Oct 132007
You, Townspeople, were polled on the following question:
What’s the best standard-issue, pre-1980 solo Beatles Greatest Hits/Best of album? The poll and the not-so-surprisingly close results follow.
- 1975’s John Lennon collection, Shaved Fish: 30% (7)
- Ringo’s 1976 collection, Blast from Your Past: 26% (6)
- 1976’s The Best of George Harrison: 22% (5)
- 1978’s Wings Greatest (McCartney): 22% (5)
Total Votes : 23
At this point I will ask you to defend your selection, first answering the following questions:
- Did you actually vote for the album or the artist you most favor?
- Did you consider the great songs – for that artist – to crap quotient? I’m sure you’re all aware that Greatest Hits/Best of albums do not always contain an artist’s best songs.
- Did you consult with our resident expert in Greatest Hits/Best of collections, Townsman Andyr?
All right! With those questions answered, please explain in 25 words or less what made your decision THE CORRECT choice.
I look forward to your comments.
You guys in Nixon’s Head regularly said Ringo’s was the best of the solo Beatles albums 25 years ago, when I frequently “consulted” with Andy in DC. So my vote goes for old time’s sake and because Shaved Fish is so crappy.
WINGS GREATEST is a no-muss, no-fuss collection of hits, featuring the first LP appearance of five key single sides and only one obviously wretched tune.
Once we’re done with this, can we talk about some real Beatles ephemera? Somebody just passed along to me all three of the double CD Anthology packages; anything on there really a keeper? So far what I’ve heard is pretty seriously marginal.
In my case Andyr was not consulted. I choose “Wings Greatest” solely on content as a hits LP. If you want me to rate the LPs on who I think is coolest then George would win hands down.
Mwall, one sign of the greatness of The Beatles, in my opinion, is that they left almost nothing great in the can. They had great taste in what to cut. There are probably a half dozen keepers on that Anthology series, but most of it is only worth hearing two times to better understand how much more they did with their songs. The demo for “Tomorrow Never Knows” is an example of something that I think is pretty great on its own terms, apart from backstory.
I can think of two right off the bat: an early, undubbed version of “Good Morning Good Morning” (a song I loathe with a fiery passion) that’s saved through some swaggeringly badass bass overplaying a la Entwistle, and an alternate take of “Strawberry Fields Forever” with a coda that features Ringo, for the first and perhaps only time, laying down a stone motherfucking groove.
The first disc of Anthology II is the best of the lot. I really like the non-live cuts on that CD – especially the version of “I’m Down”. That really cooks. The strings-only version of “Elenor Rigby” is also cool.
I voted for Shaved Fish only becuase it was the first solo-beatles album I bought back in the day
Same as Andyr, Shaved Fish was the only one of these albums I own.
The only other solo John Lennon Albums I own are Rock and Roll and Live in NYC(both titles could be Lou Reed albums Right?!?) so I don’t know about the awesome/crap coefficient.
I like almost all of the songs on this record. (I could do without W.I.T.N.O.T.W.)
That’s gotta be 25 words.
Vaugely Related: I think Band on the Run is just as good as some Beatles albums (better than Let it Be)
Ringo can’t sing well enough
Georgie’s relies on the past
Wings’ flies by with silly stuff
Johnny’s the one that will last
I went with Wings Greatest. Thought it was the most representative of the artist’s best solo recordings.