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

gonna continue to rep for obscure George nuggets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3s4ncKCE2g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVRmdrM0Mmg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCVe4pNMLW0

I like 'I Live For You' a lot - also, I seem to remember Kula Shaker nicking the riff from 'Ski-ing' for one of their B-sides.

or a Beatles-hater submitting a top 10 that's all Kanye, David Bowie, Elton John, Yoko, Nilsson, Michael Jackson, and the Wilburys

xp

― Οὖτις, Thursday, May 10, 2018 6:01 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Let's not forget The Smokin' Mojo Filters and... Oasis!

Live and Let POLL

Thomas The Tank Engine theme tune hereby nominated

? does not feature any Beatles.

sure Ringo was on the show, but he's not on the song iirc

Let Me POLL It

Let's not forget the time when Macca found himself "in the middle of a Nirvana reunion"

Just remembered Scouse Mouse, scratch TTTE.

Let's not forget The Smokin' Mojo Filters and... Oasis!

idrc Macca ever playing with Oasis?

yeah me neither

will be v interested to see what paul album rates highest here -- band on the run and tug of war were prob the critical faves back in the day, now i'd expect it to go to ram or maybe even mccartney II.

Let Me POLL It

nice

JL/POB is prob not my personal fav beatles solo album but it feels like a lock for top 3 at least

voodoo chili - legit lolz at "Imagine all the Pre-POLLs"

I will not be tallying votes for individual albums, that's some other poll

My bit about George.

surprised there wasn't a button poll for that already

I guess I could do a side-poll for albums if people really want. I don't really care personally

xp

ah! sorry should've read this more carefully.

There’s two good songs on dark horse is an insane opinion

that's true, there's actually three good songs (Ding Dong, Dark Horse and It Is He)

the mono version of "wonderwall music" is just so damn fantastic

Extra Texture is worse if that's possible. At least DH has an anonymous mid '70s studio rock professionalism.

I’m pretty sure Macca wins this over the length of his career : between « every night », « say say say » and stuff on Chaos, for instance, a lot of great work.
Lennon’s and George’s initial output were stronger, though.

the weird thing for me is that while I find plenty of Macca's stuff pleasant, I'm hard-pressed to consider what I think his greatest solo songs are. a lot of his hits seem slight or just stupid, and the ones that I consider very good don't really measure up to the more canonical hits from John and George's early runs. I mean, sure "Band on the Run" or "Live and Let Die" are good but ... they aren't *that* great.

Macca is perfect for the old days of CD-Rs and CS-90s. You do what a pal did for me: stick 15 to 20 album tracks, B-sides, and obscurities. I was charmed.

yeah that's true, he's done so much and followed so many weird little detours, but with a baseline competency and inventiveness that you could just make an entirely decent alternate discography from any old collection of odds and ends

otoh I listen to something like Red Rose Speedway and as soon as its over I can't remember a thing about it

Yeah I agree. Like once they pass away : John had « Imagine », George « My Sweet Lord », even when the time comes, Ringo will have, I don’t know, like « Photograph », but Macca... his most famous track, nowadays, might be « Live &Let Die », which seems a bit below the level of such a legendary songwriter.

I sort of agree that most of the best solo McCartney tracks are slight and insubstantial and frivolous, but I don't think that's a bad thing, I like the way he embraced meandering aimlessness in his solo career, what else are you going to do after you've been in The Greatest Band Of All Time

Yeah, of course.
That said I have always thought, in all fairness, that Macca’s « Imagine » should be « Let it Be ».
Even Lennon said it was a solo track !

the canonical paul solo track is probably maybe i'm amazed, isn't it?

maybe? otoh how many ilxors are really gonna go to bat for that smarmy pile (I prefer the Faces version!)

do Twin Freaks versions count as separate tracks itp bcz ^

sure

"Band on the Run" and "Jet" are probably competitive with "Live & Let Die" for famousness. "Maybe I'm Amazed" for belovedness.

Me, I just hope something from Tug of War gets some love. "Take it Away" perhaps.

I loved this Taylor Parkes article about the low-key weirdness of so much of 70s McCartney':

Though they feature a great many pale burlesques of funk or blues or disco or doo-wop, these records occupy a unique space within pop — in some ways, they're barely recognisable as pop music at all. Except in the most superficial sense, they bear no relation to the work of McCartney's contemporaries, nor to anything that came before (or has come since). Not because they're personal — McCartney let little of himself into his work — nor because they push back boundaries, or break new ground (they do neither). They just seem to ignore most of pop's basic obligations. Few of these songs mean anything at all; they're rarely exciting in a purely visceral sense; they never tell a story, or attempt to blow your mind; they're seldom uplifting, or plaintive, or gross. They are utterly useless objects, which seem content simply to exist. This is their (very) peculiar charm.

http://thequietus.com/articles/01922-paul-mccartney-the-beatles-wings-the-best-of

idrc Macca ever playing with Oasis?

― chilis=lyrics...hypocrits (sic), Thursday, May 10, 2018 7:44 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah me neither

― Οὖτις, Thursday, May 10, 2018 7:44 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's because he didn't! I'm referring to Lennon's voice on 'I'm Outta Time', which counts because it features him!

wow that is v otm

xp

I'm referring to Lennon's voice on 'I'm Outta Time', which counts because it features him!

samples don't count

the Beatle in question has to have actively participated in the recording

sure

this principle makes picking votes on Liverpool Sound Collage harder too

Twin Freaks edition of Maybe I'm Amazed btw

I'm referring to Lennon's voice on 'I'm Outta Time', which counts because it features him!

brb, voting Beastie Boys for 100 points

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brb, voting Beastie Boys for 100 points

lol I resisted making this very joek

No Grey Album guys

yeah i buy that parks take on macca. he's like a more musically inspired, varied and energetic version of like, beach boys love you, just this stoned goofball recording things because he has tunes in him and recording things is what he knows how to do. throwing all his rocker passion and all his tuneful hook-finding instincts behind nonsensical inanities. to be clear "morse moose and the grey goose" and "junior's farm" will almost assuredly be on my ballot so i am 100% in favor of this approach.

haha well the secret's out that i'm behind on my old habit of weeding through the annual polls as my primary means of keeping up with "new" music

Ha ha - join the club. Though I'm (recently) up to date with Weyes Blood.

Ha! I just made a playlist for a friend and put "Something to Believe" right next to "All Things Must Pass". The new Weyes Blood album makes me want to go back in time and force George Harrison and Karen Carpenter to collaborate.

A new angle on my theory that Ringo's solo career should largely have consisted of country-flavored duets: they should have been produced and arranged by George, and Karen Carpenter should have been a regular guest.

If you're looking for another recent track that's a cousin of All Things Must Pass, try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H1SXeDQcm8

hey should have been produced and arranged by George, and Karen Carpenter should have been a regular guest.

I like this so long as George insists on Karen drumming.

All Things Must Pass album, I should say, not the track. And it starts out more Esher demo.

x-post

very Esher demo! nice pick.