Lennon owes success to genius, not Beatle influence

This week I decided to take a respite from the top ten endeavors to address a column that one of my colleagues wrote last week. I will not debate the column's argument, but I would like to take the opportunity to challenge a specific statement.

The column states that John Lennon would be nothing without those shaggy haired Liverpool lads (I'm talking about the Beatles). Many feel that if you look hard enough, you'll see that Lennon may not have been successful without the help of his band mates. To those people, I say it is you who aren't looking hard enough.

Let's examine each component of the Beatles to discern John's external relevance. Ringo Starr is the token quirky drummer. Without a doubt a very talented musician and one of the better drummers of the era (behind Keith Moon and John Bonham of course). His direct artistic contribution was seven songs, a number that would not seem so minor were it not for the staggering numbers of his comrades. But without Ringo, who would play drums? This issue did arise during the recording of The White Album. Ringo quit the Beatles for two weeks while it was being laid down. Paul McCartney stepped in to fill Ringo's shoes. They weren't big shoes to fill -- Ringo is not a very big guy.

Next we have George Harrison, the back-up guitarist. Again, no one is debating his musical prowess and talent. The quiet member, Harrison achieved moderate success in and out of the band and wrote about 26 songs including "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun." Harrison played the latter on SNL after being the only one to show up when Lorne Michaels invited the entire band on the show. For the average band, all this seems like a considerable library of music, but the surface has not even been scratched.

I would never make the claim that Paul McCartney and John Lennon should be placed in a battle royal for who is the better musical entity. Yes, Paul has gone on to produce and write music for decades, but then again, he has the advantage of not having been assassinated over 20 years ago. Still, I cannot continue this article without giving Paul his due credit. It should be noted that he wrote 99 Beatles tracks, launched the Paul McCartney-fronted Wings after the death of The Beatles, and went on to do a myriad of other projects. He even collaborated with Michael Jackson (big mistake -- Jackson bought out the rights to all of McCartney's Beatles songs, thus ending the friendship).

And yes, "he's been a: Quarryman, Beatle, Wing, poet, painter, father, frontman, producer, business mogul and if that weren't enough, a knight (Fidelity Brokerage Services)." Sorry. I couldn't resist.

All right, let's get down to the nub of my sentiments. Lennon's contributions to the Rock world are unfathomable. In 1957, the first strums of the British Invasion were heard when Lennon asked McCartney to join his band. Lennon and McCartney had equal pull in the band, (songs were generally credited as "Lennon/McCartney"), until its collapse due to the loathed saboteur, Yoko. When recording rights broke down, though, Lennon had 119 songs under his belt to McCartney's 99. We also cannot forget his unbelievable vocals, or his persistence that allowed the band to grow and evolve. (The band's evolution also had something to do with the counterculture movement and a tumult of drug use, but that is a different story.)

After the demise of "the fab four," each member went on expand his own talents. Paul has obviously put out the most music, but the enigma of Lennon's Imagine in 1971 deserves analysis. Lennon, better than any other artist, captured the voice of a generation that was knee-deep in a war they didn't understand and a peace movement to try to stop it. Imagine, thus, is more, much more, than a hippie singing about peace and war. The album, in a sense, is a socio-biography of American culture and youth in the late 60s and early 70s.

It would be unfair for me not to mention that he did go on a long hiatus for some time after releasing Imagine, and it was not until almost a decade later that he released Double Fantasy, a disc that put him back into the rock and roll forefront. Then, ironically enough, his life was tragically cut short.

The reality is that none of us can get into a time machine, stop the Beatles from forming, and see what happens from there. What we can conjecture is what we know. We know that all four members hold a pivotal place in music history. We know that they have all gone on to do paramount things outside of the Beatles, and we know that each brought their own unique flavor.

I do not believe, though, that Lennon or McCartney alone could have failed as musicians.