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

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.

he named an album Flaming Pie in 1997

which tbf I guess you could call an instance of looking back lol

he was also working on a canned album called Return To Pepperland circa 1986/87

Ringo update: Stop and Smell the Roses (working title: Can't Fight Lightning) (1981) finds Ringo attempting to right the ship and stack the credits with trusty writers (McCartney, Harrison, Nilsson, Stills), a freshly beardless look, and what must have been intended as "wacky" music video themes (haunted house, BDSM). It was a disaster:

Stop and Smell the Roses reached no further than number 98 in the US.[19] On 31 December, the HMV store in London announced that despite the busy Christmas period, only 30 copies of the album had been sold(.)[1]

It sounds a little more competent than the last couple of albums, but there's still some really poor decision-making here and not much to suggest that anybody had any compelling reason to be recording an album. (Note: this one and Old Wave aren't on Spotify so it could be that I'm getting inferior versions on YouTube or something...) McCartney's "Private Property" (his response to the ska revival??) just isn't five minutes' worth of song; his "Attention" makes no impression at a all. Harrison's "Wrack My Brain" has just a little bit of energy, and the barest outline of a "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" party song.... but why are the drums quieter than the oompah-band horn? Nilsson's "Drumming Is My Madness" and "Stop and Smell The Roses" sure are Nilsson giveaways circa 1981; I would have rather heard Ringo covering "Sweethaven" or "Everything is Food" than slowly asking "Do you think I'm sexy? Do you think I'm silly?" Naturally our boy Ron Wood turns up, with something called "Dead Giveaway" which is one of the most lackadaisically recorded 'rock' songs I can remember hearing. For some reason, there's a remake of "Back off Boogaloo," opening with a remake of "It Don't Come Easy" and including reprises of "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Help!" "Good Day Sunshine" etc. - Nilsson showing off, I guess.

On the positive end... "Stop" at least has a decent throwback quality, like it's 1968 and doing straw-hat bicycle-built-for-two throwbacks is still the cutting edge, and Ringo delivering more semi-coherent spoken-word rant ("You know it's accident-prone! Nobody likes you! [...] Stop! And take the time to buy this album..."). As usual, the country song (Carl Perkins's "Sure To Fall") is decent. Stills's "You've Got A Nice Way" takes a bold step into the mainstream of corny 1981 pop-rock, much more convincing than his previous gestures in the yachty direction, and the little surprise chord change on "so I know" actually gives you something interesting to look forward to.

I wonder if they are bad quality versions, Dr. C, because that was Ringo's best sounding album. I like the McCartney and Harrison produced stuff on that. It's a good version of "You Belong to Me."

(Best sounding of the old ones, anyway, imo. Not familiar with the newer albums he's been doing since the early '90s.)

"Wrack My Brain" is Ringo's last American top forty hit.

I like this other George album track:

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

Anyone else voting for this freaking gem with its weird, apocalyptic imagery?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48FfjqPW3XM

i love "You're Breakin' My Heart". that album is like a brother White Album to me, down to the way Ringo says "Goodbye, Harry!" at the very end.

The Ringo Starr single of "It Don't Come Easy / Early 1970" are the only Ringo songs I know and they're very likeable

"Photograph" is cool, it's a pretty nostalgic tune, in the vein of Beatles-nostalgia tracks like "No. 9 Dream" or "When We Was Fab". "I'm The Greatest" is kind of silly and fun like a Tenacious D track or something. my favorite Ringo track rn is "Back Off Boogaloo" which is basically Ringo doing T-Rex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXg1AxBXN5g