Beatles, Post-Beatles

One of my greatest personal finds of 2007 was a dough-faced, doe-eyed guy named Paul McCartney; you know the one, the Beatle with the biggest smile and proudest post-shag mullet. Due to a lack of substantial news this week, Ease spent a good amount of time daydreaming about the upcoming Down the Line 2 show at the Embassy Theatre (see the ad on page 14 for details). Back when said show was in the early planning stages the Ease office crossed its fingers in hope that one of the area’s top bands would choose to pay tribute to the solo work of The Beatles. No dice, but as a self-rewarded consolation prize we’ve decided to take this week to not just look at our favorite post-Beatles work, but, in usual Ease fashion, rank our 15 favorite albums from John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney (who, for reasons that should be obvious, Ease found very hard to like until just recently). Sorry, Ringo, we’re not counting your star-studded compilations. The Rest of the Best: 15. George Harrison’s Dark Horse; 14. Paul McCartney’s Flaming Pie; 13. John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy; 12. John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band’s Sometime In New York; 11. John Lennon’s Walls and Bridges.

10. Paul McCartney & Wings’ London Town: The cover art for this 1978 album is one of the most iconic ever, while the back just might be one of the most ridiculous; likewise, London Town fittingly features some of the best and worst songs of McCartney’s solo career. Take the best 8 songs from this album, cut the crap and call it a Sir Paul Classic.

9. George Harrison’s Living in the Material World: This often overlooked 1973 classic showcased Harrison as both a songwriter and great guitar player. Sadly, Harrison could never come close to matching the greatness of his first two post-Beatles albums, though his solo catalog does have moments of brilliance sprinkled throughout.

8. Paul McCartney & Wings’ Red Rose Speedway: Speaking of overlooked, most folks born after 1979 have no idea what Red Rose Speedway is. Like the eight albums that follow this selection, this is a drop-dead classic, full of artful vision, half-realized experimental spirit and, most importantly, great songs that bring to mind Abbey Road.

7. John Lennon’s Mind Games: See above: most folks under the age of 40 ignore this, the third best Lennon album ever. Play Mind Games right after it’s sister album, Imagine, and remember why Lennon will forever be known as one of the great writer/composers the pop genre ever saw. It gets no better than “Bring On the Lucie” and “Aisumasen.”

6. Paul McCartney’s McCartney: I wasn’t around when this album came out in 1970, so I don’t really know the circumstances of its release, but something tells me that McCartney was rushed out to shelves as a reaction to The Beatles’ disbanding – a race of sorts with Harrison and Lennon, really. There are a few meandering moments of filler here, but as a whole this do-it-yourself classic plays through very well as a portrait of an artist doing whatever he wanted for the first time in his career.

5. Paul McCartney & Wings’ Band on the Run: Fight it as I have over the years, the epic title track to this album still blows my mind every time I hear it, easily standing as one of the best ever McCartney songs despite being played way too often in grocery stores. This very fun, imaginative album full o’ hits was regarded by most publications as the best album of 1973, and for good reason. No filler in sight.

4. John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band: Usually regarded as not just the best solo Beatles album by the music media but as one of the best rock albums of all time, Plastic Ono Band was Lennon’s first real post-Beatles album following a few experimental releases with Yoko Ono. Produced by Phil Spector and featuring heavyweights Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr as his backing band, this is one heck of a great album that has aged better than most from the early-70s era. It’s also one of the most personal, intimate and honest albums a major artist has ever released.

3. John Lennon’s Imagine: Coming out just after Plastic Ono Band, Imagine was a poppier album that was also starkly confessional and personal. Every song here – especially “Imagine,” “Jealous Guy,” “How?” and “Oh Yoko!” – is amazing. Beatles and all, this album saw Lennon at the height of his powers as not just a pop idol or musician but a poet, artist, activist and voice of a generation. His words (and melodies) still echo today.

2. George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass: It’s hard to find something that hasn’t already been said about this sprawling triple-LP classic. Until I recently decided that it might be okay to like Paul (despite Lennon’s excellent “How Do You Sleep?” diss-track), this was my hands-down favorite solo Beatles album. Comprised of 18 songs over two LPs (and a third LP of “jams”) written for contention on Beatles albums, Harrison turned this Phil Spector-produced classic around quickly after watching The Beatles dissolve, blowing away Lennon and McCartney fans in doing so. Probably the best album of 1970.

1. Paul & Linda McCartney’s Ram: White Album and Revolver aside, I now consider Ram to be the best ever Beatles-related album. Famed rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it best: “In retrospect [Ram] looks like nothing so much as the first ever indie-pop album, a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies, a record that’s guileless and unembarrassed to be cutesy.” Imagine if The Beatles were just starting out today with a home studio and all the time in the world to write perfect songs and you’ll have Ram, the best album I bought in 2007. (And, for the record, the White Album is the first ever indie-rock album. Duh.)

Written by G. William Locke