Looking Back at The Beatles’ 5 No. 1 Singles From 1965

To be honest, every year in The Beatles’ recording career stood out as particularly noteworthy when compared to other acts. But even by Fab Four standards, 1965 was a fruitful one for the group.

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During that single calendar year, The Beatles released five singles that went to the top of the charts in the United States. Here’s a look back at that amazing quintet.

“I Feel Fine”

“I Feel Fine” ended 1964 at the top of the US charts and began 1965 in that same position. This was around the era when the group made every effort to add something special to each track they recorded, especially the singles. In the case of “I Feel Fine”, that special touch came via the burst of feedback that opened the song in unforgettable fashion. Beyond that, the song just has a way of eliciting joy, what with that chirpy guitar riff and the group’s buoyant harmonies in support of John Lennon’s effervescent lead vocal.

“Eight Days A Week”

Here we have one of the many cases where the different release strategies between The Beatles’ UK and US record companies led to a discrepancy in a song’s reception. The group initially released “Eight Days A Week” on Beatles For Sale, their fourth UK LP, in 1964. But Capitol Records, which controlled the group’s output in the US, heard it as a single. And you can’t blame them, as “Eight Days A Week” powered to No. 1. The innovation for this song was the fade-up opening, which led perfectly into the happy-go-lucky lyrics.

“Ticket To Ride”

A good chunk of The Beatles’ 1965 schedule was consumed by the release of the Help! album and film. The LP featured them starting to take more daring artistic leaps than ever before. “Ticket To Ride” just kind of explodes out of the speakers in a way that previous songs by the group didn’t do. The droning bass was a bit of innovation, as was the unique wallop of the drumbeat that Paul McCartney suggested for Ringo Starr to play. Add to that the structure of the middle eight, which wildly contrasts with the rest of the song, and you have a whopper of a track.

“Help!”

Because The Beatles were still in a period where their mop-top image held sway and they generally put their best faces forward in the public eye, many people couldn’t hear the insecurity and pain within John Lennon’s lyrics for “Help!” In fact, he only admitted to the darkness at the heart of the song years after it was released. The whoosh of the recording papers over a lot of that, even now that we know what he was implying. However you choose to hear it, it’s impossible to deny that it’s a crackerjack single.

“Yesterday”

Paul McCartney wasn’t too sure that recording “Yesterday” was the right thing to do, since the song would only feature him on the recording. In Great Britain, the group didn’t release what would become one of the most famous songs of all time as a single for that reason. In America, however, the audience quickly took to the unique nature of the song. Of course, the subtle string arrangement created by producer George Martin helped. But the honesty and vulnerability of McCartney’s performance ultimately sell the song.

Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images