Tag: notation
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101: Baby’s In Black
Baby’s In Black is an Lennon-McCartney collaboration from the Beatles For Sale album. Although few would claim it’s their greatest song, it does demonstrate an increasing self-confidence and ambition in their writing and perhaps unconsciously exposes something about their connection. Lyrically, Baby’s In Black (what a cool title) deals with someone else’s grief (she dresses…
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106: You Can’t Do That
You Can’t Do That, written by John Lennon, was the B-side of the Can’t Buy Me Love single and was included on the A Hard Day’s Night album. You Can’t Do That – recorded in early 1964 – can be seen as the start of a sequence of songs in which Lennon’s lyrics deal with…
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107: Baby It’s You
Baby It’s You is one of two Shirelles’ covers (along with with Boys) to appear on the Beatles’ first album Please Please Me. The Beatles’ first heroes may have been artists like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Little Richard, the best known Rock’n’roll stars, but by the time they made their first record – judging…
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113: Think For Yourself
Think For Yourself is one of two George Harrison songs on the Rubber Soul album (the other being 57: If I Needed Someone, which by accident I reviewed yesterday, out of sequence). Musically, Think For Yourself has an unusual chord progression, which musicologists find hard to pin to a specific key. As Allan Pollack comments:…
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57: If I Needed Someone
If I Needed Someone is one of two George Harrison songs on Rubber Soul (the other being Think For Yourself). The story of this track sheds light on George’s continued growth as a songwriter, his relationship with other artists and aspects of his personality as he came to terms with fame. Musically the song is…
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116: I Should Have Known Better
I Should Have Known Better is a track from the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack and album, written by John Lennon. It’s taken me a few days to get around to writing this article, and partly this was because I fancied taking a couple of days off, but I must admit it was partly because…
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121: Mr. Moonlight
Mr Moonlight is a cover of a song, originally recorded by Dr Feelgood and the Interns, that appears on the Beatles For Sale album. Looking back at the underlying ratings that support its ranking on this blog, I see that I rated it highly for performance, and a good proportion of that score is due…
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130: You’re Going To Lose That Girl
You’re Going To Lose that Girl is another song from the excellent side one of the Help! album (I also covered The Night Before and Another Girl in the last few days). It was mainly written by John Lennon who takes the lead vocal, but likely includes important contributions from Paul McCartney. The song stands…
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133: Every Little Thing
Every Little Thing is a track from the Beatles For Sale album, written mainly by Paul McCartney but, unusually, with a prominent lead vocal by John Lennon. Beatles For Sale is one of the albums that I did not have access to growing up, and when I did get to hear it, it was not…
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139: Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why is a song from the Hard Day’s Night soundtrack and was written for a particular scene in the movie where the Beatles were performing in front of an audience at the Scala Theatre in London. John Lennon, who wrote the song said “They needed another upbeat song and I just knocked it…
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140: The Long And Winding Road
The Long And Winding Road is a track on the Let It Be album, and was released as a single in the US, where it became the Beatles last number one. It’s appearance at number 141 in this ranking looks like another anomaly in my system. It is a poignant song, expressing both regret and…
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147: Please Please Me
Please Please Me was the Beatles second single and their first UK number one (the flipside was discussed in yesterday’s post 148: Ask Me Why). It is also the title track of their first album. The recording and release of Please Please Me marked a transitional moment for the Beatles and has become a famous…