John, Paul, & George’s solo albums are too often overlooked by people who have bought into the idea that they never really did anything worth listening to after leaving The Beatles. This is unfortunate because they really did record a number of great albums on their own (or with new bands like Wings.)

In this article I highlight five such albums that I recommend you give an honest listen to. Are any of these albums a match for Revolver, The White Album, or Abbey Road? No, not in my opinion. But not many albums are in that league! While these albums may not be true classics, they are (in some cases) very close to that status.

John Lennon - Imagine (1971) - This is Lennon’s most well known solo album as it includes his most well known solo song (the title track, of course.) But it includes quite a few other great songs as well and it’s definitely the most “Beatles-esque” post Beatles album by Lennon which makes it a great introduction to Lennon’s solo career for Beatles fans. That being said, I think Plastic Ono Band is his best solo album.

John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band (1970) - John, Paul, & George all started off really strongly with their debut solo albums in my opinion. But it was probably this album by John that has had the most lasting impact. it’s really revelatory in it’s stripped down stark style. It’s a very influential album.

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (1970) - George had a huge amount of songs saved up from his days of standing in John & Paul’s shadow with The Beatles. With this album he was able to unload everything that had been built up over that time and it’s really quite an impressive deluge of material. Easily George’s best solo album.

Paul McCartney - Chaos & Creation… (2005) - Nigel Godrich (known mostly for his work with Radiohead) came in to produce this album and he really brought a level of discipline otherwise missing from Paul’s solo work which makes it a uniquely tight album in Paul’s catalog.

John Lennon/Yoko Ono - Double Fantasy (1980) - The quality of Lennon’s songs on his final album before his untimely death shows that Lennon still had some great music left in him. Sure these were probably Lennon’s most purely “pop” songs he had recorded during his solo career but they weren’t fluffy pop. These were (and are) great songs.

Please note that these are just five of the best solo albums by John, Paul, & George. I am not saying that these are the best five, just five of the best. There are a lot of other solo albums by the former Fab Four that you should also check out.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney are both often featured on the Music By Day Music Blog.