All Together Now – 3 of Cups (Lennon/McCartney) Yellow Submarine, 1969 The Beatles’ animated movie classic Yellow Submarine comes to a cheerful conclusion when the real-life Fab Four make an appearance to perform “All Together Now”. Composed mainly by Paul, it’s a jubilant singalong that’s likely to be stuck in your head for days afterward.…
Devil in Her Heart – The Devil (Drapkin) With the Beatles, 1963 Before managing the Beatles, Brian Epstein owned the biggest music store in Liverpool. NEMS – short for North End Music Stores – was where the four Beatles did their record shopping before they got famous. Brian took pride in having the greatest selection…
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? – Strength (Lennon/McCartney) “The White Album”, 1968 As the Beatles neared completion of the sprawling double-record that would be known as the “White Album”, Paul had one final track he wanted to record. John and George were busy working on other songs at the time, so McCartney…
Don’t Bother Me – 5 of Cups (Harrison) With the Beatles, 1963 “Don’t Bother Me” is the first song composed by George Harrison and appears on the Fab Four’s second album With the Beatles. Before then, whenever he took lead vocal duties, he sang either cover versions or Lennon/McCartney originals that they had given to…
Tomorrow Never Knows – Judgement (Lennon/McCartney) Revolver, 1966 The Beatles began recording their seventh album with a new song from John Lennon. The song not only set the record’s tone for fearless creativity without limits, but also went on to change the entire landscape of popular music. “Tomorrow Never Knows”, appearing as the final track…
Hello, Goodbye – The Sun (Lennon/McCartney) Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 “Hello, Goodbye” was one of the Beatles’ most successful singles, topping the charts all over the world. In the UK, it spent seven consecutive weeks at number one, a feat the band hadn’t attained since “She Loves You” four years before. Despite – or maybe…
There’s a Place – 3 of Swords (McCartney/Lennon) Please Please Me, 1963 The first verse of the penultimate track off Please Please Me comes with a twist. The singer begins by informing us that there’s a place he can go when he’s feeling down. Considering that most pop songs at the time were about matters…
Dig It – The Fool (Lennon/McCartney/Starkey/Harrison) Let It Be, 1970 “Dig It” is a curio in the Beatles canon, for sure. When producer Phil Spector was brought in to make an album worthy of release from the Beatles’ defunct Get Back project, he discovered 150 hours of recordings. These tapes were largely comprised of loose…
We Can Work It Out – 2 of Swords (Lennon/McCartney) Originally released as a single, 1965 Available on Past Masters In late-1965 there was disagreement over which of two new Beatles songs should become the A-side of their next single, and which should be relegated to the B-side. John argued in favor of his song,…
I’m Only Sleeping – 4 of Cups (Lennon/McCartney) Revolver, 1966 John Lennon was the vibrant, passionate, and prodigious leader of the greatest rock band that ever existed. He was the band’s elemental fire and had an exceptionally creative, intelligent mind. He also happened to be extraordinarily lazy at times. In spring of 1966, around the…