My final entry in my “Most Valuable Beatle” series (which except for Yellow Submarine could really be called my Lennon vs. McCartney series.) Before I get to the Past Masters 2 disc let me share my previous entries here:

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), Abbey Road (Paul), Let It Be (Paul), and Past Masters 1 (John.)

That’s 8 wins for John and 5 for Paul and 1 for George. Now on with a track by track look at the Past Masters 2 disc (the new remastered version of Past Masters is sold as a 2 disc set, but I decided to look at them 1 disc at a time anyway.)

01. “Day Tripper” – John & Paul

John gets the main credit as he wrote the guitar riff that makes the song so memorable but Paul did help with the writing of the song too and Paul sings lead on the verse (“Got a good reason…”)

02. “We Can Work It Out” – Paul & John

This is a classic example of a co-written Beatles song. Paul wrote (and sang) the main bits and John wrote (and sang) the “life is very short and there’s no time…” part. Both bits are fantastic on their own but when combined (and contrasted) they are that much more effective.

03. “Paperback Writer” – Paul

A good example of the fact that Paul was much more than a balladeer (some folks have that impression.) This is a great rock song with some tasty psychedelic bits. I love the reverb on the vocal (check about 47 seconds into the song) and the unusual harmonies including the “Frere Jacques” bit which is pretty insane. Of course it’s the great guitar riffs and pulsating bass that really make the song rock.

04. “Rain” – John

One of their most celebrated B-Sides. While this is John’s song (and it was his idea to have the vocals backwards over the end of the song) we must give Ringo & Paul credit too because this song includes some of the most fantastic drumming and bass playing in The Beatles catalog.

05. “Lady Madonna” – Paul

Such a good tune that Sublime had a hit with it in the 1990s too (“What I’ve Got.”)

06. “The Inner Light” – George

Sometimes I listen to these Indian tunes of George’s and I get a bit blown away thinking about how “out there” they really are. Think about it. This is the most popular band of all time. The biggest selling band ever. And they recorded a trippy Indian tune about meditating like “The Inner Light.”

07. “Hey Jude” – Paul

One of The Beatles most famous songs, and definitely Paul’s baby. But even with a song like this (which is obviously Paul’s) we still see some influence from John. Paul wanted to change the lyric “the movement you need is on your shoulder” as he thought it was too weird but John said he should keep it. It was Paul’s impulse to make the lyrics more obvious and John’s instinct to keep a “poetic” line like that. BTW, I recommend listening very closely to something being shouted in the background at about 2:58 into it.

08. “Revolution” – John

This is the fast heavily distorted version that is played on the radio. The slower more “campy” version is on The White Album.

09. “Get Back” – Paul

I dig that this song references marijuana (“California grass”) and a transvestite (“Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman, but she was another man.) The original lyrics of the song were much more controversial though. The song was to be titled “No Pakistanis” and it was a bit of a protest song with satirical lyrics mimicking right wing anti-immigration attitudes (here’s looking at you Lou Dobbs.) A sample lyric: “Don’t dig no Pakistanis taking all the people jobs.”

This version of the song is different from the one on Let It Be. This one includes the ending bit “Get back Loretta, your mommy’s waiting for you…”

10. “Don’t Let Me Down” – John

One of The Beatles most emotionally effecting songs.

11. “The Ballad of John and Yoko” – John

John & Paul recorded this one on their own because George & Ringo weren’t around and John was in a hurry to get it finished. Paul played the drums. The lyrics are very topical and describe John’s recent experiences with his new wife Yoko Ono.

12. “Old Brown Shoe” – George

I think this is a pretty underrated song. I almost never hear anyone bring it up but I think it’s a groovy little B-Side. It includes some awesome bass playing by McCartney. The vocal is probably mixed slightly too low.

13. “Across The Universe” – John

This is a different version than the one on Let It Be. It has no strings. It has much different backing vocals. And it also has very heavy effects on the guitar bits. I really dig this version, I think it gets across the intent much better than the Let It Be version. This was actually the original release of the song as it came out on the No One’s Gonna Change Our World charity album (for the World Wildlife Fund) on December 12, 1969 (Let It Be wasn’t released until 1970.)

14. “Let It Be” – Paul

This is the single version and it’s a different mix than the Let It Be album version. It has a different guitar solo.

15. “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” – John

The most ridiculous song The Beatles ever recorded. I get a kick out of it. This song is in mono (yes, even in the stereo version.) But you can hear a longer stereo mix of the song in Anthology 2 (this longer stereo version is my favorite.) The song features Brian Jones (of The Rolling Stones) on saxophone.

VERDICT: John & Paul TIE.

I’m going with a tie. Yes, that’s a cop-out right? Well, I don’t think so. Actually, my whole point in doing this series is getting across the point that John & Paul were both essential to what made The Beatles great. And looking over these songs I just can’t choose on or the other. Yes John has more solo credits (6) than Paul (5) but look at Paul’s songs: “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude,” “Get Back,” “Paperback Writer,” & “Lady Madonna.” The quality level is out of this world. This whole disc is fantastic. To me it’s as much of a “must have” as their studio albums.

Alright, I’m finished with this. John Lennon is the winner of the most “Most Valuable Beatle” awards (8 to 5 with 1 tie and 1 win for George) but that really wasn’t the point. It’s just an excuse to take a closer look at who wrote which Beatles songs. I hope you’ve all enjoyed it. There are some other Beatles series going on here that you may want to check out:

1. Beatles Songs That Are Better In Mono. This is my series and I’ll be focusing on it now that I’m done with this.

2. The Beatles Albums In Mono (Vs. Stereo.) This is Marvin’s series which compares the mono mixes of The Beatles albums vs. the stereo mixes.

3. The Beatles In Their Own Words. Marvin’s series on what The Beatles themselves had to say about their songs.

4. Beatles Songs. Marvin’s close look at each original Beatles song.

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