The 1974 Beatles Album

Another busy year in Beatledom.  John goes on his lost weekend, scores a number one single, and has to perform in concert with Elton John to settle a bet.  Paul's ride atop Band on the Run carries him through the first half of the year.  He also puts together the very excellent One Hand Clapping project.  George tours Canada and The United States and releases an album.  And our friend Ringo does very well in the charts with a solid Goodnight Vienna.

Track Listing:

1.  Goodnight Vienna

2.  Dark Horse

3.  Helen Wheels

4.  Junior's Farm

5.  #9 Dream

6.  Whatever Gets You Through the Night

7.  Bluebird

8.  Maya Love

9.  What You Got

10.  Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)

11.  One Hand Clapping

"Goodnight Vienna"-- This is a track John wrote for Ringo's 1974 album Goodnight Vienna.  John also plays piano.

"Dark Horse" -- In addition to being a single, this George track is also the title track of his 1974 album and the name of his record company.  He also played this song during his 1974 tour, so it seems like an important track to him.  He had a lingering case of laryngitis during the tour and recording of the album, so his voice sounds harsh.  You can find a bootleg version of this song with just George on his acoustic guitar and in fine voice before his larynx became inflamed.

"Helen Wheels" -- Paul did not release an LP during this year, so I had to go back to the Band on the Run tracks, and I chose "Helen Wheels" because he liked it enough to choose it as a single.  Also, originally it was just a single and not on the LP, but then he later included it on the BOTR record.  So this seems like a track that Paul favored.

"Junior's Farm" -- This was a single from Paul from 1974 that reached number three on the singles chart.  It was a new song that Paul would have been excited enough about to want to put on the new Beatles record.

"#9 Dream" -- This was a single from John's 1974 album Walls and Bridges.  He also included this on the only greatest hits package that he would oversee, Shaved Fish.

"Whatever Gets You thru the Night" -- Elton John sings harmony and plays piano on this Walls and Bridges track.  Elton made John promise that if he released this as a single and it hit number one, that he would join Elton on stage at one of his concerts.  It and he both did.

"Bluebird" -- This is a Paul track from BOTR, and was featured during his 1975/6 Wings over the World tour and has made numerous appearances with Paul in other places through the years.  Clearly a favorite of his.

"Maya Love" -- This track from 1974's Dark Horse was a current favorite of George's as he played it regularly during his 1974 tour.

"What You Got" -- The perfect soundtrack to John's "Lost Weekend" from Walls and Bridges.

"Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" -- Unless this Walls and Bridges track is the perfect soundtrack to John's "Lost Weekend."

"One Hand Clapping" -- So what would Paul have picked for his fourth contribution to the Beatles '74 album?  There are several good BOTR tracks that could have been chosen.  He could have chosen "Sally G," the B-side to the '74 single "Junior's Farm," but this is a country song, and I had him release a country song as the B-side to a '73 Beatles single, so instead I had Paul choose a new composition that was the theme to a project he was working on in '74.  It also fits nicely at the end of the album, as it slowly builds, layer upon layer, until it really gets going and then fades away.

1974 Non-album Singles:

"Ding Dong, Ding Dong" backed with "We're Gonna Move"

"No No Song" backed with "Only You"

"Ding Dong Ding Dong" by George from his 1974 Dark Horse album is another 'Christmas' single, although this track is a celebration of New Year's Eve.  The B-side is from a recording from 1974 that Paul made called The Backyard Tape.  "We're Gonna Move" is a song Elvis sang in his movie Love Me Tender.

"No No Song" is a single from 1974 from Ringo's Goodnight Vienna.  There was so much good Ringo material from 1974, that some of it would have made it out to the public in the form of a single.  The flip side is the John version of "Only You" instead of Ringo's version.  John had recorded this song for Ringo who then substituted his own vocals on the instrumental track.  But I think that if the Beatles were still together, and Ringo didn't have an album of his own to release, John would have kept this song for himself.