This should include albums and singles. Solo works and works with bands not the Beatles.
So Wings and Travelling Wilburys count as does the Plastic Ono Band and Ringo’s All Star Band.
Note you have to assign 1-4 or it won’t accept your vote.
List of Singles
I don’t think I like the way this poll works. I might scrap it shortly and start over.
Poll restarted. Ranked doesn’t seem to work well.
Now just going by most votes. My apologies.
It is too close between George and John for me to decide so I voted for both. Both are way ahead of Paul and Ringo for me.
I would say Ringo overall, although George’s “What Is Life” is my favorite single solo track from the four contestants.
Paul’s stuff has its moments, but there’s just too much lightweight pop, or a lightweight pop sensibility, for my liking (considering his solo career in its entirety). “Temporary Secretary” is so damn cringey I get muscle cramps when I hear it (fortunately, I’ve been inflicted with it only a very times), and it alone is almost enough to disqualify him altogether. And odd as it may sound, John really hasn’t come up on my radar prominently enough to consider him, although I think “Instant Karma” is quite a nice track.
Not close to me. Imagine is the only genuinely great track any of them made solo, so it has to be John Lennon.
For Lennon: “Give Peace a Chance”, “Instant Karma!”, “Imagine”, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and “Working Class Hero” are all great songs.
For George: “Got My Mind Set on You”, “What Is Life”, “My Sweet Lord”[ and even “When We Was Fab”. And then his work as the center of the Wilburys which had several great songs.
For Paul: Live and Let Die is great.
For Ringo: Nothing great, but seeing him live with the All Star Band was great.
@griffin1977, I think you forgot to vote.
McCartney hands down. I like a lot of work by the other three but over the last 50+ years Paul’s music has meant more to me than the others combined.
All four have songs I like, even Bitter Ol’ John.
But Paul made the most good stuff.
Paul, for Mull of Kintyre, Pipes of Peace, Ebony and Ivory but ultimately really for We All Stand Together.
Not a Harrison song, it’s a cover from 1962 by James Ray. Harrison’s version was orchestrated and produce by Jeff Lynne and members of ELO were the backing band.
My vote goes to Paul, I think he was always the better song writer of the bunch. Anyone that brings the remaining members of Nirvana out to play with him and his band during a concert in Seattle is the winner. Hearing Paul sing Smells Like Teen Spirit with Dave Grohl on the drums and Christ Novoselic on bass was a truly memorable event.
I voted George: I like the music (especially TW) and gave him a mental bonus point for his uneven but occasionally excellent career as a movie producer.
I also give him a bonus for the Monty Python Movies. I have to.
There’s a lot more great stuff besides those, too.
Some stinkers, of course. But a couple of genuine classics in the mix, beyond the Python.
It was a hard choice for me.
I love them all for different reasons.
Paul put out the most good stuff imo. George put out the best stuff imo, but had a lot of garbage too. So to me, the best post-Beatles stuff came from George, but Paul is the one I could make a playlist for and listen to it for hours. Wings and a Wilburys were both great.
John and Ringo were the ones whose musical output/songwriting was most helped by being with the other Beatles (again, imo).
I will say that if Ringo had decided to just go full-blown country artist in the 70s, I suspect I’d like his post-Beatles stuff much more. Beaucoups of Blues was amazing. He works much better as a C&W guy than a “rocker.”
I’d say those are all good (or at least ok) songs. Imagine is the only great song.
McCartney, easily. Sure, he had plenty of mediocre songs, but his best solo stuff - Live and Let Die, Maybe I’m Amazed, Band on the Run, Tug of War, Let ‘Em In, Wonderful Christmastime (just kidding) - rivals his work with the Fab Four.
Lennon’s solo stuff is good, but nowhere near as memorable as McCartney’s. And you can only listen to so many songs about his life with Yoko Ono, IMHO.
There is plenty of good solo George stuff, and Ringo has his moments. But most of Ringo’s good tunes were written by the other Beatles.
I got to agree with this, but I voted for George because of the Traveling Wilburys.
I voted Paul and George, but probably more George songs stick out for me than Paul.
Never listened to much Ringo stuff. John, I can’t think of more than one or two songs. To be fair, he’s also been dead 40 years.
Lennon had way more than Imagine. (I do love the song)
Good grief, listen to Watching the wheels
Paul’s pop songs and Ringo needing help with every album(the Man can only sing about 3 notes) I love them both.
But come on, they aren’t at Johns level.
George was brilliant but less prolific. I agree the Wilburys were a great idea and took much talent. George wasn’t the best talent there. He certainly held his own.