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Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys, both number 1 seeds, have been eliminated by the Animals and Spanky And Our Gang. Will this trend continue? Ray Charles and the Beatles hope to advance as the top seed in their brackets.
Ray Charles
What’d I Say
You Don’t Know Me
vs
The Seekers
Georgy Girl
I’ll Never Find Another You
Ray Charles doesn’t sing over the catchy blues vamp of the late 50s “What’d I Say” until 1:36 and by the time the female chorus enters and the song concludes, six and a half ecstatic minutes have passed. The sweet intro of “Georgy Girl” is about 5 seconds—and the thrilling but winsome mid-60s classic which attempts to boost a teen girl’s spirit is over in a little more than 2 minutes.
“You Don’t Know Me” has good production value and Ray Charles expresses melancholy regret with real feeling. “I’ll Never Find Another You” by The Seekers is a transcendent number—one of the greatest love songs ever recorded.
A very close contest.
Winner Ray Charles
Beatles
She’s Leaving Home
It’s All Too Much
vs
The Association
Along Comes Mary
Never My Love
“She’s Leaving Home” tells its story well—the song is a little novel (“Standing alone at the top of the stairs”) —with strings and chorus (sounds like John multi-tracked) and Paul’s steady, tuneful vocal. Other Paul songs (“Yesterday,” “Blackbird,” “Eleanor Rigby”) receive far more attention, but this one is just as remarkable.
“Along Comes Mary” by The Association (their first hit in 1966) is a delightful pastiche, as is The Beatles’ “It’s All Too Much”—but the latter is longer and has more intensity, sounding like a song (credited to Harrison) all the Beatles worked on. “Along Comes Mary” has amazing lyrics, if you’ve never read them (some are a little difficult to hear in the song) with the iconic, “Now my empty cup tastes as sweet as the punch.” “Along Comes Mary” (not written by the band) is about marijuana, but it could easily be about a heady romance. George’s “Show me that I’m everywhere but get me home for tea” is melodious and witty.
The slow, organ-tinged, “Never My Love” has hooks and harmony to spare—though the lyrics are a little fluffy.
Winner The Beatles
Both no. 1 seeds advance.
