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"WITHOUT YOU": THE TOP 10 SOLO TRACKS |
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THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BEATLES SONGS. |
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| VERSION 2.0 |
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| (c) 1999, 2003 BY DAVID W. REYNOLDS |
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| It's nothing more than a dream, sure. But how many times have you listened to a John or Paul album and thought: "Hey, that would have made a great Beatles song!" Well, maybe you haven't. In that case, THE WALRUS WAS CROW does the work for you. Below are our picks for the 10 songs that would have been great for the fab four... and a few they could have kept to themselves. |
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| "What Is Life": (George, "All Things Must Pass") Okay, crank it up and imagine this as a Fab single: Georgie comes in on lead guitar; Paul's bass joins up; John begins playing rhythm guitar and Ringo thumps in on drums. You can even hear them in the backup vocals! All in all, one the Beatles should have done. |
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| "Let Me Roll It": (Paul,"Band on the Run") Wouldn't you have loved to have heard John do this one?! |
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| "Jealous Guy","Love": (John, "Imagine","Plastic Ono Band") Since one was already an embryonic Beatles song ("Child of Nature") it's not too hard to imagine the boys doing these, this is exactly what "Love" needed. |
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| "Another Day": (Paul, Single.) Another track originally performed for the Beatles. George's guitar would have helped here. |
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| "Cold Turkey": (John, single.) Although quite caustic, the Beatles should have done this when it was offered to them. Paul could have softened it up a bit, and the 'cuddly fabs' image would have been broken forever, possibly giving the band a new lease on life. By the way, keep Clapton on lead here. |
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| "All Things Must Pass":( George, "All Things Must Pass".) Yet another "Get Back" era track the Beatles could have done wonders with; we instead got George's' heavy-handed treatment. |
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| "Maybe I'm Amazed":( Paul, "McCartney)". Instead of Paul's rather haphazard recording, George and Ringo could have helped make it more than it was. |
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| "It Don't Come Easy": (Ringo, single). George's great guitar playing is already there, just add John and Paul's harmonies and some Macca bass-lines. (Note: you have to wonder what role George Martin would have played in these later tracks. Or would they have continued to use him?) |
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| "Instant Karma": (John, single). What a beautiful Beatles single this would have made! Again, Georgie's here somewhere on guitar, and again the producer issue comes up. I'd keep Phil Spector, though Paul would not agree. And the "Some Other Guy" piano intro (you've noticed that, haven't you?) would have served as a wonderful full circle moment for the band. |
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| And my personal 11th choice: |
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| "Flaming Pie": ( Paul, "Flaming Pie")- Now this should have been the 3rd Anthology single! I realize John could not have played on it, but his contribution is lyrical, isn't it? Only possible sticking point? Paul would have had to play the solo. Love that "Sgt. Pepper" guitar sound! |
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| Notice, of course, that several of these tracks already have other Beatles on them, so that makes the imagining easier. Now, we've all seen these types of lists before but with rather different songs. I feel that several of those tracks always picked could not have been Beatles songs, for various reasons. They either would have kept them to themselves or not even have considered it for various reasons. Here they are: |
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| "Imagine": John absolutely would have kept this one to himself. It's simply too personal to have let Paul have his two cents worth. |
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| "My Sweet Lord": John would have sung a Dylan tune before he sang 'Hare Krishna'! I think Paul would have objected as well. |
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| "Uncle Albert/ Admiral Halsey": Speaking of objected.. after the "Maxwell" debacle I'm not sure Paul would have even presented this. |
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| "Band on the Run": No dice. I know Paul was supposedly thinking of John when he wrote this, but I think he would have kept it to himself. |
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| Also, I believe the Beatles would have released a "Rock 'N Roll" type album of their own in the early 70's. |
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| Notice that most of these tracks are circa 70 or 71. Let's face it, as the years went on, the fabs tended to bog down in their own devices. Would this have happened while still being Beatles? Hmm...well, "All things must pass", you know... |
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