The Greatest Rock Single of All Time

In the 1960s singles were still a big deal. Nowadays in people just really don't buy singles anymore, especially not rock fans. In the 60s it was a different story indeed. Many of the biggest hit songs were released only as singles and never even released on a full length album. This almost never occurs today.

To really set things up to understand how outstanding this single is you have to consider the general practice for rock singles at that time. Most artists would release a single that had a "throwaway" b-side. Usually the b-side would either be a song that just wasn't that good or perhaps a different version of the a-side or maybe a cover.

This single was a complete break from that idea. That is for sure. 1966's album Revolver already showcased that the Beatles were moving forward very fast with their musical evolution. But even taking that into consideration this was a stunning release in February of 1967 and a great example of the type of musical adventure that was to come (Sgt Pepper later that year.)

Strawberry Fields Forever

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is in my opinion one of the greatest Beatles songs ever. It's an incredible combination of two completely different recordings that were in different keys and tempos and were then spliced together by the Beatles genius producer George Martin. The instrumentation, including the use of the Mellotron for the first time, is complex and layered. There's so much to hear here that even on the 1000^th listen I feel like I'm hearing something new. The instrumentation, production, and arrangement nuances combined with thought provoking lyrics and a wonderful tunefulness produces a truly unique psychedelic pop experience that in many ways has never been matched. The fade out and fade back in includes some wild drumming and the faint sound of John Lennon repeating the phrase "Cranberry Sauce." This phrase has often been misheard as "I Buried Paul." This misperception played a big part in creating and furthering the "Paul is Dead" rumor.

Penny Lane

"Penny Lane" is a great contrast in that it feels like the lighter side of the same coin. While I think of Strawberry Fields Forever as a bit of a journey in one's thoughts I see Penny Lane as looking at the world around us but looking at it with a new and interesting perspective. Penny Lane is one of the many great examples of The Beatles using outside musicians in an interesting fashion and evocative fashion. Many bands have taken the cue from The Beatles by including outside musicians on their recordings but most have done so in rather drab and unimaginative ways and seem to miss the point of it all. One of the most spectacular things about Penny Lane besides the gorgeous melody and the French horn is the great bass line played by Paul McCartney. I often think that McCartney's amazing bass lines may be the most under appreciated element of the Beatles music.

Music Videos

The Beatles had decided by this point to stop touring and concentrate on recording. They decided they would be making music videos for their songs rather than touring for them. This single features some of their first music videos of this type. These videos for Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever were first shown on the UK program Top of the Pops on February 9^th, 1967.

The Beatles are often seen as being the originators of the modern music video idea with their A Hard Day's Night Movie and their subsequent films made for individual songs such as these.

Runners Up

There have certainly been other great singles in music history. Most of them coming from the 1960s because of changes in the music industry that made rock singles irrelevant.

The Beatles - Hey Jude / Revolution

This was a bigger seller and stayed at #1 longer than any other Beatles single. It also never appeared on a proper album while Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever did eventually get placed on the Magical Mystery Tour EP which has been presented as if it were a complete album since the CD era began. Those are the arguments for it. The arguments against are that it's just not as ground breaking as Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane. While absolutely outstanding songs, I do not think it beats out Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows / Wouldn't It Be NiceThis is a gorgeous couple of songs but right off I have to say that because both of these songs are featured on the fantastic album Pet Sounds that this single is not as essential.The Beatles - Paperback Writer / Rain

This single is often brought up as the greatest single ever. The fact that it came out before Revolver means it marks the first real example of the Beatles moving full steam ahead with psychedelia. This makes is a very compelling argument to me to make this the #1 single of all time. Another argument in it's favor is that these songs were never featured on a ful length LP of any kind and to this day Rain is one of the more difficult Beatles songs to find on CD as it's only found on the somewhat obscure by Beatles standards Past Masters 2. That being said I don't think the songs are quite as good. And these songs are really really good but the competition is stiff to say the least!

Elvis Presley - Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog

A landmark single in the early history of Rock N Roll.