Macca

[poliphilo]

Paul McCartney has a new album coming out. We're being told that this is the one where he reinvents himself. It's dark and it's searching and the best thing he's done since Abbey Rd. Jolly good. Sir Paul reinvents himself at least once a decade, issues the groundbreaking new album, garners some TV coverage and everyone is very happy for him and plased to see that boyish mug of his again and then the groundbreaking new album joins all his other groundbreaking new albums in unplayed obscurity.

But maybe this is really the one. I hope so. I've been waiting 35 years for Sir Paul's genius to arise and shake itself and astonish us once more.

I know it's mildly heretical to say so, but Paul was the creative
motor of the Beatles. I'm not saying John wasn't a genius (because he was) but if it had been left to him he'd have sat in his Surrey mansion all day long watching TV and once in a blue moon he's have gone into the studio to record something he'd scribbled down on the back of an envelope during the commercial breaks. Paul was the ambitious, motivated one. The experimental projects- Sergeant Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour- were things he set up. He was the one who wanted to go back on the road. In fact I've just formulated a new theory
as to why the Beatles broke up. It's because the other three were lazy bastards and Paul drove them too hard.

I keep meaning to explore Paul's post-Beatles oeuvre but there's just so much of it and I don't know where to start. I assume that his work since 1970 has been inferior, but I don't know for sure because (like you and you and you) I've never sat down and listened to it. I know Mull of Kintyre and the Frog Song and one or two other bits and pieces and that's it. So maybe we've got him wrong. Maybe it's us- his audience- soured by the break-up of the Beatles- who have written him off prematurely- and the work has been amazing all along.

Wouldn't it be fun if this were so?

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Well,here's a story about your Sir Paul (not that I don't love him)

George Harrison left the Beatles TWICE because when they were recording, Sir Paul had him play everything EXACTLY as written, note for note, no variation no nothing.

This is a fact, in fact Sir Paul talked about it on Fresh Air the other night.

YOur theory is disproven, Tony. Paul was a meglomaniac. Creative, no doubt. But I suspect one of the reasons he and John Lennon couldn't get along at the last was that they BOTH wanted to be boss. Too many cooks and all that stuff.

That said, I'll be anxious to hear the new music.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

George Harrison left the Beatles TWICE because when they were recording, Sir Paul had him play everything EXACTLY as written, note for note, no variation no nothing.

No improvisation. No 'this might sound better here'. That isn't creative, it's dictatorial.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

He'd already done the creative work in his head and didn't need to pursue it in the studio.

And maybe he was right. Those Beatles tracks are definitive as they stand. No cover version has ever improved on the originals.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Paul is a perfectionist. I understand he plays all the instruments on this new album. He always wanted to be a one man band.

I can understand this. He has a precise vision of what he wants. This would have been fine if his band had been Paul and the Also-Rans but as it was the Beatles he had two other considerable artists (and egos)to contend with.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

A lot of people feel that the Beatles should have stayed together longer. I feel that leaving them wanting more is the way to go. Imagine what it must have been like to be in the middle of that storm 24 hours a day and trying to deal with it while being in your 20's! To achieve that kind of fame, influence and status at such a young age is mind boggling. All things considered, they did a great job of handling it when compared to other such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones. 10 years together is hard for anyone to deal with.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

They lasted longer than most groups. And by the end they were three individual song-writers, each producing his own material, who happened to play together. The only way they'd have lasted longer is if they'd have been considerably less talented- and then they wouldn't have been the Beatles in the first place.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

How true. I was always grateful that they put aside the hard feelings that came to a head during the "Let it be" sessions to record "Abby Road". How sad it would have been if the last thing they did was bicker and fight while recording some uninspired music. By the way, I am listening to "In my life" as I type this and it is a truly beautiful song.

I'm with you on all counts!

[jubal51394.livejournal.com]

You've got the scoop on that one. Shall I hold my breath or will it be a long time coming? The new and improved Paul, I mean?

Re: I'm with you on all counts!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe it's being released today. It's called Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

Re: I'm with you on all counts!

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

i must email my ex-husband. he always wanted to BE john lennon, but has always admired sir paul.

Re: I'm with you on all counts!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

John has become a mythic figure, but I sometimes think Paul is/was the greater talent.

[dakegra.livejournal.com]

Mull of Kintyre makes my teeth itch.

I'm intrigued by him though, and would be most interested to know your take on his new album.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've got it on order.

So when I've listened to it and come to terms with it, I'll probably write something.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard it.

I'd like to.

But I'm not as big a fan of the Stones as I was of the Beatles so I don't think I'll be buying it.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

I love the Stones but they should have let it rest years ago. Saying that their new music is the best that they have done in years is not really saying much at all. I saw them live in the late 70's in Chicago and it was a great show. That was before they started rushing through the old stuff at twice the speed just to get to the boring material.

[seaslug-of-doom.livejournal.com]

Since the law in my father's house forbade any music other than country, Lawrence Welk, Montovani, polkas, and Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (which turned out to be a good thing) I didn't get a real introduction to pop music until my mid-teens and the first thing I really took to was Let Em In by Paul McCartney and Wings.

o/~ Someone's knockin' at the door. Somebody's ringin' the bell. o/~

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Let em In- yes- damn good song.

Paul used to make a point of saying that Wings sold more records than the Beatles and blah, blah, blah. He's stopped doing that now, but it's almost as though Wings has been scrubbed from the historical record and that's a shame.

[humblenarrator.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! paul has always been my favorite. simple enough for me: look at the songs. some are great collaborations but others are paul through and through...my favorites at least.

i saw sir paul in concert a few years ago and it was one of the great experiences of my life so far. i saw ringo once too, heh.

as far as the post-beatles mccartney, i too know very little...just what i'd heard on tripping the live fantastic or his solo debut.

also: the new album (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yla9qj6eojha) sounds like it'll be good. i'll have to get it soon! (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0kq7g4gttv4z)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My favourite pop song of any generation is Hey Jude. Simple, brilliant, melodic, risk-taking- and- like you say- Paul all through.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

They have so many great songs and the moods vary so much that I can not pick a favorite. One day it is "A Day in the Life" the next it is "Taxman" and the next it is "Eleanor Rigby"

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how many good songs the Beatles wrote. There's scarcely a dud in the catalogue.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

As much as I love the Beatles, I have always been disappointed in the solo material that they recorded. John's "Plastic Ono Band" and Paul's "Band on the run" were very good but never reached the level that they achieved together. I believe that the combination of John and Paul together is what made them so damn great. They pushed each other and their conflicting musical styles and personalities were a perfect mix. It must be very hard to know that no matter what you do for the rest of your life, it will always be compared to the accomplishments that you made before you were 30 years old. That may not be fair, but it is certainly true.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I was reading an article the other day that was asking why it is that when other types of artist mature and get better, rock and pop musicians peak so early? The guy didn't really come up with an answer, but it's true, isn't it? I don't think I can name a single rock or pop musician who has gone on improving with age.

Dylan, maybe?

Springsteen?

[philtration.livejournal.com]

I agree. Maybe it is the youthful combination of angst, desire, optimism, expectation, experimentation and the feeling of invincibility that you have at that age. Maybe you can have only so much greatness inside of you and they were spent after a flurry of creativity.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Some kinds of artists do routinely get better.

Painters
Film makers
Novelists

It is of course possible that the fault is with us. Maybe a lot of pop and rock artists DO get better and we're just not seeing it because we ASSUME that they're on the decline.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

That could be it also. Regardless, I am just happy that the Beatles gave us some great music that has stood the test of time. If they had never recorded a single piece of music after the break up, then that would have been more than enough.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I agree.

The Beatles were unique. There's been nothing like them since- and probably never will be.