scapp70's Full Review: McCartney by Paul McCartney
To have to say goodbye to such a band as The Beatles must have been numbing. Of course John Lennon thought that the fans should be happier now because they have the opportunity to buy four times the output annually than The Beatles would normally release if they had stayed together. Obviously the fans felt differently than John Lennon's bad taste idea, but eventually Ringo Starr and of course Paul McCartney slightly helped to ease the pain of no more Beatles. Ringo had much success in the first half of the 70s decade and Paul had surpassed The Beatles in some aspects, as far as numbers were concerned anyway.
When the Beatles fan purchased the new McCartney back in early 1970, it was very close to other Beatles releases. Let It Be was released in May 1970, McCartney a month before in April of 1970, Ringo's Sentimental Journey was a month before that in March. Actually maybe John Lennon had a point because before the year of 1970 closed we would have another album from Ringo, one from John and a triple album from George. Oh yes, if you were a true Beatles fan in 1970, you better have some cash ready almost every month of that year.
Paul stated that to test the recording equipment he recorded a short 45 second song called The Lovely Linda. The lyrics sound quickly put together, as they is just one lyric repeated twice. ♫La la la la la lovely Linda With the lovely flowers in her hair♫ It is reminiscent of something that could have fit somewhere among the songs on The Beatles White Album. I believe that this is the first time a song credited to McCartney has ever been so personal. To mention the name of his wife in the lyrics and title seems to un-McCartney like. It seems more a Lennon thing to do, for example The Ballad of John and Yoko, Oh Yoko or Dear Yoko.
Another song that sounds like testing equipment is That Would Be Something. The lyrics are about as diverse as Lovely Linda, but almost as catchy. One thing that stands out on McCartney is that there are five instrumentals. The first is Valentine Day. Paul attempts to lay down a groove that falls apart in the middle, but then picks up again in the fade. It sounds like it was much longer and it was a smart idea to edit it down to 1:44 as we hear it today, it makes it charming instead of potentially boring.
The first proper song here is Every Night. Paul put a little effort into the lyrics, and the upbeat tune sticks in your head. The instrumental performance sounds thought out and structured unlike the first three songs. Hot as Sun/Glasses is the second instrumental. Paul succeeds in creating a tune in the Caribbean style genre for the first minute and a half, and then the last forty seconds or so sound like underwater sounds.
This album was so close in release to other Beatles releases, so shouldn't there be any left over Beatles songs that McCartney would utilize here on his solo record? Well, with the release of the Anthology CDs, we now know that he did in fact include at least two. Junk was a song that McCartney attempted to use with his former band, but as it sounds on Anthology, he didn't nearly have even half of the lyrics finished then. The song sounds nice and complete and not without a ghost of Beatle magic for that added niceness.
Man We Was Lonely has the first appearance of Linda McCartney's vocal harmony, and it instantly becomes reminiscent of the next year's masterpiece RAM. It would fit perfectly alongside those songs on RAM, and that's saying a lot for this song. This song is mostly overlooked maybe because of its quirkiness. The song's charm is apparent when given a chance right down to Paul's tropical guitar solo.
Oo You sounds like it would fit better more toward the beginning of the album. The song is rawer, less cohesive and again with on the spot put together lyrics. If Oo You was higher in the songlist, the album would have a growing sense of maturity of Paul alone in the studio completing an album. This is the weakest song on the record.
I must admit that I haven't fully appreciated Momma Miss America until it was used very effectively in the film Jerry Maguire. Two songs were used from this album in the soundtrack, and I never realized what a strong track Momma Miss America was until I heard and visualized its potential. It is the third instrumental here, and Paul really stretches his musical legs here. He plays an infectious groove on the bass, a piano that accents the melody perfectly, and some cool guitar with that tremolo effect.
Teddy Boy is another song like Junk that could be heard on The Beatles Anthology 3. It is one of the stronger tracks on McCartney. It is a quiet simple acoustic ditty, with a folk song feel. It's definitely a song that would have fit nicely on a Beatles album. Linda provides a nice touch with her backing vocals.
Singalong Junk is the fourth of instrumentals here. It's a beautiful version of Junk, where McCartney adds some effective piano melody to help slightly alter the shape of the original Junk. This track was also used in the Jerry Maguire film.
Maybe I'm Amazed was a hit single, but not for seven more years when Wing's live version became a top ten hit in the US. This version of the song always reminded me of the Let It Be album, I think of Maybe I'm Amazed as more of an extension of Let It Be than a McCartney solo composition. The song is very Beatles sounding. It's a heart-warming power ballad dedicated to the muse of most of his love songs, Linda.
Kreen-Akrore is the last instrumental and the last song on this CD. It's an avant-garde piece with jungle sounds, heavy breathing and a lot of percussion. According to Wikipedia, the Kreen-Akrore is an Indian tribe living in the Amazon basin of Brazil. As soon as I learned this I immediately compare the song to another instrumental from his Red Rose Speedway album called Loup - First Indian on the Moon. Kreen-Akrore pales in comparison, but it's still an interesting track.
Some would consider this a slow start to a very successful career despite having reached the number one spot in the pop album category and staying there for three weeks. The album went double platinum in the US, and of course this was due in part to Paul McCartney's sneaky marketing ploy of including the infamous Q & A insert, which announced the break up of The Beatles. Let's face it, besides the very commercial Maybe I'm Amazed, the rest of the album is a bit spotty (although charming), and very experimental. None of Paul's releases would have musically all the colors of the rainbow until his band Wings formed and released their second album Red Rose Speedway. Having said that, McCartney records that are void of color can also be great, RAM for instance. From early 1973, McCartney was on top of the world for about ten more years even without Wings. I'll admit it's a bit of a meek start, but only when compared to his body of work from the 70s and early 80s.
Songs
1. The Lovely Linda 2. That Would Be Something 3. Valentine Day 4. Every Night 5. Hot As Sun/Glasses 6. Junk 7. Man We Was Lonely 8. Oo You 9. Momma Miss America 10. Teddy Boy 11. Singalong Junk 12. Maybe I'm Amazed 13. Kreen-Akrore
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ More Beatles-related Epinions from Scapp70 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
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