Fifth Beatle Tier List

😑😑😑 You may have noticed a weird edit when I'm talking about Tony Sheridan, I used a few seconds of his song 'My Bonnie' and it got copyright claimed. I had to edit it out but here's my transcript of what was cut!: "Tony Sheridan Is one of two non-Beatles (the other being Billy Preston) to receive label performance credit on a record with the group, and the only non-Beatle to appear as lead singer on a Beatles recording which charted as a single. Although on that particular single ‘My Bonnie,’ they are technically credited as ‘The Beat Brothers. He had nothing to do with the Beatles after this 1962 recording session but just the fact that he has a performance credit with the Beatles gets him D-tier status." - Elliot

I was lucky enough to meet Paul in 2015 and asked him who he recognized as "the fifth beatle". His response ...." you are". He said anyone who loves the band, and carries on the legacy is a fifth Beatle.

For me, George Martin is the 5th Beatle. He helped give the boys their sound, he would experiment with new things, had some truly beautiful orchestral arrangements, and a lot of the songs wouldn’t be what they were if it wasn’t for his production work.

My grandfather actually went to school with Brian Epstein. The school adopted him as a kind of "star alumni" after his death but neglected to mention the fact he was bullied into the ground for being gay and even tarred and feathered for being Jewish. My grandfather said he was "deeply troubled yet frightfully intelligent" and I think that sums him up perfectly.

I would’ve included Ravi Shankar. He was the guy that introduced The Beatles to Indian music, which was obviously very important near the middle of the band’s years. He also became a close friend of George’s and even went on tour with him after The Beatles broke up.

Maybe the real fifth Beatle is the friends we made along the way

Billy Preston will always be my S Tier Fifth Beatle. Dude made “Nothing From Nothing”, and help loosen up the Get Back Sessions.

Okay, some valid omissions: Jeff Lynne, Norman Smith, Nicky Hopkins, Linda McCartney.

That was a whole lot of Beatles-nerdy fun! But I think ending it on "Oh yeah, Alan Klein, F tier for you, you bastard" was my favorite thing. It's likely going to have me giggling to myself all day.

Personally I think you’ve been a little harsh on Brian Epstein. You can tell from watching Get Back how much they missed him, even just having a stable figure there. I think his death was the start of everything going wrong for the band. They would’ve still broken up but it would’ve been a whole lot less messier I think. On par with George Martin in S tier for me.

The three S Tier Fifth Beatles: George Martin (huge contribution to their sound throughout their career), Brian Epstein (the force that turned them from Merseybeat to International), and Billy Preston (a musician who played with them as an equal for a whole album)

I agree that George Martin is the true fifth Beatle, he did seem to be minimized at the period of time of the Get Back movie; he was the force that put them on the map. After watching get back about a half a dozen times I think the album would’ve never been finished if Billy Preston hadn’t showed up at Apple studio. he was such a positive force during those recording sessions.

The story of Tommy Moore is pretty hilarious. Imagine being some 30 year old forklift driver, going on a tour with the proto-Beatles and losing your tooth in the process, then turning them down to go back to driving a forklift. Absolute Chad.

I think Brian Wilson deserves an E tier spot right next to Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, he never directly worked with the group, but Brian's own musical career was hugely influential in some of the Beatles' greatest works, and I think he deserves at least a mention

You missed one important and influential person, Ravi Shankar! He taught George how to play the Sitar and influenced several of his songs. He deserves to be on this list.

This was really fun to watch. I'm shocked that no one's mentioned Cynthia Powell, later Lennon. Cynthia gave John the unfailing support he needed when he and the band were young and struggling. I think she was crucial to John's confidence. I'd put her above everyone except George Martin and Brian Epstein. John also wrote a ton of songs either about her or in reaction to her. From "There's A Place" to "Across the Universe", Cynthia was a huge part of the Beatles.

It was either Geoff Emerick or George Martin who said that 5th Beatle was the Invisible, but palpable presence, that happened when the four were together in the studio.

There's something extra spicy when someone as nice and gentle as Elliot and never seems to use bad words, calls someone a bastard, but Klein deserves it LOL.

Billy Preston played with Ray Charles, The Beatles, the Stones, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Dylan.... And he had some pretty sick solo stuff of his own. What a legend.

Harry Nilsson was the American Beatle. Paul and John said he was their “favorite American group” and multiple Beatles worked with him. Harry’s cover of “You can’t do that” features references to like 10 different beatle songs. Lennon was his drinking buddy and produced an album for him that features Ringo. I’d love if you did a vid about Harry and the Beatles.