george harrison

And B-sides… The Beatles

/ UK #1s blog / Leave a comment

October 5th marks the 64th anniversary of the release of ‘Love Me Do’, the Beatles’ debut single proper. And while it wasn’t a number one, in the UK at least, I thought it was as good moment as any to do this B-sides post, which I’ve been toying with for a while. Plus, in blog world we’ve just reached the Arctic Monkeys, British rock’s last great hurrah. What better time, then, to take a deep dive into the band that gave us British rock’s greatest hurrah?

I considered choosing my Top 5, or even Top 10, and at one point a Top 6 (?), favourite B-sides to the Beatles’ seventeen UK number ones. (Yes, I know they’ve had eighteen, but they hadn’t in 2005, which is where we are in number1sblog land). But then I realised that I liked too many of them, and so why not rank all of them?

Ranking is a pointless task, lazily clickbaity; but it is undeniably satisfying. It is a very human impulse – a male impulse I might argue – to put things into lists. So here we are.

The Fab Four’s B-sides varied widely from territory to territory, and from release to re-release. But these fifteen tracks are the original British B-sides to their #1 singles. And yes it’s fifteen B-sides from seventeen #1s, thanks to their two chart-topping double A-sides, ‘Day Tripper’ / ‘We Can Work It Out’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ / ‘Yellow Submarine’.

One, two, three, FAH…

15. ‘The Inner Light’, B-side to ‘Lady Madonna’

‘Lady Madonna’ was the first single The Beatles released after their trip to India to see the Maharishi. And while the Fats Domino inspired A-side was about as far from eastern mysticism as you can get, ‘The Inner Light’ made up for it with bells (and sitars, and drones) on. It’s a George Harrison composition – the first to be released on any Beatles’ single – with lyrics inspired by Taoism, and is highly regarded by scholars who know their meditation. But, I have to be honest, it’s a bit of a racket to my ungodly ears.

14. ‘Yes It Is’, B-side to ‘Ticket to Ride’

‘Ticket to Ride’ is such a statement single, one of The Beatles’ big steps away from a beat combo to an experimental rock group, that I’d have expected the B-side to have been a little more avant-garde. But the slow waltzing ‘Yes It Is’, in which the boys beg their girl not to wear red because it will remind them of their ex, is a slight disappointment. The harmonies are strong, and the accordion and/or harmonica lends an intriguingly woozy edge to it. But it sounds like a retread of ‘This Boy’, which you will be able to find much further down this list…

13. ‘Thank You Girl’, B-side to ‘From Me to You’

Nothing particularly wrong with ‘Thank You Girl’, the B-side to their first number single. But it feels like it’s been patched together using scraps from better songs. There’s the harmonica clarion call from ‘Please Please Me’, there’s the chugging riff from ‘I Want to Hold Your Hold’, and there’s some pretty ropey rhyming couplets. I do like the weirdly affected and echoey way they sing the ‘oh oh oh’s though.

12. ‘She’s a Woman’, B-side to ‘I Feel Fine’

Paul McCartney wrote ‘She’s a Woman’ as an attempt to copy the style of their early tour-mate Little Richard. I don’t think it sounds particularly like Little Richard, more like Georgie Fame, but McCartney sounds half cut and wonderfully hoarse singing this bluesy number. It apparently features the band’s first reference to marijuana in the turns me on line, but that feels like retroactive thinking, unless the ‘woman’ of the title is Mary Jane herself.

11. ‘I’ll Get You’, B-side to ‘She Loves You’

B-side to the Beatles’ best single (no arguing, thanks), ‘I’ll Get You’ is perhaps the perfect distillation of the band’s early sound. It’s a great beat-pop song. It just loses a couple of marks because it relies a little too heavily on the ‘oh yeah’s.

10. ‘I’m Down’, B-side to ‘Help!’

Releasing a record that would appear on paper as ‘Help!’ / ‘I’m Down’ suggests that things were not all tickety boo towards the end of the Beatles’ touring days. But if you expect ‘I’m Down’ to be a mopey record then you’re to be disappointed. Written by McCartney a couple of years earlier, like the A-side it couches its depressive message – I’m down, I’m really down, Down on the ground… – in a rollicking rock and roll beat, with lots of whooping and hollering, a wild organ solo, and a brilliant intro that rips off Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’ to fine effect. The Top 10 are all great songs, signature hits for literally any other band, and ‘I’m Down’ gets us off to fine start.

9. ‘Rain’, B-side to ‘Paperback Writer’

Pop music was developing so quickly in the mid-sixties that the Beatles went from releasing ‘I’m Down’ to ‘Rain’ inside ten months. Their first release to use reversed vocals, as well as nods towards eastern musical styles (though no actual sitars feature on the song) and other classic ’60s psychedelic touches, it was recorded around the same time as ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, and the relationship between the two songs is clear. And yet, despite the experimental sounds, John Lennon has described the song as being concerned with that most quintessentially British phenomenon: ‘people complaining about the weather’.

8. ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’, B-side to ‘All You Need Is Love’

A year later, and the same psychedelic sounds were incorporated into a much poppier song for the B-side to hippy anthem ‘All You Need Is Love’. It has a very hooky chorus, but lots of odd touches – it features a clavioline, for example, the same proto-synthesiser used on the Tornados’ ‘Telstar’. The ‘rich man’ in the title might be Brian Epstein, or those involved in the hippie movement.

7. ‘You Can’t Do That’, B-side ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’

The first B-side in this list that, I think, might be better than the A-side. This chugging, bluesy groover, with John Lennon letting his rock star voice loose is a gem. I am a sucker for the use of a cow bell in rock music, mind you, so that might be swaying the vote.

6. ‘Old Brown Shoe’, B-side to ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’

Once the Beatles had gotten through their psychedelic phase, their final year or so was spent recording songs that were either very experimental, or a return to their rocking roots. (Or that were a middle finger to what people expected of them, like the A-side to this one.) ‘Old Brown Shoe’ is a rocker, with a brilliant bass line and a wonderfully echoey effect on George Harrison’s lead vocals. Sources are conflicted as to whether it’s Ringo playing drums on this record, or Paul.

5. ‘This Boy’, B-side to ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’

I will argue all day long that early-Beatles shouldn’t get overlooked as much as it does (give me the Red Album over the Blue any day…) So I’ve managed to put two pre-1965 B-sides in the Top 5. The next one is rightfully recognised as one of their best, but ‘This Boy’ is beautiful too. The Everly Brothers harmonies in the first two verses, and the soulful blast that John Lennon gives the middle-eight, make it a highlight of their early hits.

4. ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, B-side to ‘Get Back’

The Beatles’ second last chart-topping B-side is one of their more famous ballads. Like at least two other songs on this list, it is enhanced by a full-throated vocal performance from John Lennon. I’ve always loved the off kilter middle eight, and the risqué sounding third verse (Ooh she done me, She done me good…) Like the A-side ‘Get Back’, this also features Billy Preston on the piano, most notably in the outro.

3. ‘Things We Said Today’, B-side to ‘A Hard Day’s Night’

For a long time I thought that ‘Things We Said Today’ had come along much later in the Beatles’ careers, maybe around ‘Revolver’, or at least ‘Rubber Soul’. But for this minor-key masterpiece to have been recorded less than two years after ‘Love Me Do’ astounds me. It’s a McCartney composition, allegedly inspired by difficulties in his relationship with Jane Asher, and sees him look ahead to a day in future – I always read it as after they’ve split up – when they remember the nice things they used to say to one another.

2. ‘Revolution’, B-side to ‘Hey Jude’

On another day this could have been my number one. But today I am feeling less revolutionary, more contrary. Though in fact that kind of sums up John Lennon’s ‘Revolution’, which is not so much about wanting a revolution as telling those who want one that they’re doing it wrong. You say you’ll change the constitution, Well you know, We’d all love to change your head… And we can surely all relate to agreeing with a cause but thinking those in charge are sanctimonious pricks? And if we can’t all agree on the politics of the song, I’m sure we can all agree on how nasty those fuzzy guitars sound.

1. ‘I Am the Walrus’, B-side to ‘Hello, Goodbye’

Edging out ‘Revolution’ because, at the end of the day, has there been a more regime changing lyric than oompah oompah stick it up your jumper? Started by Lennon when he was on an acid trip, and with influences from Lewis Carroll, playground chants, extracts from ‘King Lear’, and his own bloody-mindedness after finding out that hip young English teachers were using Beatles songs for their lessons (‘let the fuckers work that one out’, he is alleged to have cackled). ‘I Am the Walrus’ defies explanation, quite intentionally, and is top of this pile. If only they had listed it as the A-side over ‘Hello, Goodbye’, it would have been one of the strangest number ones of all time.

Happy Beatles day, then. I’m off to listen to the Red Album…

918. ‘My Sweet Lord’, by George Harrison

/ UK #1s blog / 13 Comments

In the only occasion two posthumously released records (by two different artists) have made #1 consecutively, George Harrison replaces Aaliyah…

My Sweet Lord, by George Harrison (his 2nd and final #1)

1 week, from 20th – 27th January 2002

It would feel odd to review the song, as I already did so five years ago: ‘My Sweet Lord’ having spent five weeks at #1 in 1971. So, I’d rather direct you towards my original post, despite the fact that I was a bit harsh on it. I claimed it ‘doesn’t really go anywhere’ and, while I get what I meant, I now realise that that is entirely the point of the song. It’s a euphoric chant, a mantra, an incantation. It is a beautiful song, despite my complete irreligiosity. In my book, it is by far the best solo-Beatle number one.

Harrison had died from cancer in November 2001, and thus ‘My Sweet Lord’ was given a rerelease. It means that the line I really wanna see you Lord, But it takes so long, My Lord… now hits differently, assuming that it originally referred to a religious awakening. But it is a fitting, and obvious tribute.

And it is the fact that it was a deliberate release, as a tribute, that means I’m featuring this as the 918th number one single, and not a belated return for the 296th. Like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ before it, again rereleased following the death of its creator, ‘My Sweet Lord’ becomes only the second song to return to #1 in a rerelease (though BoRap was paired with ‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’).

This is something that needs clarifying as we move further into the 21st century. Soon there will be a series of Elvis rereleases making the top of the charts, and again they’ll be treated as ‘new’ number ones. However, when ‘Three Lions’, and then two Christmas perennials, return to number one later in the century they will not be gifted such special status as they are simply a case of the original hit returning to the charts. In fact, the streaming era has basically killed off the idea of the rerelease, as (almost) everything is now on permanent release via your streaming platform of choice.

Hope that makes sense. Anyway, let’s just enjoy this classic re-appearing at number one, completely out of place in the early ‘00s soundscape. It is also worth noting this fact: ‘My Sweet Lord’ remains one of only two truly solo UK #1s that any of the four Beatles enjoyed during their lifetimes!

296. ‘My Sweet Lord’, by George Harrison

/ UK #1s blog / 17 Comments

I wonder what the odds were on George Harrison being the first Beatle to score a solo chart-topper? You would have assumed it’d be Lennon, who was releasing solo stuff before the Fab Four had even split, then McCartney, with his knack for a pop hook. Then again, George had been getting more of his songs included on their albums from 1968 onwards, and some of the Beatles’ most famous late-era tunes are his – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Something’, ‘Here Comes the Sun’… So maybe it wasn’t such a surprise when he hit top spot less than a year after his former band’s last hit.

George_Harrison

My Sweet Lord, by George Harrison (his 1st of two #1s)

5 weeks, from 24th January – 28th February 1971

And in the end, it wasn’t even close. We are still seven years from a #1 by Paul, and nearly a decade away from one by John, by which time he’ll be dead. Anyway, to the song… There’s something quite ominous in the opening acoustic chords, contrasting nicely with the goofy, tropical, lead guitar riff.

My sweet lord, Mmm my lord, I really want to see you, Really wanna be with you… His voice sounds great – angelic, but gruff and growly when it needs to be. Really wanna see you lord but it takes so long, My lord… First things first, then – is this a religious song? On the face of it, yes – especially when the hallelujahs come in. And does he want proof of God’s existence or, like Clive Dunn before, is he anticipating death? (George Harrison and Clive Dunn asking the big questions at the top of the charts, who’d’ve though it…)

It’s not your typical pop song – no verse, bridge, chorus here. It’s more of a growing chant, a five-minute long mantra, that ascends through several key changes. Now, you can’t ever go wrong with key changes, but at the same time it’s a song that doesn’t really go anywhere. Maybe that’s the intention; but for me it leaves something wanting. ‘My Sweet Lord’ is a song that I loved without really considering why, and I do still really like it, but the more I listen to it the more I wonder if it’s as great as they say…

R-8501940-1587384731-4928.jpeg

Sacrilege? Maybe. Halfway through the Hallelujahs become Hare Krishna’s and other snippets of Vedic prayer. Which answers our earlier question – yes, it is a religious song. Harrison was big into his Hinduism at the time and by combining it with Christian elements he wanted to make a statement on the follies of sectarianism. We all worship the same God at the end of the day, right? (No!, shout all the atheists in the back.)

It ends on a high, like a gospel choir singing it up to the rafters. Among the backing instruments and singers you can hear Ringo, Billy Preston (from ‘Get Back’), and Eric Clapton among others. You might also hear hints of ‘He’s So Fine’ by The Chiffons… Harrison famously lost a copyright case that ruled he had ‘subconsciously copied’ the melody. (I really like this cover by The Belmonts – minus Dion – which splices the two songs together, with lots of added kazoo.)

‘My Sweet Lord’ was on Harrison’s epic triple album ‘All Things Must Pass’ – a shackles-off moment in which he stepped out of Lennon and McCartney’s combined shadow. He would continue to have commercial success throughout the seventies and eighties – by himself, in the supergroup The Travelling Wilburys – and then in the nineties with the two remaining Beatles. The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed, though, that this is his ‘1st of two #1s’… The other? A re-release of ‘My Sweet Lord’ just after his death in 2002. Till then then, George…

Follow along with my Spotify playlist.