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[This was a post started in 2009, and never published! Here it is, warts and all:]Not only did the Beatles disappoint their many fans by revealing their group to be shockingly mortal, they went on to pursue creative solo careers, almost the first really big rock 'n' roll band to get a posthumous life of this sort.
John Lennon, one of the Senior Beatles, made albums with a couple of backing groups: The Plastic Ono Band, with his most characteristically angst-filled solo album, at a time when he was in counseling. Imagine was made with a big studio band with many big names among them. Some time later came Mind Games, and many years later, he made Double Fantasy, shortly before he was killed by a crazed fan. (BTW, an album I have just been acquainted with this minute is Walls and Bridges.) For my money, Shaved Fish, a compilation of Lennon's greatest post-Beatles hits, is a winner from first track to last.
Mother, and Working Class Hero are notable tracks on Plastic Ono Band. On Imagine, apart from the title track, there is Jealous Guy, and Oh Yoko, both well known, but not favorites of mine. I should mention Give Peace a Chance, and So this is Christmas, and Watching the Wheels. Here are two favorites: Mind Games, and Aisumasen. Another is Whatever gets you through the night, with Elton John.
Paul McCartney, soon after the demise of the Beatles, formed a successful group called Wings, and released a sequence of highly successful albums through the seventies and eighties. His style now diverged dramatically from the joint Lennon-McCartney style of their Beatles compositions, and most fans would consider that the whole had been far greater than the sum of the parts, certainly as they survived the breakup of the group.
Before Wings, Paul recorded McCartney with his wife, Linda, which contained the songs Junk, and Maybe I'm amazed. Admiral Halsey, Live and Let Die, and other songs from McCartney and Wings were heard all through the seventies, and it was clear that at least 50% of the charm of the Beatles was the disarming whimsy of Paul McCartney, which combined with the anger of John Lennon, which was transformed by his humor (and sometimes directed inward, at himself) together gave the Beatles the magic formula.
Ringo Starr released a couple of albums which contained a few tuneful songs, and was helped enthusiastically by George Harrison. Ringo himself, despite his frustration with John and Paul, never held back when called upon for a special event, for charity or for the sheer fun of doing something creative. He continued to hold the Beatles banner high, even when it was almost certain that no project could possibly attract the support of all the surviving Beatles, after John's death.
George Harrison, in my estimation, was the one who surprised us all. Heading in a new direction with music which had its roots in country music and southern rock, George wrote a sequence of a half dozen songs that should earn him a place as one of the great songwriters of the century: My Sweet Lord, Give me Love, What is Life, All things must Pass, these songs are almost painfully tuneful, and they deserve to be re-sung and rerecorded for a long time to come. Forgive me for giving a link for Paul's rendition of All things must Pass; I prefer his more rhythmic version to George's slow, philosophical performance. There are tons of other Harrison songs: those written for Concert for Bangladesh, a number of them performed at Concert for George.
McCartney is developing into an even better live performer than he used to be with the Beatles (John was probably the weak link there; in most of the video clips he looks very much under the weather), and some of Paul's live performances of Beatles songs compare well with the original studio versions. It's heartbreaking, in 2009, to be left with only McCartney and Starr, but we must learn to be thankful for all that recorded treasure of the Beatles in their time.
Archimedes
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