WHO WROTE WHICH BEATLES SONGS?
The Lennon–McCartney question, explored with statistics
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the Beatles’ main songwriters. When they began writing together as teenagers, they agreed that a song written by either of them would carry both names. That meant both received songwriting credit and a share of the royalties, even if one of them had written nearly the whole song. The familiar “Lennon-McCartney” credit on a Beatles record would never tell listeners who had written which parts. Years later, their recollections about some songs differed. Can the songs themselves help tell the story? Statistician Mark Glickman studies patterns in their melodies and chords to look for clues.
About Mark Glickman
Mark is a Senior Lecturer on Statistics at Harvard, a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and the creator of the Glicko rating systems used in games and sports. He also plays piano and guitar.
https://www.glicko.net/bio.html
HNS 167/168