Ray, John & Paul

Over their first two full albums, both The Beatles and The Kinks released a total of 14 original songs. Of course the difference was that Ray Davies wrote all of The Kinks songs while The Beatles not only had the Goliath that is Lennon/McCartney but also a song by George Harrison. I will now rate each song to see how they stack up against each other.

THE BEATLES

PLEASE PLEASE ME

I Saw Her Standing There 10

Misery 10

Do You Want to Know a Secret 5

Please Please Me 10

PS I Love You 8

Love Me Do 7

Ask My Why 6

There’s a Place 8

WITH THE BEATLES

It Won’t Be Long 10

All I’ve Got to Do 6

All My Loving 8

Don’t Bother Me (Harrison) 7

Little Child 7

Not a Second Time 7

Hold Me Tight 8

I Wanna Be Your Man 6

TOTAL: 123

THE KINKS

THE KINKS

So Mystifying 8

Just Can’t Go to Sleep 6

I Took My Baby Home 9

You Really Got Me 10

Stop Your Sobbing 9

 

KINDA KINKS

Look for Me Baby 6

Wonder Where My Baby is Tonight 8

Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout My Girl 10

Tired of Waiting for You 10

So Long 9

Don’t Ever Change 7

You Shouldn’t Be Sad 7

Something Better Beginning 10

Come On Now 9

TOTAL: 118

That's pretty damn close for just one guy. Though to be fair, during this time The Beatles also had a few scrappy little non-album singles you might have heard of such as She Loves You, From Me To You and I Want To Hold Your Hand, so....I mean, yikes? On the other hand, by the time each of these second albums were released Ray Davies was only 20 years old (20!!! And had released the single-most influential guitar song of all time!!!!) while Lennon/McCartney were 23 & 21, respectively. Thankfully, this is a game in which anyone with ears wins! (Sorry deaf peeps but it's true.)