Fab Four Fridays Week 0

The Beatles have been discussed to death. As perhaps the single most influential band of all time, their short 8 year run has been broken down and analyzed from pretty much every angle. The way the production was approached, the songwriting, the internal relations of the group, all of it has been meticulously documented and scrutinized in an effort to understand why they were so good. You can find countless rankings of their discography, songs, basslines, guitar riffs, drum parts, melodies, everything.

All 4 members also had incredibly successful solo careers. These are often overlooked, as they’re overshadowed by their work together. The run of 13 albums they did as a group had a massive impact for sure, but how did that impact increase throughout each of their own journeys? My goal over the next year is to explore that in its entirety. I’ve compiled a list of 95 canon releases, which includes the original 13 albums, solo albums from every member, side projects and collaborations, and even a children’s audiobook/album/soundtrack thing. The list will be at the bottom of this article.

Despite my overall familiarity with The Beatles, I still have neglected to hear every album. They’ve been a pretty crucial part of my musical upbringing, but that was mostly their stuff that gets radio play, along with a few of their albums that I have played to death (most notably Abbey Road and The White Album). My knowledge gap becomes vastly more apparent when we get to their solo careers. I can count on one hand the number of these albums I’ve heard, and before doing research for this project I had no clue about any of the random side projects the members had. I figured it’s high time I changed that.

I’ll be going through this complete canon of 95 albums in a split chronological order. What this means is I’ll start at the first Beatles album and the 48th record released in this chronology. By listening to 2 albums a week, I will finish the list in 47 weeks, working my way down the list from the start and from the middle. I did it this way so I get to mix the old Paul and Ringo albums in with other records that are from their heyday in the pop spotlight when I get to the end of the project. Any records that I have heard already I will be revisiting for the sake of the project.

What I hope to gain from this whole experience is a greater appreciation for each individual Beatle’s skills as a musician and songwriter. I’m also excited to see how each of them adapted to different trends in the musical landscape. Lastly, I’m hoping to find some hidden gems in later career records. I hope that you all enjoy this journey as I fully explore the full impact of the greatest band of all time.

The 95 Album Canon (in full chronological order, separated into time periods based on important events):

(1963–1967) The Beatles working solely on Beatles music:

• The Beatles — Please Please Me (March 1963)
• The Beatles — With the Beatles (November 1963)
• The Beatles — Hard Days Night (June 1964)
• The Beatles — Beatles for Sale (December 1964)
• The Beatles — Help! (August 1965)
• The Beatles — Rubber Soul (December 1965)
• The Beatles — Revolver (August 1966)
• The Beatles — Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (May 1967)
• The Beatles — Magical Mystery Tour (November 1967)

(1968–1970) Solo projects start to emerge as The Beatles enter their final years:

• George Harrison — Wonderwall Music (November 1968)
• The Beatles — The Beatles (white album) (November 1968)
• John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Two Virgins (November 1968)
• The Beatles — Yellow Submarine (January 1969)
• George Harrison — Electronic Sound (May 1969)
• John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Life With the Lions (May 1969)
• The Beatles — Abbey Road (September 1969)
• John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Wedding Album (November 1969)
• Ringo Starr — Sentimental Journey (March 1970)
• Paul McCartney — McCartney (April 1970)
• The Beatles — Let It Be (May 1970)
• Ringo Starr — Beaucoups of Blues (September 1970)
• George Harrison — All Things Must Pass (November 1970)
• John Lennon — Plastic Ono Band (December 1970)

(1971–1980) The Beatles have broken up and Paul forms Wings:

• Paul McCartney — Ram (May 1971)
• John Lennon — Imagine (September 1971)
• Wings — Wild Life (December 1971)
• John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Some Time in NYC (June 1972)
• Wings — Red Rose Speedway (June 1972)
• George Harrison — Living in the Material World (May 1973)
• John Lennon — Mind Games (October 1973)
• Ringo Starr — Ringo (November 1973)
• Wings — Band on the Run (December 1973)
• John Lennon — Walls and Bridges (October 1974)
• Ringo Starr — Goodnight Vienna (November 1974)
• George Harrison — Dark Horse (December 1974)
• John Lennon — Rock n Roll (February 1975)
• Wings — Venus and Mars (May 1975)
• George Harrison — Extra Texture (September 1975)
• Wings — At the Speed of Sound (March 1976)
• Ringo Starr — Ringo’s Rotogravure (September 1976)
• George Harrison — Thirty Three & ⅓ (November 1976)
• Percy “Thrills” Thrillington — Thrillington (April 1977)
• Ringo Starr — Ringo the 4th (September 1977)
• Scouse the Mouse (December 1977)
• Wings — London Town (March 1978)
• Ringo Starr — Bad Boy (April 1978)
• George Harrison — George Harrison (February 1979)
• Wings — Back to the Egg (June 1979) *halfway point
• Paul McCartney — McCartney II (May 1980)
• John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Double Fantasy (November 1980)

(1981–1987) John is dead and Paul retires Wings, working as a solo artist now:

• George Harrison — Somewhere in England (June 1981)
• Ringo Starr — Stop and Smell the Roses (October 1981)
• Paul McCartney — Tug of War (April 1982)
• George Harrison — Gone Troppo (November 1982)
• Ringo Starr — Old Wave (June 1983)
• Paul McCartney — Pipes of Peace (October 1983)
• John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Milk and Honey (January 1984)
• Paul McCartney — Press to Play (August 1986)
• George Harrison — Cloud Nine (November 1987)

(1988–2000) Paul picks up classical composition, also starts his experimental duo The Fireman. George puts out his final solo record and works with Traveling Wylburries:

• Paul McCartney — Russian Album (October 1988)
• Traveling Wylburies — Vol. 1 (October 1988)
• Paul McCartney — Flowers in the Dirt (June 1989)
• Traveling Wylburies — Vol. 3 (October 1990)
• Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratio (October 1991)
• Ringo Starr — Time Takes Time (May 1992)
• Paul McCartney — Off the Ground (February 1993)
• The Fireman — Strawberries Oceans Ships Forests (November 1993)
• Paul McCartney — Flaming Pie (May 1997)
• Paul McCartney — Standing Stone (November 1997)
• Ringo Starr — Vertical Man (June 1998)
• The Fireman — Rushes (September 1998)
• Paul McCartney — Run Devil Run (October 1999)
• Ringo Starr — I Wanna Be Santa Claus (November 1999)
• Paul McCartney — Working Classical (November 1999)
• Super Furry Animals — Liverpool Sound Collage (August 2000)

(2001–2023) George dies, and his final album is released posthumously:

• Paul McCartney — Driving Rain (November 2001)
• George Harrison — Brainwashed (November 2002)
• Ringo Starr — Ringo Rama (March 2003)
• Twin Freaks — Twin Freaks (June 2005)
• Ringo Starr — Choose Love (June 2005)
• Paul McCartney — Chaos & Creation in the Backyard (September 2005)
• Paul McCartney — Ecce Cor Meum (September 2006)
• Paul McCartney — Memory Almost Full (June 2007)
• Ringo Starr — Liverpool 8 (January 2010)
• The Fireman — Electric Arguments (November 2008)
• Ringo Starr — Y Not (January 2010)
• Paul McCartney — Kisses on the Bottom (February 2012)
• Paul McCartney — New (October 2013)
• Ringo Starr — Postcards from Paradise (March 2015)
• Ringo Starr Give More Love (September 2017)
• Paul McCartney — Egypt Station (September 2018)
• Ringo Starr — What’s My Name (October 2019)
• Paul McCartney — McCartney III (December 2020)
• Paul McCartney — McCartney III Imagined (April 2021)