - I didn't know George's middle name.

John's being Winston, Paul's being Paul. Tempted to say Ringo didn't have one. But George? Oh.. oh...

Really? WellINever.

I'm in a bit of a quandary about including Macca's classical work, since he doesnt perform on them.