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Man On the Run: Paul McCartney in the 70s
18 September 2013
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DrBeatle
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This book just came out in the UK on Sept. 6 (not released in the US until June 2014!).

 

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I’ve been looking forward to reading it for a while as this is a period in Paul’s life and career that always seems to get shorter shrift than it deserves. I’ve got a copy on its way to me from the publisher for reviewing purposes, so as soon as I finish reading it and writing up my review, I’ll publish it on my site and share the link.

Has anyone else here read it yet? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts (no spoilers, please!)

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24 September 2013
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parlance
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Review of the book at The Scotsman.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

24 September 2013
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trcanberra
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Well I’m glad the guy who wrote the review didn’t write the book, based on quotes like this:

“By their final recorded album, Abbey Road , it seems clear that McCartney is leaving Lennon and the other Beatles behind – not in songwriting or even in taste, but in musical technique.

Where Lennon pays homage to a basic old Chuck Berry number on Come Together , McCartney gives us orchestras and music hall pastiche. Listening to the album afresh, what seemed like a magical melée of styles now sounds like chalk and cheese rubbing together.”

What a load of old cobblers.

 

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24 September 2013
10.57am
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trcanberra said
Well I’m glad the guy who wrote the review didn’t write the book, based on quotes like this:

“By their final recorded album, Abbey Road , it seems clear that McCartney is leaving Lennon and the other Beatles behind – not in songwriting or even in taste, but in musical technique.

Where Lennon pays homage to a basic old Chuck Berry number on Come Together , McCartney gives us orchestras and music hall pastiche. Listening to the album afresh, what seemed like a magical melée of styles now sounds like chalk and cheese rubbing together.”

What a load of old cobblers.

 

Wow.  I agree it’s “cobblers”.  That review is as incomprehensible as when John Simon called Mozart and Beethoven “garbage”.

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24 September 2013
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And completely ignores the beauty of Because and power of I Want You (She’s So Heavy).

Abbey Road  still has a very holistic sound to it so I’ve got no idea where Pete Martin, the reviewer, gets the idea that it “sounds like chalk and cheese rubbing together”. Won’t be going to him for record suggestions anytime soon.

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

24 September 2013
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DrBeatle
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Hey guys, not too many spoilers, I’m still waiting on the book so I can read it for myself! :P

 

I agree, though, terrible paragraph there. If anything, Abbey Road was probably the weakest late-period album from Paul, at least the one where his presence is least dominating. Other than Oh! Darling , he doesn’t contribute any great songs to it apart from his scraps and bits (and arrangements) in the medley. It was John’s strongest effort since the White Album (Come Together , I Want You, Because ) and of course George kicks ass all over it with his playing, as well as his two best songs, Something and Here Comes The Sun .

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24 September 2013
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trcanberra
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^ There were no spoilers – that’s a quote from the reviewer (well, at least that’s what it looked like to me).  Plus, it’s opinion, and surely an opinion can’t be a spoiler?

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24 September 2013
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DrBeatle said
Hey guys, not too many spoilers, I’m still waiting on the book so I can read it for myself! :P

 

I agree, though, terrible paragraph there. If anything, Abbey Road was probably the weakest late-period album from Paul, at least the one where his presence is least dominating. Other than Oh! Darling , he doesn’t contribute any great songs to it apart from his scraps and bits (and arrangements) in the medley. It was John’s strongest effort since the White Album (Come Together , I Want You, Because ) and of course George kicks ass all over it with his playing, as well as his two best songs, Something and Here Comes The Sun .

I see Paul as dominating half the time, and the other half holding his own weight.  I also see John as dominating half the time, and the other half holding his own weight.

I.e., Abbey Road is a perfect symbiosis of the two.  I don’t see any “problems”.

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21 October 2013
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My review of the book is now up: http://rnrchemist.blogspot.com…..rtney.html

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15 November 2013
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This was part of the Kindle daily deal on Amazon UK a few days ago, so I bought it for £1 (or thereabouts). Haven’t started reading it yet.

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15 November 2013
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Nice review there, Dr. Beatle.

If I were writing a book about Paul in the 70s (I’m not), I would put at least some emphasis on the role that Linda played in shaping Paul’s image.

There are IMO two reasons why Wings is a “forgotten” band of the 70s. To those over the age of 20 who’d been Beatle fans, many (most?) of the singles released by McCartney/Wings seemed nearly trite. The fact that they were major commercial successes is besides the point. And of course, if you thought the singles were weak, you were not going to buy the albums and discover all the good stuff.

And the second reason was Linda. Lost with the passage of time and the sympathy associated with her untimely passing is the vitriol and mocking associated with her being in the band. You could not possibly take seriously a band that had photographer Linda McCartney on keyboards. (Lennon was held in similar low esteem as a result of including Yoko in his music.) The poor woman was routinely raked over the coals.

So some of the beating that Macca endured you could say was self-imposed.

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16 November 2013
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Into the Sky with Diamonds said
Nice review there, Dr. Beatle.

If I were writing a book about Paul in the 70s (I’m not), I would put at least some emphasis on the role that Linda played in shaping Paul’s image.

There are IMO two reasons why Wings is a “forgotten” band of the 70s. To those over the age of 20 who’d been Beatle fans, many (most?) of the singles released by McCartney/Wings seemed nearly trite. The fact that they were major commercial successes is besides the point. And of course, if you thought the singles were weak, you were not going to buy the albums and discover all the good stuff.

And the second reason was Linda. Lost with the passage of time and the sympathy associated with her untimely passing is the vitriol and mocking associated with her being in the band. You could not possibly take seriously a band that had photographer Linda McCartney on keyboards. (Lennon was held in similar low esteem as a result of including Yoko in his music.) The poor woman was routinely raked over the coals.

So some of the beating that Macca endured you could say was self-imposed.

All great points. As you said, with the passage of time and hindsight, Linda is remembered almost fondly as a member of Wings but at the time, as you said, it was brutal.  I remember as a kid in the 80s hearing the joke “what has hairy legs and can’t sing with Wings? Linda.” So mean! At least she was totally aware of her musical limitations, unlike Yoko.

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16 November 2013
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This actually looks very interesting. Maybe it is just me , but I will save my money until June.

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29 September 2014
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Hey Dullblog interview with Tom Doyle.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

29 September 2014
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DrBeatle said 

  
 
Abbey Road was probably the weakest late-period album from Paul, at least the one where his presence is least dominating. Other than Oh! Darling , he doesn’t contribute any great songs to it apart from his scraps and bits (and arrangements) in the medley. It was John’s strongest effort since the White Album (Come Together , I Want You, Because )

I have to disagree here, if one was taking attendance during the ‘Abbey Road ‘ sessions it would be generous to suggest that John was even there half of the time while Paul likely stayed for nearly every minute from start to finish.  If memory serves me correctly, John’s ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ was recorded back in the Spring before Paul even rang up George Martin to convince him “to make an album like they used to”.  True, John’s contributions are strong although, “strongest effort since the White Album ” is kinda misleading for it was the most recent album release by the group before ‘Abbey Road ‘ came out, his strong contributions are the “least dominating”, in my opinion, for his appearances are reduced to that of a session musician in many ways.  After ‘Come Together ‘, a song that John had originally intended as his latest Peace Anthem for a campaign that the others weren’t really that much involved with at the time, his contributions diminish pretty much straight away, is he even on ‘Something ‘?  He’s definitely not on the next track ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer ‘.  There’s traces of John on ‘Oh! Darling ‘ & ‘Octopus’ Garden’ by way of vocal overdubs, but how involved was he in laying down the bed tracks here?

 

Didn’t an acoustic version of ‘Because ‘ first appear on John & Yoko’s ‘Wedding Album ‘ in the Spring?  As great as ‘Mean Mr. Mustard’ & ‘Polythene Pam ‘ sound, the songs were written in India over a year before the ‘Abbey Road ‘ sessions even began.  It’s a testament to John’s genius that he can be so productive musically even when he’s simply going through the motions, but ‘Abbey Road ‘ wouldn’t have amounted to much more than another unfinished ‘Get Back ‘ had it not been for Paul’s enthusiasm for the project.  Not only did he kickstart the sessions by contacting George Martin, who has said that “after ‘Let It Be ‘ (‘Get Back ‘) I (he) really thought that that was the end of the road” and that he “didn’t really want to work with them anymore”.  It’s not a stretch to say that Paul’s own ‘McCartney’ album slightly suffers from him pouring so much of his creative soul into this classic last Beatles’ album, John on the other hand, was disinterested and it shows by his limited contributions here.

 

Had it not been for Paul leading the way here, as he’d pretty much done for the past two years, Ringo would have been waiting for a phone to ring that would never ring while George would’ve saved his two Golden Eggs (‘Something ‘ & ‘Here Comes The Sun ‘) for ‘All Things Must Pass ‘ while John’s life wouldn’t have changed much really, Yoko & his Peace Campaign were the recipients of his creative passions, he was done with The Beatles after the ‘White Album ‘ where his creative presence can’t be ignored, but on ‘Abbey Road ‘, you have to remind yourself that this isn’t a ‘Threatles’ album after ‘Come Together ‘ closes for most of the way.  If there was ever an example of Paul McCartney “dominating” on a Beatles’ album, it’s ‘Abbey Road ‘, even over ‘Sgt. Pepper ‘…:-)      

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30 September 2014
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For once, I think I have to agree with Billy Rhythm.

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30 September 2014
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“For once”?!  Haha…

 

Look, I know the thread is about a book centering around Paul in the 70’s after ‘Abbey Road ‘s release so I won’t go on and on here but it’s the one Beatles’ album that always struck me as being more Paul’s show than John’s, and one of the biggest reasons for that is John’s lack of contributing very much to the sessions.  A big part of what makes John’s ‘Come Together ‘ so great is Paul’s innovative bass playing and the same thing could be said about ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ while you really have to search for John on everybody else’s songs, and in some cases you won’t find him at all.  Paul showed off just about every part of what made him such a “dominant” force in 1960’s Popular Music throughout this record, fabulous bass playing, impeccable melody and inventiveness utilizing classic technique with the aid of George Martin and that pretty much sums up the driving force behind ‘Abbey Road ‘ for me…:-)

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Into the Sky with Diamonds, DrBeatle
1 October 2014
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If that’s “weak” then give me weakness!!!blue-meanie

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1 October 2014
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Billy Rhythm said
“For once”?!  Haha…

 

Look, I know the thread is about a book centering around Paul in the 70’s after ‘Abbey Road ‘s release so I won’t go on and on here but it’s the one Beatles’ album that always struck me as being more Paul’s show than John’s, and one of the biggest reasons for that is John’s lack of contributing very much to the sessions.  A big part of what makes John’s ‘Come Together ‘ so great is Paul’s innovative bass playing and the same thing could be said about ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ while you really have to search for John on everybody else’s songs, and in some cases you won’t find him at all.  Paul showed off just about every part of what made him such a “dominant” force in 1960’s Popular Music throughout this record, fabulous bass playing, impeccable melody and inventiveness utilizing classic technique with the aid of George Martin and that pretty much sums up the driving force behind ‘Abbey Road ‘ for me…:-)

I don’t disagr…in fact I agree 100%! John was in a pretty fallow period in 1969…look at the Get Back /Abbey Road albums and sessions and apart from a few gems like “Come Together ” and “I Want You,” his songs were either not very good or leftovers from ’68. And like you alluded to, he was absent for most of the Abbey Road sessions. 

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For those in the UK, the discount store The Works is currently selling this for £3. I picked up a copy last week (despite having it on Kindle). I’m enjoying it a lot, though I’d love it if Tom Doyle would publish the McCartney interviews he did in full. He seems to have had some really good access.

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