It’s hard to think of how Paul McCartney could have given his first solo album a bigger publicity hurdle to overcome, unless he’d been arrested for some vile crime on the week of its release in April 1970. The newly ex-Beatle distributed a questionnaire that was treated by fans and the media as definitive word that the world’s most beloved rock band — true today as it was back then — had broken up. The music in “McCartney” was quickly overshadowed by anger and disappointment.
Forty-one years later, McCartney is asking for a second listen with a remastered disc that includes some alternative song versions, live cuts and film clips. “McCartney” is revealed for what it was: a warm, do-it-yourself project with one genuine classic (“Maybe I’m Amazed”), a couple of Beatles outtakes and a good dose of filler from a newlywed who sounds ready to cut loose from his musical moorings.
| LISTEN UP |
| ‘McCartney’ |
| » Artist: Paul McCartney |
| » Label: Hear Music |
| » Price: $54.99 |
Approaching his 69th birthday this month, McCartney is a busy man. He’s preparing for a concert tour that will take him to Yankee Stadium. He’s preparing for his third marriage, to longtime girlfriend Nancy Shevell, although he’s keeping the details of that impending wedding private.
“We’re just starting to make plans at the moment,” he said.
Back in 1970, things were less pleasant.
McCartney had completed the album at the London home he shared with his wife Linda and growing family. He didn’t feel like doing interviews when the release date approached, so he asked Apple Records’ Peter Brown to draw up a list of questions that he would provide answers to. It was included in review copies of the disc sent to journalists.
When McCartney answered “no” to Brown’s question of “are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?” it was seized on by the media as proof that the Beatles were done.
The atmosphere made people mad and unwilling to accept his new music, McCartney said. “I was not a popular bunny,” he said.
“Maybe I’m Amazed” was written after the Beatles had stopped working together, but would have fit seamlessly into the series of McCartney-penned singles like “Let it Be,” “Hey Jude” and “The Long and Winding Road” that was part of the group’s later work.
The “McCartney” songs “Junk” and “Teddy Boy” were both written with the Beatles in mind and rehearsed with the group, but never finished. “Every Night,” a lovely tribute to domesticity and something of a theme song for the disc, stands up to the test of time.
