Beatles
One

THE REVIEW

This collection does not represent the complete collection of all Beatles' singles, because "Please Please Me," their second single from 1963, is missing, while "Day Tripper," "Yellow Submarine," and "Come Together" are "B-sides" of "45s" with the A-sides regularly present in this collection, not to mention "Yesterday," which was never released as a single, and "The Long And Winding Road," released in Italy but not in GB where this collection was conceived. In short... better consider it for what it is, a Greatest Hits. Which has many holes as masterpieces like "A Day In The Life," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Michelle," "Norwegian Wood," "And I Love Her," and others are missing.

1) "Love Me Do" (1962, **) first single, by McCartney. No number one though, it stopped at 17th place in GB, thanks to their manager buying 10,000 copies. Ringo here was at great risk, he wasn't keeping up with the bass drum, and the producer pushed to throw him out of the group, but they held firm. On the Beatles' first album, the version of this track is indeed different, recorded with a session man on drums and Ringo demoted to tambourine.
2) "From Me To You" (1963, ***) third single, fifty-fifty between Lennon and McCartney, first octave leap in falsetto during the verse, with simultaneous shaking of the moptops during live performances = girls in ecstasy.
3) "She Loves You" (1963, *****) first masterpiece, fifty-fifty between the two "cocks," dated sounds but energy and positivity unchanged over time. Beautiful the "sixths" harmonized by Harrison in the choirs.
4) "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (1963, ***) always fifty-fifty, with this they broke through in the USA.
5) "Can't Buy Me Love" (1964, ***) by McCartney, his also the lead voice.
6) "A Hard Day's Night" (1964, ****) by Lennon, who sings it but gets help in the bridge from McCartney because the notes are too high for him.
7) "I Feel Fine" (1964, ***) still by Lennon, in his most prolific period with the group.
8) "Eight Days A Week" (1964, ***) always Lennon, nonsense title found by Ringo.
9) "Ticket To Ride" (1965, ***) by Lennon, very "rock" for the period.
10) "Help!" (1965, *****) fifty-fifty, but with a predominance of Lennon, practically has two overlapping vocals.
11) "Yesterday" (1965, *****) as known, by McCartney, who plays it solo, except for the string quartet. The most famous, the most covered.
12) "Day Tripper" (1965, ***) by McCartney, who also plays the guitar riff.
13) "We Can Work It Out" (1966, *****) Paul's verse, John's chorus. Immortal song, never tires, a shining example of McCartney's melodic genius and Lennon's rhythmic ease (who throws in a... waltz!)
14) "Paperback Writer" (1966, ***) by Paul, who had "discovered" the Rickenbacker bass and has it mixed very high, for an "early hard rock."
15) "Yellow Submarine" (1966, ***) by McCartney. Ringo sings.
16) "Eleanor Rigby" (1966, *****) by McCartney, no Beatle plays anything, all orchestra. Fantastic, also in the lyrics, with the old lady picking up the rice in front of the church after the wedding and resting the mask of her face at the house entrance.
17) "Penny Lane" (1966, *****) McCartney's masterpiece, sunny, immortal, a pleasure to listen to again. My favorite.
18) "All You Need Is Love" (1967, ****) pure Lennon, simple and brilliant, naive, even brazen.
19) "Hello Goodbye" (1967, *****) by McCartney, another masterpiece, cannot tire of hearing it every now and then.
20) "Lady Madonna" (1968, ****) always McCartney, always brilliant. Getting more "stoned," the Beatles perform a brass score... with their voice!
21) "Hey Jude" (1968, ****) again Paul, by then Lennon was lagging behind... personally I get a little tired of hearing it again...
22) "Get Back" (1968, *****) ... however, I never tire of this one, it's by McCartney, but Lennon plays a beautiful guitar.
23) "The Ballad Of John & Yoko" (1969, *) self-indulgent work hastily put together by Lennon, with McCartney, for the sake of peace, as a partner. Neither Ringo nor Harrison present and involved in the recording.
24) "Something" (1969, *****) Harrison's masterpiece, at his golden moment straddling the sixties and seventies.
25) "Come Together" (1969, *****) Lennon's last masterpiece with the Beatles, his coup de grace after two dark years. Minimalist, dynamic, unique.
26) "Let It Be" (1970, *****) unmistakable McCartney anthem, what to say?
27) "The Long And Winding Road" (1970, ***) by McCartney, massacred by Lennon who plays a bass out of time, and by producer Spector who, unable to have it rerecorded, hides the flaws with excessive orchestration.