Continuing with my series on who is the “Most Valuable Beatle” (which basically turns into a John Vs. Paul battle) for each Beatles album, I’ve made my way to Abbey Road today (I’m going by release date, not recording date as Let It Be was the last album released, but Abbey Road was the last album The Beatles recorded together.)

Previous Results: Please Please Me (John), With The Beatles (John), A Hard Day’s Night (John), Beatles For Sale (John), Help! (John), Rubber Soul (John), Revolver (Paul), Sgt. Pepper (Paul), Magical Mystery Tour (Paul), The White Album (John), & Yellow Submarine (George).

So John has won the “MVB” for seven albums thus far, Paul for three, and George for one. I actually think those totals exaggerate John’s dominance because for most of the albums that he won, it was really a very close call. You also have to consider that Paul has won some of The Beatles true classics like Revolver & Sgt. Pepper’s. Anyway, now I’m at Abbey Road and it’s time to take a song by song look at it.

01. “Come Together” - John

Definitely John’s song but Paul also definitely deserves an assist for his swampy piano licks and bass line that give the track much of it’s character. It’s one of The Beatles most “modern” sounding songs/recordings and it’s among the most popular Beatles songs on the Last.FM website.

02. “Something” - George

Many would say that Abbey Road is where George really blossomed as you can make a good argument that “Something” & “Here Comes The Sun” are the best songs on the album. Paul lays down another great bass line, although it’s not as essential as the bass on “Come Together.”

03. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” - Paul

Abbey Road is often seen as Paul’s baby because he was largely behind the side two suite (along with George Martin) but his first song on the album isn’t until track 3 and his track 3 is a lot of people’s least favorite song on the album. I actually quite enjoy “Maxwell.” It’s such a ridiculous song and I happen to enjoy ridiculous. Have you ever heard a more joyous song about a serial killer?

04. “Oh! Darling” - Paul

This is definitely among my favorite songs on the album. It’s my favorite song on the album to sing along with. Even John praised it and you know a Paul song has to be great for John to go out of his way to praise it. And like me, John loved to sing it, in fact he wanted to sing it on the album and claimed he would have done a better job than Paul.

Maybe. But I think Paul’s vocals are great. He apparently came in early every day to sing the song (without recording it) so that would have that “lived in” sound he was going for when his vocals were finally recorded.

05. “Octopus’s Garden” - Ringo

George deserves a big assist for this one as he helped Ringo write it (although Ringo got sole songwriting credit) and his guitar licks are probably the best thing about the track.

06. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” - John

This is the song where The Beatles most sound like great musicians rather than great songwriters. Not that it’s not a great song too. Apparently Paul hated the white noise that comes in at the end (according to Geoff Emerick’s book) but I think Paul was wrong, that white noise is perfect.

07. “Here Comes The Sun” - George

George says he wrote this song in Eric Clapton’s garden on one of his acoustic guitars. How about that? This song opens side two on the vinyl LP which was a brilliant way to open up side two, but I think it works even better on the CD version coming in right after the white noise overtakes “I Want You (She’s So Heavy.)”

08. “Because” - John

What a beautiful song. George Martin gets an assist for helping The Beatles arrange the vocal harmonies that really make this song special.

09. “You Never Give Me Your Money” - Paul

I think this is one of Paul’s most underrated songs. It’s also the beginning of the side two suite that Abbey Road is most known for.

10. “Sun King” - John

Another very underrated song. I love the spaced out psychedelic sound of this track and the vocal harmonies are truly delicious.

11. “Mean Mr. Mustard” - John

I’ve always loved this song and his sister “Pam.” (Originally “Shelley” as you can hear in Anthology 3.)

12. “Polythene Pam” - John

I love the lyrics.

13. “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” - Paul

This is a highlight in a suite full of highlights. The slow version heard on Anthology 3 is definitely worth checking out too.

14. “Golden Slumbers” - Paul

This feels like a real emotional release. Another great one to sing along with!

15. “Carry That Weight” - Paul

The echo of the melody from “You Never Give Me Your Money” (with different lyrics) is a big part of what ties the whole “suite” together. It helps to make everything sound more connected than it really is. A bit of sleight of hand that works brilliantly.

16. “The End” - Paul

It’s hard to imagine a much better ending to the album (and really The Beatles entire career.)

17. “Her Majesty”- Paul

Except for this! “Her Majesty” was added to the end of the album accidentally but it was The Beatles decision to keep the accident in place. Even after the huge “statement” of “The End,” there’s still a little joke to be had. Their sense of humor is an essential part of what makes their music so lasting. Even at their most serious, they had a tendency to add a little wink.

VERDICT: Paul had 8 songs, John had 6 songs, George had 2, and Ringo had 1. Now you could argue that giving Paul credit for the 23 seconds that makes up “Her Majesty” isn’t quite fair but when you consider Paul’s outrageously great bass playing and that the side two suite was largely his idea, I think it’s clear that Paul deserves the “MVB” for this album.

This makes the total count so far: John 7, Paul 4, & George 1. Let It Be is next and then Past Masters 1 & 2!

The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, 1969, Most Valuable Beatle

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