Mother Nature's Son

**A Top Ten Favorite**

Album: The Beatles (aka The White Album)

Year: 1968

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

This beautiful song was one of many that The Beatles wrote around the time they visited Rishikesh, India to study Transcendental Meditation (TM) with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in early 1968. After listening to the Maharishi give a lecture about nature and after learning the finger-picking guitar style from fellow musician and TM student Donovan, Paul went home and wrote most of this lovely song (John helped him with some lyrics). The video above, which was made by a Beatles fan, features photos of the band's time in India.

Paul is the only Beatle who appears on the song, playing acoustic guitar, timpani, and bass drum, and also singing a double-tracked vocal. Producer George Martin arranged the two trumpets and trombones. Mother Nature's Son seems a simple song, but it is profoundly beautiful... which is why it is one of my Top Ten Favorite Beatles Songs.

Oh! Darling

** A TOP TEN FAVORITE **

Album: Abbey Road

Year: 1969

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

Oh! Darling is a classically great rocker from the last album recorded by the band, Abbey Road. Going back to their r&b roots, The Beatles had fun recording this song. Paul practiced his vocals in the studio every day for more than a week until he got the sound he wanted, while John enjoyed playing the old time rock & roll-style piano.

Paul's explosive lead vocal, along with John, Paul, and George's beautiful oohs and aahs in the doo-wop style backing, make for a very memorable performance. The amazing vocals and the good time retro feel of this song are only some of the reasons that Oh! Darling is one of my Top Ten Favorite Beatles songs.

Ticket to Ride

Album: Released as the a-side of a single; not included on an original Beatles album

Year: 1965

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

In the spring of 1965, The Beatles began working on their second film, a fun and silly comedy called Help! Director Richard Lester was given a larger budget to make the movie, so the boys traveled with him to Austria and the Bahamas to make their film adventures more exciting.

The video above is a scene from the movie showing John, Paul, George, and Ringo romping about and having fun learning how to ski in the Austrian Alps. It is often considered a prototype of the music video genre.

John sings a double-tracked lead vocal, with Paul joining him in the harmony. Ticket to Ride is a guitar-heavy song and is one of the rare instances in which Paul plays both bass and lead guitar. (He usually played just the bass, while George was the usual lead guitarist.) John and George both play rhythm guitar, with George probably using his iconic 12-string Rickenbacker.

All My Loving

Album: With the Beatles

Year: 1963

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

Fifty years ago, on Sunday, February 9, 1964, The Beatles changed American culture forever when they first played on the Ed Sullivan Show. Over 73 million people huddled around their television sets that night, watching as the "long haired" lads from Liverpool charmed an entire nation. (Can you believe people were shocked by the length of their hair?)

All My Loving was the first song the band played, providing America with its first glimpse of the future of popular music. There was something magical about them, and almost immediately after they played, young people all over the country were captivated. Girls swooned over them, and boys wanted to look like them and start bands of their own. The Beatle "mop top" hairstyle became all the rage... and it remains popular even today! Their influence over music and popular culture cannot be overstated. They helped change everything!

The video above comes from the first night that they played on the Ed Sullivan Show. Paul sings lead on this happy and energetic track, with John and George providing the backing vocals. John plays really fast triplets on rhythm guitar, providing the song with its distinctive sound.

A Hard Day's Night

Album: A Hard Day's Night

Year: 1964

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

"The mighty opening chord" of A Hard Day's Night is one of the most iconic sounds in the history of rock music. Only recently—almost 50 years after it was recorded—have musicians finally figured out how to re-create it correctly.

Upon returning home to England after their first trip to America, where they played on The Ed Sullivan Show to a record-breaking audience of more than 73 million people, The Beatles began production on their first film. Once they had decided on the title A Hard Day's Night, after "one of Ringo's malapropisms," John went home one evening and wrote the tune to open the film, scribbling the lyrics on a birthday card for his one year-old son Julian. He went into the studio the next day and the band worked together to record the song in one afternoon session. Just like that, a Beatles classic was born.

This video is actually the opening sequence of the movie. John, George, and Ringo are being chased by fans as they try to board a train at London's Marylebone Station (notice how George falls down and Ringo then falls over him), while Paul waits for them inside, wearing a fake beard and moustache as a disguise. This scene—and the whole film, in fact—depicts their daily lives during the early years of "Beatlemania."

John sings a powerful double-tracked lead on this rocker, with Paul singing harmony and also taking the lead briefly in the song's middle eight ("when I'm home..."). George once again plays his ultra cool 12-string Rickenbacker guitar.