John Lennon’s Least Favorite Beatles Album Will Surprise You

hn Lennon’s Least Favorite Beatles Album

John Lennon is one of the most famous musicians to ever walk the earth. But he really wasn’t keen on one of the Beatles’ most famous albums…


The Beatles have been hugely popular for over sixty years. The band, formed by four teenage lads from Liverpool, quickly rose to prominence in the UK music scene during the early 1960s, and then, just a few years later, they did the impossible and cracked America, cementing themselves as one of the biggest bands in the world – and all before any of them were 30.

During the band’s all-too short career, there were a selection of albums released, a film, and plenty of EPs and B-Sides. Fronted by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, the Beatles quickly took on an other-worldly status that has yet to be surpassed. They were – and continue to be – one of the biggest bands in the world. And that’s no mean feat when you consider that Paul McCartney is now 80 and the Beatles split before he turned 30.

John Lennon vs. Paul McCartney

During the latter part of the band’s time together, songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney were prone to banging heads, arguing over structure and who would get writing credits. McCartney assumed the role of leader early on, but Lennon also viewed himself in a similar guise as well, and this caused a lot of internal politics in the band – Lennon left at one point, prior to the release of Let It Be, the Beatles’ last album.

Who wrote the most Beatles songs – Lennon or McCartney? Take a deep dive into the writing credits across the Beatles albums and you’ll see that Lennon wrote 95 songs, while McCartney wrote 90. George Harrison wrote 25 Beatles songs, and Ringo accounted for just five in total – still, that’s pretty impressive for a drummer. In terms of who was the most prolific songwriter, that credit has to go to John Lennon – but only just.

hn Lennon’s Least Favorite Beatles Album

The competition between Lennon and McCartney is well documented; the two songwriters were always trying to outdo one another. This is perhaps the secret sauce behind the Beatles’ success. You have two of the greatest songwriters of all time, locked in a years-long battle of oneupmanship. Of course, the end result would be a plethora of timeless classics. But while this was indeed the main part of the Beatles’ success, it did take its strain on Lennon and McCartney’s friendship. After leaving the Beatles, Lennon said that the songwriting process, at least for him, had gone “stale”.

There were also questions raised about who actually wrote certain songs. Most Beatles songs are ascribed to Lennon/McCartney. But on certain tracks that are ascribed to McCartney, John Lennon said he did the lion’s share of the work. For instance, Eleanor Rigby is typically considered a McCartney song. But Lennon has stated in interviews that “the first verse was his, and the rest are basically mine”, adding fuel to the never-ending debate of who was better, Lennon or McCartney.

John Lennon’s Least Favorite Beatles Album…

During the height of the Beatles’ fame, Paul had the idea to do a purely conceptual album. The idea with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was that the band could become something else entirely. McCartney’s idea was to push off into brand new musical territory, so much so that when the band was recording, he told Lennon that when you sing your parts, you’re no longer John Lennon – you’re someone completely new, so do whatever you want.

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is considered one of the Beatles’ greatest achievements. But as it happens, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is John Lennon’s least favorite Beatles albums. Lennon intensely disliked When I’m Sixty Four and Lovely Rita, describing them as “stories about boring people doing boring things — being postmen and secretaries and writing home. I’m not interested in writing third-party songs. I like to write about me, ‘cuz I know me”.

What Was John Lennon’s Favorite Beatles Album?

It was also during the writing and recording of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that tensions between Lennon and McCartney really started to grow. Similarly, Lennon confirmed that Paul never really liked The White Album because it was mainly driven by the band members working autonomously, insinuating that Paul only liked the albums he had more control over like Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

As for what John Lennon’s favorite Beatles was, the songwriter has stated numerous times that his favorite album by the Beatles was The White Album. Here’s what Lennon had to say about The White Album: “I always preferred it to all the other albums, including Pepper, because I thought the music was better. The Pepper myth is bigger, but the music on the White Album is far superior, I think.”

It’s interesting to see which albums each member of the Beatles thought were best. Fans always debate this issue, some claim Abbey Road is the best, and others love Revolver. Me? I’m a big fan of Revolver, for instance, and Abbey Road but I do love all of the Beatles’ albums. I do tend to listen more to their post-1965 albums, however, as I feel these albums are just more interesting and experimental.

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