Few songs from The Beatles are objectively bad. They’re known as one of the greatest rock bands of all time for a reason, after all. That being said, the Fab Four put out quite a few B-sides back in the day that were so good that they should have been front and center as A-sides instead. Let’s look at four Beatles B-sides that were good enough to be A-sides!
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Keep in mind that this list is simply a matter of opinion. The beauty of being a Beatles fan is that you can find a piece of yourself in one song while having no taste whatsoever for another song. The Fab Four really knew how to make music for everyone!
1. “I Am The Walrus”
Some people love it, some people don’t. But one can’t deny that “I Am The Walrus” is one of The Beatles’ most memorable songs. This song was the B-side to “Hello, Goodbye”, and it’s tough to pit these two iconic tracks together. “I Am The Walrus” is, at the very least, a much more experimental and creative effort than “Hello, Goodbye”.
2. “P.S. I Love You”
This track was the B-side to the 1963 single “Love Me Do”. This one’s tough; both songs are incredible pieces of work and must-haves in any self-respecting Beatles fan’s collection. However, it’s worth noting that “P.S. I Love You” was supposed to be a single before the thought was shot down by Please Please Me’s producer.
“And I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew that someone had already done a record with that title,” producer Ron Richards once said in reference to “P.S. I Love You”.
The song he was referring to was a ditty by Gordon Jenkins and Johnny Mercer.
3. “Rain”
“Rain” is one of our favorite Beatles B-sides ever. This Revolver track was released in 1966 as the B-side to “Paperback Writer”. It’s a delightful song and one of the band’s best tracks. And a big part of what makes this song so darn good is Ringo Starr’s drumming. According to the Beatle himself, he was “possessed” on the track and felt “as though that was someone else playing.”
4. “Don’t Let Me Down”
This iconic B-side was recorded during the legendary Let It Be sessions in 1969. “Don’t Let Me Down” is a John Lennon original and was originally released as the B-side to “Get Back”. Though, the song didn’t appear on an album until the 1970 collection Hey Jude. It’s a desperate, chaotically romantic song about Lennon’s love for Yoko Ono.
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