The Oasis song Noel Gallagher thought was better than John Lennon
The entire sound of Oasis probably wouldn’t exist without the British Invasion coming before them. Although the band may have been a culture shock when they burst onto the scene at the tail end of grunge in 1994, their influences were all the greatest bands from two generations before, shouting the praises of everyone from The Kinks to The Rolling Stones. Although the clearest influence on the band was The Beatles, Noel Gallagher thought one of their own songs was enough to put John Lennon to shame.
Then again, it wasn’t like Noel was trying to downplay The Beatles’ influence on their career. From day one, the band was looking to make music that served as a love letter to the Fab Four, down to having a photo of John Lennon’s house as the main artwork for their single, ‘Live Forever’.
By the time the band started to incorporate more of their Beatles influences into their sound, though, it was becoming clear that Noel was starting to jump the shark, leading to a handful of songs that felt like parodies of Beatles classics on Be Here Now. While Noel would pick things back up on the song ‘Go Let It Out’ from Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, he thought one of the most incredible vocals they ever made came from his brother.
Sounding like a punk version of Lennon at the best of times, Liam Gallagher was known to worship the ground that the former Beatle walked on. While also copying the wire-rimmed glasses look, Liam made it no secret that he was looking to emulate Lennon’s thick vocal texture, down to using the signature nasal tone that Lennon did naturally.
After ploughing through the songs on Heathen Chemistry, the band thought it would be best to make a song that aligned with the Fab Four’s approach to the studio. Featuring various psychedelic effects and a few backwards guitars, ‘Probably All In the Mind’ would become a beloved deep cut, featuring Liam doing his closest approximation to his heroes.
Even though most of the album would meet a deaf ear, Noel thought that Liam’s vocal sound on this song bested the former Beatle, saying, “His delivery is more like Lennon than his voice. I tell you what, if John Lennon sounded as good as Liam does on his fucking day he’d be a ten times better singer than he was”.
While Liam would continue to co-opt Lennon’s vocal style on albums like Don’t Believe the Truth, a bad case of laryngitis led to him rethinking his traditional approach to vocals, leaning into the gritty side of his voice. After a full recovery and the dissolution of Oasis, Liam would trade his usual vocal snarls for a worn-in nasal croon, almost making him sound like Lennon’s long-lost brother on a handful of songs with Beady Eye.
For all of the Lennon worship that Liam may have expressed over the years, it was never about doing a cheap impersonation of his hero. Even though Noel and Liam had equally strong vocal tones at the best of times, Liam was responsible for bringing the attitude every time Oasis took to the stage, with Lennon as his benchmark.
