Cranberry Sauce
Posted at 8:26 am on Thursday, July 9, 2009, in Uncategorized, and tagged beatles.
I like Paul McCartney. I don’t think any single person was more responsible for keeping the Beatles together — and productive — after 1966, a period that was arguably their best; stylistically, artistically, influentially. Before Sgt. Pepper, it was John’s band; afterward, it was Paul’s. That being said, McCartney was also the one that put the proverbial nail in their coffin (although the coffin was already made). Hear me out on this.
John Lennon had wanted to leave the band for several years, including starting his own side project, the Plastic Ono Band.1 Although the Beatles were no longer making music in late 1969,2 they were not broken up, at least officially. That is, until Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the group and releasing his self-titled solo album. The world was in shock. So were the rest of the Beatles.
If Lennon had it his way, he would have been out before — not after — the Abbey Road album, and certainly before Let It Be was somewhat-posthumously released (shortly after the release of McCartney).3 McCartney contrived what was one of the best PR/marketing campaigns in music history: announce the break-up of the greatest band in history, at his supposed behest, and follow suit with a solo album a few months later. Fortunately for the rest of the Beatles (in a sense), and surely unfortunately for the rest of us, McCartney’s solo work was mostly amiss,4 although the same could be said of any of the Beatles’ solo careers.5
Here is a case in point: Give Peace a Chance. John Lennon and Paul McCartney had an agreement, that any song that they had come up with, either collectively or individually, would be credited to the writing duo Lennon/McCartney.6 Give Peace a Chance — written by John Lennon and performed by John Lennon — is arguably his first solo single, however Lennon published the song with Lennon/McCartney as the writing credit. This was Lennon’s effort to not publicize the coming end of the Beatles, which had been known internally since the disastrous Get Back sessions, an ultimately fruitless effort that Lennon regretted soon afterward. The Beatles, Paul included, were working through the details as to how to orchestrate the group’s breakup, cognizant of the importance. Paul didn’t wait however, and lead the way.7
Yoko Ono is known as the person that broke up the Beatles, and although she certainly didn’t help matters (neither did Linda McCartney8), the accusation is entirely unfortunate, unrealistic, and overly simplistic. The fact is that the Beatles themselves — including Paul and George Harrison — believed the group had run its course. It was Paul McCartney however that seized on the opportunity to break the news, and do so in the coldest of manners. The Beatles had reached an irreconcilable impasse, but it was Paul McCartney that ended the band. Not Yoko.
Other items to consider:
- Paul was the only member to start a lasting band, not simply a backing band or one-time group for a single project or concert. Wings lasted for nearly a decade, and so did Paul’s mullet.
- No one asked Paul to take part in any super-groups, or to sit in on any song for an album. The debate persists and the jury is still out as to why a former Beatle would not be asked (ever), but evidence points to the fact that he was very difficult to work with, and quite possibly, too controlling.9
- When Paul took shots at John with his song Too Many People in 1971, John’s response, in one of the first known lyrical assault wars, was How Do You Sleep?, which featured former Beatle George Harrison on slide guitar.
Those are my thoughts on Paul McCartney.
Notes- The Plastic Ono Band featured Eric Clapton, as well as both George Harrison and Ringo Starr, at one time or another, but never Paul McCartney. ↩
- The coming release of their Let It Be album, originally titled Get Back, was delayed. Most of the material for the album was originally recorded a year earlier, following the release of their self-titled album, and before their last “new” album, Abbey Road. ↩
- Let It Be was arguably a disaster. The Get Back sessions were Paul’s idea to revive the band (and to his credit, at least he tried). It was January 1969. John Lennon was 28 years old. Paul McCartney was 26. George Harrison temporarily quit the group. He was 25. There was no saving the Beatles. ↩
- If I had to name three good songs, they would be, in order: Eat At Home, Maybe I’m Amazed, and Band on the Run. That is it. Thirty years of a post-Beatles career and Sir Paul couldn’t recreate Hey Jude or Let It Be, or even Yesterday; for the most part, the best he could muster was the likes of Jet. McCartney had the tendency, and habit, of overproducing his music, even simple songs. McCartney loved to change the tune, somewhat sporadically, mid-song. As a whole, this practice (or art) has tarnished even his better songs, including portions of Band on the Run. ↩
- George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album, in which he had a decade’s worth of material to work from, is probably the only great album. Lennon had a few great songs (Instant Karma, Imagine, Mother, Nobody Told Me), but no great album. Lennon’s Double Fantasy album has been unfairly reviewed, both positively and negatively, because of his assassination mere weeks after its release. Ringo wasn’t a real Beatle anyway. ↩
- Following Lennon’s death, Paul unsuccessfully tried to change the order for all of the duo’s songs to McCartney/Lennon. ↩
- This wasn’t the first time Paul had taken the lead. He was also the first to publicize the Beatles’ use of LSD (in 1967), although George Harrison was quite sure McCartney had never tried it to that point. ↩
- Linda was surprisingly even less talented than the arguably talent-less Yoko. ↩
- Michael Jackson and Say, Say, Say does not count as a super-group. It wasn’t the Dirty Mac. There was no real Paul McCartney and Friends. Ringo Starr was on drums in the Concert for Bangladesh. ↩
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