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9.54pm
3 May 2024
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Hello Beatlemaniacs. I’m trying to work on a Beatles spotify playlist that includes all of the songs that are considered popular or culturally significant. But it’s always been hard to quantify how many or which songs are considered either of those things because of all the multiple resources with different results on this (and trust me, I have used many of them) So I want to ask some hardcore fans to help me settle this.
To give an example of what I am looking for, I want the signature songs of each album and each of their solo careers, with any non-album singles going into the same category as the recording sessions they coincide with songs from the album.
For example, I actually have one era pretty much set in stone, Rubber Soul . Here are the songs I picked for the playlist from that time:
- Day Tripper
- We Can Work It Out
- Drive My Car
- Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
- Nowhere Man
- Michelle
- Girl
- In My Life
Something like this for the other albums is what I am aiming for. I also have already picked out one song (due to of how little memorability of the other songs from that era) from their Quarrymen years, Yellow Submarine , and posthumous post break up works: In Spite Of All The Danger , Hey Bulldog , and Now And Then . All the other eras are ones I need help on.
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Beatlebug2.04am
Moderators
15 February 2015
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Ooooh, I like this playlist idea. I’ve been making “crash course” playlists for some other artists lately so I think I understand the assignment here. Based on the example you give, it looks like you’ll largely be sticking to hit singles/better-known album tracks, but we may find a few deeper cuts that are just as important.
For the early Beatles (pre-Rubber Soul ), I would look for songs that helped propel the Beatles into popular consciousness: “She Loves You ” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand ” are major examples, but really any of the early single releases would count. Songs that marked some important progression in the Beatles’ progression as artists, such as the more personal nature of “I’m A Loser ” and/or increasingly complex arrangements like “Yesterday “, might also be considered. And for middle-career Beatles songs, I would go with tunes that were so revolutionary, either in songwriting or arrangement or recording, that they’ve cast long shadows over popular culture: the psychedelic sound of “Tomorrow Never Knows ” or “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds “, the same combined with an introspective/nostalgic feel of “Strawberry Fields Forever “, the Indian influences on “Love You To ” or “Within You Without You “, the… just everything about “A Day In The Life “. Then you get into the later years as the Beatles start to show their individuality more, leading up to the solo careers they would go on to have, and you might want to highlight things like George’s emotive writing style + the searing guitar part Eric Clapton contributed on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps “, the experimental and rawer sides of John’s work in things like “Happiness Is A Warm Gun ” and “Don’t Let Me Down “, and Paul’s love of genre pastiche in songs like “When I’m Sixty-Four ” and “Oh! Darling “. If you want to represent Ringo’s songwriting (and of course you do) I’d recommend “Octopus’s Garden “. And of course you’re essentially required to include the Beatles song that arguably lives largest in popular imagination: “Here Comes The Sun “. (It’s the top song result when I search The Beatles on both YouTube Music and Spotify.)
Others may chime in on this as I’m sure there’s some I haven’t thought of.
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Sea Belt([{BRACKETS!}])
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6.47am
7 November 2022
Offline A good list — I agree with many of your choices. It brings up to me the related question: What exactly were the different phases of The Beatles? Of course, the answer my be subject according to different people’s judgements. My sense is there were six phases:
1. The early “reelin’ and rockin'” phase.
2. The Help /Hard Day’s Night phase.
3. Rubber Soul /Revolver
5. White Album
6. Let It Be /Abbey Road
Now today I find, you have changed your mind
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