The Coolest Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed

I would also add "Happiness is a Warm Gun" which Lennon explained as "a history of rock'n'roll" in 3 minutes.

Cry For a Shadow is actually credited to Lennon/Harrison as these two wrote the song, and a great early one at that.

Wasn't Cry For A Shadow recorded before 1963 though? I thought Pete Best played on it and he was given the boot in 1962. Could be wrong.......

Listen to "I'm Only Sleeping" whilst stoned and you get an idea of John's life in the suburbs, spending his days at Kenwood out of his mind on drugs. Meanwhile Paul is out and about in London, taking a ride, looking to see what he can find.

I'm just glad you're reminding me of these songs again. I hadn't heard "Rain" in years! Thanks for the list.

Cry For a Shadow was recorded in 1961 while the band was backing Tony Sheridan in a Hamburg studio. It was officially released as the b-side to "Why" in 1964.

The Ed Sullivan video for Rain is NOT the one commonly said to be the "first music video."

There was another video version of Rain, shot outdoors at Chiswick House. THIS video is the one that supposedly set the scene for MTV-style concept videos (ie. more than just a straight on film of a performance).

A couple of my favourites:

BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN

HEY BULLDOG

Steve,

Great post. Couldn't have started my Sunday any better. Always have loved "I've Just Seen A Face".

Keep 'em coming.

Thanks for the expert fact-checking. I know it's impossible to get any mistakes past the diehard Beatles fans. The appropriate corrections have been made.

How about the Beatle song "Bad For Me"
and Paul's "No Matter What" that Badfinger recorded ?

Oh, I love lists like these. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your choices! "I've Just Seen A Face", "I'm Only Sleeping", and "Rain" are definitely among my (very long) list of favorite tracks. My favorite lesser-known Beatles song (and quite possibly my favorite Beatles song, period) is the beautiful "Long, Long, Long".

Not to get picky, but in the fact-checking department: "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Act Naturally" weren't really part of the Help! soundtrack. (Your asides about the movie makes it seem as if they were.) They actually appeared on the British version of the LP as additional new songs. Of course, along with everyone else in the US who was buying the records as they were released, I never even heard of those songs until a year later, when IJSAF was wedged onto our version of Rubber Soul (where it fit rather nicely, to be honest) and AN was included on the Yesterday and Today package. It wasn't until much later that anyone here, it seemed, knew that the British versions of their albums were any different from ours.
Guess I got picky.
While I'm here let me add to the list: "And Your Bird Can Sing". Maybe the first rock-n-roll twin lead guitar song? When I was a kid it was the opening song for the Beatles cartoon every week, and I've had a soft spot for it ever since.
And more fact-checking: "No Matter What" was not written by Paul McCartney (though it sounds like it could have been). Badfinger's "Come and Get It" was, though, and that's another terrific song.

I'm mildly baffled that these songs would be considered "lesser known." Perhaps they are, and maybe the average Gen X/Y/Z/whatever we're up to kid only knows the #1 hits. But as one who was there (hey, I was 9 when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan for the first time, but I was there), it's hard to imagine that any of these songs wouldn't be well known. These are all classics as far as I'm concerned.

That's the thing with The Beatles. In seven years they recorded fourteen albums and about 170 songs, of which about 160 are classics. Not bad.

Hi, this is Pedro Garcia from El Paso, Texas. what about an album of Beatles #2 they are so good that even their missed number ones are better than other groups' number one hits.

I'm sorry but "I've Just Seen a Face" is not a "lesser known" Beatles song. It was the lead-off song on the American "Rubber Soul" and for several generations of Beatle fans it was an iconic song, the sound of a new era beginning.
I don't think it's "nitpicking" to point this out. Your article is about lesser-known Beatles song, so you have to do some research and get your facts straight.

i love it when people bitch about how much more they know about the beatles than everybody else.

People aren't bitching about "how much more they know about the Beatles than everybody else." People are pointing out that it's silly to write an article about "obscure" Beatles songs and then to focus on obvious classics like "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Happiness is a Warm Gun."

Sure, "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" are probably well known to diehard Beatles fans (as most all of the band's songs are). But these tracks were not hits, not A-sides of singles, and never appeared on any of the major "Best Of" or "Greatest Hits" compilations. The point of including songs like these is that they are absolutely wonderful and there are probably millions of people who, for whatever reason, happened to miss out on them (hence the title of this piece, "Beatles Songs You Might Have Missed"). And this is especially true for people born long after The Beatles broke up. Just trying to pass along some great music.

I would add Yes It Is, which was the B-side to either Help or Eight Days a Week, I believe. Great harmonies.

"Ask Me Why" -- the B side of the "Please Please Me" single and it appears on that album as well -- a not often remembered early Lennon vocal. One of the great early love songs.

And a superb early Harrison song from "With the Beatles": "Don't Bother Me."

I love the whole Revolver album, and almost no hits on that album, the best: Your Bird Can Sing and Tomorrow Never Knows.

Not sure of Mr Labate is aware, but while the pick in Volume 2 (Besame Mucho) featured original drummer Pete Best on drums, it's fun to note that the Vol 1 selection here (Cry for a Shadow) also has PB driving the rhythm section..and so does My Bonnie, the song that lit the beatlemania spark in Europe.

Seems the 19 yr old kid on the skins had some chops. Go figure. Might explain why both Lennon and Harrison both said on separate occasions years later that 1960-62 were the beatles' best years as a band and as a stage act. lots of cool fun tracks in that 60-62 period ..keep listening. thanks

I'd like to add the following:

*"I'll Be Back"--nice hook, sentiment, & execution.

*"The Word"--very funky bass line.

*"Dr. Robert"--the more you listen the more addicted you get;-)

*"For No One"--seems to get lost behind "Michelle," "Here, There, & Everywhere," "And I love Her," etc.

*"Getting Better"--if there's an overlooked song on Pepper this is it, even Paul had overlooked it so much that he never played it live until the last coupleof years.

*"Why Don't We Do It In The Road" & "Yer Blues"--hardcore Beatles fans accept these songs as common classics but casual music listeners often ask me who does these songs when I play them.

*"I Want You"--I wish Stevie Ray Vaughn had lived long enough to cover this one.

*"Two of Us," "I've Got A Feeling"--these two from the Let It Be/Get Back sessions. The former is catchy and the second one is a fun bluesy-rocker.

"Act Naturally" is one of my least favorite Beatles recordings ever. "Cry For A Shadow" is an enjoyable listen but nothing really special. The other three songs are all amazing.

I too love Long Long Long from the White album. I even recorded a cover of it on my latest album "Reconstituted" - Apell.