Hi Mike, I take your point about the solo careers of John and Paul - though I think the sense of disappointment that we all feel is relative to their brilliance as Beatles - but my question was more about their music in its entirety, ie including Fab 4. I actually think if there were no Beatles, then all three singers would be considered major artists of the seventies.

But regardless, back to the original question. I'm a massive Beatles fan of course, and won't hear a bad word about their talents. So my comments have to be taken with that in mind. Over my life I've heard expressed so often that John was the greater talent that my reflexive answer to that classic question has for many years been "Paul". I don't believe this categorically by any means, but I get frustrated by the apparently stock answer. Mac's genius is melody of course, IMO (by far) the greatest melody writer in pop history. I could say that again to emphasize the point.......such restraint on my part. The fact that he often tended to write in a jaunty style can mask that sometimes, but his songs, even his early ones, are complex and yet instantly memorable. Setting aside melody, I think he was the more representative of the Beatles, the more Beatlesque if you will. When critics generically refer to a sound or song being B /esque, I believe they are referring more to Penny Lane then Strawberry fields, for example. The Beatles scene and the huge influence thay had on the British Invasion was mostly about feel-good melodic pop music,which is more Paul's contribution than John's. He is the optimist, John the sarcastic cynic. Think about songs like "Got to Get You into My Life" or "Good Day Sunshine", two brilliant and life affirming songs that tend to get overlooked when counting the Fab's best, perhaps because they seem effortless, versus the more formally challenging Lennon numbers like Tomorrow Never Knows from the same period. I love the Lennon song, but those Mac Songs are wonderful.

Another thing, is that Mac was apparently more interested in putting the big packages together, the concept records if you will. ergo he was the driving force behind Sgt Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, and Abbey Road. It's become a bit uncool to like Sgt Peppers (and certainly Mystery Tour), but it's a genre changing record, filled with a lot of great subtle melodic Mac songs, and relatively fewer (and two utterly magical) Lennon songs. It's not surprising to me that Mac made the more complete albums (well, a couple of them anyway) than JL in their solo careers - he was just better at that.

And finally a defense of Penny Lane versus Strawberry Fields. First of all, I think it's the greatest two-sided single in pop history. Why? Because both songs are equally brilliant. Strawberry Fields is a gender-bending psychedelic classic which I adore. Penny Lane is a song I like every bit as much. Such evocative lyrics, and a stunning melody and arrangement....again, clear, positive, sunny, gorgeousness. Hey I love the Velvet Underground too, but surely you can't be unaffected by the beauty of this song?? His voice is unbelievable, and the bass playing is beeyootiful. He is, as Stu mentioned, a world class player; very distinctive.

I'm running out of steam, but am aware that most of you stopped reading a couple of paragraphs ago. McCartney is massive for me, and perhaps more important than Lennon.