Paul Mc Cartney greatest hits?
- Thread starter Ciaraella
- Start date
That's what i'm looking forward to Caveat! Can't believe i was able to get tickets. I just want to get myself acquainted with some of his solo stuff too. A gig is just so much better when you know all the songs, although i'm sure it's going to be amazing anyway, thanks for the suggestion.
Last edited:
Markjbloggs
Registered User
- Messages
- 384
Don't bother with greatest hits albums - get Band on the Run, Ram or McCartney to get a good idea of what he was about in the early 70's, after he left the Beatles. His later stuff became a bit too poppy for my liking. Enjoy the concert - wish I was going, he gives a great performance.
Just my 2 cents...
27 top 20 hits in the UK alone + 14 top 10 albums after the Beatles split. It would be a very short CD indeed !!!!!!!!!
Lex Foutish
Registered User
- Messages
- 825
S
S.L.F
Guest
I have to agree with you there.
I watched him on Jools Holland New Years show (I think) and was with a friend of mine who is BIG into music.
I thought he would be into him, being Paul McCartney and all that, but he just turned around and said he always found Paul boring and I said, "Jayus me too".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVK_mJrLbmY
Brings me back to when i was a young boy and thought war could be sorted out over a sing song and a game of fottie, innocent days.
Yes indeed, a classic. Based on a true story from what I remember. I'll be humming that all day now...
There is absolutely no doubt that Lennon was the real talent but I think recent musical history treats Paul unfairly.
The cliché is that Paul wrote all the sweet bouncy stuff and John wrote all the inventive, melodically odd and innovative stuff. There is a bit of truth in this, best highlighted by double A side Strawberry Fields/Penny lane, but Lennon wrote some sugary stuff too.
Don't forget too: Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Michelle, Lady Madonna, The Long and winding Road, Blackbird, For no one, Here There and Everywhere and especially in terms of innovation Helter Skelter ... all Paul.
Many more genuine classics as well. He wasn't all just When I'm 64, Ob la Di Ob la Da and stuff like that.
Another problem is that Lennon was arguably 'cool' but Paul was and is, not cool. At all.
The cliché is that Paul wrote all the sweet bouncy stuff and John wrote all the inventive, melodically odd and innovative stuff. There is a bit of truth in this, best highlighted by double A side Strawberry Fields/Penny lane, but Lennon wrote some sugary stuff too.
Don't forget too: Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Michelle, Lady Madonna, The Long and winding Road, Blackbird, For no one, Here There and Everywhere and especially in terms of innovation Helter Skelter ... all Paul.
Many more genuine classics as well. He wasn't all just When I'm 64, Ob la Di Ob la Da and stuff like that.
Another problem is that Lennon was arguably 'cool' but Paul was and is, not cool. At all.
I'd agree to a large extent that history has been unkind to Paul, but I would say that I'm not sure that Lennon was the true talent.
There's plenty more in terms of Paul's songs on the innovation, come together, drive my car (and the bass line in that song) etc. If you compare the immediate post Beatles records McCartney's first three are far superior in total to Lennon's initial solo output. As crass as it sounds, the problem for Paul was that Lennon died before he had the chance to become middle of the road.
The other point is that even though they largely wrote alone, especially in the last half of the Beatles, I think the competition and ultimate collaboration that went on in the studio improved each other's writing and songs. When solo, I think the both suffered.
Don't forget that Lennon also wrote some absolute lemons while in the Beatles and when solo.
Err...John's song I believe - no?
Drive my Car - agree with you there anyway. An advantage Paul had over John IMO was his grasp of R&B. Get Back is another good example.
John's downfall was that he was overly concerned with doing something 'different' a lot of the time. Sometimes this backfired. Paul mainly kept pumping out the melodies, but not without some innovation too it has to be said.
In contrast though, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Tomorrow Never Knows, Norwegian Wood - for example - I honestly don't think Paul could have written in his wildest dreams.
Yeah, I agree.
Doh! Meant Get Back.
I'd add Hide Your Love Away and Help to the list. To some extent from Rubber Soul onwards their separate songwriter identities became more noticeable, but it's a circular argument. For every John song outside Paul's capabilities, there's a Paul song outside John's. John can hit the dark, deeper stuff, but Paul can hit different emotions, yes a bit lighter and maybe less cerebral, but no less valid. And then when they did actually come together (geddit) to collaborate, the results were great.