Dear Prudence by The Beatles

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This is John Lennon Week at The Lost Soul of Rock and Roll, and the song of the day for October 11, 2012 is 'Dear Prudence' by The Beatles. This song was released in 1968 on The Beatles album which is more commonly known as The White Album.

'Dear Prudence' is a song I would play for someone who never heard anything by The Beatles because it is in my opinion one of The Beatles' finest tunes. John's lyrics are great, Paul's bass playing is lovely, and the end product is fantastic. You really can't go wrong with The Beatles/The White Album, and picking the strongest track will lead to some very spirited discussions. What I find interesting is that while I view 'Dear Prudence' as a great song for a Beatles introduction, it is featured on an album where the band was in a state of discord. I'm a firm believer that the best rock albums are recorded at a time when a band is at a low point or in the middle of complete chaos.    

The Ballad of John and Yoko by The Beatles

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This is John Lennon Week at The Lost Soul of Rock and Roll. Today would have been Lennon's 72nd birthday, and the song of the day for October 9, 2012 is 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' by The Beatles. This song was released as a single in 1969 and the b-side of that single was George Harrison's 'Old Brown Shoe'. 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' was recorded by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. George Harrison and Ringo Starr were not available at the time, so John and Paul played all of the instruments.

What I like about 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' is that John addresses his haters, and there are plenty out there some thirty-two years following his death. Someone once forwarded me an email that was sent to them by a religious lunatic that claimed God killed John Lennon for his "more popular than Jesus" quote. If people did their research, they would realize that Lennon was talking about the decline of religious interest in the United Kingdom. You can watch this video where Lennon defends his statement. I need to step off the soap box. Enjoy the song below!

The Abbey Road Medley by The Beatles

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This is the end of the one-two punch week at The Lost Soul of Rock and Roll where I select the best back-to-back songs in the history of rock and roll. I've decided to bend the rules today and select the Beatles Abbey Road medley of 'You Never Give Me Your Money', 'Sun King', 'Mean Mr. Mustard', 'Polythene Pam', 'She Came in Through the Bathroom Window', 'Golden Slumbers', 'Carry That Weight', and 'The End' as the song of the day for September 21, 2012.

I love Abbey Road. 'Here Comes the Sun' is my favorite track, but that Abbey Road medley is pretty damn cool. It is something of a rock and roll blasphemy to play the medley as individual tracks and not as one song. I remember reading a post from a guy I knew from a Guided by Voices mailing list who worked tirelessly to make the Abbey Road medley one song on his iPod. That's dedication to The Beatles, folks.

I was a casual fan of the The Beatles during the late 1980s, but I really didn't appreciate their music until 1992 - 1993. My high school years were 1988 - 1992 and there were some Beatles fans at my school that seemed to have a fanatical view of their music, which rubbed me the wrong way. After I graduated from high school, I hung out with some "chill" Beatles fans, and they changed my view for the better. Enjoy. 

Rain by The Beatles

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Rain, I don't mind

It's about time I posted a song by The Beatles. Today, I've selected 'Rain' one of my favorite songs by The Beatles. 'Rain' is the B-side to the 1966 single release for 'Paperback Writer' and is a fine example of how the best songs by artists are not always on their albums. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find gems. Enjoy.