It’s an uncontested fact that The Beatles were the finest songwriters of their generation - with the lion’s share of their culture-shifting output being penned by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In the decades since their 1970 split, further iterations of rock have tended to venerate the stellar soloist or the virtuoso riff-merchant as evidence of musical prowess.
This has lead some modern listeners to look back at The Beatles - and Lennon in particular - and contrast them to the more ambidextrous shredders that followed in their wake.
While very few would question George Harrison’s abilities on the instrument (see his divine Let It Be solo and his work on the self-penned Something if you're one of the few that need proof), or Paul McCartney’s influential melodic bass approach, some have dismissively pointed at Lennon’s chops as being sub-par in comparison.
In a discussion on Reddit’s R/Beatles channel, user EastonsRamsRules wonders why Lennon is never ranked in the many ‘top guitarist of all time’ lists, and asks users for their opinions.
User SegaStan said; “Lennon's place in history isn't cemented by his guitar playing. Now, he was a damn good rhythm guitarist, and wrote some really excellent and memorable guitar parts and did some really interesting parts, but he's not regarded for his guitar skills, his songwriting is what makes him a legend, and there's few as good as him, and even fewer that are better.”
Other users point to particular moments of exemplary musicianship - the choppy triplets on All My Loving, the strident, quirky solo of Get Back and the dreamy Donovan-taught acoustic picking approach that Lennon employed across the White Album and beyond; “Lennon was hands down the greatest rhythm guitarist The Beatles could’ve had. Whether it was the fingerpicking on Julia and Dear Prudence or the syncopated strumming on All My Loving, Lennon’s playing elevated the already-stellar songwriting in unique ways” states Reddit user cfh294.
Though John Lennon definitely could play - as these impressive moments illustrate - the real question underpinning the discussion is how ‘important’ moments like the above are for proving Lennon’s worth as a musician - given that the man himself wrote (and co-wrote) some of western popular music’s most foundational songs. “I think songwriting is a big part of guitar playing. in that regard, he was easily one of the best ever,” aptly says Reddit user sonofdad240.
Ranking musicians on technical ability is an easy way of grouping together those who genuinely are expert players - and yes, sublime musicianship absolutely is something to be venerated (and we do it often) - but ability doesn’t necessarily make you a better music-maker.
Songwriting was John Lennon's forte, and building on this gift for song-craft (She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand) came generation-defining melodic hooks (A Hard Days Night, Ticket to Ride, Help!).
Then there were those bold experiments in arrangement and song-form (A Day in the Life, I Am The Walrus, Happiness is a Warm Gun) and sonic innovation beyond the restrictive norms of the time (Tomorrow Never Knows, Revolution #9). All of which underline Lennon as one of music’s most important trailblazers. A creative force within The Beatles that more than matched the more technically-adept Harrison and McCartney.
Or, as Reddit user Accomplished-Arm6471 sums up: “When the worst instrumentalist in your group is John fucking Lennon, you’ve got a pretty good group.” Read the full discussion over on Reddit here
The new Martin Scorsese-produced documentary, Beatles '64, is streaming from November 29th on Disney+
