C/D Paul McCartney Solo

"Jet"

"Junior's Farm"

"Listen to What the Man Said"

otherwise, it's shit.

I like 'jet' and the start of 'C moon' and I like 'maybe I'm amazed' and 'no more lonely nights' and 'silly love songs'!!!

It's an odd collection because it is missing some good bits ("Maybe I'm Amazed" "Helen Wheels" "Take it Away"). I'll probably just end up getting his lps eventually, like I usually do with artist I admire (sigh).

-- Alex in NYC

There's no difference!! Paul was the, what do you say, "auteur"...

Paul McCartney is one of those artists that I bet there's a potential CD-R or two's worth of stuff I would absolutely adore - really he needs to be a lot more obscure than he is, so some loving curator could trawl through his albums and B-Sides and make some selections. As it is his commercial/historical clout means the available compilations take the path of least resistance a bit too much.

Beatles beat the rest hands-down - that much we know. Beyond that, RJG is probably right. But the best post-Beatles Macca I know is VENUS & MARS - a bit of a 70s masterpiece. TUG OF WAR also has great stuff; his work with Costello has its moments; and so does the FLAMING PIE LP (1997).

I did the CDR thing with McCartneys back catalogue a year or two ago and managed to get 4 really good chronological comps. I would guess that a lot of people would like much of this stuff if they sat down and listened to it. McCartney solo though is almost dismissed and I don't think that the Wingspan comp kicked off the resurection of the post Beatles stuff that I or probably he expected.

What I really can't get over is the fact that Paul himself doesn't realise how rubbish he is nowadays. Wake up!

He really seems to think his solo work is comparable to the Beatles. It's not. Maybe it was always going to be a dissapointment by the Beatles standards, but by _any_ standards it's awful. And still he doesn't get it.

Maybe if we all stood outside his house with placards saying "Paul, your music is now shit!" he'd get it. But I doubt it. He'd probably think "Hey those guys have spelled 'hit' wrong".

Dud.

Favourite videos: Goodnight Tonight, Pipes of Peace.

Also C: "Jet," "Too Many People," "Let Me Roll It," "Spin It On" (Wings go thrash!)

good old dad.

I don't think I've even seen a copy of WINGSPAN in a record store.

I reminded my dad about the 'all the best'-for-christmas thing on friday night when we were in a car. he didn't really remember. he said "and why did she [my mum] buy you that instead?" and I told him again and he understood. then he asked "and why did you want 'faith'??" and the answer was...I was six...I had seen it advertised on television.

Yes, COMING UP is great.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316860328/qid=1045408789/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_3_1/026-5101041-0610836

It's an intimate scrapbook.

Capitals are the new italics.

If that's not a special offer I'll EAT MY HAT. Note controversial opinion expressed herein: the best solo Paul McCartney work did not appear until FLOWERS IN THE DIRT. Before anyone rushes to order it, please note that it appears to be two-dimensional.

I used to listen to my mum's copy of "All The Best" all the time. On vinyl, too.

amazing.

Love Coming Up and C Moon too.

And then I wake up.

I had "All the best" on CD for many years, never listened to it, but I'll agree that "Venus and Mars" is a neglected classic, as is the first McCartney LP, very primitive but rather homely.

I had dreams about WINGSPAN last night. or it featured in my last night's dreams. I think it was really big and cost one hundred and twenty-five pounds or twenty-five pounds and was sealed in plastic and didn't tell me the tracklisting.

record shopping w/ allyC, yesterday, we saw many mccartney/wings albums. WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND looked OK but was on cassette and three pounds fifty.

Does anyone else like 'Hope of Deliverance'? I think it has a haunting melody.

p.s. 'for your love'+'bus stop'=gouldman.

Dud: 'Wings at the Speed of Sound', 'Flaming Pie', 'Driving Rain' (a little better than 'FP'), 'Press to Play' (interesting yet not successful experimentation from Macca in 1986...) & 'Back to the Egg' (consistently average, only 'Old Siam Sir' makes any real impression).

Many albums of his i'm mixed about... yet, overall 'Classic', I maybe go towards this strongly as the general consensus is so unfairly a 'dud' opinion. You have to look deep into his work, and will find much that is good...

Too late, it was in the issue with Santana on the cover.

If one's scratching one's head about how badly Paul's solo cheese wears on the nerves, try the following experiment: program disc one of the white album to only play Paul's tracks. Starts off okay but the unrelenting 'Ob-la-di' to 'Martha My Dear' to 'Blackbird', by the time it gets to 'Rocky Racoon' you'll be clawing your face off.

It should be mentioned that it's the MCCARTNEY II version that should be considered "classic." The live version, which Columbia released as a single in the US, pales in comparison (though there's a very strange meteor-shower synth break toward the end).

Am I the only person who thinks BACK TO THE EGG is almost the equal of BAND ON THE RUN/VENUS & MARS? Probably.

Most obvious cases of search:
"Tug Of War", "Flowers In The Dirt", "Band On The Run", "Venus And Mars"

Destroy:
"Wild Life", "McCartney II", "Press To Play", "Wings At The Speed Of Sound", "Pipes Of Peace".

Other than the disastrous "Wild Life", even the worst albums contain at least one or two great tracks each though.

The production on that album is definitely classy, but the songs are just too weak for it to avoid the dustbin. "Tug Of War" has the same marvellous production, and contains almost exclusively great songs. (Yes, even "Ebony & Ivory" isn't that bad, really)

"Waterfalls" is the only really good song on that album. "Coming Up" is a dud IMO. Just because John Lennon liked it doesn't automatically mean it was good (in fact, most of Lennon's solo work sucked anyway)

'Flowers in the Dirt' has a far worse production than 'Pipes of Peace'; it really lacks focus and sympathy for the songs. There is some fine material on there, but much of it is middling.

Do *not* destroy 'McCartney II'... it's a revelation frankly! Such a massive step up from 'Back to the Egg' and more cohesive and compelling I believe than 'McCartney' (though 'Junk' & 'Every Night' are sublime). It is McCartney very interestingly going down the route of electronic music; which sadly he didn't continue so much on his next two (nevertheless good) albums. 'Summer's Day Song' is among McCartney's most beautiful, as is 'Waterfalls'... 'Frozen Jap' and 'Front Parlour' see a Kraftwerk-type influence beautifully used to make jaunty, expressively melancholic electronic pieces. 'Dark Room' is oddball in a great manner... 'One of these Days' is a masterful close to the album.

'Press To Play' possibly does... but it is mis-produced and really inadequate in its music and songwriting (will have to give it another chance, mind).
I fully agree on 'Wings at the Speed of Sound'; apart from 'Silly Love Songs' (a badly produced and sounding recording of it) and the towering pop of 'Le 'Em In', it is a seriously mediocre record and the one with the most detrimental influence of the other Wings members.
'Ram', 'Band on the Run', 'Red Rose Speedway' and 'Venus and Mars' are unreservedly recommended as an fine early quartet of albums.

Wouldn't call any of them awful. Although they are clearly tracks that seem like partly failed attempts to copy his duet partner's musical styles.

I love the production on that one too. But, then again, I enjoy most of what Mitchell Froom and Trevor Horn/Stephen Lipson have ever done sonically.

The hits are mainly produced by Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Suzanne Vega, early 90s Elvis Costello). But Trevor Horn produced "How Many People" and "Figure Of Eight"

i have heard neither, and know very little about mccartney solo. what are these songs like?

Would anyone care to share their thoughts? You can make them up if you like. I'm just trying to get better value for money.

Your last comment is OTM btw.

McCartney wasn't familiar with his collaborator's musical history when they met, so Falkner gave him a copy of "Bedtime With the Beatles," the instrumental children's lullaby album Falkner released through Sony/Wonder in 2001. He admits it "blew his mind" after McCartney gave him a glowing review of the disc the next time they met.

If one suspects (as I do) that Falkner has been disappointed/angry/disgruntled over the way the industry has treated him these last several years, essentially reducing him to a sideman/cover-artist/enhancer-of-others'-work, it follows that the Paul love must do his heart good. A moral victory of some sort, I suppose.

The larger point, though, is interesting, regarding Falkner/Godrich working with Paul for material that may or may not be on his next album — it's exactly what you'd expect from Paul, that searching, persistence and sort of endless curiosity. It's funny — because it's exactly what makes Paul's output so maddenly elusive, frustrating and inconsistent for some, while making others (well, me) love him so. For the latter crowd, he's the quintessential restless artist, which is why so many are still waiting for—expecting even—that late-period masterpiece.

Seriously, though — even those (what I assume are) half-assed "serious" works don't come off remotely as pompous and ill-considered as those of, say, Billy Joel, Paul Simon or—most embarrassingly—Elvis Costello. Where those guys seem to be deluding themselves about where their talents lie and what constitutes "serious" composition (as if pop doesn't), with McCartney, the impetus behind his experiments in pop or otherwise has always seemed like geniune curiosity and a love for music. I mean, you can almost hear him going, "Oh yes, well, that's interesting. Perhaps it's something I can try," whether it's him doing a take on Little Richard ("Long Tall Sally", "Get On the Right Thing"), Eno ("Summer's Day Song"), The Orb (his Fireman project), Joplin ("Honey Pie"), Steely Dan ("Arrow Through Me"), John Lennon ("Too Many People"), Brian Wilson ("Back Seat of My Car"), Elvis Costello ("Getting Closer"), or whoever else. The orchestral pieces—which I've never heard, btw—seem very much cut from that cloth.

At the end of the day, there are really just a handful of artists who are capable of pulling off this sort of thing with any measure of success (and no, Stephen Merritt, you're not one of them). So, I'll tolerate the misfires — even if there seem to be an awful lot of them in his discography.

Yeah, otm. I've thought about this a bit myself. I mean, he's Paul McCartney. Even if someone did have the balls to tell him his songwriting was pants, he'd probably just think "What a retard. I'm PAUL MCCARTNEY."

Still waiting for something that tops his two great 80s albums, but "Flaming Pie" was close.

"McCartney":
Somewhat patchy stuff. Extremely underproduced, but certainly contains some great stuff. "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Junk" remain among his classics.

"Ram"
Already on his second solo effort he was able to come up with a truly great album. "Ram" is great most of the way through, with the title track, "Uncle Albert", "Too Many People" and others all among his best work. Classic!

"Wild Life"
Helpless stuff. Kind of charming in how he tries to pull it off, but he ends up helplessly lame through most of the album. "Dear Friend" is an OK response to "How Do You Sleep", and also the best tune on the album. The rest is rubbish. Dud, although the CD version includes "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" which helps a lot.

"Red Rose Speedway"
Not my favourite moment, although it was a huge leap in the right direction from "Wild Life". The medley at the end is kind of weird. "My Love" is of course a classic, but there's not a lot of classic stuff. Also here, however, the CD bonus tracks helps a lot, "C Moon" and "Hi Hi Hi" both being great songs.

"Band On The Run"
Sort of generally recognized as his best solo moment. Personally, I cannot quite agree with that, but still, this is a great album. "Jet" and the title track are sort of the recognized classics here, but I would also like to throw in a word for "Bluebird" and "Mrs. Vanderbilt". And, yes, btw, classic!

"Venus And Mars"
The only way he has ever managed to follow up a great solo album with another great one. "Venus And Mars" isn't a lot behind, maybe somewhat more patchy, but it contains such gems as "Rock Show", the beautiful (but way too short) title track, "Listen To What The Man Said" and "Love In Song". Classic!

"Wings At The Speed Of Sound"
"Silly Love Songs" is not my favourite McCartney moment. "Let'em In" is kind of OK, but with the non-singles being so obviously below-par, this is not classic stuff. The other members had way too much input here, and their tracks are dragging the entire effort down. Dud!

"London Town"
His most sonically polished effort so far, and actually not too bad. Certainly, there are moments that aren't quite up there, but tracks such as "With a Little Luck" and the title track are among his best.

"Back To The Egg"
Following an OK effort with another OK effort. I am not to keen on Christ Thomas' way too raunchy production, but there are some great songs in here. I am particularly fond of "Baby's Request", one of his better ballads.

"McCartney II"
McCartney doing synthpop might not have been that much of a bad idea, but the trouble he just doesn't cope. "Temporary Secretary" is a nice attempt that simply just doesn't work. "Coming Up" is annoying and his possibly most overrated moment since "Helter Skelter". "Waterfalls" saves the album though, bad production, but still great tune.

"Tug Of War"
IMO, this is his best ever moment as a soloist. George Martin's polished production gave sort of a 10cc feel to it that really fit his music. The songs are his best ever, and there is hardly a weak track here. "Here Today", "Somebody Who Cares", "The Pound Is Sinking", "Wanderlust" and the title track are all among the best he ever wrote (and I also count his best Beatles efforts here). Absolutely classic!!!

"Pipes Of Peace"
A failed attempt to followup "Tug Of War". Most of the songs here lack character and sound like any MOR song would. There are exceptions though, with "The Man" (a lot better than "Say Say Say", the other Michael Jackson duet on the album) and the title tracks being obvious highlights.

"Press To Play"
An attempt at a "different" album that just didn't work out. Most of the tracks here are rubbish. Still, even at his worst, McCartney managed to come up with a great leadoff single in "Press", and one of his best ever ballads in "Only Love Remains". Still, dud!

"Flowers In The Dirt"
Other than "Tug Of War" I rank this as his best album. Somewhat more patchy, but with highlights that are up there with his best. "My Brave Face" may be one of his best ever solo singles, "This One", "You Want Her Too", "Put It There", "Distractions" and "Rough Ride" are all great songs. And it even contains a great mock-reggae song in "How Many People". Classic!

"Off The Ground"
Like "Back To The Egg", it suffers from a production somewhat too raunchy for my liking. And the tracks are weaker here too. I have never been into the rock'n'roll McCartney, and there is way too much of him here. At least "Golden Earth Girl" and "C'Mon People" are two classic McCartney ballad that leaves this album worth checking out anyway.

"Flaming Pie"
Although it lacks the classic song, this album is a pleasant collection of pleasant pop songs, shaped a lot by Jeff Lynne. While it is not my favourite McCartney album, it is not hard to understand why this became his bestselling solo album in years.

"Driving Rain"
Somewhat more patchy again, although this album too has its moment. The title track is notably strong, and there are also (as usual) a couple nice ballads here. Still not a classic though.

"McCartney":
Fucking brilliant. Some say underproduced, I say an absolute masterpiece of minimalist pop songcraft. In addition to perhaps the only solo track worthy of The Beatles ("Maybe I'm Amazed", of course), it has several minor gems--"Every Night", "Singalong Junk" (better as this instrumental version, I think)--but also tracks like "Hot As Sun/Glasses", which reveal a keen grasp of impressionist abstraction. A remarkable deconstruction of The Beatles' lavish pop structures.

"Ram"
In which McCartney very consciously puts it back together again. Not a bad thing, though, because the songwriting is sharp and the maximalist lo-fi production enticing. In addition to the pop prog of "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" and "Back Seat of My Car", the record has almost too many highlights: the stomping "Too Many People", the additive layers of "Ram On" and "Dear Boy", the slapback nonsense of "Eat At Home" and rustic whimsy of "Heart of the Country" and "Long Haired Lady" -- track for track, his melodic acuity would rarely be this consistent again. The worst that can be said about it is that its pleasures are a touch superficial. Still, one of his best.

"Wild Life"
Charming in places, but tossed-off and inessential. Opening improv, "Mumbo", is a smoking rocker, but the best tracks are, surprisingly, simple duets with Linda: "Some People Never Know", "Tomorrow", as well as "Dear Friend" (which goes on a bit long). Best song is the UK bonus track, "Mama's Little Girl", a ghostly, staggeringly beautiful ballad not unlike "Blackbird", but with lush Wings vocals, if you like that sort of thing. I kinda do.

"Red Rose Speedway"
A favorite of Macca fanatics. None of the songs mean a goddamn thing, and Paul was almost audibly stoned to the gills on this one, but almost all the tracks are melodically sharp. "Big Barn Bed" has a great ensemble vocal chorus, "My Love" is shimmering, "Get On The Right Thing" is Little Richard at run through the Gold Star reverb chamber. Elsewhere, there's a serviceable C&W riff ("One More Kiss"), an appealing light ballad ("Single Pigeon"), a lazy lite one ("When the Night"), and two medleys -- one ("Little Lamb/Dragonfly") utterly gorgeous, with the other sounding like he orchestrated a worktape. Not a bad thing, really.

"Band On The Run"
Honestly? The least exciting of his "classic" solo records, largely because it lacks almost any trace of the carelessness that makes his solo work frustrating but exciting, given that we're talking about someone with the skills of McCartney. Still, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" is a blast, as is the "If we ever get out of here" section of the title track, and "Let Me Roll It" positively aches. Other moments are enjoyable, but oddly hollow.

"Venus And Mars"
A prototypical McCartney record -- brilliant and fun in places, it's also larded with utter garbage. The brilliant stuff starts with the title track, its reprise in particular, which ends with a lysergic vocal tag that fucking shimmers with a Wilsonian grace. In addition, the eastern-tinged "Love In Song" is gorgeous, "Magneto and Titaneum Man" a shuffling blast, and "Listen To What the Man Said" fun. But where "Letting Go" shows Macca embracing 70s rock with gusto, "Rock Show" is fairly plodding arena rock fare expressly designed for the then-upcoming Wings Over America tour. Oh, and there's the first of his "Old people make me sad" songs. Still, significantly more good than bad.

"Wings At The Speed Of Sound"
Totally disagree with Geir here, because "Let 'Em In" might be the quintessential McCartney single -- in addition to a sharp lyric and sticky tune, the unrelenting piano ostinato and revolutionary war piccolo riff are weird to the point of obsessive. What's the best fuck you to critics in history? An easy listening smash -- "Silly Love Songs". Both tracks are just fucking subversive. Other than these and the startling ballad "Warm And Beautiful", things are thin -- "The Note You Never Wrote" would be great if it were McCartney not Denny singing, "Beware My Love" seems like it should be better than it is, and the otherwise snappy "She's My Baby" errs in repeating "Moppin' it up!" a bit too much -- ick. The idea of letting the band chime in was...not good.

I'll get to the rest in a few...

"Back To the Egg"
Though its quasi-conceptual ambitions are far from fully realized, this is probably the best Wings record. He just does everything here--Armed Forces-era Elvis C. ("Getting Closer"), Aja-era Steely Dan ("Arrow Through Me"), Ray Charles ("After the Ball")--and his voice never sounded better. Even the failures are interesting (in theory, anyway), particularly his rock orchestra experiment ("Rockestra" which includes the likes of Pete Townshend and John Paul Jones), as well as the two impressionistic medleys on side two. Another favorite amongst McCartney fanatics and for good reason.

"McCartney II"
Where the first McCartney record embraced a rustic back-to-basics approach, the second volume reflected the advancement of the DIY aesthetic he had unknowingly midwifed. A decade before, Emmitt Rhodes had mimicked McCartney's go-it-alone approach and sound; by 1980, synthesizers were beginning to make possible albums that were truly "solo," from Eno to post-punk to Steve Winwood, whose Arc of a Diver would take its cue from this record in proving that an artist could make a complete pop statement (however minor) all by his lonesome.

Continuing the experimental tack of Egg, McCartney II reflects an awareness of these developments and includes at least four McCartney classics -- the snappy "Coming Up", the melancholy (and bizarre) "Waterfalls", the Eno-flavored "Summer's Day Song" and haunting ballad "One Of These Days". For all the excitement surround the experiments that work, the record also has a collection of interesting-to-mediocre synth instrumentals and aimless drum box jams that don't, making it clear he had an affinity for some DIY developments and merely an interest in others.

Gotta go to bed. I'll try to do "Tug of War", "Press To Play" and "Flowers In the Dirt McGirt" tomorrow...

"Pipes of Peace"
I don't really know it, and what I've heard hasn't really inspired me to pick it up.

"Press To Play"
Ah, the sleeper in his catalogue. The concept was simple: Paul McCartney does mid-80s synth rock a la Genesis and Phil Collins — a terrible idea that ultimately sold like crap. But clearly McCartney heard something symphonic in the production of those records, so he the man responsible for them, Hugh Padgham. Assembling a veritable who's who of the scene (including Collins, SNL saxman Lenny Pickett, Pete Townshend, as well as arrangers Tony Visconti and Art of Noise orchestrator Anne Dudley), writing a patch of tracks with 10cc's Eric Stewart, he set about making his Invisible Touch.

And in truth, unlike Tug of War, most of it works, though in a dated kind of way. "Good Times Comin'/Feel the Sun" bristles with energy and "Only Love Remains" is a solid McCartney piano ballad, while "Press" (about pleasuring his wife) and "Talk More Talk" show Paul excelling at pre-sequenced synth textures. Still, it's the tracks with Stewart that shine brightest; "Stranglehold" and "Footprints" are an ebbulient rocker and haunting atmospheric ballad respectively, but "However Absurd", with its helium bridge and pounding metallic piano, is stunning. There are misfires—the quasi-aboriginal "Pretty Little Head", the pointless "Angry"—but as genre exercises go, the record is fairly brilliant.

"Flowers In The Dirt"
Where Press To Play felt inspired, this feels a bit aimless, as if he didn't know what he wanted to do exactly. Apart from the brilliant Irish gospel of "That Day Is Done", the much-heralded Costello collaborations are overhyped, while those with Trevor Horn are outright disappointing. Plus, several tracks employ plodding arena rock productions that ruin the material. Still, there are moments where McCartney's songwriting shines through: the ebbulient "This One" has a sharp tune, "Put It There" is a charming ode to fatherhood, and "My Brave Face" almost transcends its overproduction. But it's all over the place, and not in a good way.

Beyond that, I don't really know any of his 90s records more than to say "Off the Ground" sounded fairly dreadful, "Flaming Pie" flat and "Driving Rain"...okay. I still haven't quite given up on him, though.

"However Absurd", with its helium bridge and pounding metallic piano, is stunning

This doesn't:

"Press" (about pleasuring his wife)

"Some say he was best with the Beatles" - classic

you maniac

Did he let her?

that one's a search, definitely

Must say, the song seems rather excellent, as if he really has upped his game. A more frenetic "Let 'Em In" for these times; typically McCartneyesque, yet with more intensity than he's had for decades. Fantastic ominous piano part... This is without question looks likely to be his finest album since "Tug of War".

I'd rather call it Badfinger-like powerpop. Which is a good thing.

Generally McCartney solo is at his best with a perfect and polished production, and at his worst when he overdoes his "do it yourself" aesthetic.

McCartney II [Columbia, 1980]
Paulie's 1970 DIY sounded homemade--its unfinished musings intimated an appealingly modest freedom. This one was recorded on a sixteen-track with an engineer in attendance. The instrumentals are doodles, the songs demos by a man who scores the occasional hit only to prove he's genius. Which he isn't. C

Matthew you omitted major non-album singles

1971-85 only:

Yes: "Hi Hi Hi," "Live and Let Die," "I Lie Around," "Country Dreamer," "Junior's Farm," "Mull of Kintyre," "Daytime Nighttime Suffering," "Coming Up (live at Glasgow)," "I'll Give You a Ring," "My Carnival."

Ehh: "Another Day," "Little Woman Love," "C Moon," "Sally G," "Girls School," "Goodnight Tonight," "Lunch Box/Odd Sox," "Rainclouds," "Spies Like Us."

Nae: "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "The Mess," "Zoo Gang."

Not me. I think he was at a low ebb compositionally on that album and the album before.

For the fan, his discography is rich with oddities, one-offs, half-baked experiments, overly self-conscious experiments, fully successful experiments, frankly brilliant fusions, unexpected detours, really expected detours, shockingly good rockers, embarassingly boneheaded rockers, sappy ballads, crappy ballads, convincing instant-classic ballads, odes to mooses that use Morse Code, and "The cat in the satin trousers said it's oily." The guy is a one-man landscape of gut pop instincts crossed with idiosyncratic overthought left turns. And if you're satisfied by swingin' tunes and enthusiasm there's so, so, so much to love.

Since his albums have been pretty well-discussed here, let me give a heads-up to a few of his many, MANY unreleased gems and uncollected b-sides. In the category of rockers (whether of the pop, stomp, or 'blooze' variety) there's "Oh Woman Oh Why," ("Oh Darling" done right) "Girls' School," "A Love For You" (tho it goes on too long), "Rode All Night" (ditto), "Daytime Nighttime Suffering," "I'll Give You A Ring," "Back on My Feet" (really dated but great), "Cage" (love the calliope!), "Soily"....etc, etc, etc.....

Ballads: "Suicide" (fragmentary though it is), "Lindiana" (don't mind the awful title), "Love Come Tumbling Down," "My Little Koala Bear," (!!!), "Tragedy" (I think this is a cover),

For weird experiments etc, go for "Boil Crisis," followed immediately by "Waterspout," then "Robber's Ball," then all the unused McCartney II stuff, especially "Secret Friend" and "Mr. H Atom." The unused dancey stuff from the mid-80s is mostly dire (eg "PS Love Me Do") but there are some interesting diversions - "Atlantic Ocean" and "Ou Est Le Soleil" for example. At this point we're starting to get into stuff that's enjoyable mainly for how it adds to the "the man's insane" portrait: "B-Side To Seaside," "Little Woman Love," "Big Boys Bickering," and on and on....

Paul McCartney: Tug Of War

TS: Paul McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" vs "Press to Play"

http://www.discogs.com/image/R-236705-1156668016.jpeg

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?what=R&obid=236705

the new one has leaked (not a very good rip though)...first listen shows it as pretty schlocky and overproduced, but it might be good, can't tell. it's not anything like Chaos and Creation though

If some people consider it "overproduced", it sounds good. Generally, I find that none of his albums are overproduced, but way too many of them are underproduced.

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well the tunes aren't very good either

"Mama's Little Girl", a bonus track from "Wild Life" is underrated. It would stack up easily next to McCartney's best song on the White Album. Beautiful, creepy harmonies- perfect for some corny movie soundtrack...

"Wild Life", as an album, actually isn't that bad. At least it's interesting, compared to some of his stuff from the last twenty years. (Driving Rain, Off the Ground, etc.)

so I thought his catalogue was gonna be on iTunes?!?

I thought I'd read originally that they were going to be on iTunes on May, 22nd, but after re-reading the May 15th press release it says "later in the month". So next Tuesday maybe?

Press to Play just showed up on iTunes, but that's it. I'm assuming they're going to use the slow drip method of putting his catalog up.

Press to play? Be still my beating lamp-post.

the whole catalog is available at pretty much every service except itunes.

JUST TELL ME TO PRESS

it's all going up next week, itunes is still setting up it's DRM-less deal, apparently.

Actually, looks like it's all up now, with the curious exception of Ram.

Half of the new album is wonderful, half of it is Macca trying too hard. At least he's trying, but there's some embarrassing stuff...

Also missing: Wings At the Speed of Sound, Wings Over America.

btw, there's a massive profile article on him in this week's New Yorker.

Yes, it was very well done I thought. It's not online, but there's this

http://www.newyorker.com/images/2007/06/04/070604_meetingabeatle.mp3

Actually, looks like it's all up now, with the curious exception of Ram.

And thus, prolly, no Thrillington either?

that new video with mckenzie crook, ghosts - WTF ?

Wings over America and London Town now up!

"vintage clothes"

This was aimed at you, Tim, my love.

love you, alfred!

The New Yorker interview is an excellent piece of writing. Lots of talk about death & loss and very little re: the new album itself, with Paul doing a lot of reminiscing throughout.

YEAH FUCKING DIE ALREADY YOU BLOATED, ARROGANT SHITFACE. god i hate paul mccartney.

http://g8.undercoverhd.com/imgsresized/article/060716paulmccartney05.jpg
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/5154/rickygervaisvr7.jpg

another poster on this board and I were walking down the street and I said 'I'm really looking forward to the new album' and he says he says 'I hate that new mandolin song' and I say 'I actually like it more than anything on the last album' and he pauses for a moment and turns around and screams 'ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?'

Taking sides: Mandolin vs. maudolin

OK. Got the album today. Nice enough at times, but obviously not even close to the greatness of "Chaos & Creation In The Backyard". Sadly, McCartney hardly ever manages to release two really great solo albums in a row, "Band On The Run"/"Venus And Mars" being the only exception.

And, btw. I hate - H A T E - the coverart concept!!!!

(Outta the two finger-pointerers photopicturecopied 'lightly upthread, the upper one's still the smarterer and the downlower's still merely an arsenist. Here's hoping the latter will never be arsed to release any music recordings. Sorry, just saying.)

does anyone love 'Maybe I'm Amazed'? Really, any views on that piano-driven ballad?

I do, in its original version.

I pretty much love both the original and the Twin Freaks version, but in a distant kind of way where I'm not really putting much into the relationship.

I like when The Faces do it and somebody, maybe Ron Wood, says something like "It's a lovely tune and if you don't know it, you should know it. Know the tune!"

like it a lot.

So, anyroad, the "memory" was given away 2 weeks ago w/ Mailonsunday.

Still haven't actually played it yet.

Know the tune!

don't know Twin Freaks (?) though there is a decent enough version on Macca's US tour live LP from ... 2005 (?)

he really goes to town on the sawdust vocal doesn't he (on the original) - perhaps to excess? it's odd how the sensitive ballad thing is combined with that rock show frenzy, in Macca.

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a beautiful song, and nobody can deny that. But I am not a fan of the way he sings on it. It would have benefited more from the more controlled singing style he used on songs like "Yesterday", "And I Love Her", "Michelle" and the first half of "Hey Jude".

The "Wings over America" version instead then?

I think Geir could be correct!

looks like new firemen coming up:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20081001/ten-uk-mccartney-5fdf947.html

The second Fireman, 'Rushes', was pretty good I think.

I am a big fan of the totally weird new wave experiments in Paul McCartney II. Especially the songs "Temporary Secretary" and "Darkroom".

If you haven't heard these, they will shock you.

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a beautiful song, and nobody can deny that. But I am not a fan of the way he sings on it. It would have benefited more from the more controlled singing style he used on songs like "Yesterday", "And I Love Her", "Michelle" and the first half of "Hey Jude".

This is a completely retarded statement.

Beatles >>>> McCartney solo > Wings

And btw. I stand by the above statement. I dislike exaggerated show of emotion, and part of what I like most about McCartney is when he does NOT sing in his "gospel" or "rock'n'roll shouter" voice.

Yeah, but there's a huge difference between the extremely over the top "Get On the Right Thing" and "Maybe I'm Amazed." Yes, there's the way he sings the "loud" verse -- I think that part is pretty incredible myself, but people may feel differently.

But the fact that he sings the first few verses with an open throat instead of softly and mostly in his head way, way, WAY makes the song as emotional as it is. This isn't Whitney's "I Will Always Love You" where you're supposed to be impressed by your hi-fi's remarkable dynamic range -- it's a paean to your wife who pretty much saved you from going insane, and you don't whisper that shit.

not being a huge fan of mac's "gritty" vocal style myself, I can side w/geir here (also note, when eric carmen does this in raspberries songs, i begin to hate p-mac more). but also *love* the regular verse vocals NTI is talking about -- see also his singing in "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window", or "I've Got a Feeling" (which also skirts the line between corny soul-emoting and smoother, perhaps more vulnerable sounding singing)

Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight is ... good.

what about the last Macca LP? I like the song 'My Ever Present Past'.

I would say he hasn't made a really weak normal solo album since "Pipes Of Peace". "Press To Play" was patchy, but in places very good. "Flowers In The Dirty" was excellent, no less. "Off The Ground" was a bit more patchy, but still a nice overall listen. "Flaming Pie" may not have been quote the return to form some claimed, but still a good album. "Driving Rain" is perhaps the weakest of this lot, but still with some pretty strong moments such as the title track. "Chaos & Creation In The Backyard" was his best since "Tug Of War" and his second best solo effort overall, whereas the most recent one was also a good album where the main weakness had more to do with compression than with the actual material.

Listening again to 'maybe I'm amazed' - very strong guitar presence in this song, hacking and chugging along under verses. And all these solos breaking the song up!

"Ever Present Past" is really nice. Sounds like a lost Wasp Star track.

McCartney solo is even worse than Bob Segar, and that's saying something. At least some Bob Segar songs have a memorable tune, even if they reek of shit and truck stops.

Bob Seger has obviously never come close to such fantastically beautiful tunes as "Only Love Remains", "Maybe I'm Amazed", "My Love", "Bluebird", "Venus And Mars", "Love In Song", "Once Upon a Long Ago", "No More Lonely Nights", "Tug Of War", "Someone Who Cares", "C'mon People", "Distractions", "Golden Earth Girl", "A Certain Softness", "At The Mercy", "Riding To vanity Fair" and "Anyway". All of them perfect schoolbook examples of how melodic pop ballads should be written. (And now I have only mentioned his solo songs - "Here There And Everywhere", "Michelle", "Golden Slumbers", "And I Love Her" and "Yesterday" are even better and all among the best pieces of music that have ever been made regardless of genre or time or age!)

Some of those are indeed magnificent and peerless tunes.

So is 'I Will'.

Who wrote 'If I Fell'? I admire that melody immensely, and have never been able to work out how the opening relates, musically, to the main body of the song.

Lennon has always claimed credit.

1st 2 mccartney solo lps r so classique

Ou Est Le Soliel is cool in a b*l**r*c way.

yah of course i love you baby... in a "balearic" way

i'm not talking about beatles songs though; those were written, I suspect, by an entirely different person-- one who died in a car accident and was replaced by government agents who had "already factored him into [their] equation for a cultural values shift."

(hear the full story of Paul McCartney's doppelganger on this brilliant record that details this conspiracy!-- seriously, i love this song!)
http://www.archive.org/details/TeenageReverseMindsOnFire-BadwrongFalsepaul

Paul>>>Falsepaul>>>Oldpaul>>>Ringo.

Who wrote 'If I Fell'?

The general rule of thumb is if John sings lead vocal, John wrote it, if Paul sings lead vocal, Paul wrote it.

The excellent book "Beatlesongs" details exactly who did what on all Beatles recordings, and breaks down songwriting credits into percentages.

but I don't have that song and don't know who sings it; don't they both sing different parts?

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is pretty much the only non-dud moment in all of post-beatles Macca.

The excellent book "Beatlesongs" details exactly who did what on all Beatles recordings, and breaks down songwriting credits into percentages.

...according the best guess of the book's author.

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is pretty much the only non-dud moment in all of post-beatles Macca.

His entire solo output consists of 70 per cent classics and 30 per cent duds (unlike his Beatles output, which was 99% classics and 1% duds)

Anyone who argues that "Maybe I'm Amazed" is the only good solo Macca song has clearly not heard more than 5 or 10 solo Macca songs.

...according the best guess of the book's author.

Right, but he sort of triangulates his assessments based on quotes, studio notes, recollections, etc. It's very well done, and I trust it to be pretty accurate. On the song "In My Life" which was just one of two songs that John and Paul both had strong disagreements about who wrote (I don't remember what the other song was, though I don't remember it being 'If I Fell'), the author determined (accurately, in my opinion) that it was largely John's song and Paul only had a hand in a few lines; this was despite Paul's numerous protests about it.

Anyone who argues that "Maybe I'm Amazed" is the only good solo Macca song has clearly not heard more than 5 or 10 solo Macca songs.

:facepalm:

Anyone who argues that "Maybe I'm Amazed" is the only good solo Macca song has clearly not heard more than 5 or 10 solo Macca songs.

Maybe he's got a few decent ones, but they just don't have the power or presence of the Beatles songs. They could have been written by any AM radio jerkoff. Nothing I've heard-- and I've heard a lot-- suggests to me that he's an entity worth investigating, except that he has an extraordinary past. But that's not reflected in his solo career hardly at all IMHO.

McCartney solo hasn't got the quality control that he did in The Beatles, when John would ridicule anything that didn't hold up. But when he comes up with something great, it is still great. At his best, McCartney is at least almost as good as he was in The Beatles. It is his worst moments that are much worse now.

His solo ballads definitely couldn't be written by any "AM radio jerkoff". Most professional songwriters haven't got the musical gift to write the kind of ballads he does, with the perfect variation between major and minor and other harmonically intersting elements. The only other writer I know that is able to combine major and minor in the same perfect way is Neil Finn.

What do you mean by 'major and minor'? Chords? Keys?

I remain forever in Naive Teen Idol's debt for introducing me to Press To Play.

What do you mean by 'major and minor'? Chords? Keys?

He is almost certainly referring to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

What do you mean by 'major and minor'? Chords? Keys?

A bit of both, but, like Neil Finn, he actually does the chord changes in such a way that it feels like key changes. And changing between major and minor is always a great thing to do when you compose a ballad. It works every time!

one thing I always notice is that Paul McCartney was such a creative and brilliant bassist from '66 to '69 or so, and then suddenly after that I don't find his bass work all that remarkable.

The only thing I notice about his bass playing is that his bass is way too loud in the mix. Particularly on "Abbey Road" and his first couple of solo albums.

A fantastically beautiful song, which is probably his most underated solo work of all:

(And a perfect example of the interplay between major key and minor key that Macca is so good at when he is at his best. Particularly the "Only Love Is Strong Enough" bridge is fantastic)

huh. that song sounds like schlocky by-the-numbers McCartney to my ears. go figure.

That's because you are tone deaf then. It is all about harmony!

That clip doesn't have any sound on it!

I have found the song on last.fm. It sounds pretty good.

One thought about this song: if some kind of reasonably hip contemporary artist released it, it would blow people away. ... I have just been listening to Sufjan Stevens which a friend gave me from his hard drive. I guess it shows some talent, ambition, at least a couple of good tracks (out of a lot!) - but imagine if he suddenly came up with this!

I like "Only Love Remains" and its chord changes -- but it's "A McCartney Ballad" for sure and, thus, for fans almost to the exclusion of anyone who's not.

For me, the song on Press To Play that challenges what people normally think of when McCartney comes to mind is "However Absurd." It's a "ballad," I guess, but the lyrical imagery is weird, the production metallic and processed, and the bridge is arresting. Maybe it's Eric Stewart's presence, I dunno.

But really, it's the kind of track that reminds me why I like him solo so much. No, it doesn't have anything on his Beatles work -- but for every "Only Love Remains" on a McCartney album, there are at least three or four cuts that affirm the guy's drive to experiment.

(unlike his Beatles output, which was 99% classics and 1% duds)

Complete guesswork, but I'm going to take a stab at Geir Hongro's 1% Macca duds:

1.) "I'm Down"
2.) "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
3.) "Helter Skelter"
4.) "Get Back"
5.) Last half of "Hey Jude"
6.) "She's A Woman"

I've a friend who detests McCartney yet thinks "Only Love Remains" is one of the greatest ballads ever.

For me, the song on Press To Play that challenges what people normally think of when McCartney comes to mind is "However Absurd." It's a "ballad," I guess, but the lyrical imagery is weird, the production metallic and processed, and the bridge is arresting. Maybe it's Eric Stewart's presence, I dunno.

But really, it's the kind of track that reminds me why I like him solo so much. No, it doesn't have anything on his Beatles work -- but for every "Only Love Remains" on a McCartney album, there are at least three or four cuts that affirm the guy's drive to experiment.

I prefer his usual style, but he experimented in The Beatles and I'm perfectly OK with him trying out various stuff as a soloist too. It's just that I feel that it is exactly when he experiments that he doesn't have the quality control he would need. As long as he does on just a few tracks it doesn't matter though - I prefer the patchiness of "McCartney II", "Press To Play" and "Driving Rain" to the downright dullness of "Pipes Of Peace".

I've a friend who detests McCartney yet thinks "Only Love Remains" is one of the greatest ballads ever.

This is stranger because, as Naive Teen Idol says, it is a very typical McCartney ballad. And if you like "Only Love Remains" I cannot quite see how you wouldn't like "Golden Slumbers", "Michelle", "Here There & Everywhere" or even "Once Upon a Long Ago". I know some of those who detest him may do because of his most extremely twee stuff like "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "When I'm 64" and "Honey Pie" though.

1.) "I'm Down"
2.) "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
3.) "Helter Skelter"
4.) "Get Back"
5.) Last half of "Hey Jude"
6.) "She's A Woman"

Bingo! Except the order would be another one. :)

Ringo! Have you heard he quit singing :)

There's quite a lot of relatively tedious bluesy stuff on very late Beatles / Let It Be sort of period, isn't there? I would have thought Mr Hongro might be against that too.

Yeah, "Oh Darling" is missing from that list for sure. I don't mind some of that stuff, but I agree with "relatively tedious" - if they had kept on going as a band I think that period would stand out more as a kind of weird genre digression - one very much in line with general trends in the period - whereas, since it lined up with them trailing off, it just becomes part of the melange of "classic rock"...

Most of that blues stuff wasn't Paul's. If anything, he got even more tin pan alleyish.

Well, except for the triumvirate guitar solos on "the end".

Yeah, "Oh Darling" is missing from that list for sure

"Oh Darling" is R&B influenced but also has other elements, like more chord changes, for instance. It is more like the early stuff than like his most blatant rock'n'roll numbers, really.

i bought the bowl of cherries one recently, it's pretty nice....the sort of record they call "slight" i guess, but still it's jaunty.

He got more Tin Pan Alleyish? Examples?? I wanna hear them.

I guess McCartney's most blatantly Tin Pan Alleyish number must be "Baby's Request".

The never-finished "Suicide" has the appropriate jauntiness as well.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/21/fireman-electric-arguments

apprently not his finest hour.

Not his finest, but it's OK. Quality-wise, it is more on level with "Driving Rain" and "Off The Ground" than with "Chaos And Creation In The Backyard" though.

It'd pretty good, I dont' think it's of the level of "chaos" or the last album, on the whole, but it's also not meant to be the same kind of thing. It's not McCartney II either, but for a late-career experimental album, something you wouldn't even expect him to do at this point, it succeeds.

but that review is completely off base and nothing to go by

He'll never match the greatness of "Temporary Secretary" again. And I am not being sarcastic.

"Temporary Secretary" isn't even the best song on that SIDE of that album!!

Oh damn, I thought I wouldn't let myself be tempted, argh...

Well most of the best and brilliant-est songs on that alb are on Side 1 anyway. The soapsuds and dandruff are mostly on the other side. ("Summer Day's Song" is super, tho.)

"McCartney II" isn't even particularly good. And "Temporary Secretary" surely not. Just using synths isn't enough to impress - they have to be used on a good song too.

lol something Geir and Alex can agree on

pfft geir you are wrong

McCartney II is a very accomplished piece of experimentation, being produced (as it was) in 1979-80. Yes he makes a load of noise about doing it all himself, but he's always done that.

Rockestra w/ Bonham:

What a woeful helicopter smash of an album. How it's Fireman and not Macca being 100% self-indulgent is fathoms beyond my reach.

Armed with this thread's contents I made a best of post-Beatles playlist on Spotify (sorry to those shut out of Spotify):

http://open.spotify.com/user/nickyd/playlist/40YtLVuiEtdisxLcaqhHt1

And then I whittled it down further to stuff I actually liked:

http://open.spotify.com/user/nickyd/playlist/7Ctxim1T5TslHsVGg09feX

(can't stop listening to Back Seat Of My Car at the moment.

Where is Pinefox when you need him?

Paul McCartney is one of those artists that I bet there's a potential CD-R or two's worth of stuff I would absolutely adore - really he needs to be a lot more obscure than he is, so some loving curator could trawl through his albums and B-Sides and make some selections. As it is his commercial/historical clout means the available compilations take the path of least resistance a bit too much.
― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 13 February 2003

"Every Night" from the first solo album is an idyll of a song, very "Railways Conserve The Environment" 1970 (as opposed to, you know, RADICAL 1970) indeed. I'd have liked it if he'd written "Come And Get It" slightly later so it could be his first solo single, because it's better than "Another Day", or if he'd written it slightly earlier so it could be a Beatles single, because it's better than "Hello Goodbye". The promo film for "Helen Wheels" is fantastically evocative. "Hi Hi Hi" is better than "My Ding-A-Ling" precisely because it *isn't* "in the tradition of the music hall" (the hilarious reason given by the ultra-conservative Charles Curran-era BBC as to why it was still playing Chuck Berry's lowpoint when it had banned the Wings song in December 1972).

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Monday, 17 February 2003

I'm listening to Macca on spotify, maybe I can play N's playlist.

I'm not sure though, how those playlists work.

I am just listening to RAM.

you shld be able to just click on the link and it shld open the playlist

Listening to that playlist: whatever else about it, it reminds me of the greatness of 'You Gave Me The Answer'

still on N's playlist; 'Jenny Wren'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHz_7e7yluM

...hard not to admire that! Love love love the song, beyond all rational justification - so much flourish and energy put into this goofy little idea!

May have linked this before, but: http://www.ummagurau.com/art/doctorcasino/magneto09.mp3 is an unfinished homemade cover of the song from my extremely unfinished (ie, never to be even halfway done) double album of Paul McCartney covers.

current fave solo pmac: "let 'em in"

gotta give a shout out to "little lamb dragonfly".
doctor casino, good to know someone else has been working on the same project as i am! so far all i've got is spot-on versions of "c moon" and "some people never know".

Yeah, Let 'Em In is fantastic! I mean who writes a song like that, such a ridiculous, drug-addled concept for a song. Musically, it's all so regimented with everything in its right place. I guess I'm having trouble describing what's so great and strange about it, but it's a very odd number. Sonic candy about nothing, which I guess sums up Wings pretty well. And it reached #3 here in the States!

x-post

i had this exact thought: "who writes songs like this?" So simple, so addictive. The piano/drums/one note bass line doesn't really even sound like a mccartney tune, until he starts singing, and it all fits together so perfectly. And like a lot of his songs, I have no desire to know what he's talking about, or what any of the lyrics might actually mean.

it is about a doorbell and that is all

McCartney's songs-about-nothing or songs-about-stuff ethos (doorbells, lambs, etc) was perfect for the seventies, no?

Paul McCartney >> Wings

yeah heard 'let em in' (for the first time i think) at dinner the other night with the girl and we were both kinda really into it. maybe i should check a wings rec?

how the hell have I never heard Magneto and Titanium Man

Those mid seventies Wings albums have some good stuff but they defy categorization.

NY Times' Pareles likes the 2 1/2 hour Yankee Stadium gig

At 69, Mr. McCartney is not saying goodbye but touring stadiums and playing marathon concerts. Friday’s set ran two and a half hours, with Mr. McCartney constantly onstage, and it had 35 songs, not counting a few additional excerpts. He played half a dozen instruments (though he didn’t show off his drumming), sang with only a few scrapes in the voice that’s familiar worldwide, and looked as if he was having a boyish romp as he navigated what endure as some of rock’s oddest hits. His hair grew more tousled with every song.

The set drew on Mr. McCartney’s various outlets from the 1960s on: the Beatles, Wings, his solo albums and his once-pseudonymous project the Fireman.

Though he also notes:

There was more than a little familiarity to the concert for anyone who attended Mr. McCartney’s 2009 shows at that other new ballpark, the Mets’ Citi Field, or listened to and watched the resulting live album of CDs and a DVD, “Good Evening New York City” (Hear Music). Once again he wore suspenders over his white shirt. His band lineup hasn’t changed, with Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, Brian Ray and Rusty Anderson on guitars and Paul (Wix) Wickens on keyboards. Two-thirds of the songs were the same, often in similar groupings and with the same arrangements and first-time surprises, like appending Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” to “Let Me Roll It,” or segueing “A Day in the Life” into “Give Peace a Chance” — a V-sign waving epiphany for the crowd — or explaining that the civil-rights movement inspired “Blackbird.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/arts/music/paul-mccartney-yankee-stadium-concert-review.html?src=recg

Did "Maybe I am Amazed" too

Aw...no birthday wishes on his 70th! My favourite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbKGsEK_T9g

https://twitter.com/SPINmagazine/status/214834929417199616

I shouldn't admit this, but I find all the Facebook posts kind of moving.

https://www.facebook.com/PaulMcCartney?ref=ts

I find I've Just Seen A Face kind of moving. How marvellous it would've been to be a Beatle.

For me, the greatest smitten-at-first-sight song ever written. I always like to think it's about Linda, although chances are it's not. (It started off with a different title, for one thing.) Extremely moving. "I have missed things and kept out of sight."

I don't normally listen to their (pre-1966?) romantic songs and hear literal inspirations - though they must be there. But I know what a joy it is to make songs, and it would be great to make something near as good as the basic song of I've Just Seen A Face. And then, if I had pals around to add that needlessly amazing intro, it would be my best ever day. They had many such days. The line you quoted is terrific.

Enjoyed Paul McCartney's 2 hrs and 45 minute gig Friday night at the Washington Nationals Ballpark. Yes, I now see via google that the story he told about Jimi Hendrix covering Sgt. Pepper and Jimi asking Eric Clapton to tune his guitar, he told before in 2009 and maybe other times. Still liked his instrumental cover of "Foxy Lady" even if his current band are pretty generic. Still enjoyed his other stories even if he has told them before, plus his goofy dancing and arm-waving.Yes, I know his setlist for this tour never changes much.
His bass-playing, guitar-playing, piano and organ-playing all were pretty good-- and that voice of course. "Paperback Writer" and others still sounded great.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/paul-mccartney/2013/nationals-park-washington-dc-7bd956d4.html

what'd he play organ on?

btw I'd love a list of solo electric guitar greatest hits besides the obvious choices. Unless the album credits say otherwise, I tend to credit Denny Laine or whatever other Wingman.

I just wish he'd tell more stories about, y'know, his post-Beatles songs...

Are you sure.../!

He did talk about going on vacation with his current wife and it was raining the whole time, but she was wonderful and he wrote "My Valentine" for her. He has told this one before too:

http://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/my-valentine/

x-post-- Hmmm, maybe that wasn't an organ but just a smaller piano. I was far away, and it was turned in such a direction that it was hard to see and the sound wasn't the best. He had a baby grand up there as well, that was bigger. Saw one review mentioning two pianos, and others did not address this. But he has played organ in the studio

I had a couple of friends at that show. One of them took his oldest son (age 9), making it his very first rock concert.

He also had a friend (stadium employee?) grab him an actual setlist off the stage:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1069998_10151812003280337_557449061_n.jpg

"Junior's Farm"!

Yep.

x-post

Nice. Yes, a fair amount of kids there. Plus it seemed lots of folks for whom it was likely their first concert in a long while

wow he does 1985 and Mrs Vandebilt these days? pretty cool, suprising.

Yeah, was stoked to see those in there! Did he do like a "play through all of Band on the Run" set a few years back? Could imagine that kind of kicking those into the rotation. Had "Mrs Vandebilt" stuck in my head the other night while biking up one Vanderbilt Avenue.

Did he ever do a "play through all of Band on the Run" set?

Did not know these details about the recording of that album in Nigeria-- http://www.ibtimes.com/band-run-40-years-ago-paul-mccartney-saved-his-career-album-made-under-duress-nigeria-1346223

I may have just imagined that set! Seems like the kind of thing that could have happened, is all. The making-of that album is so nuts, really points up this thing of "how come Wings stories never get told," that one is out there but I know absolutely zip about the making of most of the other records.

London Town was recorded on a boat.

That's all I got.

PR emil I just got:

GOING UNDERGROUND
Paul McCartney, the Beatles, and the UK Counter-Culture
Coming to DVD on October 1st

In the mid-1960s the often rigid and colourless British way of life was irrevocably transformed by the emergence of a cultural underground movement. Led by a loose collective of young radicals, they introduced new social, sexual and aesthetic perspectives. Operating out of the heart of London, their various activities, from 'The International Times' - a bi-weekly journal that no hipster could be seen without - to the psychedelic nightclub UFO, promoted alternative lifestyles and values, and sparked a social revolution

This film not only traces the history of this underground scene, but also explores its impact on the pre-eminent British group of the era, The Beatles. Although they were well established by the time the movement emerged, Paul McCartney in particular, was closely linked with several of its key players, and through his exposure to cutting edge concepts brought ideas directly from the avant-garde into the mainstream.

Featuring many new interviews with key players from the time including; IT editor and long term friend of Paul McCartney, Barry Miles; founder of IT and UFO club organiser, John 'Hoppy' Hopkins; founder of UFO and Pink Floyd producer , Joe Boyd; Soft Machine drummer, Robert Wyatt; drummer from experimental improvisational collective AMM, Eddie Prevost; proprietor of Indica, the counter-cultural gallery, John Dunbar; Underground scenester, vocalist with The Deviants and IT journalist, Mick Farren; plus author of 'Days in the Life: Voices from the English Underground 1961 - 1971', Jonathon Greene; Beatles expert, Chris Ingham and Mojo jounalist Mark Paytress.

Also includesrare archive footage, photographs from private collections and music from The Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Soft Machine, AMM and others.

Been enjoying "The Alternate London Town" for more than any other proper solo/Wings album.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/kronos-quartet-backs-paul-mccartney-on-yesterday-at-outside-lands-20130810

they streamed '45 minutes' of his set yesterday --- which turned into 20 min because they were late adding the stream. What I saw was pretty ace. Bummed that they could do the whole 3 hours when it happened :(

decided to finally go in search of a few solo/Wings albums, I resisted for a long time but I'm down for it now

yeahhhhhhhhh!

right there
that's it
YES

i started easy, with Band on The Run :D

but I will investigate some of the others on spotify and report my findings

red rose speedway

i was gonna suggest you go venus & mars -> ram -> band on the run -> mccartney I & II, and then just jump around from there based on whims and how much you tolerate the big hit from whatever record. i probably underrate band on the run though just cuz it got held up for so long as the 'one masterpiece' or whatever he had after the beatles, his plastic ono band/imagine and i don't think it's anywhere near that good, esp since during this time ram and mccartney II were usually dismissed.

i almost got Ram as well as Band on the Run, but funds did not allow it at that specific moment :/

but from the little bit of reading I was doing, I was v curious to check out Ram, McCartney 1 & II, and maybe if I can work up to it, Press To Play and Memory Almost Full but it might be a while before I 'm ready for those...gotta prime my ears for later-period macca

start with back to the egg

There was a time in the recent past when you could get Memory Almost Full for a couple bucks used or just a tad more for a remaindered new copy.

start with back to the egg, wait ten years, listen to back to the egg again, wait five years, then you can listen to band on the run

you are not the boss of me zachlyon

back to the egg, the departure point

mccartney section was half-full of copies of Kisses on the Bottom

which I don't care if all of you said it was great, no one should have to listen to an album with that title srsly wtf Macca

not that any of you did, just saying IF that was the case

this will draw mockery, perhaps deserved, but that valentine song he played on snl sounded pretty great imo, way better than i would've imagine his rod stewart/linda rondstadt with strings! move ever would've.

That is a great title, damn you MCartney (Back to the Egg is VVVV good, btw, mostly awesome even. Ram is even better. Chaos and Creation is better than I expected)

live a little, be a gypsy, get around, get around, get your feet up off the ground, live a little, get around

Ram is indeed the best album - - - so it's kind of good that, as balls hints, BotR is 'only' a pretty-darn-good poppy rock album, short but hooky and fun... so then you get in through that and still get to enjoy delving in and discovering the greatness of Ram. No clue how BotR ever became THE album - maybe just that it's so impeccably produced and structured, like Tug of War very deliberately going for what will "feel" like a complete Album, down to the little reprise of the opening track at the end. I still enjoy the hell out of it but the run of RRS, BotR and Venus & Mars is really the apex of Macca as craftsman/showman with nothing to actually say. Most nights, that's enough for me and I'll take all three over most of Lennon's warbly, moldy-sounding records.

Basically VG I think you've chosen wisely. Soak up BotR and see where you feel like exploring from there. As far as Wings stuff goes, I'd say you can wait longest on Wild Life, Speed of Sound, and London Town.

As far as Wings stuff goes, I'd say you can wait longest on Wild Life, Speed of Sound, and London Town.

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, August 13, 2013 4:51 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yup, I second this. And for his non-Wings stuff, I'd say you could wait the longest on Pipes Of Peace and Off The Ground.

And christ, miss out the Give My Regards To Broad Street soundtrack album completely, I'd say. Apart from 'No More Lonely Nights', which is grade A McCartney as far as I'm concerned.

off the ground is possibly the worst album ever and the thought of it makes me barf

give my regards to broad street is great don't listen to him! it was definitely my favorite movie at age 6, which is saying something

It's an album full of inferior re-recordings of Beatles classics, and far from essential versions of stuff that's already on Tug Of War and Pipes Of Peace, though? I guess there's a couple of tracks on there that are exclusive to the soundtrack, but I couldn't say ('No More Lonely Nights' aside) that any of 'em were worth bothering with, myself.

I did a little S&D of tracks from all Wings/McCartney solo LPs in this thread here a while back.

zzzzzzz your opinion means nothing until you've watched the movie as many times as i did when i was 6

zachlyon's musical opinions are bristling with otm. back to the egg is fabulous, and red rose speedway is a masterpiece.

I don't much care for Ram. Too bloody long.

That's because it's Paul's "White Album".

We've already got one of those.

"Do you love me like you know you ought to do" vs. "you become naked"

Turrican, I remember that post! Good stuff.

I love how much love Back to the Egg gets on ILX, it's not an album I'd ever recommend as one of one's first purchases and I think I only acquired it as a teen because I was at a Best Buy, I had decided I was going to buy a McCartney CD, and it was literally all they had. Some great tracks though, and as I've said before the unreleased stuff from that period ("Boil Crisis"!) is great.

Thanks to this thread I listened to "Venus And Mars". Wow.

So you...listened to what the thread said?

talk more talk!

xpost I sure did. For what seems at times to sound like a very stoned, throwaway deal it holds together very well.

I've probably mentioned this before, but back when I had dreams of doing a two-disc Paul McCartney covers album, all I ever completed were versions of "Dear Boy," "I'll Give You A Ring," and "Magneto & Titanium Man." And I think some reallllly scrappy demos of "1882" and "Biker Like An Icon."

It was going to be my masterpiece.

Are the V&M demos worth seeking out? Seems there were quite a few collections of these available on Ye Olde Blogs before the Great Megaupload Fire Of '12.

I guess I never had the Red Rose Speedway with bonus tracks. That live version of The Mess just grabbed me big time. Starts out like a sort of normal retro-rocker, then goes off to some interesting places starting about 1:30 in.

Yeah, I used to really dig that when I first got into that album. "Country Dreamer" is also quite pretty IMO, if lightweight.

Recently picked up a copy of Cold Cuts, the Club Sandwich bootleg of the shelved unreleased-tracks collection. Dunno why I did, given that I've long since assembled all this material in other formats, but it's feeling like pretty choice Macca listening - absolutely nothing essential, but everything sounding kinda good and profoundly McCartney-esque, and sounding just more like an album coming out of the turntable and good speakers than through my disposable early-00's MP3s. Anyhow, the motley assembly of throwaway tracks with no overriding vibe basically makes it sound like most Wings records. Slightly different "My Carnival" than I know from the Venus & Mars CD - more hooting and carrying on by Paul. Otherwise the standouts are naturally "Waterspout" and the lovely "A Love For You," which could have really held Wild Life together with a serious edit. I've always liked "Robber's Ball" for silliness but not as much as I want to like it. Wikipedia has the tracklist if you want to see about tracking these down yourself.

"Cage" – Removed from Back to the Egg at the last minute in favour of "Baby's Request",this song features the chords C-A-G-E as its riff to go along with the cage lyric.

can I lol

haha yeah. perhaps more notable for the, er, calliope solo. i've also always loved the totally incoherent filler lyrics that almost, but don't quite, hang together as an actual plot. "baby's request" slays it hardcore, good choice there and maybe works against the idea that without lennon/martin he had nobody to push back and veto bad ideas. i do kinda like "cage" but it has all the earmarks of a not-very-good idea that got worked on too long by stoned people who later forgot about it.

"Cage" – Removed from Back to the Egg at the last minute in favour of "Baby's Request",this song features the chords C-A-G-E as its riff to go along with the cage lyric.

Where?

http://www.macca-central.com/macca-songs/getchords.php?width=800&height=600&id=219&title=cage&Album=unreleased&composer=Paul_McCartney

Oh, I see it: C Am G Em7... which isn't quite C-A-G-E.

London Town sounding much better to me drunk, and turned up loud, than it ever has before. Love those "MY LOVE!" backing vocals on "Name and Address." Even the songs with "children" in the title are sounding good. Can't wait for my perennial favorite on this one, "Morse Moose."

COME ON DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
TELL ME ARE YOU RECEIVING ME
MY NAME IS MORSE MOOSE, AND I'M CALLIN' YOUU

I've always loved London Town!!! Denny's children songs are killer, Paul's weirdo shit (backwards travelled, morse moose) is killer, the original version of girlfriend, dont let it bring you down, the synths on the extended cut of with a little luck. It all works so well together even though it's a lot more low key than Wings typically is so people pass it over or say it's "trite" or whatever

"Backwards Traveller" is one of the duds for me - just feels a little more effortful than some of the other numbers. "Cafe on the Left Bank" kinda falls in the same slot, though I like the tune. Would like to take a moment to appreciate "Cuff Link," though it's totally a throwaway in this context; it clearly heralds McCartney II and suggests a less "rock" approach they might have taken to those other songs...

loved Deliver Your Children when i was a kid. haven't heard it for a long time.

It's Denny Laine's best contribution to the canon imo

"I'm Carrying" is a pretty classic McCartney ballad.

I've always loved 'Cuff Link' - yeah, it's a bit of a throwaway, but really the only problem that I have with it is that it's too short. I've never really liked 'Don't Let It Bring You Down', 'Deliver Your Children' or 'Name and Address' ... but 'I'm Carrying', 'Cafe On The Left Bank', 'Backwards Traveller', 'With A Little Luck', 'Children Children', 'Girlfriend'... always had time for all of those.

In fact, it tickles me a little that the synth solo on 'With A Little Luck' sounds like the theme tune for Thomas The Tank Engine but a few years ahead, especially given that Ringo was the original narrator for it.

I was actually just thinking this morning that "With a Little Luck" in general sounds very much like it could have made, with a muddier and quainter arrangement, for a great 70s or 80s TV theme tune - especially the "... Just me and you!" part. Thinking of the sound on the Webster theme, maybe.

I like "Name and Address" - nice little pastiche, cool sound IMHO. I do think its enjoyability is inversely proportional to how much you think McCartney is winking to himself about the double entendre of "leave your name and a dress." Oh, what a rascal...

Ha, I'd never picked up on that! I guess it's far preferable to other nudge-nudge-wink-wink McCartney double entendres like, say, Kisses On The Bottom, or that line in 'If You Wanna' from Flaming Pie where he sings in his Elvis quiver "make arrangements for the trip"... like oh my god Paul, you're so edgy, making acid puns in your mid 50's.

is it McCartney playing the synth in "With a Little Luck"?

Well, somebody is.

Ha, I'd never heard "make arrangements for the trip" in that way before, but now I'm sure I'll never be able to shake it. At least it kinda fits that whole album's theme/vibe of trying to, ah, "get back" to a mild, communalist form of 60s counterculturalism. "Flaming Pie" the song is maybe the biggest fail in this regard (though I really liked it at age 16 - it's catchy) with its hopeless attempt to ape Lennon-style absurdity. Paul writes better absurd stuff when he's not trying to be wacky and is really just trying to fill out the rhythm. It's not as dire as "Return to Pepperland," but it's a bit cringey. Whereas I think "The Song We Were Singing" works - it's not trying to be cool, just kinda honestly describing (I think) a dad-ish nostalgia for them good old days.

I've noticed "(getting) back" has been a very common theme throughout McCartney's work, even when he was in The Beatles... whether through pastiches such as 'When I'm Sixty-Four', trying to return The Beatles back to their roots on Get Back/Let It Be, or looking back on The Beatles themselves in his solo work. It's undoubtedly prominent on his last few solo albums.

No discussion so far on the title track of London Town. Thoughts? I think it's a very nice mood setter and I love how it ends unresolved, leaving the rest of the record to follow up on it. I think it's better as a prelude than a stand alone track though

Also if we're talking Flaming Pie I think the song "Somedays" has one of the best orchestral arrangements of any Macca/Beatles tune. The oboe lines playing counterpoint to the vocals on the chorus is just gorgeousness. Great vocal on that track too. Also Calico Skies is a top 10 or 15 all time Macca tune for me

I like "London Town" - very enjoyable melody to sing. Took me a long time to come around to it just from the goofiness of "Upon his foot - toot toot!" and so on. Agreed that it's a really weird choice for a single - such a classic "title opening track" imho. Maybe they were thinking along the lines of "Band on the Run."

I'm not massive on 'London Town' (the track), but 'Somedays' and 'Calico Skies' are two of Paul's best "late period" songs for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e8E6X4kios

the skype emojis thing is so dumb but jesus fucking christ what a joy it is to see him go from the moog to the xylophone to some super metal sounding guitar to the harpsichord just being a genius and having fun.

cool! sounds like Cornelius in a way.

Man, Back to the Egg is such a frustrating album. If you cherry-pick the tracklist it's got the makings of one of his best records, and certainly the last time (save arguably Run Devil Run) that "rocking" seemed remotely like a natural thing for him. "So Glad To See You Here," "Spin It On," "Getting Closer," those are all awesome, and even "Rockestra" for all that it's stupid, at least sounds good. "To You" I find kind of a chore but the "keep it outta my nose" part sounds good. And the chilled-out numbers, "Baby's Request," "Love Awake" and "Arrow Through Me" all have great melodies, great recordings.

But my GOD is the filler on this just garbage! "The Broadcast" is easily the most pointless "interlude" or "link" track he ever recorded, and "After The Ball" is just so clearly marking time and hoping that if he gets throaty enough, repeating the words "after the ball" over and over will turn it into a song. If it weren't for "Love Awake," there'd be nearly an eleven-minute stretch of side B made of bits and pieces waiting to get turned into real songs, and unfortunately he's not at Abbey Road level inspiration here.

Aren't you basically saying you don't like a couple of tracks here – "The Broadcast" and "After the Ball/Million Miles"? Unless you're also dinging "We're Open Tonight" (which to me feels like a sequel to "Venus & Mars") you've basically said you like pretty much everything else.

I mean, no, Back to the Egg isn't on par with Abbey Road. But it isn't exactly the band tracks from At the Speed of Sound either. It's basically another of Macca's half-assed concept records but has six or seven really good cuts by my count (confession: I also think "After the Ball" is one of his better Ray Charles tracks and it's short).

As for it "rocking," I think it had a lot to do with him having a new band on this that jelled well. IIRC, his pot arrest in Japan caused him to shutter the Wings moniker for good.

He has that himself quite explicitly.

"I think the Japanese episode as we can call it, was the end of Wings...the upshot was, we got there, I got busted, and I really thought, this band isn't gonna work. I'm not happy with it...There was something going wrong, something was trying to tell me something. So that was the end of Wings."

As for "Back To The Egg", After the Ball/Million Miles can fuck off then the rest sounds like a Blur album from the late 90s.

Back to the Egg is one of his best albums; certainly one of the most consistent, IMO. I don't think there are any bad songs on it. Even Denny Lane's song is good.

D'you think so? It's not bad but certainly not good. It sounds a bit unfinished and the "little woman" stuff makes it sound like something John Lennon would do to pastiche McCartney.

I agree that it's a pretty good album though.

MY SALAMANDER

certainly the last time (save arguably Run Devil Run) that "rocking" seemed remotely like a natural thing for him

Dr. C, I am so glad you didn't say rocking and ROLLING because "Get Me Out of Here" on the last album.

(Deluxe Edition version)

I was introduced to his solo work via Flaming Pie. "young boy" sounds like a beatles lost record and it was the highlight in there, I don't really remember much else. I only know his 70s work am I missing out?

Aren't you basically saying you don't like a couple of tracks here – "The Broadcast" and "After the Ball/Million Miles"?

Well, I'd say "Winter Rose" sucks too. And the thing about Rockestra is it sounds good while it's playing but it doesn't add anything to the album after it's over, y'know? It's a flourish, this thing McCartney wants to be awesome but is actually kinda ordinary. And then "We're Open Tonight" is an okay little guitar figure or whatever but it's not a "song" so much as a down payment on this being some kind of, indeed, halfassed concept album (hence its getting reprised near the end, Macca going back to the Pepper's/Band on the Run well but it's empty). And "Reception" isn't really anything. "Again and Again and Again" isn't horrible, but I would never think of it if I was listing Wings songs or anything.

I think he was low on material and wanted to get something recorded with this new band so they could tour on it. It feels like filler cause it is - there was nothing else on tape they could have used I don't think, and you can't put out an album with just six or seven songs on it so there you go. The only non-album b-side in this period is "Daytime Nighttime Suffering" which would improve this record a lot IMO - "Cage" or "Robber's Ball" apparently not even being good enough for b-sides I guess. They would have been better off doing some covers to be honest. Or even, if it's "back to the egg," work back over some early stuff that never got released or which evolved on the road or something. "Soily" and "The Mess" are dopey songs (though not any dopier than "Getting Closer," which I DO love)... but they'd sound good with this lineup and suddenly you start to have this "He's back, he's ROCKIN!" record.

The band sounds great, though it's hard to shake the sense of them as "shit, let's hire some young guys, we gotta stay current!" We were talking about that "Last Flight in Glasgow" live bootleg that's on Youtube a while back, right? They sound okay! It's not a radically different sound or anything but it sounds good and one or two things that are maybe forced on the record are already sounding a bit better. I'm disappointed they didn't try to rework "Mull of Kintyre" as another "response to new wave" or whatever but "Band on the Run" is just slightly more roaring and hard-hitting and it's cool. Were it not for the bust maybe they would have really gelled (and we wouldn't have gotten McCartney II, or who knows).

Moka, there's scattered good stuff in the 80s/90s, I don't think he ever just entirely lost it but the hit/miss ratio does change kind of suddenly at a certain point. McCartney II is a totally different kinda trip, that's great. Tug of War is probably his strongest and best-recorded set of material between that and Flaming Pie, though YMMV - it can be a bit too precious and polished and there are some duds. Flowers in the Dirt has very good songwriting, the sound and performances may or may not be your bag though depending where you stand on adult contemporary pop-rock in 1989. The others you have to really cherry pick though I know ILX has some Press to Play stans.

Oh - and if you like "Young Boy" you might like "Hope of Deliverance" and some other stuff on Off the Ground...

see also: MACCA SOLO ALBUMS!

Shut up, I love Press to Play and FITD.

I like it too! See that other thread. I really think if he'd swapped out the last couple tracks for some of the b-sides ("Motor of Love" is ghastly and leaving off "The Loveliest Thing" is insane) and gone for a slightly less cloistered and dinky sound (I stand by my "the rockers should sound like Mellencamp 'Cherry Bomb'" theory) it would be really obviously his best post McCartney II.

Thanks Doctor. I think I'll try to listen to his whole discography on Sunday. I'll post when I finish.

Sincerely looking forward to that!

I fucking love Back To The Egg, undoubtedly one of my favourite Wings albums!

yeah, i come back to 'back to the egg' heaps and have never understood all the bad reviews. it's got a positive energy that really feels like they thought they'd got it together with the new line-up. obv i skip 'after the ball/something something' and that other 'name/name' one next to it because imo they haemorrhage the flow.

'rockestra theme', eh. if you don't know the conceit or why it's called what it's called, it just sounds like a fun stadium filler. this and tracks like 'old siam, sir' are best cranked.

tasty

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/more-hints-at-new-macca-best-of/

revived only to scare Josh in Chicago

U bastard

really tempted to start a Macca song a day project from 1975-1989 or something

like, reviewing or covering or what? i think it's a great idea. not for the first time, i lament the non-completion of my wildly ambitious double-disc mccartney covers project which i think got as far as two kinda complete recordings and six other songs where i'd learned how to play mayyyybe 1-2 parts on keyboard. sigh.

like we did with the Eagles, solo Eagles, and Elton.

oh mannnnnn.

I'd totally take part, but it'd take an eternity to get through even that part of his career!

eternity = Eagles posting

Eternity=Eagles' codas

where's your kickstarter

Got the 2 CD version of "Pure McCartney" and really enjoying Sir Paul's non-chronological sequencing of the tracks. Hearing his wearier current voice up against the Macca of yore is also poignant to say the least. Groovy remastering job as well.

I see he's still trying to bury his best solo song ever, "Give Ireland Back to the Irish"

this 1978 interview on the South Bank Show is pretty good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZDq6LSx5vA

this is a p cool thing he did post-Oldchella

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T73eXT41uTc

I'd love to see what a McCartney setlist would look like if he forced himself to work on a live show without any Beatles songs in it. I mean, I know what my favourite tracks are and what my choices would be, but I'd be very interested in which songs McCartney himself considers to be his solo best.

Again, I think it boils down to the fact that I'm bored of McCartney's interviews endlessly talking about The Beatles or his relationship with Lennon, and I'd be happy with any thoughts, anything at all, regarding his solo work (I include Wings in that of course)

I don't think he thinks it matters what his favorite solo material is. He's not there to entertain himself, he's there to entertain his audience - is how I think he breaks it down.

which is sorta the opposite of the more cantankerous/unpredictable Neil or Bob

Of course, but surely there must have been times, from 1970 up until present, when he's written something and thought "yeah, I'm proud of that one!"

He's always liked BOTR and performs many of its songs. Not a bad doc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfQaqJn7dC8

He sang “Queenie Eye” from his 2013 album, “New” and "Four Five Seconds" at Oldchella in addition to Wings and Beatles songs

he seems quite down on McCartney II, I saw an interview where he says he thought some of the songs are good but the synthy production was too "cold". I get the impression that he's pretty influenced by the critical reaction his records get, so maybe the bad reviews for McCartney II explain it (and why he rates BOTR)? I remember seeing him talk about Back to the Egg being a relative commercial failure, and how in recent years he's met younger people who tell him it's quite cool to have some relatively obscure albums, like cult hits or whatever, anf how McCartney found this idea totally alien to him.

He gets defensive about Ram, which was his idea of a great record in 1971; he still tells the story of bumping into a guy while skiing who told him, "Great record, Paul."

I think soref sadly might be close to the mark regarding McCartney being easily swayed by critical opinion or even the amount an album has sold, which is a bit sad because surely he must have believed in many of those songs enough to record them. I just wonder if there's ever been a moment when a critic has savaged one of his solo tracks and he's thought "nah, fuck off! wrong!"

I think Morrissey might be a good parallel. First band that burned bright but fast, which has informed every little thing he's done since (and influenced countless other acts in its wake). McCartney's written some great tracks, he's written some terrible stuff, he's written a whole bunch of generally null set stuff, but I'm not sure how well even his good stuff stands up outside the context of the Beatles. Big difference obviously is that McCartney is a musical savant, which perhaps makes his MOR-ness more disagreeable.

Yesterday I learned that McCartney co-wrote and played on this worthless Steve Miller track, which sort of provided the seed for "Fly Like an Eagle."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT2JGBeew00

woah, never heard that. cool.

Alfred should totally do that "McCartney song per day 1975-1989" that he was thinking about doing.

if you'll help!

Yeah, I'd totally contribute! I know his discography quite well by this point.

He's always liked BOTR and performs many of its songs. Not a bad doc:

📹

he played Temporary Secretary when I saw him live two years ago

I can think of shitloads of songs he doesn't play anymore that would go down well: 'My Brave Face', 'Only Love Remains', 'This One', 'Take It Away' etc.

he never ever plays No More Lonely Nights, which is weird considering it might be his last huge hit.

Yeah, that one too!

supposedly (well according to him anyway) he'd just had a big row with Lennon when he did the drum take on that Steve Miler track. he says he took his anger out on the drums and that you can 'hear it' but i never could really.

was listening to Mac unreleased stuff on youtube over the wkd, and heard a demo he did of My Brace Face w Costello. And wow, I never picked up how retro old school Beatles it is. The finished track 80s-izes it up a bit, but the demo sounds like something that would have been on Hard Days Night or Beatles for Sale.

indeed ! I didn't know that version and just listened to it following your post.

yeah those costello demos are all really good.

yeah, this is nice! reminds me once again of my theory that flowers in the dirt, had it been produced as an 80s roots-rock album (by say, don gehman), would be much better-remembered today.

It's one of my favourite McCartney albums as it stands!

i'm having deja vu so i'm pretty sure i've posted all of this not too long ago... but i really like it too! if he'd swapped in some of the b-sides for the weaker stuff (especially the godawful "motor of love") i think it would at the least be mentioned in the same breath as tug of war, way more often.

'Motor of Love' isn't one of his best solo tracks, but when I think about it the only thing I can find fault with is the lyrics, which are... typical McCartney filler stuff.

I get the impression that some of the contemporary reviewers did receive Flowers in the Dirt as, if not roots-rock, then at least as a return to something more gritty and raw after Hugh Padgham's production on Press to Play, e.g. this is from the NYT review:

He has also abandoned the self-conscious trendiness that made his last album of original material, 1986's ''Press to Play,'' sound posed and dated. Instead, he has found a sound that is varied and fresh, yet firmly rooted in his own past.

but the passage of time has kind of smoothed away the differences and they both sound very 80s now. I like the production on Flowers in the Dirt though, probably more so than the "live in the studio" sound he went for on Off the Ground

Yes, me too. Particularly the drum sound on things like 'Figure of Eight' (underrated song)

xpost A while back I went through and learned (to the best of my remedial abilities) how to play the first Elvis Costello album on guitar, and boy is it more Beatles-infused than I ever noticed.

LOVE "Figure of Eight," notably how it sounds DIY and hi-tech at once.

I have such an antipathy to "dated" as a pejorative. Ad the always sounds delicious dated, but the 12-string guitar sound of the mid '60s does not? AOK.

Uh that should say "Synths always sound dated..."

Distractions, We Got Married, This One, the othet singles -- I like it a lot.

Gonna give Flowers In The Dirt a listen... it's been a while! I've had the outro from 'We Got Married' stuck in my head for the last half hour.

It doesn't work out if ya don't work at it... doot doot do!

Okay, so I've just been reminded of how much I love 'Distractions', one of those McCartney songs that seems to come more from a personal place. Usually McCartney either shies away from the personal or obfuscates it.

with a Clare Fischer string arrangement!

'That Day Is Done' is another top tier McCartney track as well, IMO. I'd say if I had to pick one song from Flowers In The Dirt that I don't like as much as the others, I'd say 'How Many People' ...

It's a bit long -- my complaint about the album.

Yep, ten tracks would have been perfect!