When The Beatles broke up in 1969 (although it wasn’t announced until 1970), the four men made a point of moving forward into solo forays pretty quickly. They also inherently understood that their work on their own would always be compared to what they’d done within the Fab Four, especially when it came to the charts.
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Eventually, each man found their way to No. 1 in the US, a spot where they’d perched so often with their former group. Here are the songs that did it for them.
“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison
It makes sense that George Harrison was the first Beatle to reach the top of the US pop charts. After all, he had amassed a large quantity of songs that he’d written for the Fab Four that were either refused by the band or just didn’t quite muscle onto an album. Also, remember that Harrison’s songs stood tallest on Abbey Road, the last album The Beatles recorded. Harrison was able to release a triple album (All Things Must Pass) in 1970 with everything he had in his backlog. The first single, “My Sweet Lord”, immediately topped the charts. Down the road, the song caused Harrison quite a few headaches when a court decided he had unconsciously plagiarized The Chiffons’ hit “He’s So Fine”.
“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” by Paul McCartney
We tend to think of the early part of Paul McCartney’s solo career as being characterized by misfires. Yet the success of “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”, a US No. 1 single released barely a year after the announcement of the Beatles’ breakup, flies in the face of that. Paul’s solo debut album (McCartney) in 1970 featured him keeping things as adornment-free as possible. But on the Ram album in 1971, Macca indulged himself in ornate, richly produced tracks. This song features a George Martin-arranged orchestral score, plentiful sound effects, and layered backing vocals prominently featuring Linda McCartney. It’s also a song suite reminiscent of what McCartney helped to spearhead on Side Two of Abbey Road.
“Photograph” by Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr played it smart in terms of his foray into the pop music wars. He made people wait until he had the goods. Starr did release a pair of solo albums in 1970, the year after the breakup. But these albums were devoted to styles of music (the Great American Songbook and then country) that weren’t going to get him too much attention from pop fans. He then released a couple of hit singles to whet everyone’s appetite. When he released his first rock album (Ringo) in 1973, it was an all-star affair loaded with excellent songs. Lead single “Photograph”, which Starr wrote with George Harrison, expertly captured a Wall of Sound vibe. And Starr delivered a stellar vocal performance to seal the deal.
“Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” by John Lennon
It’s kind of amazing to think that it took John Lennon until 1974 to score his first US No. 1. Granted, Lennon had devoted a couple of his solo albums to music that was decidedly uncommercial. But he filled the Imagine in 1971 with pristine pop songs. In any case, Lennon finally lifted the lid with “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” from the 1974 album Walls And Bridges. He wrote the song and then invited his buddy Elton John to sing it with him. Famously, Lennon didn’t think as highly of the song’s chart prospects as John did. When the song leapt to No. 1, Lennon had to fulfill his part of a bet and perform live with John in New York City. That event precipitated his reunion with then-estranged wife Yoko Ono.
Photo by Roy Cummings/THA/Shutterstock
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