Neither of the regular readers of our blog should be surprised to find out which Liverpudlian rock and roll combo is the subject of this post.
1987-1991: Penny Lane
I first became really aware of the Beatles just before the age of 10, primarily through listening to Beatles LPs with my dad and a Beatles segment that played every morning on the local oldies station on my way to school. I have a distinct memory of showing my aunt all the Paul is Dead clues sometime in the late 80's, I think right before a Thanksgiving dinner. "Penny Lane" is the one that sticks out in my memory from this time---one of the instantly catchiest songs you'll ever hear.
1992: Nowhere Man/In My Life
My dad's earliest Beatles album is Revolver, so I was thrilled to find out about the existence of an album called Rubber Soul, which contained my then-favorite song, "Nowhere Man," in addition to several other classics. It was the second Beatles CD I purchased (after Magical Mystery Tour), and I was pleasantly surprised to find "In My Life" on the disc as well, which became a favorite for a short time.
1993: Rain
The early to mid 1990s was the first time I really started buying albums that were newly released. Previously, I stuck to The Beatles, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and other classic rock acts, as well as picking up some early They Might Be Giants records, but this was a great time to be getting new music. (Still, I'm somewhat embarrassed that the Cure's Wish album was (I think) my first new CD to purchase.) The new alternative, or modern, or whatever, artists that were popping up were way more interesting to me than the Guns N' Roseses that came before. I kind of think that "Rain" would have fit well in this 90's revival, with its sonic experimentation and trippy feel. Goes to show how timeless the Beatles music is.
1994: Happiness is a Warm Gun
Speaking of timeless, the lyric "well acquainted with the touch of the velvet hand like a lizard on a window pane" could easily have followed after "in the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey" (if only it rhymed). For some reason, in this song, more so than "I am the Walrus," Lennon really impressed me with his ability to string together crazy but incredible lyrics and bridge multiple musical styles.
1995: From Me to You
1996: She Loves You
Several things were happening in '95 and '96. First off, I carpooled to school with my neighbor Kirk, who had Live at the BBC in his regular rotation (along with Let It Be and Weezer's debut album). The BBC album had a little 30 second snippet called "From Us to You," which turned me on to "From Me to You." Also, I wrote my junior year term paper on the Beatles, so I became very acquainted with the quality of their early stuff. Finally, the Beatles Anthology came out for television and CD, so that also had a broadening effect on the Beatles stuff I was listening to.
1997-1998: The Long and Winding Road
I bought the Anthology 3 CDs when they came out in October of 1996 and played them almost constantly in my dorm room. This song stood out because I was pretty indifferent about the Let It Be version but couldn't believe how good the Althology version was.
1999-2001: Hey Bulldog
This one was always in the mix, but I definitely played it into the ground after the Yellow Submarine songtrack was released.
2002: Paperback Writer
At some point I determined that "Paperback Writer" was the quintessential Beatles song. Not even sure what that means. I guess coming from the middle of their career and having great harmonies and guitar parts figured prominently in that determination. I suppose I should have picked "Day Tripper" as the prototypical Beatles track because it's from around the same time period and is written about half by John and about half by Paul. But I still like "Paperback Writer" better.
2003-2004: Here Comes the Sun
I don't think this has ever been outside my top five Beatles songs. If "Paperback Writer" is the quintessential Beatles song, then "Here Comes the Sun" is the Platonic ideal for a pop/rock song.
2005: The Long and Winding Road
I went back and looked up a Top 75 Beatles Songs list I did in 2005 and was somewhat surprised to find this song back at the top. I think it has something to do with picking up Let It Be...Naked around this time.
2006-2008: Two of Us
This one has a lot to do with the lovely lady standing above this text and in front of the Roman ruins. "Two of Us" is another song that was always a favorite but got some added attention when I met Brandi. It became one of our songs, and in addition to playing it and singing it together on numerous car trips, we put it on our wedding CD that I played in my car pretty contstantly for a while.
2009: Hey Bulldog
This song has sort of become my default favorite Beatles song, on account of it being so great. My anticipation of The Beatles: Rock Band probably has something to do with this one being on my mind of late, as it is, in my opinion, the perfect Beatles song to transfer into the Rock Band format.
From 1991, when I spent hours recording songs off my dad's records to make a mix tape for family car trips, to 1997, when I bought an Abbey Road poster to put up in my dorm room, to 2001, when I made sure the turntable I purchased was capable of playing the White Album backwards, to 2006, when my girlfriend of a few weeks knew enough about my Beatles fanaticism to buy me a bootlegged Let It Be DVD, Beatles memories have definitely been woven throughout my life. To date, only two of the above twelve songs have been confirmed as being on The Beatles: Rock Band track list. Oh, how nice it would be to see a "Hey Bulldog" or a "Rain" creep in there!
