Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The next time the wall wtreet journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Infrastructure week. at last.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Bark louder, little dog.

I really should read my own blog.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late night Beatles and fundraising

Late night Beatles and fundraising

by | 90 Comments

This post is in: ,

Sorry to step on Adam’s post, but I’m afraid if I go up I’ll wake up the baby so I’m chilling in the den a little while longer. Also, I’m a big Pats fan — what a game! Sorry to see the Pats lose but not sorry to see Philly win.

Apropos of Jewish Steel’s last post, what’s your favorite Beatles song? For me, “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” is number one with “Getting Better All The Time” number two.

Here’s a harder question: what’s the best song done by a Beatle after the Beatles broke up? I think it’s fair to say Macca did not cover himself in glory for the most part. I’ll go with “God” and “Remember”. I’m a John guy, even though I realize he was kind of an asshole whereas Paul is the one of the nicest people ever. The only post-Beatles Paul songs I enjoy are “Jet”, “Maybe I’m Amazed”. and the new one with Kanye. I also like the video for “Say, Say, Say”. But that’s about it. Jesus, he seems like a nice guy though. I saw this documentary with him and Dave Grohl in it (“Sound City”) and it really does inspire you to be a nicer person.

Let’s raise some money if you’re still awake. I hear more and more good things about Swing Left and I’m emailing them tomorrow to see if they’ll think about expanding into NY-23, right near me.

Goal Thermometer

Reader Interactions

90Comments

  2. 2.

    guachi

    My father was born and raised in Philadelphia. He is very happy today. And, therefore, so am I. He’s lived in SF for years so he’s had his fill of Giants and 49ers wins but it’s just more special when it’s your hometown.

    Yay, Eagles!!!!

    As to favorite Beatles songs… the first and only Beatles album I actually owned was Sergeant Pepper’s on cassette. Unsure why I bought it, but I did around 1990 while in high school. So I’ll go with “A Day in the Life”.

    Or “Twist and Shout” as I think the first time I heard it all the way through was when it was used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

    “Say, Say, Say” is a vastly better Jackson/McCartney song than the execrable “The Girl Is Mine” so I’ll agree with you there.

  6. 6.

    wuzzat

    I find myself irrationally irritated by a lot of John Lennon songs, but I like Watching the Wheels. And I know that Paul’s songs were objectively mostly crap, but I’ve got a soft spot for Maybe I’m Amazed. And I’ll take a crappy McCartney song over a crappy Lennon song any day. Like, Happy Xmas and Wonderful Christmastime are both objectively bad songs. But Paul’s song is the happy drunk that spends the night telling you how much he loves you man and John’s song is the pretentious, pseudo-intellectual drunk who spends the night lecturing you about vegan leather. They’re both probably going to puke on your shoes, but at least Paul paid for a round first.

  7. 7.

    hilts

    My Top 5 Beatles songs

    1. A Day in the Life
    2. Two of Us
    3. A Hard Day’s Night
    4. Help
    5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    Top 5 Post Beatles Songs

    1. What is Life – Harrison
    2. imagine – Lennon
    3. Mind Games – Lennon
    4. Too Many People – McCartney
    5. Give Me Love – Harrison

  9. 9.

    Steve in the ATL

    1. “I Feel Fine”
    2. “It Don’t Come Easy” (who else has the cajones to go Ringo on this one?!)

  13. 13.

    Doug!

    @wuzzat:

    You see, I’ve always wanted to hate John. I was in a Montessori-style elementary classroom with a bunch of annoying hippie kids when he died, and they would not shut up about him. And “Woman” and “Strange Days” completely suck and they played them on the radio and probably in my classroom (I’ve blocked it out) endlessly. But…he did a lot of brilliant stuff, no two ways about it.

  14. 14.

    The Dangerman

    @hilts:

    What he/she said; “A Day In The Life” and “What Is Life” (and it’s not close on the latter; well, maybe Ringo and “Photograph”).

  16. 16.

    Steve in the ATL

    @wuzzat: Paul was always my favorite Beatle but the objective horribleness of “wonderful Christmastime” has me reconsidering my entire Beatles fandom.

  19. 19.

    Bruuuuce

    For actual Beatles songs, I’ll go with three: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun, and In My Life.

    Post the breakup, I favor Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, It Don’t Come Easy, and Watching the Wheels (and, not as a critic but as a fan alone, I have a soft spot for Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me))

  21. 21.

    JWR

    @The Pale Scot: Oh wow! Ruby Starr! I went to a show which BOA was supposed to open for Black Sabbath, but something went wrong, (right?), because Ruby Starr & Grey Ghost opened. They f***ing rocked!

  24. 24.

    Tehanu

    Beatles: Here Comes the Sun, Your Mother Should Know, She’s Leaving Home, And I Love Her, Ticket to Ride

    Post-Beatles: Venus & Mars, Beautiful Boy, Maybe I’m Amazed

  26. 26.

    Redshift

    Hey, Doug!

    Repeat from earlier:

    This morning, I went to a fundraiser for Steve Bacher, who’s running in the primary for Congress for PA-08. He’s a college friend of a good friend of mine, and he seems like a really good guy. He’s an environmental activist who’s involved with local Indivisible, and unapologetically advocates for universal health care, a living wage, and other solid liberal priorities, and against the horrors Republicans are inflicting on us. He’s running in a primary against a self-funding millionaire who’s backed by the party establishment, and whose campaign theme is restoring bipartisanship and ending “dysfunction in Washington,” and a female Navy veteran who apparently was a Republican until last year.

    I encourage everyone to support him!

    For post-Beatles songs, I have a soft spot for “Live and Let Die,” because it’s the first Bond film I saw.

  28. 28.

    Bruuuuce

    @Doug!: Okay, not critically, but as a fan, just as with Picasso. Critically, little if any of PM’s post-Beatles work stands up to the earlier oeuvre. A lot of it is closer to the early Beatles, which wasn’t deep but was catchy and fun to listen to. Plus, of course, I was the right age for it (going to be 57 this month).

    Would I troll such a sweet, gentle bunch as this? :-D

  30. 30.

    Mary G

    I love Revolution, Something, Paperback Writer, Here Comes the Sun,
    While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Back in the U.S.S.R.

  31. 31.

    joel hanes

    John guy here.

    All You Need Is Love
    While My Guitar Gently Weeps
    (Boy) You’ve Got To Carry That Weight
    Hey Jude
    Got To Get You Into My Life
    Good Day Sunshine
    Within You Without You, Blackbird, Mother Nature’s Son … fuck, once one starts there’s no _end_ to it.

    Piggies (the Republican National Anthem)

  32. 32.

    eemom

    I love George. My Sweet Lord, and the Brainwashed album that was released posthumously, among others.

    I like some McCartney songs — Band on the Run, Jet, Just Another Day, Uncle Albert — but they’re kind of balanced out by the ones I absolutely loathe, like Maybe I’m Fucking Amazed and Silly Asshole Love Songs.

  33. 33.

    Anotherlurker

    Hard for me to pin down one song. I’d have to say that “A Day In The Life” is one of most impressively mixed songs I’ve ever heard. I have to go with it as my favorite.
    However, there is every track on “Rubber Soul” that needs to be considered, too.

  35. 35.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)

    I’ve never been to fond of the Beatles. I can deal with them, and I like some of their songs all right, but overall, they just don’t do it for me. And I think McCartney is the worst. He has a real mean competitive stream, too from what I know. He could be nasty, a real jerk.

  38. 38.

    wuzzat

    @Doug!: And I know that John did brilliant work, but the diehard Lennon fans have annoyed me so badly that it casts a pall over even the songs that I should otherwise like. Also, I hate “Imagine” and I could not escape that song in my youth. Pretentious, hypocritical, gonna lecture you about how to be a better person John is my least favorite John.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @joel hanes: While My Guitar Gently Weeps

    If I had to pick one, I guess that it would be it, but even as a pretty moderate Beatles fan, there are too many to choose from.

  40. 40.

    eemom

    Across the Universe, Let It Be, A Day in the Life, Ballad of John and Yoko, I’ve Just Seen A Face, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, ObLaDi ObLaDa, Girl, Yellow Submarine, Run For Your Life. I think this is a futile exercise.

  43. 43.

    Beautifulplumage

    Not going to read all the comments ’cause…

    An early brewery job included being able to pop into the brewery stereo either side of The Beatles Tape: pre lysergic or post lysergic.

  44. 44.

    Trooptripe Traptrope

    Can’t say I have a favorite Beatles song, but when I was a young man who frequently drove home friends who were too drunk to drive, I often enjoyed playing the Beatles version of “Rock and Roll Music” during my rounds and it never failed to ignite a burst of frenzied seat dancing among my passengers. That was fun. As for post Beatles tunes, McCartney’s “Heart of the Country” is one of my favorites.

  45. 45.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @wuzzat: yeah, people who treat him like Gandhi, Jesus, Buddha and Mozart rolled into one annoy the hell out of me, especially when the way he treated Cynthia and Julian is pretty hard to stomach. But musically, he was the Larry David of that crew

  46. 46.

    Jay P

    No love for Paul’s work as The Firemen? Completely changed his M.O., and made some great music. First album is more electronic, and the last is more bluesy. The first song on their 3rd album, “Nothing too much just out of sight” is an incredible indictment of his ex-wife Heather Mills, and is pretty good.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The Playboy interview with John that came out just before he was killed was very good. He talked about how bad he was to Cynthia, etc. And he explained the weird timing of the clapping, etc., on “Give Peace a Chance” – he had a terrible sense of rhythm and they tried to fix it later.

    All of them were amazing talents. It was a crime that they didn’t put more George songs on their albums, but that made “All Things Must Pass” even more amazing.

    Day in the Life
    What is Life?

    top the list for me.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    oldster

    Can’t pick a favorite Beatles song, though “And Your Bird Can Sing” strikes me as a marvel of tight composition. “Ticket to Ride” for the rhythm track. “I am the Walrus” has a strong groove. I pretty much like 80% of them, each for different reasons.

    Post-Beatles, my favorite John song is “#9 Dream.”

    I like a lot of Paul’s up-tempo rockers, e.g. “Junior’s Farm.” Hell, I even like “Admiral Halsey,” though I wouldn’t admit it in public.

  52. 52.

    James E. Powell

    Years ago a bunch of us who hung out in a record store that could have been the model for Hornby’s High Fidelity (except it wasn’t in England), the best Beatles song question was debated for about an hour when a customer none of us knew said, “The best one is the one you forgot about.” I agreed then and now.

    The best post Beatles songs are John, #9 Dream, Paul, Jet, George, What is Life, Ringo, It Ain’t Easy.

  54. 54.

    efgoldman

    @Yutsano:

    No love for “Eleanor Rigby”?

    It’s the best story.
    Favorite for production: She’s so Heavy, because apparently they just sliced the tape at the end (ask your parents or grandparents). First time I heard it, in the car on the way to work, nearly caused a major accident.
    Penny Lane for the orchestration
    Favorite albums: Abbey Road, then Sergeant Pepper. I could never understand the love for the White Album. Bored me stupid then, still does.

  55. 55.

    Irony Abounds

    @The Dangerman: Agree with you on What is Life and Photograph. Here Comes the Sun is my favorite Beatles song. I really don’t care for Lennon’s stuff at all and McCartney’s post Beatle stuff was pretty lightweight.

  56. 56.

    oldster

    The thing about Paul’s lightweight stuff like “Admiral Halsey”–it comes from his weakness for the British Music Hall tradition–song and dance men, vaudeville tunes, novelty numbers, etc.

    But the fact is, he was already doing it back with the Beatles. “Rocky Raccoon,” “Obla Di Obla Da,” “Yellow Submarine,” stuff like that was not one whit less witless than “Admiral Halsey.” Already shamelessly oompahing and mugging for laughs.

    I mean–I like it, as an embarrassing indulgence. But I sure can’t see sticking up for “Rocky Raccoon” and condemning “Admiral Halsey”.

  57. 57.

    joel hanes

    @Mnemosyne:

    I was a middle school kid riding the bus
    The driver played the local Top 40 station. Loud

    We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper (the A and the other A side of a 45 single)
    were the only important soundtrack to that deep Iowa winter,
    and for the the angst, hopes, and despairs of the seventh grade.

  59. 59.

    scott (the other one)

    I think it’s fair to say Macca did not cover himself in glory for the most part.

    My guess is that you’re not terribly familiar with the majority of the stuff he’s released in the past 25 years.

  60. 60.

    Jack Canuck

    I got into the Beatles at the age of 9, when I asked my mum what the big deal was about this John Lennon guy getting shot. She went into the living room and dug out Sgt Pepper and the White Album, and I was away.

    Beatles: Rain, then Here Comes the Sun (with a whole huge list tied for third).
    Post-Beatles: Watching the Wheels, though I reckon Live and Let Die is a good one too. Though honestly I haven’t listened to a whole lot of the post-Beatles output.

  62. 62.

    Jack Canuck

    @Mike J: Love that song, my favourite Beatles track by miles.

    If you’re casting your post-Beatles net that wide, you might as well include Oasis albums too!

  63. 63.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Beatles: Back in the USSR (because it drove the John Birch Society utterly insaner than they already were)
    Post Beatles: Band on the Run/It Don’t Come Easy/Number Nine Dream/What is Life

  64. 64.

    Eljai

    @Another Scott: I remember reading an interview with John shortly before his death. It just seemed all the more tragic later because it appeared that he had grown, was enjoying time with his 5-year-old son, Sean, and was finally living life on his own terms when he was murdered. I was working at a radio station in 1980 – my first real job. It was an AM news-talk station, but right-wing talk shows hadn’t taken over yet. Anyway, they were playing “Day in the Life” the morning after John was shot. I had to excuse myself so I could sob in private.

  68. 68.

    JustRuss

    My ex-wife has a distant cousin who owned a ranch in–Arizona, I think–next to property Paul owned. She said Paul and Linda were indeed very nice neighbors.

    As far as faves, Ballad of John & Yoko is so much fun, And Your Bird Can Sing is an incredibly tight little rocker.

  69. 69.

    Bailey

    Favorite Beatles songs:
    For No One
    Golden Slumbers Medley
    Two of Us
    In My Life
    For You Blue
    Penny Lane
    I’ve Got a Feeling
    I’ll Cry Instead
    She’s a Woman
    A Day in the Life
    Eleanor Rigby
    If I Needed Someone
    Get Back
    Mother Nature’s Son
    No Reply
    Long, Long, Long
    You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

    Favorite Post-Beatles Songs
    John –
    Gimme Some Truth
    Watching the Wheels
    Jealous Guy
    Working Class Hero
    Just Like Starting Over
    Hold On
    Nobody Told Me
    Grow Old With Me

    Paul-
    Every Night
    Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five
    Venus & Mars / Rock Show
    Live and Let Die
    Dear Boy
    Magneto & Titanium Man
    Junk
    Maybe I’m Amazed
    Wanderlust
    This One
    Young Boy
    New
    Early Days

    George-
    Dark Horse
    What is Life
    All Things Must Pass
    You
    Isn’t It a Pity
    Cheer Down
    When We Was Fab

    With Traveling Wilburys: Handle With Care, Last Night, Heading For the Light, Not Alone Anymore

    Ringo
    Photograph
    It Don’t Come Easy

  70. 70.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Bailey: Oddly enough I agree with many of your selections, I’d add ‘Brainwashed’ to George’s, ‘I’ve Had Enough’ to Paul’s and ‘#9 Dream’ to John’s. Interesting trivia: ‘#9 Dream’ has May Pang saying “John, John’ and ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ was just John and Paul playing, that’s Sir Paul on the drums.

  72. 72.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    Off the top of my head and no real order:

    Beatles:
    A Day in the Life
    Abbey Road medley thing
    While My Guitar Gently Weeps
    I Am the Walrus
    Piggy in the Middle
    I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (they pretty much invented doom metal with this one)
    I’ll Be Back
    No Reply
    Revolution 9 (not joking about this)
    In My Life
    Cheese and Onions
    Strawberry Fields Forever
    Helter Skelter
    Happiness Is a Warm Gun
    Long, Long, Long
    Julia

    Solo John:
    God
    Remember
    Love
    Working Class Hero
    I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier, Mama
    Watching the Wheels
    Back in ’64
    Jealous Guy
    #9 Dream
    And sure, Imagine, even if it’s a clichĂ©.

    Solo George:
    My Sweet Lord
    Isn’t It a Pity
    Run of the Mill
    Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
    Let It Roll (Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp)
    Bangla-Desh

    Solo Paul:
    Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (IDGAF how kitschy it is; if you don’t like it, you probably hate fun, too)
    Maybe I’m Amazed
    Band on the Run
    Another Day
    Live and Let Die
    Feel Too Good

    Ringo:
    It Don’t Come Easy, of course

    (OK, I may have stuck a few Rutles songs in there, and maybe one from Utopia’s Beatles pastiche. It’s almost impossible to tell the difference.)

    I guarantee I will think of at least ten songs that should have been on this list within about twenty minutes. I may or may not bother making a second list. And for the record, my favourite Beatles album is the White Album and, in case it wasn’t obvious, my favourite Beatles solo albums are All Things Must Pass and Plastic Ono Band.

    I need to check out that Kanye/Paul thing.

  73. 73.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Another Scott:

    All of them were amazing talents. It was a crime that they didn’t put more George songs on their albums, but that made “All Things Must Pass” even more amazing.

    This. My favorite post-Beatles song by a Beatle is whatever song from All Things Must Pass is my favorite at the moment. From “I’d Have You Anytime” to “Hear Me Lord,” it’s full of amazing stuff. I’ll go with “Beware of Darkness” at the moment, but if you asked me tomorrow, I’d give you a different answer.

    I won’t even try to pick a favorite Beatles song. It’s just too complex a universe of songs.

  74. 74.

    lowtechcyclist

    @(((CassandraLeo))):

    Beatles:
    Piggy in the Middle

    Cheese and Onions

    Rutlemania!

    I love the bit where Let It Rot was simultaneously released as an album, a movie, and a lawsuit.

    Solo Paul:
    Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (IDGAF how kitschy it is; if you don’t like it, you probably hate fun, too)

    I’m with you here. I’ve never understood the hate for this song. Yes, it’s nonsense, and yes, it’s fun.

  75. 75.

    swiftfox

    @Steve in the ATL: I’ll go with Ringo on this one. Most of the early post-breakup efforts were their best. What Is Life for George, Imagine for John. Another Day for Paul always had me at the first note when I was 12 and still does. Understated and not over the top like a lot of his 70s efforts.

  76. 76.

    JR

    Applying this question to the Wailers — treating the post Tosh/Bunny group as Bob Marley’s solo expedition:

    Band song: Stir it Up
    Solo song: Time Will Tell

  77. 77.

    Nancy

    @eemom: All Right. I was scrolling along hoping to read “George” in the favorites list. I love George Harrison as a Beatle, solo, and as a Traveling Wilbury. And Ringo is vastly underrated as a drummer and as a performer.
    I’m another of the lurking olds on BJ and I don’t hate any of the Beatles, but I did get tired of hearing certain songs over and over and over. Band on the Run. After that, no way to judge.
    Sort of like Stairway to Heaven. Our adult son was so surprised when he mentioned he liked it and his parental units grimaced in unison. Had to explain the tyranny of radio at one point.

  80. 80.

    manyakitty

    @Nancy: Dark Horse forever. His Beatles work was SO good (Something, It’s All Too Much, Here Comes the Sun, etc.) and his solo stuff was even better.

  83. 83.

    Percysowner

    I wasn’t a big Beatles fan, but the end of Abbey Road, from Golden Slumbers to the end of “The End” is pretty fantastic.
    “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make”

  86. 86.

    Gex

    First one to come to mind: I, Me, Mine.

    There are certainly more, but I’d have to make that my top pick.

  87. 87.

    petesh

    J + P + G + R < The Beatles, who were a magic combination.

    Best Beatles is impossible, but A Day in the Life remains amazing.

    Best solo … God? Mull of Kintyre? It Don't Come Easy? Give Me Love?

  88. 88.

    Stan

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.):

    I’ve never been to fond of the Beatles. I can deal with them, and I like some of their songs all right, but overall, they just don’t do it for me. And I think McCartney is the worst.

    I agree. Stones fan here.

    Having said that, I have a couple close friends who actually know McCartney and they’ve said several times that he really is an awfully nice guy in person. Very approachable and none of this ‘I’m famous” bullshit. George Harrison gave us Monty Python’s movies so – props to him.

  90. 90.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    @lowtechcyclist: I doubt anyone has ever done a better Beatles pastiche than the Rutles. Neil Innes could actually be John Lennon. As an added bonus, it’s hilarious.

    @Steve in the ATL: I must confess to being unfamiliar with it, at least by name. I still haven’t heard all his solo work, as perhaps evidenced by the fact that most of the songs I listed were from All Things Must Pass. I’ll look it up today.

Comments are closed.