WE CAN WORK IT OUT – AUSTRALIA’S TOP 20 BEATLES SONGS, AS VOTED BY THE FANS

 
  • ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ comes in at number one
  • The White Album has four songs in the Top 20
  • More than 25,000 votes

 

The votes are in. And Australia’s favourite Beatles song is … ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’.

The song – from 1968’s self-titled album, known as The White Album – came in at number one in the nationwide poll, which invited Beatles fans to vote for their favourite songs by the Fab Four.

More than 25,000 votes were cast at the website TheLetItBeTour.com. Fans were asked to create the song list for the LET IT BE tour, starring John Paul Young, Jack Jones, Glenn Shorrock, Russell Morris and Doug Parkinson.

“We were blown away by the number of votes we received,” LET IT BE producer Phil Bathols said. “And we have to admit we were a little surprised by some of the songs that made the Top 20. But we know that it’s going to make for an incredible show.”

The Top 20 songs will be included as part of the song list for the LET IT BE tour, which kicks off at the Canberra Theatre on August 3 and then heads to Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.

‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, written by George Harrison, hit number one in Australia 50 years ago, in March 1969, as part of a double A-sided single with ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’.

Jack Jones will be performing ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ at the LET IT BE show.

 

Some key takeaways from the poll:

  • Sixteen of the 20 songs are credited to Lennon-McCartney. No Ringo songs made the Top 20.
  • George Harrison has three songs in the Top 10 – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and ‘Something’.
  • The Top 20 includes one song not written by The Beatles – their cover of The Isley Brothers’ ‘Twist and Shout’.
  • Twelve of the 20 songs topped the Australian charts.
  • Five of the 20 songs were never released as singles – ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘In My Life’, ‘Dear Prudence’, ‘Blackbird’, and ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’.
  • ‘Here Comes The Sun’, the most streamed Beatles song in the past five years, came in at #6.
  • Eleven Beatles albums are represented in the Top 20.
  • The White Album had the most entries – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Dear Prudence’, ‘Blackbird’ and ‘Revolution’. Abbey Road and Rubber Soul came second with three entries each.
  • Just one song from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band made the Top 20 – ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ at #20.
  • The earliest Beatles recordings in the Top 20 are ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Twist and Shout’, which were both recorded on the same day in 1963 for the Please Please Me album. The latest entry is ‘Let It Be’ from 1970.

 

Some Beatles classics that didn’t make the Top 20:
‘A Day In The Life’, ‘Help!’, ‘Penny Lane’, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, ‘All You Need Is Love’, ‘Get Back’, ‘Ticket To Ride’, ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘We Can Work It Out’.

 

AUSTRALIA’S 20 FAVOURITE BEATLES SONGS:

1 While My Guitar Gently Weeps
2 Yesterday
3 I Saw Her Standing There
4 Let It Be
5 Eleanor Rigby
6 Here Comes The Sun
7 Norwegian Wood
8 In My Life
9 Something
10 Come Together
11 Hey Jude
12 Dear Prudence
13 Blackbird
14 Twist and Shout
15 All My Loving
16 A Hard Day’s Night
17 Nowhere Man
18 Eight Days a Week
19 Revolution
20 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

 

The LET IT BE tour – “celebrating the songs that captivated a generation” – starring John Paul Young, Jack Jones, Glenn Shorrock, Russell Morris and Doug Parkinson.

BUY TICKETS

August 3 – Canberra Theatre

August 4 – Melbourne, Hamer Hall (two shows, 3pm & 7.30pm)

August 7 & 8 – Brisbane, QPAC

August 9 & 10 – Sydney Opera House

September 27 – Adelaide, Festival Theatre

Video thumbnail