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12.05am
18 December 2011
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This is an overview to who I think is the strongest (or favorite) Beatle on each of their 13 studio albums. I think John was the strongest in the early years followed closely by Paul of course (then George and so Ringo).
Please Please Me: John, followed closely by Paul, mostly because of "I Saw Her Standing There" (which is my favorite Beatles song).
With The Beatles: John, but also George since he did 3 lead vocals on this album (including his self-written tune; "Don't Bother Me").
A Hard Day's Night: John
Beatles for Sale: John or Paul ; I haven't really decided yet, because I think they were both as strong on this LP.
Help!: John (Paul is close, though).
Rubber Soul: John, but thanks to George (for bringing an indian instrument to the studio) and Paul for their contributions as well.
Revolver: George ("Taxman", "Love You To" and "I Want to Tell You" are the most important reasons), but Paul did a lot out of this album as well.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Paul (it was mostly his idea to the concept), followed closely by John since he contributed a lot to this album together with Paul + John's voice really got that psychedelic feel that suits most of the songs.
Magical Mystery Tour: Paul (this was mostly Paul idea as well).
The Beatles ("The White Album"): John (that trip to India wasn't a bad influence), but Paul was also strong, just in a different way.
Yellow Submarine: George (he did most out of it).
Abbey Road: Paul (the medley are probably his best musical piece of work ever, not to forget "Oh! Darling" with his best vocals), but I will be kind and leave some space to George as well, since his song-writing has developed further to match the quality to Lennon-McCartney.
Let It Be: Paul
Score:
John: 7/13
Paul: 6/13
George: 4/13
Ringo: 0/13 (aww, poor Ringo, I wish you could have done more songs and more vocals)
And the winner is: 
John Lennon
- Don't worry Paulie, you're still my favorite Beatle 
12.33am
26 March 2012
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Please Please Me: John
With The Beatles: John
A Hard Day's Night: John by miles
Beatles for Sale: John
Help!: John…
Rubber Soul: John by a hair
Revolver: Paul by a hair
Sgt Pepper: Paul
Magical Mystery Tour: Paul
The White Album: Very hard to decide… John?
Abbey Road: I'm tempted to say Paul because of the medley and stuff, but George came into his own so much at this point that I think I'd give it to George.
Let It Be: Paul
So it's pretty clear that John guided them through their formative years because he was the most confident, with their best work being produced when John and Paul were providing songs of equal amount and quality (Rubber Soul/Revolver), and Paul beginning to surpass John in terms of productivity as John became less interested in the Beatles.
1.51am
18 December 2011
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Ben Ramon said
Abbey Road: I'm tempted to say Paul because of the medley and stuff, but George came into his own so much at this point that I think I'd give it to George.
So it's pretty clear that John guided them through their formative years because he was the most confident, with their best work being produced when John and Paul were providing songs of equal amount and quality (Rubber Soul/Revolver), and Paul beginning to surpass John in terms of productivity as John became less interested in the Beatles.
I pretty much agree with you that on during Abbey Road, George came into his own much at the time ("Here Comes the Sun", "Something"), but at the same time Paul was doing most out of it. (If I can mention his killer bass riff on "Come Together", "I Want You (She's so Heavy)" got IMO Paul's best bass line ever on a Beatle recording – I also love his bass line to "Something").
That John became less interested in The Beatles during the later years didn't spoil it to be the winner in my review :p
But, that was true what you said.
3.04am
17 March 2012
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John was basically the leader of the group, but no one really admitted that he was. Or at least there at the beginning before Paul and George started helping out A LOT more…. So:
Please Please Me- John (this was hard for me because of I Saw Her Standing There)
With The Beatles- John
A Hard Day's Night- Paul (And I Love Her and Can't Buy Me Love gave it to him)
Beatles For Sale- John
Help!- This one is really hard for me! Ahhhhhhhhh…… George (shocker, I know)
Rubber Soul- Paul
Revolver- George
SPLHCB- Paul
MMT- Paul
The White Album- John by far
Abbey Road- George
Let It Be- Paul
3.32am
1 May 2011
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PPM – John.
WTB – John.
AHDN – John.
BFS – John.
Help! – John (but Paul closing in fast).
Rubber Soul – John. (Can argue equally well for Paul but for me Johns shades it by a lick of an armpit.)
Revolver – John, Paul and George. How on earth can 1 be plucked from the 3. John was still interested, pushing forward and managing his intake. Paul and George were on an equal footing.
Pepper – Paul. (When John wasnt stoned he contributed so much.)
MMT – Paul (did anyone else trully care?).
The Beatles (aka The White Album) – John (reawoken and inspired – shame it didnt last long.)
Yellow Submarine – No beatle gave two apple pips before they saw it.
Abbey Road – George (on song contributions alone he wins, his guitar playing is fantabulous throughout. Paul is close with the medley and getting the band into the studio and making an excellent album but his songs arent that strong.)
Let It Be – Paul. (No other beatle wanted to go anywhere near it at the time and no beatle wants to be go back there.)
So John in the beatlemania years was the driving force but Paul came into the picture in '65 and ended up being the one who got them going from late '67 onwards. George really came into the picture in mid '68 but was only with Abbey Road that he took a more prominent position. The peak for all 4 was '66.
5.43pm
12 April 2012
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Please Please Me: Paul and John
With The Beatles: John, George and Paul
A Hard Days Night: John
Beatles For Sale: Paul and John
Help!: Paul
Rubber Soul: John
Revolver: Paul
Sgt. Pepper: Paul
Magical Mystery Tour: Paul
White Album: Paul
Yellow Submarine: George
Abbey Road: Paul
Let It Be: Paul
That's what I mean but i'm generally more a paul and george fan and i don't like lennon so much
6.14pm
26 March 2012
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GeorgeTSimpson said
That's what I mean but i'm generally more a paul and george fan and i don't like lennon so much
Out of interest, why is that? His personality? Or do you just not enjoy his songs as much?
10.21pm
19 May 2012
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PPM – both, mostly because they wrote most all of it together. Even the covers balance each other out.
WTB – John
AHDN – John by a mile, because of his creative burst. Paul's work was still good though.
BFS – John. Paul's work was below par (for Paul – any non-Beatle would be thrilled to write 'Eight Days a Week'
Help! – both. It was their first album where John and Paul both wrote great songs, but not together
RS – John, but not by much
R – Paul by a mile. His most significant creative burst of the Beatles career. John barely showed up for this one. Even 'Tomorrow Never Knows' was great because of Paul's tape loops
SPLHCB – Paul dominated the theme, but John's individual songs were better
MMT (English version) – Paul's idea, but Walrus was the best song on the EP soundtrack
TWA – both, very balanced. Much like the Help! album.
YS – both. They were equally sub-par.
AR – George
LIB – Paul by a mile. Like Revolver, John barely showed up for this one. Unlike Revolver, this was mostly by choice.
In sum – it's a real mix. That's the reason why they were so consistently amazing. John's burst of creativity and leadership carried the early years, in part because he was older and more mature. Paul made Revolver and Pepper the best of the best. Paul took the lead because John let him, as John was deep in self-doubt and mentally shaky (self-admitted). This was particularly evident on Revolver. In the later years, it depended on when John put in the effort. Paul always did. The White Album had very strong work by John (and Paul). Let It Be was essentially Paul's first solo album because of the high quality of his work, and because John could have cared less about it.
12.12am
9 May 2012
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To me it's most John. I don't really see how Paul can be strongest on Sgt. Pepper, two Lennon's songs (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and A Day In the Life made Sgt. Pepper great), or MMT. Strawberry fields forever, I am the Walrus or All you need is love, IMHO those are best songs on the album, but maybe I am too biased 
.
2.16am
5 November 2011
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Please Please Me: Paul (this one's hard though. It's actually might be John. No, never mind it's Paul.)
With The Beatles: Paul (I love his vocals on this album!!!!)
A Hard Day's Night: John (Uhh, yeah I think this one is pretty obvious.)
Beatles For Sale: John (Paul is pretty close, but I'm A Loser and Mr. Moonlight totally gives this one to John.)
Help!: Paul (Oh my gosh you guys, he is just so amazing and this one on him is… beats it to the one had it for.)
Rubber Soul: John (It could go either way, really.)
Revolver: Paul (Yeah, not even close.)
Sgt. Pepper's: Paul (John's songs are all great, and I absolutely love George's song, but apparently not enough.)
Magical Mystery Tour: Paul
The White Album: Paul (John and George are both pretty close.)
Abbey Road: Paul
Let It Be: Paul
4.55am
10 August 2011
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On A Hard Day's Night, I don't think it's so obvious or such a runaway victory for John, if a victory at all.
If you look at the BEST songs – or at least the ones that seem to have stood the test of time, the ones most often played on the radio, the ones people talk about, they're evenly distributed between John and Paul:
"A Hard Day's Night"
"If I Fell"
"And I Love Her"
"Can't Buy Me Love"
(Yes, most of the other songs IMO are great too, but that's besides the point)
So what's the tie-breaker?
John's got the most songs.
But….
to make the above songs memorable, John needed Paul more than Paul needed John:
On a AHDN, John needed Paul for the middle eight.
On IIF, John needed Paul for that fabulous, unbelievable, magical harmony that makes the song.
Although I'm sure John contributed, his contributions aren't so obvious on AILH or CBML.
So in the end, I'd say John and Paul are tied on this album.
10.58am
1 May 2011
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I Should Have Known Better gets a bit of airplay on some of the oldies stations in Scotland, well it did when i last listened to them about 3/4 years ago. Paul was closing the gap, it was pretty wide for With The Beatles, but for me John wins. Any Time At All, You Cant Do That and I'll Be Back are three classic early beatles songs that are underrated and overlooked.
11.17am
26 March 2012
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Although John needed Paul to embellish the finished products on A Hard Days Night, John did write NINE of the thirteen songs on the album single-handed. I'd still call that a landslide victory in terms of songwriting strength, especially for someone who felt less accomplished as a melody writer than his partner.
12.07pm
9 May 2012
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meanmistermustard said
I'll Be Back are three classic early beatles songs that are underrated and overlooked.
That is one of the best songs on the album, and very underrated.
9.33pm
12 March 2010
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Please, please me:
Impossible to name a winner. Paul started it off with I saw her standing there, on most other songs they do great two part harmonies. Paul has A taste of honey, John has Twist and shout.
With the Beatles:
John had more songs, but EVERYBODY knows "All my loving", and EVERYBODY loves "Til there was you", and who cares much for "Not a second time" apart from hardcore Beatles fans? Still John sang Money and Please Mr. Postman, so it might be John by a hair.
A hard days night:
John was obviously the most creative one, but Paul's songs are all smashs. Still more John's album. Love I'll be back.
Beatles for sale:
No winner. Paul's Eight days a week is the most popular song, No reply a fan favourite, the other songs are quite mixed from both.
Help:
Hard. John had the title track and Ticket to ride (strong support from Paul here with drum patter, guitar and vocals!), Paul had Yesterday. I think it's a definite tie.
Rubber Soul:
Paul had the rousing start with their anthem Drive my car, and John right away comes along with Norwegian wood. It's just not fair that these two guys were in the same band!!
Strong support from George, and Paul has Michelle, but I think this is the last album for John by a hair (If I fell, In my life).
Revolver:
Paul, no question, although John added very strong songs and George amazing songs and guitar sounds.
The more elaborate they got the more Paul took over.
Sgt. Peppers:
Anyone not seeing this as Pauls album must be joking, right?
White Album:
Paul: Back in the USSR, Obladi (not every fan's favourite, but definately a people's favourite!), HELTER SKELTER, Blackbird, Honey Pie, Mother nature's son, Birthday…
Paul added much more to the diversity than John who had good and great songs, but Paul was just even better.
He also came up with the cover concept.
Together they made this an unbelievable experience.
MMT:
No question.
Let it be:
Paul
Abbey Road:
Paul, with very strong contributions by John and George, obviously.
Again Paul's cover concept.
11.38pm
9 May 2012
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Well I will ask again, aren't the two best tracks on Sgt. Pepper actually Lennon's songs, so how can it be a Paul's album? It was his idea as a concept but I though we are talking here about the songs?
12.35am
1 May 2011
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Pauls bass, are you seriously saying A Taste Of Honey is an equal to Twist & Shout?
Long John Silver, some people dont like Lucy, Good Morning, Good Morning or Mr Kite much (tho personally i think they are all better than the Sgt Pepper song, When Im Sixty Four and Lovely Rita & i think Paul wrote the majority of With A Little Help with some help from John but i could be wrong and that isnt any better either), + Paul wrote the middle 8 of ADITL and 'I'd love to turn you on'. Cant remember who came up with the idea of the orchestral noise, tho i think it was Paul. I said Paul based more on that it was his concept and did play a large part in ADITL and the other songs. Not that the concept won him Abbey Road.
1.21am
5 November 2011
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Long John Silver said
Well I will ask again, aren't the two best tracks on Sgt. Pepper actually Lennon's songs, so how can it be a Paul's album? It was his idea as a concept but I though we are talking here about the songs?
Isn't most of A Day in the Life Paul? And yeah this is subjective, but doesn't that include the best part of the whole song?
EDIT: Sorry Mustard, didn't read see you already said that. The orchestra was indeed Paul's idea.
5.35am
12 March 2010
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Long John Silver said
Well I will ask again, aren't the two best tracks on Sgt. Pepper actually Lennon's songs,
No, not necessarily at all.
I like all of Paul's songs a lot (except for She's leaving home in the stereo version), and he contributed mightily to Lucy (keyboard intro, bass) and A day in the life, which is half HIS song (middle part, orchestra, piano, bass, Ringo's drums).
Arguably the best song on With the Beatles is "All my loving". Does that make it a Paul album? Of course not.
so how can it be a Paul's album? It was his idea as a concept but I though we are talking here about the songs?
No, if you look at the thread title we are talking about the ALBUMS.
His musical concept.
His cover concept.
The vast majority of songs.
He was far more into production techniques than the others.
He was the one who picked up most of the avantgarde influences in Swinging London, while John sat in front of the TV (Good morning).
Hell, why am I discussing this at all?!
5.45am
12 March 2010
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meanmistermustard said
Pauls bass, are you seriously saying A Taste Of Honey is an equal to Twist & Shout?
Well, on a pure entertainment level of course ATOH can't hold a candle to T&S.
But it was still a very important song.
1) It was a VERY unusual choice for a "rock" group (not that the term already excisted) so it stood out and people did notice it a lot. It was one of Paul's strongest und most successful spotlights, otherwise they wouldn't have followed it up with "Til there was you", which was even better (he followed THAT one up with "And I love her" and took it to the next step).
2) It was part of their strategy to make them accessible to ALL kinds of people, especially parents of crazy teenagers. "Look mum, it can't be THAT terrible, it has ATOH on it!" Very clever!!
Of course it also cemented the stereotype of John being the rocker and Paul being the sweet balladeer. People think of early rock Beatles and think of Twist and Shout or Money, and tend to forget all about I saw her standing there (what a damn GUTSY opening to their debut!) or Long tall Sally.
I say it again: No winner for Please, please me.
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