The Beatles: Which one was the most talented??
I've been listening to The Beatles a lot lately. They really were an amazing band. Incredible innovators. Great musicians. Way ahead of everyone else. But probably what is most relevant about The Beatles is how well their music has held up. Hard to believe but its been 57 years since they released their first single "Love Me Do", and 50 since their last work together which was the album "Abbey Road". Even though "Let it Be" was released after "Abbey Road", it was actually recorded previously. I'd say a good 75-80% of their music still sounds great today. So, they were a great band. Their last recording session together was in August of 1969 and they officially broke up in April of 1970. They all went onto solo careers with mixed results. Since John Lennon died in 1980, close to 39 years ago, there has been a lot of time to look back and consider The Beatles and the 4 musicians they consisted of. A ton of talent there no doubt, but which one was the most talented? This is the topic I will examine in this article.
Ringo Starr: I believe Ringo was an outstanding and underrated drummer. Some of his work with The Beatles, "Rain", "Yer Blues", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day in the Life" is just fantastic. But the most talented Beatle? Hardly. After The Beatles Ringo quickly faded. It turned out he had just one great song in him, "Photograph", as a solo artist. His solo career completely went South by 1975 and he was a failure as an actor. I think he was just a terrific and original drummer who gave his best work to The Beatles.
George Harrison: George is a guy who had a really up and down solo career. He started off strongly in the early 70s, tailed off in the mid 70s, and then had a big comeback in the late 80s as a solo artist and as a member of the Traveling Wilbury's. I think George was highly talented. Certainly the most varied of The Beatles considering his interest in Indian music, movies and car racing. And he did write some great songs as a solo artist , "Give Me Love, Give me Peace on Earth" comes to mind. But I don't think he was consistent enough to claim him the most talented Beatle. Some of his music sounds plain dreadful today. Hats off to him though - he did do some fantastic work in his career.
John Lennon: Lennon is a hard one to judge. For me, my favorite Beatle songs are Lennon compositions. If you look at his work with The Beatles, he easily could be considered the most talented. The problem is his extremely mediocre solo career. Yeah he had a few highlights here and there but just a few. By 1975 he was done. There is no doubt he gave his best work to The Beatles. I think he made two major mistakes, first of all getting it into his head that Yoko Ono was as worthy a partner as Paul McCartney, and secondly way too much drugs. After The Beatles he simply didn't have much left. There is the story about him being a househusband and raising his son for 5 years but that is only semi-true. The reality is he just didn't have anything musically. He finally came up with some new material in 1980 that resulted in "Double Fantasy" and a posthumous follow up "Milk and Honey". "Double Fantasy" was immediately critically panned (although a lot of this panning was removed after he was killed) and "Milk and Honey" sounds ridiculous today. So, I think Lennon was the most talented Beatle while he was in The Beatles, but not the most talented overall. Which brings us to....
Paul McCartney: Paul's massive success with The Beatles and subsequent massive solo success leads me to believe he was the most talented Beatle. Unlike the others, a ton of his solo work still sounds great today. "Band on the Run", "Live and Let Die", "My Love", "Uncle Albert, Admiral Halsey" immediately come to mind. He started off kind of slow as a solo artist, found himself in 1973 with the "Band on the Run" album and then went off on a good 9 year run. To me his last great work was the album "Tug of War" which was released in 1982. This consistency over such a long period of time convinces me he was in fact the most talented Beatle.
And there you have it. Others may disagree and I certainly welcome their comments....
Ringo Starr: I believe Ringo was an outstanding and underrated drummer. Some of his work with The Beatles, "Rain", "Yer Blues", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day in the Life" is just fantastic. But the most talented Beatle? Hardly. After The Beatles Ringo quickly faded. It turned out he had just one great song in him, "Photograph", as a solo artist. His solo career completely went South by 1975 and he was a failure as an actor. I think he was just a terrific and original drummer who gave his best work to The Beatles.
George Harrison: George is a guy who had a really up and down solo career. He started off strongly in the early 70s, tailed off in the mid 70s, and then had a big comeback in the late 80s as a solo artist and as a member of the Traveling Wilbury's. I think George was highly talented. Certainly the most varied of The Beatles considering his interest in Indian music, movies and car racing. And he did write some great songs as a solo artist , "Give Me Love, Give me Peace on Earth" comes to mind. But I don't think he was consistent enough to claim him the most talented Beatle. Some of his music sounds plain dreadful today. Hats off to him though - he did do some fantastic work in his career.
John Lennon: Lennon is a hard one to judge. For me, my favorite Beatle songs are Lennon compositions. If you look at his work with The Beatles, he easily could be considered the most talented. The problem is his extremely mediocre solo career. Yeah he had a few highlights here and there but just a few. By 1975 he was done. There is no doubt he gave his best work to The Beatles. I think he made two major mistakes, first of all getting it into his head that Yoko Ono was as worthy a partner as Paul McCartney, and secondly way too much drugs. After The Beatles he simply didn't have much left. There is the story about him being a househusband and raising his son for 5 years but that is only semi-true. The reality is he just didn't have anything musically. He finally came up with some new material in 1980 that resulted in "Double Fantasy" and a posthumous follow up "Milk and Honey". "Double Fantasy" was immediately critically panned (although a lot of this panning was removed after he was killed) and "Milk and Honey" sounds ridiculous today. So, I think Lennon was the most talented Beatle while he was in The Beatles, but not the most talented overall. Which brings us to....
Paul McCartney: Paul's massive success with The Beatles and subsequent massive solo success leads me to believe he was the most talented Beatle. Unlike the others, a ton of his solo work still sounds great today. "Band on the Run", "Live and Let Die", "My Love", "Uncle Albert, Admiral Halsey" immediately come to mind. He started off kind of slow as a solo artist, found himself in 1973 with the "Band on the Run" album and then went off on a good 9 year run. To me his last great work was the album "Tug of War" which was released in 1982. This consistency over such a long period of time convinces me he was in fact the most talented Beatle.
And there you have it. Others may disagree and I certainly welcome their comments....
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