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This Week in 1971, Each Member of the Beatles Had a Solo Single on the UK Top 40 Chart
BY ROCK CELLAR MAGAZINE STAFF
APRIL 17, 2019
The week of April 11 – 17, 1971 was a busy one for the Beatles — even though the band had split up.
During that week, each former Beatle had a solo single on the UK Top 40 chart, indicative of the public’s insatiable need for all things Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon, even after the messy and dramatic dissolution of the world’s most famous band by 1970.
Highest on the UK Top 40 chart that week was “Power to the People,” a single from John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band, a song which later turned up on the 1975 release Shaved Fish. The song sat at No. 10, sandwiched between No. 9, “Walkin” by CCS and No. 11, which we’ll get to next.
Paul McCartney’s “Another Day,” his first official solo single, was right on Lennon’s heels at No. 11 on the chart that week. Written originally during the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions, the song would later turn up on Sir Paul’s many Greatest Hits compilations and re-issued versions of RAM.
George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,” off his landmark 1970 double-album All Things Must Pass, held the No. 25 spot on the UK chart that week, on its way to being the biggest-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom and, ultimately, one of Harrison’s signature recordings of his legendary career.
And finally, Ringo Starr entered the UK Top 40 chart that week with his single “It Don’t Come Easy,” which debuted on the chart at No. 29. Written by both Starr and Harrison, the track was only officially credited to Ringo and released as a standalone single in the UK on April 9.
It would go on to be one of Starr’s most-known and appreciated solo compositions.
All this to say: the Beatles’ prevalence on the music charts knew no limits, even after the tumultuous end to their prolific career as a unified group. This week of UK chart dominance is proof.
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