Posted May 14, 2011 at 7:10 am | No comments
Written and released on the 1965 album Help, “Yesterday” is not only one of the Beatles’ most loved hits, it is also cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the song with the most cover versions ever recorded with over 1600 recorded versions in existence. BMI has also stated that the song had been performed more than 7 million times in the 20th century alone. Though the song was never released as a single, and therefore could not achieve number one status, it was names as the Number 1 song of the 20th century by a recent BBC 2 poll.
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Posted May 13, 2011 at 7:10 am | No comments
Written by George Harrison, featuring a guitar solo by Blues-Rock legend Eric Clapton, and released on their highly-successful 1968 album The Beatles, otherwise known as the White Album, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” has been mentioned in many lists of the greatest rock songs of all time as well as in the Top 10 Beatles songs ever written. Harrison found inspiration from the I-Ching when writing the song, as he described realizing that everything in Eastern philosophy is based on the concept that things are related to each other, rather than the Western philosophy that things are just coincidental.
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Posted May 12, 2011 at 2:42 pm | No comments
The first Beatles song written by George Harrison to appear on the A-side of a single, “Something” would also appear on the band’s highly successful 1969 album Abbey Road. The song was also the only George Harrison written single to top the charts while he was still a member of the Beatles. As well as receiving critical acclaim from critics and fans alike, and topping the American charts, the song was also praised by both John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the band’s principal songwriters, as one of the best songs that Harrison had ever written as well as one of the best songs that the band had ever produced.
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Posted May 11, 2011 at 2:42 pm | No comments
Mostly written by Paul McCartney, except the middle eight bars which were written by John Lennon, “Michelle” is one of the Beatles’ most-loved ballads. The song is rare in that some of the lyrics are written in French, and after winning the Grammy for “Song of the Year” in 1966, it has become one of the Beatles’ biggest hits in France. Originally inspired by Chet Atkins’ song “Trambone,” “Michelle” was a departure musically for the Beatles as they leaned in a country, finger-picking style for the song’s guitar part. Because of this, the song stands out as unique both lyrically and musically in the Beatles catalogue.
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Posted May 10, 2011 at 11:11 am | No comments
Recorded in 1963, as the A-side along with “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was the first single to be made by the band using a four-track tape machine. The song was the first chart-topping single for the Beatles, and the song that is often credited with fully launching the British Invasion of American, that had been slowly gaining momentum up until this time. After a million copies of the single were preordered even before the single was released, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” is still the biggest selling single of the Beatles’ long and successful career.
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Posted May 9, 2011 at 11:11 am | No comments
Released in the U.S. by Capital records in 1963, the B-side of the record label’s first ever single, “I Saw Her Standing There” the song was a hit for both the Beatles and the record label. Though the A-side, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” topped the Billboard charts for 11 weeks, the B-side only peaked at number 14, though it remained on the charts for 14 weeks that year. Originally titled “Seventeen,” “I Saw Her Standing There” was initially conceived by Beatles’ bassist and vocalist Paul McCartney while driving home after a Beatles concert in Southport, Lancashire.
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Posted May 8, 2011 at 8:31 am | No comments
Released in 1965, along with the film of the same name, “Help” was a huge hit for the Beatles in both the U.S. and the U.K, where it reached number one for three weeks in both countries. Though written by John Lennon, the song was credited to Lennon/McCartney as was the custom in those early days of the Beatles’ career. Described as an important step in his songwriting style, John Lennon wrote “Help” to express his feelings about the band’s meteoric rise to fame and fortune in the early ‘60s. Since being released the song has become a fan favorite the world over.
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Posted May 7, 2011 at 7:31 am | No comments
Written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon/McCartney, “Dear Prudence” was released on the Beatles’ 1968 White album. The song was written about Prudence Farrow, Mia Farrow’s sister, who accompanied the band to India earlier that year. The song was recorded in Trident Studios in London, and features Paul McCartney, normally on bass, playing drums in place of Ringo Starr who had temporarily left the band at this point, which was a sign of things to come in in the near future. Though Ringo Starr made an appearance on the song when it was released on The Beatles: Rock Band video game.
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Posted May 6, 2011 at 3:07 pm | No comments
The Beatles have written countless great songs and many of the best guitar hooks of the 20th century, but none may be more famous than the main riff to their mega-hit single “Day Tripper.” Mixing the E mixolydian scale with a flat 3rd, which is often called the “blue note,” the riff has become one of the most recognizable rock riffs of the Beatles catalogue, and one that just about every guitarist has worked out at one point in their development. Released along with the A-side, “We Can Work it Out,” the song remains as one of the best loved Beatles tracks and a must learn for any guitarist.
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Posted May 5, 2011 at 3:07 pm | No comments
Though their song “All My Loving” was never released as a single in the U.S. or the U.K., the song was released in Canada and, as is often the case with Canadian goods, snuck over the border into the States with enough quantities that it landed at number 45 on the charts, a testament to the enduring quality that the Beatles’ music had on U.S. audiences. Written by bassist and vocalist Paul McCartney while shaving, or on a tour bus depending on which interview you believe, “All My Loving” was the first time that McCartney had written the lyrics before the music, and Beatles fans have been thanking him ever since.
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