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Lifelong fans pick their favorite Beatles songs

The Beatles tribute band Rain comes to Kuss Auditorium on March 9

Marshall Gorby Springfield's John Lippolis ponders his favorite Fab Four tunes. It's easier said than done.

ENLARGE PHOTO

The Beatles tribute band Rain plays Kuss Auditorium on March 9.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer Updated 4:53 PM Friday, March 5, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Of all the things written about The Beatles, the “Rolling Stone Album Guide” still says it best: “Not liking them is as perverse as not liking the sun.”

So when “Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles” comes to town Tuesday, March 9, it’ll be like taking in a year’s worth of vitamin D in two hours.

After this God-awful winter we’ve had, just soak it up.

But honestly, you aren’t going to a show like this to see four guys play dress up with matching suits and fake mustaches.

You’re going for the songs.

The music of The Beatles is loved almost universally, by moms and dads reared on single-45s and by grandkids playing “Rock Band.”

With Rain in the forecast, I thought it’d be fun to call on a few of the area’s biggest Beatle fans, ranging from their 20s to their 50s, and ask them to rattle off their 10 favorite songs, in no particular order.

Me first — then I’ll get a little help from my friends.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

Andrew McGinn

1. “Rain” — While I was born a decade after this came out, I can look back and think, “What an era.” The Byrds had just recorded “Eight Miles High” and then The Beatles threw down with “Rain.” Everything nowadays has been done before — here’s partly why.

2. “Tomorrow Never Knows” — When I first heard this as a high schooler in the early ’90s, I was floored at how modern it sounded. A full-scale assault on the senses.

3. “Strawberry Fields Forever” — My dad likes the line, “Living is easy with eyes closed.” So do I.

4. “Please Please Me” — It makes me wish I could’ve experienced the British Invasion firsthand. Oh well. It’s still supremely catchy.

5. “I Feel Fine” — Some pioneering use of feedback opens another catchy tune.

6. “Dear Prudence” — A great song for a spring drive with the window down and your left arm out.

7. “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” — Lennon’s voice instantly appeals to the misfits among us. I suppose that’s me.

8. “Helter Skelter” — I’ve only known this song post-Charles Manson, so whenever I blast it, it creeps me out. But in a good way. I think.

9. “All My Loving” — Remember when things weren’t so cynical? Me neither. But I wish I could go there.

10. “What You’re Doing” — A minor song off “Beatles for Sale,” but also proof that the chiming clang of a 12-string Rickenbacker 360 can make any tune really memorable.

John Lippolis, guitar teacher and guitarist in Glass Onion, a local Beatles tribute band

1. “I Am the Walrus” — What I like about it is the way Lennon uses his words.

2. “It Won’t Be Long” — It’s just a straight-up John Lennon song with a lot of energy to it.

3. “Don’t Bother Me” — The way the bass rolls. It’s so catchy.

4. “I’m a Loser” — Being in seventh grade, it had a lot of meaning to me. I had a crush on a girl who didn’t particularly like me.

5. “Sexy Sadie” — What drew me to that song is the piano in the beginning. It was a Lennon song, and I like Lennon songs.

6. “Your Mother Should Know” — It’s one of Paul’s poppy tunes that’s just so catchy. You think, damn, why didn’t I think of that?

7. “Mean Mr. Mustard”/“Polythene Pam”/“She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” — “Mean Mr. Mustard” was just so cool. Here comes Lennon writing from the gut again. And then comes “Polythene Pam” and the opening 12-string, I had to learn to play that.

8. “Doctor Robert” — It’s the way the guitars are used in the beginning. It sticks in my mind.

9. “I’m Down” — My all-time favorite Beatles screamer. We’ve started doing it in Glass Onion. Do you end the show with it? Do you start the show with it? No matter where you put it, it’s a great piece.

10. “Lovely Rita” — Simplicity again, just letting words roll off the tongue.

Wayne Justice, founder of the ZaRanda Audio Studio in the State Theater and a member of Equinox, a local ensemble that backs silent films

1. “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” — I love this song’s three very different parts, which only Lennon could have orchestrated so interestingly that I always have to listen to this song a second time.

2. “Yes it Is” — John, Paul and George possessed such a magic to make their vocals blend.

3. “I’m Only Sleeping” — The music supports the lyrics and what you get is a very dreamy and catchy tune. Not just a song, but an experience.

4. “We Can Work it Out” — While much can be said for the lyrics, vocals and music, it was the drone of the harmonium that grabbed my interest.

5. “Baby’s in Black” — This is one of the strongest Lennon/McCartney numbers.

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