The Best of the Best

I have a friend (I do too!) who is tired of talking about politics and the state of the country. So he decided we would debate who the best Beatle was. He said George Harrison. He was wrong of course, but had some good points. Everyone knows it was Paul, by far. John was a close second, then George. George wrote some interesting music that had some jazz influences and may have more complicated music than Paul, but the bulk of Paul’s work and the work he did on side B for Abby Road, plus the songs that will last forever like Michelle, and Yesterday, make him immortal. John had Imagine and George had Here Comes the Sun. But poor George also stole the tune to He’s So Fine for My Sweet Lord. John just never was the same after the Beatles, but the synergy with Paul was amazing, but without him…well like I said John had Imagine.

That’s all very interesting, but I got thinking (I did too!) what is the greatest Rock and Roll band? These are my choices: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Who, Credence Clearwater Revival, and the Beach Boys. The Beatles would beat the Who and Credence. I would have to say they are also better than the Stones. So that leaves the Beach Boys and The Beatles. The Beatles did do homage to the Beach Boys in Back in the USSR, so they respected them. The biggest difference is the Beach Boys were about fun songs for the most part, but Good Vibration holds up against the Beatles stuff. In the end though I’m still going to have to go with the Beatles, because of how they defined the generation globally.

Who is the best male vocalist? My picks would be Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Elvis, and Tony Bennett. Frank would easily out sing Elvis. Tony and Frank, now that is an interesting match up, but I think Frank would still win. However for pure voice my favorite is Nat King Cole.

What about the best female vocalist? Barbara Streisand puts them all to shame, though Ella Fitzgerald in a different genre could outdo Streisand. Streisand’s technical purity and clarity just isn’t possible to beat. Judy Garland comes close.

Then there's the question about who is the best baseball player of all time? Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron? Babe was always my favorite. He could throw and hit. Joe DiMaggio was a great hitter, but wasn’t as all around great like Ruth. Ty Cobb could hit. Hank Aaron I just don’t see the influence he had like Ruth. I have to say though the greatest was Jackie Robinson. I know I was throwing you a curve on that. Robinson could do it all too, but did it under some intense pressure, that say Willie Mays couldn’t claim.

Finally the best President of the U.S. (you don’t think I’d let it go do you?) It would be Lincoln, then Washington, then Reagan. The worst, Johnson (Lyndon), Harding, Nixon….and it’s becoming clear Obama, who is going down a similar road as Johnson only magnified about a trillion times.

Come on...George? Really?