The Beatles were actively recording songs from 1962 through 1969. To be precise; they did record some demos prior to 1962, most of them can be heard on The Beatles Anthology 1, and they finished a single song in 1970, “I Me Mine” on 1/3/70, but obviously choosing the five best songs from the demos on Anthology 1 or from “I Me Mine” doesn’t make any sense so I’m sticking to ’62 through ’69 for this concept.

The concept is that I select the five best original songs, in my opinion, that The Beatles recorded each year as a way to clearly see their progress as a band through the 1960s.

1962

“Please Please Me”
“Love Me Do”
“P.S. I Love You”
“Ask Me Why”
“Like Dreamers Do”

Pretty slim pickings from ’62. Of these five songs, “Please Please Me” is the only one that I think is a real standout. The rest made the list merely because there was nothing else to choose. The only other original song from 1962, that has been released, is “Hello Little Girl” which is pretty dreadful (you can hear it on Anthology 1.)

1963

“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“She Loves You”
“All My Loving”
“From Me To You”
“I Saw Her Standing There”

These five songs represent a huge leap in quality from those recorded during the previous year. I really wanted to include “This Boy” but didn’t want to cut any of these.

1964

“I Feel Fine”
“A Hard Day’s Night”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“And I Love Her”
“If I Fell”

Moving into 1964 it’s getting really hard because there’s so many great songs that can’t make the cut with only five slots. “Things We Said Today,” “She’s A Woman,” “No Reply,” “I’ll Follow The Sun,” and “Every Little Thing” are among my favorites I couldn’t find a place for. The progress from ’63 to ’64 is clear and the difference when comparing to ’62 is stunning.

1965

“Help!”
“Yesterday”
“In My Life”
“Norwegian Wood”
“Day Tripper”

I left out a lot of absolutely amazing songs. My list could have been complete different (like “Nowhere Man,” “Girl,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Ticket To Ride,” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.”) Actually, maybe that list is better than the one I chose. The point is, the amount of great songs recorded in 1965 makes even the haul from 1964 look weak. Oh yeah, there’s still “Drive My Car,” “I’m Looking Through You,” “I’ve Just Seen A Face,” “If I Needed Someone,” & “Michelle.” In my opinion, all three of these sets of five songs are better than the five best from 1964. Considering how world dominating those 1964 songs were; that’s pretty amazing.

1966

“Strawberry Fields Forever”
“Eleanor Rigby”
“Here, There, and Everywhere”
“Rain”
“Tomorrow Never Knows”

I’ve only got three songs from Revolver, The Beatles only album released in ’66, on this list and it’s a brilliant album. There are lot more wonderful songs on that album that would be at home on this list but “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Rain” had to be included. I really wanted “Paperback Writer” too.

When looking at this list when compared to 1965′s you can really see the blossoming of the psychedelic approach. I wouldn’t say that they so much got “better” from ’65 to ’66 as much as they got different, and different is good; it makes things interesting.

The Beatles were relentless in their pursuit of a new sound and they always tried to avoid repeating themselves. I think it’s this attitude that really helped to make their catalog so uniquely interesting. I don’t think any other popular band has been as successful as they were as far as finding new approaches.

1967

“Penny Lane”
“A Day In The Life”
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
“I Am The Walrus”
“With A Little Help From My Friends”

This is probably my favorite selection of five songs on this page and considering how much I love all of the other selections (except the first one) that’s saying quite a bit. And then when I think about all of the incredible songs I left off the list and I think maybe 1967 was the peak for The Beatles.

1968

“Hey Jude”
“Revolution”
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
“Dear Prudence”
“Happiness is a Warm Gun”

Maybe I spoke too soon about 1967. Really every year from ’65 on is a “peak.” The White Album is my favorite Beatles album.

1969

“Let It Be”
“Something”
“Here Comes The Sun”
“Come Together”
“Get Back”

Looking at this list and thinking about how this was the final year the band was together makes it obvious that no band will ever go out at a level this high ever again. And of course anyone familiar with Abbey Road and Let It Be knows there are a lot more fantastic songs that I failed to squeeze into the five allotted spaces. I’m particularly missing “Oh! Darling,” “You Never Give Me Your Money,” and “Two of Us” at the moment.

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