Music · Arrangement

Lead guitar

Guitar voiced for melodic or solo lines rather than rhythm.

147

songs

The lead guitar arrives in 1963 and is last heard in 1970, 147 recordings in all. Lennon's 'Please Please Me' came first and McCartney's 'Two of Us' last, with With The Beatles leaning on it hardest, twelve of its fourteen tracks. George Harrison plays it on 134 of them, with John Lennon on fifteen. All four of them take the lead on 'Carry That Weight'. Three of them share it on 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)'. More of Lennon's songs have it than McCartney's, 75% against 58%, among them 'Come Together' and 'A Hard Day's Night'. On 'Taxman', Indian-inflected solo played by McCartney, not Harrison. On 'Tomorrow Never Knows': backwards guitar solo recycled from Taxman session.

Performed byGeorge Harrison John Lennon Paul McCartney Eric Clapton

Analysis

Every song on this page, across all of them: george, john, paul and others.

By Year

Song count per year

By Songwriter

% of each member's catalogue with this tag (by writing credit)

By Era

Early39 · 31%

Mid-period47 · 37%

Late40 · 32%

By Album

Past Masters26

Rubber Soul12

The Beatles (The White Album)12

A Hard Day's Night10

Abbey Road10

Revolver8

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band8

Let It Be8

With The Beatles7

Help!7

Magical Mystery Tour7

Beatles For Sale6

Please Please Me5

Yellow Submarine2

The instruments that played it

Every model the catalogue names for this part, counted by the year of the session.

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Sheet music

Musicnotes – Beatles Piano/Vocal/Guitar

Musicnotes

Book

All the Songs

Margotin & Guesdon

Book

The Beatles: Complete Scores

Hal Leonard

affiliate link - supports this wiki

Songs(126 of 147)

Year

Album

Writer

Lead vocal(s)

#	Title	Year	Album	Lead Vocal(s)	Performer(s)	Notes
1	Ask Me Why	1963	Please Please Me	John	George Harrison	-
2	Please Please Me	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
3	I Saw Her Standing There	1963	Please Please Me	Paul	George Harrison	-
4	Misery	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
5	There's a Place	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
6	From Me to You	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
7	Thank You Girl	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-

8	I'll Get You	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
9	She Loves You	1963	Past Masters	Paul, John	George Harrison	-
10	All I've Got to Do	1963	With The Beatles	John	George Harrison	-
11	All My Loving	1963	With The Beatles	Paul	George Harrison	-
12	Don't Bother Me	1963	With The Beatles	George	George Harrison	-
13	Hold Me Tight	1963	With The Beatles	Paul	George Harrison	-
14	I Wanna Be Your Man	1963	With The Beatles	Ringo	George Harrison	-
15	It Won't Be Long	1963	With The Beatles	John	George Harrison	-
16	Little Child	1963	With The Beatles	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
17	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
18	This Boy	1963	Past Masters	John	George Harrison	-
19	Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand	1964	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
20	Sie Liebt Dich	1964	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
21	Can't Buy Me Love	1964	A Hard Day's Night	Paul	George Harrison	-
22	I Call Your Name	1964	Past Masters	John	George Harrison	-
23	You Can't Do That	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	John Lennon	-
24	A Hard Day's Night	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
25	Any Time at All	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	George Harrison	-
26	I Should Have Known Better	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	George Harrison	-
27	I'll Cry Instead	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	George Harrison	-
28	I'm Happy Just to Dance with You	1964	A Hard Day's Night	George	George Harrison	-

29	Tell Me Why	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	George Harrison	-
30	Things We Said Today	1964	A Hard Day's Night	Paul	George Harrison	-
31	When I Get Home	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	George Harrison	-
32	I Feel Fine	1964	Past Masters	John	George Harrison	-
33	She's a Woman	1964	Past Masters	Paul	George Harrison	-
34	Eight Days a Week	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	George Harrison	-
35	Every Little Thing	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	George Harrison	-
36	I Don't Want to Spoil the Party	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	George Harrison	-
37	I'll Follow the Sun	1964	Beatles For Sale	Paul	George Harrison	-
38	I'm a Loser	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	George Harrison	-
39	What You're Doing	1964	Beatles For Sale	Paul	George Harrison	-
40	Ticket to Ride	1965	Help!	John	Paul McCartney	-
41	Yes It Is	1965	Past Masters	John	George Harrison	-
42	I'm Down	1965	Past Masters	Paul	George Harrison	-
43	Help!	1965	Help!	John	George Harrison	-
44	Another Girl	1965	Help!	Paul	Paul McCartney	-
45	It's Only Love	1965	Help!	John	George Harrison	-
46	The Night Before	1965	Help!	Paul	Paul McCartney,George Harrison	-
47	You Like Me Too Much	1965	Help!	George	George Harrison	-
48	You're Going to Lose That Girl	1965	Help!	John	George Harrison	-
49	Day Tripper	1965	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison,John Lennon	-
50	Drive My Car	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul, John	George Harrison,Paul McCartney	-
51	I'm Looking Through You	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	George Harrison	-
52	If I Needed Someone	1965	Rubber Soul	George	George Harrison	-
53	In My Life	1965	Rubber Soul	John	George Harrison	-
54	Michelle	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	George Harrison	-
55	Nowhere Man	1965	Rubber Soul	John	John Lennon,George Harrison	-
56	Run for Your Life	1965	Rubber Soul	John	George Harrison	-
57	The Word	1965	Rubber Soul	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
58	Think for Yourself	1965	Rubber Soul	George	George Harrison	-
59	Wait	1965	Rubber Soul	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
60	What Goes On	1965	Rubber Soul	Ringo	George Harrison	-
61	You Won't See Me	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	George Harrison	-
62	Rain	1966	Past Masters	John	George Harrison	-
63	Paperback Writer	1966	Past Masters	Paul	George Harrison,Paul McCartney	-
64	And Your Bird Can Sing	1966	Revolver	John	Paul McCartney,George Harrison	Twin lead-guitar harmony riff and solo
65	Doctor Robert	1966	Revolver	John	George Harrison	-
66	I Want to Tell You	1966	Revolver	George	George Harrison	Opening fade-in riff, Leslie-treated
67	I'm Only Sleeping	1966	Revolver	John	George Harrison	Harrison's reversed lead duet
68	Love You To	1966	Revolver	George	George Harrison	-
69	She Said She Said	1966	Revolver	John	George Harrison	Harrison's chiming Indian-flavoured leads
70	Taxman	1966	Revolver	George	George Harrison,Paul McCartney	Indian-inflected solo played by McCartney, not Harrison
71	Tomorrow Never Knows	1966	Revolver	John	George Harrison	Backwards guitar solo recycled from Taxman session
72	Penny Lane	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	George Harrison	-
73	Strawberry Fields Forever	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	George Harrison,Paul McCartney	-
74	Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John	George Harrison,Paul McCartney	-
75	Fixing a Hole	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	George Harrison	Double tracked solo
76	Getting Better	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	George Harrison	-
77	Good Morning Good Morning	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John	Paul McCartney	-
78	Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John	George Harrison	-
79	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	Paul McCartney	-
80	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul, John, George	George Harrison	-
81	With a Little Help from My Friends	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Ringo	George Harrison	-
82	All You Need Is Love	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	George Harrison	-
83	Baby, You're a Rich Man	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	George Harrison	-
84	Hello, Goodbye	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	George Harrison,John Lennon	Through Leslie speaker
85	I Am the Walrus	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	George Harrison	-
86	Magical Mystery Tour	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	George Harrison	-
87	Lady Madonna	1968	Past Masters	Paul	George Harrison,John Lennon	-
88	Hey Jude	1968	Past Masters	Paul	George Harrison	-
89	Revolution	1968	Past Masters	John	John Lennon,George Harrison	-
90	Back in the U.S.S.R.	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	Paul McCartney,George Harrison	-
91	Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	George Harrison	-
92	Glass Onion	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	George Harrison	-
93	Happiness Is a Warm Gun	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	George Harrison	-
94	Helter Skelter	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	Paul McCartney,George Harrison	Paul & George overdubs
95	Honey Pie	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	John Lennon	-
96	I'm So Tired	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	George Harrison	-
97	Revolution 1	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	John Lennon,George Harrison	-
98	Savoy Truffle	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	George	George Harrison	-
99	Sexy Sadie	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	George Harrison	-
100	While My Guitar Gently Weeps	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	George	Eric Clapton	Clapton's solo
101	Yer Blues	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	George Harrison	-
102	Hey Bulldog	1969	Yellow Submarine	John	George Harrison	-
103	It's All Too Much	1969	Yellow Submarine	George	George Harrison	-
104	Don't Let Me Down	1969	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
105	Get Back	1969	Let It Be	Paul	John Lennon	-
106	Old Brown Shoe	1969	Past Masters	George	George Harrison	Solo on instrumental verse
107	The Ballad of John and Yoko	1969	Past Masters	John	John Lennon	-
108	Carry That Weight	1969	Abbey Road	Paul, John, George, Ringo	George Harrison	-
109	I Want You (She's So Heavy)	1969	Abbey Road	John	John Lennon	-
110	Mean Mr. Mustard	1969	Abbey Road	John	George Harrison	-
111	Octopus's Garden	1969	Abbey Road	Ringo	George Harrison	-
112	Polythene Pam	1969	Abbey Road	John	-	-
113	She Came in Through the Bathroom Window	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	George Harrison	-
114	Something	1969	Abbey Road	George	George Harrison	-
115	Sun King	1969	Abbey Road	John	George Harrison	-
116	The End	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	John Lennon,Paul McCartney,George Harrison	-
117	Come Together	1969	Abbey Road	John	George Harrison	-
118	Across the Universe (Wildlife version)	1969	Past Masters	John	John Lennon	-
119	Let It Be	1970	Let It Be	Paul	George Harrison	-
120	You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)	1970	Past Masters	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
121	Across the Universe	1970	Let It Be	John	John Lennon	-
122	Dig a Pony	1970	Let It Be	John	George Harrison	-
123	Dig It	1970	Let It Be	John	George Harrison	-
124	I've Got a Feeling	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	George Harrison	-
125	One After 909	1970	Let It Be	John, Paul	George Harrison	-
126	Two of Us	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	George Harrison	-