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12.47pm
16 July 2013
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Good on you LHL! Am with you all the way.When I said “we” I don’t include myself in that feeling, not for many years now. I meant it in terms of a royal “we”, one does not admit to liking Wings does one! I do think that some people of my vintage are reluctant to admit a liking of an act such as Wings because of teen baggage. You’re absolutely right – we should never be ashamed of the music we like.
You’re talking to a ukulele lover here, I’m way past shame.
"Try to realise it's all within yourself - no-one else can make you change"
1.18pm
21 November 2012
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I’ve never been ashamed of the music I listen to. Why should I be ashamed of liking Wings for example, because some people who like Nicki Minaj and crap like that hate it? Makes me even more proud.
1.29pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline I’d be more embarrassed about liking some of the crap that is out there at the moment. Wings were one of the best, most consistent bands in the 70’s so what is there to be embarrassed about?
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
2.59pm
Reviewers
29 November 2012
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Linde said
I’ve never been ashamed of the music I listen to. Why should I be ashamed of liking Wings for example, because some people who like Nicki Minaj and crap like that hate it? Makes me even more proud.
Exactly.
Apart from The Who, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones (all three of whom I’m huge fans of), Wings were probably the most commercially successful band of the 70s (saleswise as well as in terms of touring). That’s nothing to sneeze at.
"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"
Please Visit My Website, The Rock and Roll Chemist
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4.22pm
8 November 2012
Offline Another recent post at Hey Dullblog references the perceptions of Paul in ’95 versus now, quoting a Village Voice article referring to Paul as “the dumb one.”
parlance
4.58pm
Reviewers
29 November 2012
Offline Really? I’ve always read the (completely incorrect) conventional wisdom is that Ringo was the “dumb/slow one.” 
"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"
Please Visit My Website, The Rock and Roll Chemist
Twitter: @rocknrollchem
Facebook: rnrchemist
5.07pm
9 July 2013
Offline Ringo always got the incorrect label of being the least intelligent of the four…I think it was cuz he was sick and never finished school like the other three did. Poor Ringo. Can’t see why anyone would call Paul the dumb one.
"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."
6.22pm
1 November 2012
Offline As a James Taylor fan, I am wearily used to the implication from others that my idol is “soft” and “syrupy” and basically a musical wimp. It’s an interesting sociological phenomenon, because there are some musicians out there that don’t have any of those “uncool cooties” at all, even though there’s no rational basis for why they remain utterly immune beyond question — for example, if you say that you’re a Lyle Lovett fan or a Tom Waits fan or a Neil Young fan or a Dylan fan, everyone will say “yeah, that’s cool”. Nobody would dream of impugning your choice. Perhaps a better example would be Jimmy Buffet. For some reason, if you’re a Jimmy Buffet fan, you instantly acquire a “cool pass”, even though Buffet has done plenty of soft pop in his time.
But if you like James Taylor, or Wings, there are quite a few out there who would wrinkle their nose like suddenly an odd odor came to their attention, or they would smile condescendingly like you just admitted that you still like to sleep with your teddy bear.
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
8.26pm
3 May 2012
Offline I don’t know about Paul being ”the dumb one” – he got into grammar school, and he did quite well in both his O and A levels. His dad was keen for him to go to teacher training college, too, so no idea why anyone would think him as being anything but clever imo.
Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.
(Passover - I. Curtis)
8.45pm
Reviewers
29 November 2012
Offline If I recall correctly, he actually had the best grades in school of the 4, and it wasn’t even close. I put the “dumb” comment down to the general anti-Paul sentiment at the time than to being based on anything substantive.
"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"
Please Visit My Website, The Rock and Roll Chemist
Twitter: @rocknrollchem
Facebook: rnrchemist
8.51pm
9 July 2013
Offline Funny Paper…geez, I never got a negative reaction to James Taylor. It’s been my experience that Beatles fans usually love “JT” and also Paul Simon and Dylan and the like. I have seen two camps with Wings in my life…half those poled like Wings and post-Beatles McCartney and the other half hate Wings and post-Beatles McCartney (as if Paul’s music died once the Beatles did). Go figure!
"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."
9.45pm
1 November 2012
Offline mccartneyalarm said
Funny Paper…geez, I never got a negative reaction to James Taylor. It’s been my experience that Beatles fans usually love “JT” and also Paul Simon and Dylan and the like. I have seen two camps with Wings in my life…half those poled like Wings and post-Beatles McCartney and the other half hate Wings and post-Beatles McCartney (as if Paul’s music died once the Beatles did). Go figure!
I mean from people in general — not just Beatles fans.
On your second point, I remember a friend in about 1987 putting on Abbey Road at his house and we enjoyed the whole album together. Then I asked him about what he thought of Ram and the other Wings albums, and he declared: “I only like pre-McCartney McCartney.”
Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...
9.56pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Is it in any way related to Pauls songwriting which is sometimes said to be pretty naff, so more coming from “those lyrics are dumb” than Paul himself being slow?
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
10.01pm
17 January 2013
Offline LadyBay said
Good on you LHL! Am with you all the way.When I said “we” I don’t include myself in that feeling, not for many years now. I meant it in terms of a royal “we”, one does not admit to liking Wings does one! I do think that some people of my vintage are reluctant to admit a liking of an act such as Wings because of teen baggage. You’re absolutely right – we should never be ashamed of the music we like.You’re talking to a ukulele lover here, I’m way past shame.
I used to play the uke when I was a kid! 
It was one of the few things I excelled at! I’ve been looking for it for a while now, I know it’s probably in my storage shed…
"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been.. I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene.. Banjos! Banjos! All the time, I can't forget that tune.. and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"
11.06pm
8 November 2012
Offline I think the “dumb” thing might have to do with his songwriting, but probably it’s more related to the cute=dumb stereotype, and his generally goofy sense of humor which, for the utterly humorless, translates into a lack of intellectual substance.
parlance
1.47am
6 August 2013
Offline parlance said
I think the “dumb” thing might have to do with his songwriting, but probably it’s more related to the cute=dumb stereotype, and his generally goofy sense of humor which, for the utterly humorless, translates into a lack of intellectual substance.parlance
I think it’s because of all of the songs that have been hits (save for “Uncle Albert /Admiral Halsey “), they’re usually the simplest songs that he has written. “Silly Love Songs,” “Ebony & Ivory,” “Let ‘Em In,” “With a Little Luck”… those songs aren’t as complex as, say, “Waterfalls” or “Tug Of War ,” but since it’s because that’s what the general popularity usually only hears from Paul, then they come up with the “dumb” line. The whole “Paul only writes love songs, while John writes stories!” argument. Never mind that Lennon wrote some (outstanding) simple love songs during his solo career: “Oh My Love” and “Woman ” come to mind. And Paul could get complex when the mood hit him- “Waterfalls” is a great example of that.
"There's no such thing as bad student... only bad teacher."
2.04am
14 December 2009
Offline 
The act of jumping waterfalls IS pretty dumb. Smart of Paul to warn his kids against it!
But on that Village Voice thing…they weren’t saying Paul was dumb outright. Writer called him “the dumb one” meaning in relation to John/George/Ringo. Plus Village Voice writers think everybody’s dumb.
Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.
2.28am
16 July 2013
Offline Funny Paper said
As a James Taylor fan, I am wearily used to the implication from others that my idol is “soft” and “syrupy” and basically a musical wimp. It’s an interesting sociological phenomenon, because there are some musicians out there that don’t have any of those “uncool cooties” at all, even though there’s no rational basis for why they remain utterly immune beyond question — for example, if you say that you’re a Lyle Lovett fan or a Tom Waits fan or a Neil Young fan or a Dylan fan, everyone will say “yeah, that’s cool”. Nobody would dream of impugning your choice. Perhaps a better example would be Jimmy Buffet. For some reason, if you’re a Jimmy Buffet fan, you instantly acquire a “cool pass”, even though Buffet has done plenty of soft pop in his time.But if you like James Taylor, or Wings, there are quite a few out there who would wrinkle their nose like suddenly an odd odor came to their attention, or they would smile condescendingly like you just admitted that you still like to sleep with your teddy bear.
I think one reason Paul gets that “uncool” tag is that his songs are so accessible and so completely “listenable” and some people like to think of themselves as too sophisticated for that. It brings out the music snob in them. Also, the more popular an artist is, the more determined some people are not to find anything they like about them!
Try and find that uke LHL – playing one (even as badly as I do) is one of the most joyful things to do in life!!
"Try to realise it's all within yourself - no-one else can make you change"
5.21pm
20 December 2010
Offline LadyBay said
Funny Paper said
As a James Taylor fan, I am wearily used to the implication from others that my idol is “soft” and “syrupy” and basically a musical wimp. It’s an interesting sociological phenomenon, because there are some musicians out there that don’t have any of those “uncool cooties” at all, even though there’s no rational basis for why they remain utterly immune beyond question — for example, if you say that you’re a Lyle Lovett fan or a Tom Waits fan or a Neil Young fan or a Dylan fan, everyone will say “yeah, that’s cool”. Nobody would dream of impugning your choice. Perhaps a better example would be Jimmy Buffet. For some reason, if you’re a Jimmy Buffet fan, you instantly acquire a “cool pass”, even though Buffet has done plenty of soft pop in his time.But if you like James Taylor, or Wings, there are quite a few out there who would wrinkle their nose like suddenly an odd odor came to their attention, or they would smile condescendingly like you just admitted that you still like to sleep with your teddy bear.
I think one reason Paul gets that “uncool” tag is that his songs are so accessible and so completely “listenable” and some people like to think of themselves as too sophisticated for that. It brings out the music snob in them. Also, the more popular an artist is, the more determined some people are not to find anything they like about them!
Try and find that uke LHL – playing one (even as badly as I do) is one of the most joyful things to do in life!!
I agree but in a different way. One reason that he has been tagged is that he has made himself too accessible as an artist. The mysticism that once surrounded him is gone. He seems to be everywhere these days and I think that Lennon and Harrison always kept that distance in their lives and were more reclusive.
The further one travels, the less one knows
8.44am
16 July 2013
Offline ^^That’s a good point . The more you put yourself out there, the more you open yourself up to attack. Thank god people like him have the strength to keep doing what they truly feel is right for them and what they feel makes a positive contribution to life – we’d all be worse off if they just gave it up.
I don’t think Lennon really had a chance to be as ‘everywhere’ as McCartney – that chance was taken away from him – I guess he would otherwise be coming in for a fair whack of criticism because he was extremely frank and open about his life, work, political views etc even though that frankness got him into a lot of trouble at times.
Back to Paul……I keep hearing snippets of stories about his kindness and generosity and about him stepping in to help the other three and their children. I think it may have been elsewhere on this forum that I heard that Paul paid for George’s medical treatment towards the end. Was that the case? Does anyone know the details?
"Try to realise it's all within yourself - no-one else can make you change"
