What with the 50th anniversaries for The White Album and the Yellow Submarine movie not to mention the knighting of Ringo Starr and a new release from the unstoppable Sir Paul McCartney (Egypt Station), the Beatles were back in the news repeatedly throughout 2018. Which just goes to show that there’s never a shortage of timely stories to report about John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Which is why we write about the Fab Four weekly. Below are the ten posts that garnered the most eyeballs from CultureSonar readers over the last year.
1. “That’s Not Ringo on the Drums?”
Whenever drummer Ringo temporarily stepped away from his kit, the Fab Three were left to pick up the rhythm section which is exactly what they did on tunes such as “Back in the USSR” and “Dear Prudence.”
2. ”The Beatles, Humphrey Lyttleton, and Mountain Madonna”
Thanks to Beatles scholar Ken Womack’s bi-weekly Beatles column Everything Fab Four, we are always learning interesting things about the band’s creative process — specifically here about “Lady Madonna.”
3. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Darn”
The most notorious song from the Beatles’ sprawling sessions associated with The White Album require some 42 hours to record. And that’s just the beginning of the backstory reported by Womack again.
4. ”The Beauty of the Beatles Cast-Offs: Hey Jude, the Album”
Periodically, one of our contributors will write about their favorite Beatles LP but none of those choices has stirred up as great a reaction as John Montagna’s post devoted to one beloved 1970 collection.
5. ”The Horns on Lady Madonna”
Fab Four expert Scott Freiman constantly has fascinating facts to share about the band’s inventive methodology in the Deconstructing The Beatles series, and his short video here about the brass section of “Lady Madonna” clearly struck a note with listeners.
6. “Ringo Starr’s Drumming: Debunking a John Lennon Quote”
If you — like us — are tired of hearing people say that Lennon once quipped, “Ringo isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles” then please feel free to share this video to set them straight. (The quote originated with a stand-up comic!)
7. “Ringo Starr’s Few Songwriting Moments With the Beatles”
His catalog even includes a couple of times when all four Beatles shared a songwriting credit like “Dig It” from the Let It Be album and “Flying” from the Magical Mystery Tour LP.
8. “5 Reasons Why Abbey Road Is My Favorite Beatles Album”
Bill Flanigin’s choice for the best Fab Four LP of all time isn’t nearly as controversial as John Montagna’s pick (See item 4 above) but his reasons are no less heartfelt.
9. “A Staple of the Beatles’ Toolbox: The ‘Wind Up’ Piano”
No surprise that the fifth Beatle, George Martin, shows up on this top ten list via a Deconstructing the Beatles video about one helluva ingenious studio technique.
10. ”The Women of Rubber Soul”
Contributor Emmy Potter makes a persuasive case that the female subjects at the heart of Rubber Soul that make that album’s songs among the most interesting the band ever penned.
-Culture Sonar
Photo Credit: Public domain image of cropped Beatles ad circa 1965
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