We Can't Work It Out: The Fab War -- Round 5

Time for Harrison to start really pulling it out. “Savoy Truffle” rocks. It opens with that wicked organ hook, lays over the most kick-ass horn charts this side of a James Brown record and features some wicked guitar soloing too. Not to mention that, but the song is about chocolates of all things; there can be no pretension with chocolate. Hands down, this is one of my favorite Beatles songs and one of their most underrated.

“Wait” is another favorite. The rhythm guitar is impeccable and the whole thing hangs on excellent chord changes. The percussion is also driving, probably due more to Ringo’s maraca-shaking than anything else, but it really moves this ditty along.

“Got To Get You Into My Life” is an excellent track and is really killer from start to finish. Unfortunately, I think the horns are more inventive on “Savoy Truffle,” which really seems a diamond in the rough while “Got To Get You Into My Life,” though great, always seems a little too much like what you expect it to be like. It’s poppy, well-crafted, sing-alongable, and fun, but it rarely ever surprises. Also, the tension it builds leading up to the chorus is like a powder-keg just waiting to be punctured by a Keith-Moonesque drum fill that we never get. C’mon, Paul. Give Ringo a chance.

“With A Little Help From My Friends” did its best work in the hands of Joe Cocker as the theme song to The Wonder Years. It did its worst work as a Peter Frampton cover on the soundtrack to the ill-fated Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film of the late 1970s. Ringo does a good job of singing the song, but it doesn’t really take much. I think I can sing it, and that’s saying something.

This round:

John - 3
Paul - 2
George - 4
Ringo - 1

Totals thus far:

John – 15
Paul – 16
George – 11
Ringo – 8