Oh That Magic Feeling

181. Till There Was You It's 'slightly to the left and the right of rock and roll,' and plays an important part in the story of the early Beatles

It might be their schmaltziest song, but I still have a lot of time for Till There Was You. Especially the guitar solo open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It's a little bizarre to hear this proto-punk band (fresh off a couple of years hopped up on speed and cavorting with prostitutes in Hamburg) playing something so precious. But that's the magic of the Beatles...they contain multitudes

182. Do You Want to Know a Secret It's a bit too precious and a bit too simple, but the underlying sincerity of the performance ensures that it still ends up as something special

Do You Want to Know a Secret is an imitation of earnestness, which can be a little hard to take seriously. But the underlying nervousness about being loved rings true open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It's hardly an essential song, but as a representative example of their constructive memory during the Get Back sessions, it gets the job done

183. Maggie Mae An old skiffle tune included to lighten the mood, which it more than manages to do

The #Beatles’ origin as a skiffle band isn’t something that shows up all that clearly in their more famous work, but it’s nice to have one clear reference to that history on the record open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Devil in Her Heart isn't one of their most impressive covers, but it's a really sweet rendition, and a nice reminder of how much fun those early records really are

184. Devil In Her Heart How did an obscure song that never charted anywhere end up on a multi-Platinum Beatles record?

One of the many delightful pieces of early #Beatles lore is the fact that they were far more aware of obscure American R&B records than kids who actually grew up in America open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

For me, Tell Me What You See is most interesting as a rare example of them not quite nailing a song

185. Tell Me What You See One of the rare Beatles songs where the performance doesn't do justice to the song

For another band, Tell Me What You See might have been a mega-hit. For the #Beatles it was a bit of album filler open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

A Taste of Honey is a rather silly song, but it adds some interesting depth to the album, and is a nice demonstration of the group dynamic, and Paul's approach to music in particular

186. A Taste Of Honey A lovely early vocal performance from Paul, albeit in a somewhat inessential song

John loved to rag on Paul for his taste in old-timey music, but it's actually part of the strange magic that made the Beatles into #TheBeatles. A Taste of Honey is a great illustration open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The physical medium through which you first experience a song can play a big role in how you hear it for the rest of your life. Something that's mostly been lost in this digital age.

187. Kansas City / Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey A song that obstinately refuses to stick in my brain

Many people would list this among their favorite #Beatles songs, but for some reason, it's never quite managed to hold my attention open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The list of #Beatles number ones in Germany is pretty funny

188. Komm, gib mir deine Hand Beatlemania kommt nach Deutschland

The first of a record-setting eleven number 1 songs on the German charts for the #Beatles. And the only one sung in German open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Apparently, Matchbox appears regularly on the lists of 'worst Beatles songs' and I can't *really* argue with that. But I think it's got enough Ringo charm--and some excellent piano work--to rescue it from the very bottom rungs

189. Matchbox A throwaway Ringo cover is rescued by a killer rhythm track and some inspired George Martin piano-playing

Out of all the pre-Revolver Ringo songs that dominate the bottom of my list, Matchbox is my favorite. Though I wouldn't describe it as the best open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The early Beatles were the biggest pop group in history and yet somehow it’s their mid and late careers that actually define them. The Word really demonstrates how quickly they were evolving

190. The Word One of the most interesting, if not one of the best, songs from Rubber Soul

The Word is one of the coolest (and funkiest) songs in the #Beatles catalog. It just doesn’t happen to one of my favorites open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It’s a shame because Slow Down had the potential to be a really fantastic cover. If only

191. Slow Down A very promising start crushed by first ballot inductee to the guitar solo Hall of Shame

Is this the worst guitar solo in the #Beatles discography? It has to be, right? open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Ringo has been singing Act Naturally for six decades at this point. It's nowhere close to my favorite Beatles song, but it's still a pretty cool experience

192. Act Naturally They'll make a song about a man that's sad and lonely, and all he's gotta do is act naturally

Act Naturally is almost the perfect Ringo vehicle: because it simply allows him to be himself. Whether that makes it a fully successful *song* is another question open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

“It’s great, it sold, it’s the bloody Beatles white album, shut up”

193. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road Slightly naughty and a little bluesy, it's more a fragment than a full song. Thankfully it also doesn't overstay its welcome

The quintessential example of a song that only exists because they made it a double album. And a pretty good argument for that decision, too open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

John and Paul certainly deserve some blame for not giving George his due, but it also seems like George himself was holding back a bit. And given how great ATMP ended up being, it’s hard to get too mad about it

194. For You Blue A somewhat listless 12 bar blues song matches the premise of the Get Back project without bringing much heat

For You Blue is a nice enough song. But it’s pretty weird that it, of all the available Harrisongs, actually ended up on Let It Be.
open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The #Beatles still feel extremely contemporary, and for good reason since they helped to define what *counts* as contemporary. But songs like Sie Liebt Dich remind us that they grew up in a radically different world

195. Sie Liebt Dich The past is a foreign country, especially when it's sung in German

It is a truly wonderful historical curiosity that the #Beatles were forced to record German-language versions of two mega-hits open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Before I ever heard this song, I had read about it as an example of Lennon/McCartney conjuring a song out of thin air for the Stones. When I eventually heard it, I discovered that the tale was a bit larger than the song itself.