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

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.

"fish on the sand" is the best song on cloud nine, such a great riff. love the descending melody at the end of each verse rep

The Ringo Starr single of "It Don't Come Easy / Early 1970" are the only Ringo songs I know and they're very likeable. I'll definitely include those two in my ballot. If there's anything else worth it I'm all ears! Thanks.

"fish on the sand" is the best song on cloud nine, such a great riff. love the descending melody at the end of each verse rep

― brimstead

Ah yes! Love this one. Great power pop number. Out of all the Beatles, Harrison is the one that's really good at evoking nostalgic and melancholia for me.

btw Ringo the 4th (1977) is just as horrendous as "Drowning in the Sea of Love" suggests. i paused halfway through to listen to "Instant Karma!" and then when I went back I couldn't remember where I was in the album at all, I started each song and nothing rang a bell at all. "Out on the Streets" at least has some convincing pep (as opposed to the scratchy-throated garrulous cigarette-couch faux-pep of the rest) and it winds up with a Nilsson-esque jokey spoken-word bit, so I guess that's the standout. The next track, "Can She Do It Like She Dances," showcases Ringo's voice sounding ruined af. Even "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" (back to that Toussaint/Dorsey well) is boring here. "It's No Secret" confirms, if you needed to know, that Ringo with a scratchy throat is a profoundly poor fit for Yacht. "Gypsies in Flight" is the token reminder that with more countrified elements Ringo can still sound okay - his wooden voice *needs* something high and flowing like the pedal steel here (or, say, George's work on "Octopus's Garden"). Overall: the lousiest yet of these lousy Ringo records.

By comparison, Bad Boy (1978) sounds at least mediocre. His voice is in better shape, there's less production earwax between the session and the tape, and the material's just a little better or more varied, like he knew he'd fucked up and had to try a little harder on this one. It didn't work (this was a contract-ending flop, though he was able to find another label and get one more out before he *really* ended up in the woods), maybe because for all that, it's still utterly forgettable - not distractingly awful but just unnecessary, and on balance, more "contract filler with no guest-star IOUs left in his pocket" than "hungry for that comeback." I guess the title track works all right. But ffs this guy was in The Beatles! He really couldn't get a better producer, better crew, round up better material or even a clearer vision of what his recording career should look like...? It's a bummer.

yikes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eGI5mbf_8I

srsly wtf was that shaved eyebrow thing about

pretty sweet George production here, sounds like an ATMP outtake. Could see Dennis or Carl Wilson killing the vocal on this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPK8yCxrTe4

and I hope this lil gem (w George and Ringo) gets at least one vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBmXLABEo_k

it's like once Paul hit the psychedelia period and realized he could get away with just any old silly off-the-top-of-me-head bullshit he never looked back.

I know this was posted seven hours ago but it is my job to point out that saying he never looked back is fine if you consider eternity to have ended around 1982.