One of the most popular posts on my website was about the trend of creating fantasy albums by The Beatles. Fantasy because the albums come from after their break-up, using the best songs from their solo albums in any given year. I’ve been gratified that the post was so popular, even if the site is less about music and more about my work as the author of the 1001, The Reincarnation Chronicles series, including The Qaraq and The Qaraq and the Maya Factor.
Given the great response to the post-Beatles article, which you can revisit here, many people have asked me for more of the playlists. There’s a lot of them, so I posted some installments on The Maqaraqan, my free email subscription service (SEE FOOTER). There you’ll find the albums from the 70s, before us boomers strayed from listening to the solo efforts, and the 80s, when I tried to keep John’s material represented after his death. George doubles his contribution from the time of the Beatles, especially with all the great songs from All Things Must Pass and Living in the Material World.
Here’s a sample from 1971:
Post-Beatles 1971 SIDE A
1 Imagine (John)
2 Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (Paul)
3 Wah-Wah (George)
4 Long Haired Lady (Paul)
5 Oh Yoko! (John)
6 Isn’t It A Pity (George)
SIDE B
1 Smile Away (Paul)
2 Apple Scruffs (George)
3 How Do You Sleep? (John)
4 Every Night (Paul)
5 It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo)
6 Isolation (John)
7 Back Seat Of My Car (Paul)
8 Happy Xmas (John)
There are at least three mega-hits here, plus a few charmers, and a soul-stirrer or two. There’s the oddity of including “How Do You Sleep?,” John’s cruel bash of Paul, if in the fantasy the band hadn’t broken up. But it contrasts “Apple Scruffs” so well, and casts an ironic pall on Paul’s “Every Night.” Anyway, that’s the fun of doing this, ordering the songs as a playlist, and balancing the whole.
If you don’t know a song, sample it on your favorite music site. If you’re curious about my thought process behind the playlists, ask me, or refer to the original article.
Most importantly, if you’re wondering when another installment of 1001, The Reincarnation Chronicles is coming out, be the first to hear about it. If you haven’t read Book One, find out when I’m giving it away for free. So sign up for free here.
1001 The Reincarnation Chronicles, The Maqaraqan