Paul McCartney Names 3 Albums With the Beatles At Their Best

Paul McCartney, like any passionate fan of the Beatles, finds it difficult to choose his favorite album from the iconic rock band.

The legendary musician, 83, is Willie Geist’s latest Sunday Sitdown guest. Together, the two discussed McCartney’s decades-long career in the music industry, both with the band and as a solo artist. During their chat, Willie asked McCartney if he could name one album in the band’s discography that represents the Beatles at their “best.”

“That’s always a very difficult question, you know?” McCartney replied. “My mind went to ‘Rubber Soul,’ because I think that was a change in what we’d been doing.”

He said the 1965 album, their sixth, was a little more “advanced.”

But, of course, he couldn’t highlight just one album in the band’s extensive catalogue.

“Then I’d have to say ‘Sgt. Pepper’ was, like, a crazy different experience,” he continued, referring to their 1967 album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

He had one more album to add that is many fans’ favorite. “And then I would probably finish up with ‘Abbey Road,’” he said.

McCartney, who released his 12th studio album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” on May 29, still reflects on his time in the band and their monumental success. He recalled the Beatles making their American debut on the “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964.

Before they landed in the States, McCartney remembered the airplane pilot hearing that there were many fans waiting for his arrival, along with John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. But the group wasn’t anticipating the massive crowd that welcomed them.

They performed “Twist and Shout” on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and didn’t understand at the time how big the variety show was in the U.S.

“We didn’t kinda know quite some of the TV shows we were doing. Like Ed Sullivan, we’d never heard of him. It didn’t phase us. It was just like, ‘OK, it’s another gig,’” McCartney said, laughing.

He recently returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater to perform during Stephen Colbert’s last episode of “The Late Show,” which aired May 22.

Speaking about visiting the historic venue again, McCartney told Willie, “It’s magical when you realize that the space you’re standing in was the same space that those four boys stood in. And now here we are.”

“It’s like, ‘Wow, we did OK,’” he added.