The Beatles Bible - Topic: Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

meanmistermustard on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:37:39 +0000

Maybe another reason in having Linda as a fully fledged band member was so that she was treated as a band member and listened to with her ideas instead of being the mother and wife yacking away in the background as the men discussed the music. Possibly Paul learned something from Yoko's time at the beatles sessions where she would express her opinion, usually in place of John's, yet the other 3 saw and treated her as a pain in the neck regardless of what she said. Certainly some of the Wings members werent too chuffed at Linda's involvement.

frankdialogue on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:07:59 +0000

Into the Sky with Diamonds said

Frankdialogue (love the name), apologies again for not making the title of this thread clearer.

My premise is that Paul can't go on very long without writing a song; Linda could have been all those wonderful things to him while stepping back into the shadows (and Paul would have written a song about that).

But that's we have frank dialogues on this Forum!

A good forum too and a lot of fun; As to your point, well, perhaps Paul needed a crutch too, and certainly Linda's presence caused some difficulties with ...

Into the Sky with Diamonds on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 03:28:17 +0000

Frankdialogue (love the name), apologies again for not making the title of this thread clearer.

Could Linda not have done all of the above without being in the band?

You could argue that had she said "no," Paul would have clammed up and never written another song.

But that's why we have frank dialogues on this Forum!

frankdialogue on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 22:32:32 +0000

Linda helped Paul McCartney in every way: personally, musically and business wise.

Personally, she gave him a wonderful family, stability and confidence.

Musically, she added harmony, a partner for his band, and we don't know how many ideas used in compositions.

Business wise, she introduced him to her family, who helped him become very wealthy through music publishing after he & Lennon had their songs basically stolen from them.

Von Bontee on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 22:42:14 +0100

Yeah, a lot of us believed that

Into the Sky with Diamonds on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 04:17:22 +0100

Yes - and I was one of those who bought into it.

I thought she was a photographer because of her family connection to Eastman Kodak!

Von Bontee on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:24:51 +0100

Multiple levels of irony in changing Epstein to Eastman, considering Linda pursued a career as a photographer!

Into the Sky with Diamonds on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:08:41 +0100

"By the way, anyone know Linda's family name before her father changed it to Eastman? There's a certain irony there. Lennon knew it and poked fun at John Eastman during their arguments."

fabfouremily said," It´s Epstein, isn´t it?"

Bingo.

meanmistermustard said, "There is a difference tho in 1970 and Linda jolting Paul to make music again and the other cases in '98 and 2006."

Yes, I agree; different circumstances each time, and McCartney had much more support with Linda's passing and the Mills fiasco.

How things would have turned out without Linda is oh so speculative - part of the fun ...

meanmistermustard on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:14:41 +0100

Into the Sky with Diamonds said
PaulHalsey said, "she inspired "Maybe I'm Amazed" and countless other McCartney hits"

For sure. This relates to the question of whether McCartney would have ever gone back to song writing if not for Linda.

And there, McCartney has already answered that question for us: following Linda's passing, he was understandably despondent. Nevertheless, he pulled out of his funk and returned to writing solid material. Following the Heather Mills fiasco, he was again in a funk, and he again snapped out of it to write some of his best solo material. Therefore, it ...

fabfouremily on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:52:33 +0100

Into the Sky with Diamonds said

Britain suggests that she was better received there. I can only speak for New York and the surrounding area. (Ironically, Linda grew up and was educated in New York, so you'd think .... By the way, anyone know Linda's family name before her father changed it to Eastman? There's a certain irony there. Lennon knew it and poked fun at John Eastman during their arguments.)

It´s Epstein, isn´t it?

Duke_of_Kirkaldy on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 02:04:31 +0100

Into the Sky with Diamonds said

If you're listening to McCartney's '70s songs for the first time, and it's the 21st century, I suppose this falls into the "who cares?" category. You either like a given song or you don't; you don't really care who the woman singing is.

But if you're wondering why McCartney's reputation and popularity took a major nosedive from which it's never recovered, then it becomes a relevant issue.(Yes, fortunately for McCartney there are still millions of people who love him, buy his music, and go to ...

Into the Sky with Diamonds on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 01:28:02 +0100

PaulHalsey said, "she inspired "Maybe I'm Amazed" and countless other McCartney hits"

For sure. This relates to the question of whether McCartney would have ever gone back to song writing if not for Linda.

And there, McCartney has already answered that question for us: following Linda's passing, he was understandably despondent. Nevertheless, he pulled out of his funk and returned to writing solid material. Following the Heather Mills fiasco, he was again in a funk, and he again snapped out of it to write some of his best solo material. Therefore, it stands to reason that with or without Linda, ...

PaulHalsey on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 21:42:34 +0100

I think Linda was a MAJOR help in McCartney's career, she inspired "Maybe I'm Amazed" and countless other McCartney hits, not to mention her actual involvement in Wings.

meanmistermustard on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 21:25:02 +0100

Does anyone know where to read articles from the time that were slating Pauls decision? Would be fascinating to see how it was back then without all the hindsight.

Zig on Did Linda help or hurt McCartney's career?

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:52:59 +0100

JenB60 said
This is the first time I've visited this website and I feel the need to reply to this question. I was an adolescent during this period and I remember hearing that her presence in the band weakened him; she was no musician, she had no talent, yet he insisted that she be there. At the time, I couldn't believe her audacity, to stand there, with that band of very talented musicians, as if she belonged there. It was absurd and he was mocked for it. I'm sure she was a nice woman and that their love was genuine, but ...