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

who knows i may give up by the first wings record

mccartney is just a sketch but some of those songs are great. ram, i hope this isn't the most ridiculous unwarranted comparison ever, has always sorta seemed like it's what paul thought smile sounded like. even when he's fucking around it's so fun, so simultaneously rickety and ambitious

AND THE WIND PLAYED A DREADFUL
CANTATA

Brad is getting it!

'Dear Boy' is a wonderful song. Lennon somehow thought it was about him, it's actually about Linda's ex-partner!

Sore was I from a crack of an enemy's hose
And the horrible sound of tomato.

^^ this is what a hangover feels like

occurred to me from time to time who each beatle considered their competition, other than Beatles records and each other's 70s shit (its been established that J would closely follow P's chart progress)… I would think Paul would pay close attention to Elton; George to Clapton and other elite guitar players…I listened to best of dark horse from '89 yesterday and some of it sounds like pre-High Life Steve Winwood… who did John listen to? He liked the b-52s, and I guess he did "serve yourself" in response to "Gotta Serve Somebody."

did someone upthread say that dark horse was the druggiest george harrison era? or just the drunkest? i've never really given it much time, but it's true that he just sounds so beat down. the title track could be one of his best songs, but it barely even sounds like him, and his voice is so distant sounding.

Extra Texture is.

I don't mind "Dark Horse" title track at all. The rest is the closest George approximated '70s studio rock hackdom.

xposts to veronica i don't know about competition, but it seems like they'd be keeping tabs on people like paul simon.

Yeah, Extra Texture certainly, but it's hinted at on 'Simply Shady' from Dark Horse, which also features a version of 'Bye Bye Love' with re-written lyrics to refer to Clapton fucking off with his wife. Even more bizarrely Clapton and Patti are both on the song.

George loved keeping it in the family, as shown by his hitting on Maureen.

who knows i may give up by the first wings record

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, May 18, 2018 11:35 AM (forty-one minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hmmm yep

I like this one. George plays all the guitars and keyboards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enMj0Tly9Bw

I think McCartney checked everything out, really. Certainly, I can hear a lot of Beach Boys influence, but also some '70s Floyd on a couple of Wings tracks. A little bit of glammy shuffle in places. By the late '70s, I think he'd turned his attention to stuff like Costello and Squeeze. Some synthpop crept in on McCartney II. I get the impression that he always kept an ear on what was going on in black music during the '70s into the early '80s, even if the influence only came out here and there.

who did John listen to?

he referenced Blondie's Heart of Glass as a favorite in a letter to Ringo shortly before he died

Brad, Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway represent a bit of a lull. He gets his shit together again on Band on the Run.

Lennon liked 'Rock Lobster' because of the Yoko influence.

Lennon talking about new wave here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWE3npesaRo

Brad, Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway represent a bit of a lull. He gets his shit together again on Band on the Run.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Friday, May 18, 2018 12:25 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh, i'm aware, it's why i've always skipped directly to band on the run, but i was hoping there'd be... something more here. "wild life" the song is p good though

Sadly, Lennon was robbed of his life before any possible New Wave influence in his music could be felt - like, his songs on Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey are stylistically on the poppier side of Lennon's usual solo songwriting voice, whereas Yoko's tracks are a different story entirely and far more contemporary and exciting to my ears.

this is nuts…round 6:30, you can't believe yr eyes…shot for Back to the Egg, and not long after Keith Moon's demise…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyWzsDm5D_8

I'm really sure that at one point in 'Wild Life' (the song) Paul sings "Aminals in the zoo" ... that'll be the result of the stuff he was growing on his farm, no doubt.

what the individual Beatles were listening to during their solo careers seems like a different question from who they considered their competition to be

xp

plus we already listed a couple of people various Beatles actively worked with - Elton John, Clapton, (could add Marc Bolan to that list)

it's a little hard to guess since I doubt any of them came out and said "I felt the need to compete with [x], which was really successful and great at the time", that doesn't seem like their style. Plus they were all in the rare position of being able to co-opt any competition they liked, since anyone and everyone would have killed to work with a Beatle.

At the same time, the press were constantly on the lookout for the "next Beatles", whether it was T. Rexstacy or showering Zeppelin with questions about whether they could fill the void left by the Beatles etc.

actually side b of wild life is much better than side a. i love "tomorrow." is this the primary experience of macca's solo discog, "this is so tiresome -> wait some of this is actually p great"

the reverse

"this is so tiresome -> wait some of this is actually p great" = my experience with martinis

lol

this is nuts…round 6:30, you can't believe yr eyes…shot for Back to the Egg, and not long after Keith Moon's demise…

Wow, thanks for that. According to wikipedia, the recording session took place October 3, 1978, less than a month after Moon died. And I don't think Jones was in the Who yet by that point, but probably was by the time that footage aired.

When Rockestra played the late-1979 Kampuchea benefit, Paul asked the members to wear sparkly jackets. Townshend refused:

https://johnrieber.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/concert-for-the-people-of-kampuchea-paul-mccartney-rockestra.jpg

Pete Townshend looking fit and sober

I thought the real keeper off Wild Life was Dear Friend, I'm a sucker for songs Paul and John write about each other tho

― albvivertine, Wednesday, May 16, 2018 8:01 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"dear friend" is a great song

Yeah, the best tracks on Wild Life for me are 'Tomorrow', 'Some People Never Know' (although it doesn't need to be that long) and 'Dear Friend' ... 'I am Your Singer' as well.

'Some People Never Know' is about Lennon too.

Where's the love for Let Em In? It's one of the best Macca songs post-beatles!

I'm just listening in but this will take so much of my time... these have all been Macca highlights from what I've listened so far and will surely vote for them:

Paul McCartney - Every Night
Paul McCartney - Junk
Paul McCartney - Oo You
Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary

Paul McCartney & Wings - Let ‘em In
Paul McCartney & Wings - Arrow Through Me
Paul McCartney & Wings - Letting Go

Paul McCartney - Sunshine Sometime
Linda McCartney - Mister Sandman

Is there anything by Ringo that's worth it? I'm leaving him for last but at this rate I don't think I'll get to him in time.

'Letting Go' is definitely a favourite of mine!

As for Ringo, 'It Don't Come Easy' rules and I enjoy the Ringo album...

yeah Ringo's best stuff is all right at the beginning of his discography

have to say, this video is still amusing and the song is better than I remembered it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVu6nPTVbBQ

one of my favorite George deep tracks is on Cloud Nine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce2grHLTGQA

I don't think I've ever listened to that whole album! Part of it is that I get kinda tired of Jeff Lynne giving everything that uniform robotic chug, I have to be in the mood for 40 minutes of it.

Supposedly Macca is in the walrus costume in the When We Was Fab video.

Lennon-wise these are the only songs I'm considering voting for so far... I'm rarely in the mood for Lennon's style tbh...:

John Lennon - Instant Karma
John Lennon - Nobody Told Me
John Lennon - I Found Out
John Lennon - Oh Yoko!

OBVIOUSLY:
Yoko Ono - Walking on Thin Ice

The Cheap Trick version of I’m Losing You that appears on WONSAPONATIME is also good. Don’t really like the double fantasy version.

I remember 'I've Got My Mind Set On You' getting played on the radio a lot.

That album sleeve, though! It's like he's taken fashion tips from John McVie...

Middle-aged Dude DGAF Swag

You don't like 'Oh My Love' or 'Love', Moka? Those are beautiful songs.

or any of Yoko's songs with John (apart from the very last one?) wtf

You don't like 'Oh My Love' or 'Love', Moka? Those are beautiful songs.

― Le Baton Rose (Turrican)

Oh... Oh My Love and Love are good ones yes! I just took a quick glance at the Lennon list and those above are the ones I immediatly recognized as favorites... those two will end up in my ballot... still haven't started with Lennon... McCartney has way too much material and I'm not even done with the half of it.

guys guys calm down I said those are the ones I was considering voting for so far not that those are the only Lennon songs I'll vote for.

Those Doctor Casino recommendations for McCartney are great. First time hearing Waterspout and I loved it. It sounds a bit like Paul Simon to me.