We All Shine On

Damn you, David L. Ulin! Ok. Maybe I'm being a bit overdramatic but the guy stole my idea for an article about The Beatles and imagining a post-breakup discography. The only hitch is he did it better. His article appears in the July/August issue of The Believer, which just happens to be their music issue. In it, Ulin goes into detail about imagining if The Beatles didn't break up in 1970 but still called it a day somewhere around 1975, leaving plenty of time to "record" new material that really just appeared on post-Beatles solo records.

Now, I have had this idea for the longest time of what would it be like if The Beatles never split and kept making music together. It's something that you do with friends or fellow Beatles enthusiasts and it usually turns into people yelling their favorite solo stuff and making their own albums, which is what Ulin's piece is about (only with no yelling). The problem I always had when it came down to this imagining is, had The Beatles stayed together would these solo songs have come about? For instance, "God" by John Lennon. Maybe it would have come out without that extra stinging lyric of "I don't believe in Beatles," but for arguments sake, that's the whole fucking song! I mean, sure, Lennon said a lot in that song, but I doubt we'd hold that song in such high regard if it weren't for the meaningful kiss off he gives to his former band.

But Ulin does the right thing when it comes time to pick his tracklists. He keeps it strictly Lennon/McCartney, gives Harrison a few slots just like a regular Beatles album, and keeps the Ringo to a minimum. He splits the four albums he creates between seventies material that, for all critical purposes, wasn't very good when compared to work of The Beatles when they were a group, which just goes to show how much they needed each other just as we need them.

David Ulin's First Album: Instant Karma!

Side One
1. Remember
2. Mother
3. Look At Me

4. Teddy Boy
5. Working Class Hero
6. What Is Life

Side Two
1. Cold Turkey
2. Isolation
3. Beware of Darkness
4. Instant Karma!
5. Maybe I'm Amazed

As you can see, Ulin's tracklist is mostly taken from Lennon's solo work from Plastic Ono Band with McCartney and Harrison getting two tracks each. For me, this was always going to be the strongest imaginary record, but Ulin goes a different way from where I would have taken it. The problem that arises when you load it up with Lennon's work from Plastic Ono Band is that it becomes way too personal for a Beatles album. "Mother" as a Beatles song? I don't think so. And where's "Every Night?" How do you sleep at night, David L. Ulin?

In any case, here's my version of Instant Karma!.

Side One
1. Well Well Well

2. Wah-Wah
3. Instant Karma!
4. Every Night

5. My Sweet Lord
6. Cold Turkey

Side Two
1. Behind That Locked Door

2. Junk

3. Beware of Darkness
4. Isolation
5. Maybe I'm Amazed

I'll be tackling these imaginary albums all week, so stay tuned. And remember, this Beatles breaks up in 1975 so no McCartney II. Sorry folks.