50 THE BEATLES Greatest Guitar Songs
No band has inspired more people to play guitar than The Beatles – the greatest, biggest and most influential band of all time. And so – to coincide with the long-awaited premiere of the three-part documentary series Get Back – TG presents The 50 Greatest Beatles Guitar Songs, as voted by you in a recent poll on GuitarWorld.com.
There were so many to choose from. I Feel Fine, with its groundbreaking use of feedback. A Hard Day’s Night, with that mythic opening chord. Helter Skelter, when the Fab Four turned it up to 11. Blackbird, one of the most perfect acoustic songs ever recorded. And Something, the classic ballad that marked George Harrison as a songwriter to rival John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and in which George delivered what was arguably the greatest solo he ever played.
The top 50 countdown features in-depth analysis of every song from TG writers Grant Moon, Ellie Rogers and our former Editor Tim Tucker, a writer, musician and respected authority on The Beatles as host of the podcast My Favourite Beatles Song, which celebrates the music of the Fab Four with distinguished guests.
On page 54, Tim also reveals 10 Great Beatles Guitar Moments You’ve Never Heard Before – lost treasures unearthed on the newly-released super-deluxe edition of the band’s final album Let It Be.
And while the pioneering quartet took us all on a Magical Mystery Tour, we take you on a magical gear tour in our profile of the now-iconic guitars and amps used by the band.
Finally, we'll show you exactly how the band wrote some of those incredible songs as we look at some of the chords, changes and harmonic techniques they employed. Turn the page, and let’s get started!
50 HELP!
Swift picking arpeggio action
After an explosive chorus-intro, we get a speedily-picked arpeggio run, played by George Harrison, that pulls us into the lead song from the Beatles’ second film. He uses a combination of fretted and open strings on a Gretsch Tennessean to provide the distinctive guitar hook in one of the band’s most deceptively upbeat songs. Lennon later explained the lyrics as a genuine cry for help, brought on by the pressures of Beatlemania, but the driving arrangement and upbeat delivery makes the finished recording a joyful pop/rock experience. Harrison’s lead is backed by Lennon’s 12-string rhythm part, played on a recently acquired Framus Hootenanny 5/024.
49 BIRTHDAY
Monster old-school rock and roll riffage
An old-school rocker inspired by Little Richard that Paul McCartney wrote in one recording session for the White Album, before the other Beatles had even arrived. With Paul on piano duties, George Harrison takes the bass role, leaving John Lennon to provide a rare lead guitar performance on a Beatles record. Most notable for its epic blues-rock riff and unison bass and lead guitar run, this is the sound of an experienced band creating joy in the studio.
48 I AM THE WALRUS
A soundscape worthy of Picasso
An astonishing recording that ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr called ‘like Hieronymous Bosch set to music.’ The song’s combination of queasy strings, grungy electric piano and twisted lyrics showcases the band at the height of their psychedelic period. But underpinning the sound effects and semi-nonsense lyrics is a startlingly adventurous song structure. Fundamentally in the key of A, it draws chords from the parallel minor key, being made up of nothing but major chords with roots on all seven white keys on the piano. Harrison plays his psychedelically painted Fender Strat, while McCartney’s Rickenbacker 4001S bass provides the low end.
47 YOU’VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY
The Fabs get folky
Bob Dylan made a massive impression on the Beatles, and his influence can be felt in this, the first all-acoustic song the band recorded, with Lennon on his 12-string Framus and Harrison playing his Gibson J-160E. The modalflavoured 12/8 tune uses a G ‘pedal’ note on the 3rd fret of the top string, throughout the sequence of first position open chords. This folky drone yields interesting chord voicings, such as the Dsus4 and Fadd9, that give the song its distinctive character (and most likely influenced Noel Gallagher on Oasis classics Whatever and Wonderwall). The first Beatle recording to
