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Paul McCartney
McCartney

(Apple/EMI, 1970)

Macca goes solo, negotiates career miasma, poos melody...

Paul McCartney

Rather than do interviews to promote his first solo album, the 27-year old Paul McCartney released a self-prepared Q&A to the press. It was to be his first written 'f__k you' to his Beatle pals. ("Do you foresee a time when Lennon/McCartney becomes an active song writing partnership again?" ran one of the questions. "No" was his curt but accurate reply.) Despite Apple's miasma of business disasters and increasing pressure from Lennon, Harrison and Starr to side with new business guru Allen Klein, McCartney refused to budge, quickly retreating to his studio to record a reflective set of songs often at odds with the storm circling above. Like all his best solo records (Ram, Flaming Pie, Chaos & Creation In The Backyard), McCartney is full of home-spun song sketches that don't waste time. Junk and Every Night are driven by the sort of magical, doe-eyed melodies that inform the best of his Beatles output - the latter exposing a McCartney at war ("Every night I just want to go out / Get out of my head") and in love ("Tonight I just want to stay in and be with you"). Maybe I'm Amazed is Little Richard singing a Beatles ballad and the song remains a live favourite to this day; he even gets to stake a vivid claim to being the best drummer in the Beatles with the strange rhythmic collage of Kreen-Akore. This is a record born of troubled times, but he still managed to find a flicker of light during this desperately dark hour. But that's the sort of thing Paul McCartney does, isn't it?

Ross Bennett

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 08/12/2009

Further Listening

Neil Young – After The Goldrush (Reprise, 1970)

John Lennon – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (Apple/EMI, 1970)

Paul McCartney – Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (Parlophone, 2005)

Related MOJO content:

Beatles , Paul McCartney

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  • You can always rely on Mojo for the most up-to-date music news! :-)

    Posted by Stocky at 9:37 AM GMT 08/12/2009 Report Abuse

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  • RE: Stocky

    Then go read the NME...

    Posted by Yankee at 2:07 PM GMT 08/12/2009 Report Abuse

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  • RE: Stocky

    It's not news, it's a frickin' disc of the day, you mithering grump. Do you pick up encyclopedia's looking for cooking recipes, bemoan the lack of great novels in yestrday's daily mail or do you just scour the internet looking for things to stick pins in, you unhappy soul?

    Posted by CarnivalDave at 4:21 PM GMT 10/12/2009 Report Abuse

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  • You stuck a meat advert over 'the lovely linda'. that is insensitive and nasty.

    Posted by phil franklin at 12:45 AM GMT 12/12/2009 Report Abuse

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  • Brilliant album. The birth of lo-fi, really. Without this there would be no Beck or Sparklehorse. Macca was pretty much the most gifted melodist on earth at this point in time, tossing off gems with ease. He was a great drummer too. I'm serious! It's Macca on the drums all through this record, and they sound great. Maybe Lennon was right when he said "Ringo isn't even the best drummer in The Beatles"!

    Posted by Moon River at 4:18 PM GMT 30/08/2010 Report Abuse

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