McCartney Vs. Lennon

[McParadigm]

Well, shit, guys. You're not even giving me a reason to get the goddamn scotch out of the box.

Paul was the best Beatle, but in my opinion George had the best solo album with "All Things Must Pass".

I like the distinguishing between band and solo output here. If we're talking "Which Beatle has the best solo output," and someone says George Harrison, I won't argue them at all because I can understand (if not agree).

If you ask "Who is your favorite Beatle," though...then we're talking about the person's work IN the Beatles. Paul and John both wrote an insane amount of material during their tenure, pushing the boundaries of how music was recorded and experimenting wildly within the pop genre. George wrote 22 songs, whose most inventive moments were typically repeats of what his bandmates had done in previous sessions. I can't even fathom how mind-bogglingly perfect a set of 22 songs would have to be to eclipse all of the recorded work either Lennon or McCartney did between 63 and 69.

read my fantastic fucking post

And I did. I did.

[mastaflatch]

Nice write-up, mastaflatch. I'm also a big fan of "Flaming Pie"--though aren't a lot of those songs from different eras? I'm pretty sure at least one of them dates as far back as 1986. In the liner notes, McCartney says the album was made from a kind of creative jones he had coming off the Beatles' "Anthology" project.

you're right - i don't know which songs were written long before '97 but songs like Somedays, Little Willow and Calico Skies just fit with Linda's state at the time.

[epilogue]

I see them as equally brilliant. I really don't see the need to tear down one to prop up the other. They both had strengths and weaknesses professionally and personally.

Team bada.

[McParadigm]

Nice write-up, mastaflatch. I'm also a big fan of "Flaming Pie"--though aren't a lot of those songs from different eras? I'm pretty sure at least one of them dates as far back as 1986. In the liner notes, McCartney says the album was made from a kind of creative jones he had coming off the Beatles' "Anthology" project.

you're right - i don't know which songs were written long before '97 but songs like Somedays, Little Willow and Calico Skies just fit with Linda's state at the time.

Linda was diagnosed in 1995, so you'd have to math the dates of the songs, but I've always thought Paul's most knee-jerk reaction to emotional trauma has been to try and put the best face on and just push through. Even when he tries to talk about loss in interviews, he just can't do it. It's like sharing that much of himself is too foreign an idea.

For someone who was never as abstract or arty about his lyrics as John was, there's also really very little looking inward involved in Paul's work....with exceptions, of course.

[Kevin Davis]

I just checked--"Beautiful Night" is the one I was thinking of from 1986.

What a great album.

[epilogue]

I tend to prefer the Lennon Beatles tracks. But I would say McCartney probably gets the edge on solo albums. Tthough, I think many of Lennon's singles are superior, he never really managed an entire album as strong as Ram or Flaming Pie)

However, outside of Band on the Run, I pretty much hate everything about Wings.

[mastaflatch]

here are some of my favorite lesser-known/often overlooked solo Beatles songs for those that might be interrested:
edit: spoilered because of chud

Spoiler: show

Paul:










John:










George:










Rrrrringo:

[McParadigm]

i always thought Cosmically Conscious sounded like XTC.

[epilogue]

Odd as it sounds, I've always liked Ringo's version of I Am The Greatest more than Lennon's.

[mastaflatch]

Odd as it sounds, I've always liked Ringo's version of I Am The Greatest more than Lennon's.

it's not odd - that song fits Ringo perfectly. i included Lennon's version here because he wrote it and, given the impression most people have of what he must have been like, it's quite funny to hear him sing it. the "Ringo" album is pretty good (thanks to the 3 others lending a hand). how can you not like the guy anyway?

[Norah]

i always thought Cosmically Conscious sounded like XTC.

Dear God!

[epilogue]

Odd as it sounds, I've always liked Ringo's version of I Am The Greatest more than Lennon's.

it's not odd - that song fits Ringo perfectly. i included Lennon's version here because he wrote it and, given the impression most people have of what he must have been like, it's quite funny to hear him sing it. the "Ringo" album is pretty good (thanks to the 3 others lending a hand). how can you not like the guy anyway?

I love Ringo. I really do. Poor guy was just surrounded by far superior talent. He gets overshadowed, but I still got nothing but love for the guy.

[Self]

Lennon.

[Norah]

Can we spoiler those youtube videos? Way too much for one page.

[elliseamos]

Walls and Bridges is good stuff, team. Lennon's "lost weekend" did produce something. Steel & Glass is my favorite song off that album.

I've always liked that the Beatles songs were listed as McCartney/Lennon. They wouldn't have been who they were without each other.

[mastaflatch]

Can we spoiler those youtube videos? Way too much for one page.

the page told me it was ok with it but i spoilered them for you anyway

[mastaflatch]

Walls and Bridges is good stuff, team. Lennon's "lost weekend" did produce something. Steel & Glass is my favorite song off that album.

I've always liked that the Beatles songs were listed as McCartney/Lennon. They wouldn't have been who they were without each other.

funky Lennon!
i thought about including Beef Jerky to my youtube comp up there but refrained at the last minute.
still, i don't think that he had reached the best place he could be then, inspiration-wise. another year away from Yoko would have yielded the real thing imo. of course i'm fantasizing but he seemed on a roll at the time.

[Norah]

Can we spoiler those youtube videos? Way too much for one page.

the page told me it was ok with it but i spoilered them for you anyway

I love you.

[Will]

If you're gonna compare the two, you can't really use McCartney's post 1980 output and make it fair, can you? He's had a ton of great songs as he's aged, but there's no telling what Lennon would have come up with had he been given the chance.

In terms of their solo work, for that decade after the Beatles, there aren't too many solo McCartney/Wings songs I'd favor over Lennon's tunes, and that's not counting the mega-hits, but some of the lesser known tracks.

And then their work in the Beatles kind of washes each other's out. For every incredible thing one did, the other would be encouraged to come back and top it. I love For No One, Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude, Lovely Rita, I'm Looking Through You, etc. but I prefer A Day In The Life, Mr. Kite, Strawberry Fields Forever, and all of Lennon's other masterpieces in the end.

What if it'd been McCartney who had died prematurely and Lennon was still around? Would there be as much reverence towards McCartney's songwriting abilities? Probably, but they're two sides of the same coin. One doesn't exist without the other so there's really little point in saying one's better than the other.

[zeb]

Team Will