After the inevitable breakup of The Beatles, Paul McCartney appeared to have no problem doing things on his own. His releases in the years since, both as a solo artist and with Wings, have been incredible and collection-worthy pieces of work. However, a few songs from McCartney’s solo years sound like they should be part of a Beatles record. They’re not, unfortunately, but one can imagine how well those tracks would have done under the Fab Four’s name. Let’s look at a few Paul McCartney songs that I think would have made perfect Beatles singles!
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“New”
It might seem odd to start this list off with an extremely recent release. After all, “New” and the album of the same name it came from were released by McCartney in 2013. However, I think this track would make a fine Beatles release, albeit with a bit more grit associated with the audio technology of the 1960s. You can really hear The Beatles’ influences in this song.
“Friends To Go”
Though few would consider anything Paul McCartney has produced to be “underrated,” I’d be bold enough to say that Chaos And Creation In The Backyard from Macca’s 2000s era is on the underrated side. At the very least, it’s underrated in the context of his other solo releases. And despite being a record from the 21st century, a couple of songs from that record would have been glorious Beatles releases. “Friends To Go”, specifically, would have been perfect. McCartney even said himself that he wrote the song as if it were written by George Harrison.
“Junk”
This McCartney classic sounds like it would have been a Beatles release. And that’s because it was supposed to be. McCartney released this song in 1970 on his debut solo album, but the song itself came to life back in 1968 while the Fab Four were studying meditation in India. McCartney recorded a demo of “Junk” at Harrison’s house before sessions for the White Album started. In the end, it was passed over for inclusion on the band’s final few records. And I really don’t think it should have been.
“Coming Up”
“Coming Up” comes from McCartney II, and it’s one of my personal favorite songs from Macca’s solo career that really should have been on a Beatles album. It has a new wave vibe to it that wouldn’t have made sense with a 60s band, but the energy of it would have been perfect. John Lennon apparently liked the song and was inspired to start making Double Fantasy. If a Beatles reunion ever happened, this song would have been a hit single with them.
Photo by Linda McCartney / © 1975 Paul McCartney Under Exclusive Licence to MPL Archive LLP
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