The Beatles stand atop most categories when it comes to rock bands of theirs or any other era. That’s certainly the case when ranking by the quantity and quality of songs that were based around the acoustic guitar. Their natural melodic talents made these songs stand out a great deal.
Over the years, the Fab Four gave us a slew of acoustic-based classics. Here are five that you are perfect for the budding troubadour at your next campfire singalong.
“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”
The Beatles were blown away when they first heard Bob Dylan’s music. John Lennon, in particular, began to bring some of Dylan’s confessional authenticity to his own songwriting. Perhaps the first example was the song “I’m a Loser,” found on the 1964 album Beatles for Sale. By the following year, Lennon had taken Dylan’s influence and infused it with his own sensibilities to create something that was unique to his group on the song “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.” Dylan’s greatness notwithstanding, he rarely managed a refrain hook as catchy as the one Lennon produces here.
“A Day in the Life”
We get that a lot more than just acoustic guitar happens in the classic closing track to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. There’s Paul McCartney’s memorable middle section, the crazed orchestral buildup, the unforgettable final piano chords, and on and on. But at its profound heart, “A Day in the Life” is a song whose foundation lies in John Lennon’s tender singing and gently strummed acoustic guitar. The opening moments to the song, when Lennon is in the spotlight before all the other stuff comes crashing into the picture, is infinitely pretty.
“Julia”
The Beatles left India feeling somewhat ambivalent about the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But it was far from a wasted trip, at least when it came to their music. They wrote a bunch of songs while they were there. And they also learned a new method for finger-picking guitars that was taught to them by fellow British pop stat Donovan. Both of those developments came to the fore with the song “Julia,” written by John Lennon as a kind of surreal tribute to his late mother. Lennon is the only Beatle to play on this mesmerizing track, which appeared on the White Album.
“Blackbird”
One of Paul McCartney’s most enduring songs was one of the relatively few tracks on the White Album that wasn’t written in India. Instead, he developed it not long after he returned from that retreat and was hanging out at his Scottish home. McCartney had learned the technique for creating a bass line and a melodic part on the acoustic guitar many years before, and he employed it to lovely effect on this beautiful tune. The lyrics touched on the civil rights movement, as he used the bird as a metaphor for those who were looking to escape the figurative cages surrounding them.
“Here Comes the Sun”
George Harrison was getting a bit fed up with the scene at Apple Records, so one day in 1969 he decided to play truant. He headed off to his friend Eric Clapton’s house, and as he often did, he brought an acoustic guitar with him. It just so happened his visit coincided with a nice day weather-wise in England. That buoyed his spirits, and he wrote “Here Comes the Sun” while he strolled through the grounds. Along with “Something,” this track established Harrison as the most effective songwriter of the group for the Abbey Road album.
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