Readers recommend: solo Beatles songs

All things must pass, but listen to what the man said: we want you to imagine which are the best solo tracks by the Fab Four. We know it don't come easy …

Enough with the Frog Chorus jibes: it's Sir Paul McCartney's 70th birthday on Monday. And as a mark of respect, this week we'd like you to nominate your favourite post-Beatles tracks by Macca and his former bandmates.

The impact of the Beatles' achievements can still be felt well into the 21st century. While they still functioned as a unit, they exercised quality control on each other's songs. But after the group's split in 1970, the recorded output of John, Paul, George and Ringo was of variable quality.

And because they were no longer infallible, and because the Beatles no longer defined the zeitgeist, the best of their solo work has been unfairly dismissed.

That hasn't stopped Beatles fans compiling their fantasy Beatles album from the best Fabs' solo stuff – and now we're having a go. Post your suggestions below and we'll assemble the best of them into a playlist next week.

* If you can think of a good theme for Readers Recommend, please email jon.dennis@guardian.co.uk

* Listen to others' suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist

* Guide to "donds", "zedded", and other strange words used by some of the RR regulars (courtesy of the Marconium)

* The Marconium (blog containing a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are "zedded")

* The 'Spill (blog for the RR community)

Please do:

* Post your nominations before midday on Tuesday if you wish them to be considered.

* Write a few lines advocating the merits of your choices.

But please don't:

* Post more than one third of the lyrics of any song.

* Simply list your nominations. We want to know why you like these songs, and why they're apt for the theme.

Contributor

Jon Dennis

The GuardianTramp

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