WMTR’s Top 5: The Beatles Essentials

There are only so many ways to describe the legacy of The Beatles, that’s because there are only so many ways to call something legendary in the English language. Starting in 1960, and solidifying their lineup in 1962, John, Paul, George, and Ringo released their first album in 1963. The first single from Please Please Me (1963) was “Love Me Do” which had moderate success, but what followed was the title track “Please Please Me” that topped every single chart in the UK save for Record Retailer where it hit number 2.  

This was the start of “Beatlemania”, the sensation that started in the UK, and then exploded across the world. Please Please Me was the first of eleven straight albums to be number one in the UK, the track “From Me to You” off of the album was the first of 17 number one singles over the following six years. The excitement behind the band didn’t slow down at any point, with their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show being marked as one of the most important TV performances ever with about 34% of the entire American population tuning in. Despite their meteoric rise to success, the relationship between members deteriorated, with the band officially disbanding in 1970. 

Despite having only 10 years of work as a full band before breaking off to solo work, they have a catalogue so expansive and legendary, it's hard to call this a true "Top 5", as that implies that we are actually saying these are the end-all-be-all best five songs of The Beatles. Consider this more a list of some of our favorites, as anything more than that would be like asking Genghis Khan to choose his favorite child out of his alleged 1,000+. Without further ado, here are our 5 essential Beatles tracks!

As we said earlier, this second single released by The Beatles became an massive hit, something producer George Martin knew from the jump, having told the band "You've just made your first No. 1" after the recording was finished. While the first single "Love Me Do" is what started the band's recording career, "Please Please Me" is where the true potential of The Beatles began to show and explode onto the scene.

Paul has a number of ballads that he sang as a member of The Beatles, "Yesterday" is one that arguably has surpassed them all. It is considered one of the most popular songs of all time, with Rolling Stone ranking it as number 13 on their 2004 list "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and is one of the most covered songs ever with Guinness World Records claiming that there were over 1,600 covers made by the start of 1986.

Regarded as one of John Lennon's favorite tracks he wrote, "Help!" was, as he put it, a legitimate cry for help due to the stress that came with The Beatles meteoric rise to fame. The song opened their 1965 album of the same name, and is often considered when they began to write music that had lyrics that felt more genuine, a feeling that even Lennon echoed.

A George Harrison beauty that showcases his guitar talents with the soft yet powerful intro that caries into rest of the song. "Here Comes the Sun" brings with it a message of hope that, that despite the dark, cold winter, a warmer, bright and sunny time is coming, and, as Harrison himself put it, "It's alright".

While some like to joke about Ringo's contributions outside of his drumming, "With A Little Help From My Friends" is a shining Starr at the beginning of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Beautifully segueing out of the album's title and intro track, it is a song that everyone can relate to. Whether you just need somebody to share some love with or you're sad because you feel like you're on your own, just a little help from your friends is what you need to get by.