There is and can be no doubt that each of the Beatles produced his finest solo work in the 70s: John with PLASTIC ONO BAND (IMAGINE is great, but “I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die” hasn’t aged well and was pretty lame to begin with), Paul with BAND ON THE RUN, George with ALL THINGS MUST PASS and Ringo with…well, RINGO. As it became more apparent that they weren’t going to reform, their respective solo careers took on more weight as each of them became less and less “Beatles” and more and more their own selves, striving for solo definition now that the weight of the group’s existence was lessening (while as the same time it’s legacy was beginning).
I listen to all of albums in the solo catalogue fairly regularly, depending on my mood. Some that don’t get played all that often are John’s SOME TIME IN NEW YORK CITY, Paul’s WILD LIFE, George’s DARK HORSE and Ringo’s BEAUCOUPS OF BLUES. STINYC is a real stinker, WL is just awful, DH is fairly week and BOB is a country album, of which I’m not a fan. And yet, I still listen to ‘em. Not sure I enjoy them all that much, but I do listen to ‘em.
Any thoughts are more than welcome.
Best,
Jeremy Boob
3 comments:
Jeremy
I would agree that the 70's were the highlight of the boys solo career "for the most part". Paul has certainly had some great stuff after that period. Tug of War, Off The Ground, Flowers, etc. I still listen to Cloud Nine very often and even Vertical Man from Ringo.
I also think Back To the Egg is very underrated. Pure rock with some flash.
Regardless I feel lucky that there has been som much to listen to over my 48 years. Actually I've followed them since age 5 when I started watching the cartoons.
Depending on my mood there is plenty to chose from of course it gets difficult as there ia also great stuff that is unreleased.
No matter what I can say that their music has been the soundtrack to so much of my life.
All the best and keep up the great work
Michael Green
I like TUG OF WAR a lot. Not a huge fan of FLOWERS IN THE DIRT (too polished and esoteric) nor OFF THE GROUND. CLOUD NINE I've always liked, with the definite exception of "Got My Mind Set On You." Haven't listened to VERTICAL MAN in ages (though I liked Ringo's recent LIVERPOOL 8 a great deal). I listened to MEMORY ALMOST FULL while jogging today and enjoy it more and more every time I hear it. It's all about time and place I guess! Thanks for your comment!!
For me, there's magic to be found in all eras of The Beatles solo careers. As for the ever growing shadow of the band's legacy, I couldn't care less about that. If that stops people from exploring the post 1970 talents of John, Paul, George and Ringo, then they're cheating themselves out of some glorious music.
I also must take exception to writing off Wild Life as awful. Any album that has stunning tracks like Some People Never Know, Tomorrow and a killer cover of Love Is Strange is a winner in my book. Macca's vocal performance on Dear Friend never fails to send shivers down my spine!
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