Just when I was getting the feeling that we should abolish the U.S. Congress, their fabled book wing, the Library of Congress, has awarded Paul McCartney the third Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (the first two recipients were Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder).
I didn't even know that the Library of Congress has a Librarian of Congress, but it does and his name is James H. Billington. He stated, about Macca, "It's hard to think of another performer and composer who has had a more indelible and transformative effect on popular song and music of several different genres than Paul McCartney." On a side note, I would say that John Lennon and Bob Dylan have had as indelible an effect as Macca. I'd add that like Stevie Wonder, Macca has also revolutionized how artists now use the studio and how trippy pop music can actually sound.
Of course, the 150 or so Beatles tunes that Macca either penned ("I've Just Seen a Face," "Drive My Car," "Black Bird") or co-wrote are a big part of this award. But, let's use this as an opportunity to look at some solid McCartney albums from his solo years (a mix of quite wonderful, sublime, neat-sounding but empty-headed, and just bloody awful).
Both Lennon and McCartney have stated that they didn't write for the public -- they wrote to impress each other. They also complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses. When that partnership dissolved, McCartney decided that the only way he could work against the legacy of the Beatles would be if he decided that anything he did would be OK. If something wasn't that good it wouldn't be the end of the world. He was right -- the world didn't end but some of his stuff wasn't any good.
This has led to so much misplaced aging rocker hostility that Macca's creative rebirth during the 2000s has pretty much gone unnoticed. Recent songs like "She's Given Up Talking" keep things sonically interesting (which, face it, is all that acclaimed hip-hop producers do) while combining his old, decidedly weird mix of bad vibes and aloof positivity. Stranded on an island of fame, expectation, adulation and disappointment, the Paul McCartney mantra is summed up on his 2008 tune "Don't Stop Running."
Here are some Macca solo discs to check out on Rhapsody, starting with his new live set. And, of course, you can listen to all these, right now and forevermore, with your Rhapsody membership. We have over 8 million songs, available anytime and (with the Rhapsody iPhone app) anywhere. Click here to get on board with a free trial.
I didn't even know that the Library of Congress has a Librarian of Congress, but it does and his name is James H. Billington. He stated, about Macca, "It's hard to think of another performer and composer who has had a more indelible and transformative effect on popular song and music of several different genres than Paul McCartney." On a side note, I would say that John Lennon and Bob Dylan have had as indelible an effect as Macca. I'd add that like Stevie Wonder, Macca has also revolutionized how artists now use the studio and how trippy pop music can actually sound.
Of course, the 150 or so Beatles tunes that Macca either penned ("I've Just Seen a Face," "Drive My Car," "Black Bird") or co-wrote are a big part of this award. But, let's use this as an opportunity to look at some solid McCartney albums from his solo years (a mix of quite wonderful, sublime, neat-sounding but empty-headed, and just bloody awful).
Both Lennon and McCartney have stated that they didn't write for the public -- they wrote to impress each other. They also complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses. When that partnership dissolved, McCartney decided that the only way he could work against the legacy of the Beatles would be if he decided that anything he did would be OK. If something wasn't that good it wouldn't be the end of the world. He was right -- the world didn't end but some of his stuff wasn't any good.
This has led to so much misplaced aging rocker hostility that Macca's creative rebirth during the 2000s has pretty much gone unnoticed. Recent songs like "She's Given Up Talking" keep things sonically interesting (which, face it, is all that acclaimed hip-hop producers do) while combining his old, decidedly weird mix of bad vibes and aloof positivity. Stranded on an island of fame, expectation, adulation and disappointment, the Paul McCartney mantra is summed up on his 2008 tune "Don't Stop Running."
Here are some Macca solo discs to check out on Rhapsody, starting with his new live set. And, of course, you can listen to all these, right now and forevermore, with your Rhapsody membership. We have over 8 million songs, available anytime and (with the Rhapsody iPhone app) anywhere. Click here to get on board with a free trial.
The Definitive, Career-Spanning Live Album
Good Evening New York City
While there is no shortage of Paul McCartney live albums, this one, a 2009 concert commemorating the Beatles' Shea Stadium gig, is more energized than most. Part of that is due to McCartney's young band, which marries old-world skill with spiky rock energy. But it also has to do with Macca's renewed creative energy in the 2000s. The upbeat numbers, like the Beatles' "I've Got a Feeling," are often superior because the ballads, including a still-powerful "Let It Be," reveal McCartney's tattering vocal chords, which struggle to hit the soaring notes of his youth. Energy-wise, though, this one can't be beat.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Early Solo Classics
Ram
Ram keeps the mellow, pastoral, self-recorded feel of McCartney's solo debut and mixes in some gruff boogie rock and the kind of fluid, orchestral pop that he cut with the Beatles. The multipart "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" has to be the goofiest (and coolest) No. 1 single ever, while "Too Many People" and "The Back Seat of My Car" are two overlooked gems. The lovely "Dear Boy" was meant as a rebuke to Linda's first husband, but Lennon took it as an attack against him and started writing anti-Paul songs. Whatever -- Band on the Run is the remembered classic but Ram may be Paul's best all-around solo LP.Band on the Run (Paul McCartney & Wings)
McCartney's first two solo records were casual, underrated charmers; his subsequent two LPs seemed lazy and formless. For Band on the Run, his fifth effort, Macca took Denny Laine and his wife to Nigeria and holed up until they birthed this best-selling return to rock 'n' roll respectability. For once, McCartney front-loads the LP with his best songs, so this opens with a 1-2-3 punch. The title track, the soaring "Jet" and the floating "Bluebird" all became instant rock classics. Nothing else tops those numbers, though "Let Me Roll It" stands up to any of Lennon's slow, sludgy rockers and "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" is a sonic marvel. All help to make this one of the key albums of the 1970s.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Key Paul-Is-a-Lame-Stoner-&-Paul-Is-Great All-Mixed-Up Platter
Wild Life (Paul McCartney & Wings)
McCartney put a proper band, Wings, together and then cut Wild Life, which is even more casual than his first two solo albums. Macca doesn't help matters by starting the set with filler like "Bip Bop," but there are some real gems here. "Tomorrow" should've been the single -- it's one of his all-time best solo efforts. "Some People Never Know" is another lovely McCartney ballad, and the chilling, cinematic ballad "Dear Friend" is obviously a letter to Lennon. This version of the album includes the pointedly political "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," which was banned in the U.K. (bastards!) but topped the Irish charts.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Forgotten Paul Is a Weird Dude & Synth-Pop Innovator LP
McCartney II
In 1980, McCartney was paroled from a Japanese prison, sacked Wings, bought a bank of synths, and self-recorded this, one of the weirdest, most eccentric hit albums of all time. It seems like the always-sonically experimental McCartney was getting into Kraftwerk and synth pop, coming up with bizarre numbers like "Frozen Jap," "Temporary Secretary" and "Front Parlour" to feed his drug-bust bad vibes into. If you're looking for actual songs, "Waterfalls" and "One of These Days" are lovely odes to McCartney's increasing isolation, while "Coming Up" is an unstoppable disco-rocker (a juiced-up concert version was released as a single and returned Macca to the top spot on the singles charts).----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Creative Rebirth Records
Driving Rain
By and large, Driving Rain was one of McCartney's most uplifting sets in years. It seems that after issuing records where he sorted through reflections on his early career (Flaming Pie) and the death of his wife (Run Devil Run), many of the songs here are as effervescent as titles like "Tiny Bubble," "Back in the Sunshine Again," and "Magic" might imply. McCartney delayed the release of the record to include the jingoistic bonus track "Freedom," but forget that -- the best tracks are lilting numbers like "From a Lover to a Friend." -- Nate CavalieriMemory Almost Full
Electric Arguments (Youth and Paul McCartney)
For well over a decade, McCartney has not-so-secretly recorded ambient trance music with producer Youth. In 2008, the ever-industrious Macca needed to get away from tabloid hell, so he gave Youth a call and proposed that they write, record and mix a song a day -- this time with McCartney's vocals. The results are so stellar that McCartney now wishes he released this under his own name. He gets rid of his bad divorce vibes on the blistering opener before rediscovering joy with "Sing the Changes," "Lifelong Passion" and the uneasy "Don't Stop Running." Not quite as richly rewarding as Memory Almost Full, but still an unqualified triumph, and each song features McCartney playing practically every instrument.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
I may be in a small group, but I actually like McCartney II. It's certainly better than some of the stuff he did with Michael Jackson, for instance.
Form the beginnings of rock and roll until today the world would never find another composer, band leader, and singer with more attributes that Sir Paul McCartney. I just wish he receives more recognition now that he is with us, than later when he leave this world.
CONGRATULATIONS, SIR PAUL, I HAVE ADMIRED YOU FROM DAY 1. I AM AMAZED AT THE OUTSTANDING DEPTH OF LIFE YOU CONSTANTLY IMPRESS THE WORLD WITH YOUR INNER SOUL.
What bother me most about peoples reviewing of Paul McCartney's music/career after the Beatles, is that they ALWAYS refer to how great John Lennon's was. That John's is equal to or better than anything Paul has done.
I have to disagree.
Dont get me wrong, I am a BIG Beatles fan and have followed All of the individual Beatles solo careers after the split with.
Concerning the solo careers of John Lennon vs Paul McCartney there is no comparison. Paul has a vast number of memorable and fantastic songs too many to list in this comment. Let's just say for brevatites sake just use the list of great music listed in this article alone against the pitifully small handful of John Lennon that were memorable or fantastic (Imagine, God and Mother being amongst his best).
Also lost in this article are the Classical pieces Paul has done (Standing Stones, Liverpool Oratorio, A Leaf, Ecce Cor Meum...).
As much love and respect I have for John Lennon I can't realistically say his solo work compares to what Paul McCartney has produced.
Also as a note just about every album, no matter who's it is, contains fluff and possibly a few bombs
There are so many more albums and songs left off of the authors piece such as Venus and Mars, Off the Ground, Flaming Pie (which did get a slight mention) and a number of great Live albums such as Wings Over America and Tripping the Live Fantastic (which has a genius rendition of Sgt. Peppers that sounds best at high volume!).
To end, Paul McCartney's career deserves all of the accolades and praising it can get!
Paul McCartney may not have been as cool as Lennon or as spiritual as Harrison, but if you listen to the output (solo or Beatles) with a musician's ears it's clear that he is far and away the best musician, not only of the Beatles, but of his generation. Unfortunately musical talent doesn't count for much in a genre more interested in fashion, fads, posturing and politics than in, can you imagine ... music.
MR. McCARTNEY IS ONE OF THE GREATEST COMPOSERS OF THE PAST CENTURY, ALONG WITH GERHSWIN, BERLIN, PORTER, LEGRAND, LARA, TCHAIKOVSKY, GARDEL, CELEDONIO ROMERO, JOAQUIN RODRIGO AND MANY OTHERS THAT GAVE TO US THEIR SOULS IN EVERY MUSIC NOTE.
BLESSINGS FOR ALL OF THEM WHEREEVER THEY ARE.
Paul was alway the best at what he did. His life was in song and music. I can think back to the 60's and hear the songs that changes the world.