Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of the Beatles' Solo Careers

Analysis, commentary, and biography on the Beatles abound, but relatively little has been written about John, Paul, George, and Ringo's post-Beatles recordings. Freelance music writer Jackson's first book spotlights what he considers the best of the ex-Beatles' oft-underrated post-1970 recordings as solo artists, and as members of Wings and the Plastic Ono Band. Jackson, an obvious Beatles fanatic, compiles his chosen cuts into 12 fictitious albums spread across the past 40 years. Jackson critiques and analyzes each song and puts it into biographical context, adding detailed studio session information, recording credits, and sales-chart peaks. The analyses are insightful and informed, with the author relying heavily on previous scholarship and interviews with the ex-Beatles and associates, and adding his own strong opinions. Jackson admirably digs beneath the obvious hits to uncover and discuss deep album tracks, commercial flops, and rare b-sides. Ringo fans will be delighted by Jackson's insistence on finding room on each "album" for at least one of the funny Beatle's tracks, while John fans will likely be irked by the author's anti-Lennon, pro-McCartney bias.