The Beatles Paul McCartney Biography
Just as Beatle fans professed amusement at the mythical young record buyer of
the '70s who'd note in amazement, "Hey, did you know Paul McCartney was in
another band before Wings?," Wings fans can now be amused by a new, even younger
generation of CD buyers unaware that solo artist McCartney was once even in a
band. An exaggeration, maybe, but still a possibility for the man whom in 1979
the Guiness Book of Records honored as the most successful popular music
composer ever. Since that singular distinction, McCartney (b. James Paul
McCartney, June 18, 1942, Liverpool, England) has released many more albums; the
legendary Liverpudlian's career has continued at a more productive pace than
ever into the '90s. Between the release of 1989's gold Flowers In The
Dirt--which was highlighted by the singer's songwriting collaborations with
Elvis Costello--through 1993's Paul Is Live, McCartney issued a total of seven
albums, or roughly half the number of albums he recorded while a member of the
Beatles.
Indeed, there's a good chance that the still-active McCartney will match the
astounding number of top 40 hits he and John Lennon penned for the Beatles--a
total of 40--since the group's famous split of 1970. Though that doesn't take
into account the many hits he and Lennon wrote for the likes of Peter & Gordon,
Billy J. Kramer and other '60s British Invasion stars--all of which is still
another facet of his extraordinary success--it's a fact which may surprise
diehard Beatle fans who assume McCartney's track record with the Beatles remains
unapproachable.
In some ways, despite his monumental achievements, McCartney has fought an
uphill battle since leaving the Beatles. Much of it has stemmed from the
long-held critical perception that the Lennon & McCartney songwriting team
offered a perfect balance of harshness and sweetness--that Lennon was the
diehard rock 'n' roller of the pair, while McCartney was the softer, sweeter
crooner. Early on, critics point out, McCartney preferred to cover the likes of
"A Taste Of Honey" and "Till There Was You" while Lennon opted for Chuck Berry
tunes like "Roll Over, Beethoven" and "Rock 'N' Roll Music." After the pair
split, the dichotomy became a matter of public record: Lennon aimed his biting
1971 song "How Do You Sleep" directly at McCartney, declaring "the sound you
make is muzak to my ears"; five years later, McCartney's "Silly Love Songs"
indirectly responded with "You'd think that people would have had enough of
silly love songs/But I look around me and I see it isn't so." The bottom line,
at least on the commercial level, is that by the time Lennon began his five-year
leave from the music business in 1975, he had only nine top 40 hits to his
credit compared to McCartney's 16.
Perhaps ironically, while a significant amount of Lennon's post-Beatles work has
dated poorly--particularly 1972's Sometime In New York City--McCartney's early
unpolished solo work such as 1970's McCartney and 1971's Ram still sounds
remarkably fresh and current. Where Lennon at times seemed to strive to make
massive statements, whether personal or political, McCartney's deliberately
informal, lighthearted approach to music-making, perfectly illustrated by his
new group Wings' 1971 near-primitive debut Wild Life, had an even more alluring,
timeless charm. Though Wings quickly grew into an extremely polished, sometimes
slick aggregation by the time of their second album Red Rose Speedway, which
bore the No. 1 hit "My Love," they displayed an overall playfulness, and a sense
of not taking themselves too seriously, that was all the more endearing.
Furthermore, while critics continued to maintain that McCartney gravitated
toward the schmaltzy--and admittedly, ballads like "My Love" didn't help--the
former Beatle recorded a significant number of outright rockers, whether on his
albums or as single B-sides; among the best were the top 10 hits "Hi, Hi, Hi,"
"Helen Wheels," "Jet," and "Band On The Run." The latter was the title track of
McCartney's best and most successful album ever, a 1973 set that drove home to
many the fact that the former Beatle was making a full-fledged career on his
own, and clearly no longer in need of his former bandmates to churn out hits
regularly.
Before Wings officially disbanded in 1981, McCartney scored 24 top 40 hits with
them, 14 of which made the top 10, six of which went to No. 1. With the
exception of the 1978 platinum compilation Wings Greatest, all of the band's
nine albums reached the top 10; additionally, each of the five consecutive
albums between Red Rose Speedway and 1976's Wings Over America went to No. 1.
After being part of the highest-charting group of the '60s, by the end of the
'70s, McCartney was second only to Elton John as the highest-charting artist of
that decade as well.
Starting the '80s with McCartney II, his first true solo album since 1970's
McCartney, the ex-Beatle began a noticeable commercial slide that, considering
his status during the previous two decades, was probably inevitable. He recorded
only one No. 1 album--1982's Tug Of War---and had his biggest hits via duets
with Stevie Wonder (1982's seven-week No. 1 smash "Ebony And Ivory") and Michael
Jackson (1982's No. 2 single "The Girl Is Mine" and 1983's six-week No. 1 "Say,
Say, Say"). The latter singles were particularly significant: Jackson, who was
experiencing the greatest fame of his life with Thriller, was beginning to enjoy
the same sort of superstar status McCartney himself had known for the previous
20 years; it's more likely the two duets' extended success came through his
participation in the tracks rather than McCartney's.
The former Beatle finished out the '80s in a somewhat low-key fashion. He had
two more top 10 hits with 1984's "No More Lonely Nights," from his
lukewarmly-received film Give My Regards To Broad Street, and 1985's "Spies Like
Us," from the film of the same name. For the first time in his career, he
released albums that failed even to go gold (1986's Press To Play and 1987's
hits compilation All The Best!).
McCartney's critical standing got a shot in the arm with 1989's Flowers In The
Dirt. The accompanying Get Back world tour, the singer's first in 13 years, was
a huge, high-grossing success featuring as its high point McCartney unexpectedly
performing such Beatles songs as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "The
Fool On The Hill," and "Hey Jude." Tripping The Live Fantastic was the
live-double CD that documented the tour; a month after its release, Capitol
Records released an abbreviated "highlights" version that featured 13 of
McCartney's Beatle covers (as well as four of his solo songs) on a single disc.
Revealingly, perhaps, only the second set was certified platinum.
In a very active 1991, McCartney released one of the first MTV-related Unplugged
albums; Unplugged: The Official Bootleg featured the debut recording of "I Lost
My Little Girl," the first song he'd ever written, and was surprisingly strong
despite its informal origin. Five months later brought the worldwide issue of
CHOBA B CCCP (Back In The USSR), an album of non-Beatle oldies he'd recorded in
1988 exclusively for distribution in the Soviet Union. The same week, he
released Liverpool Oratorio, his first full-length work of classical music,
which he'd composed with conductor Carl Davis and recorded at the Liverpool
Cathedral with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Not much of a pop
smash, nor passionately embraced by music critics, the album nonetheless soared
to the top of the classical charts.
McCartney continued in the productive mode with 1993's Off The Ground, which
contained two more collaborations with Elvis Costello and the single "Hope Of
Deliverance," which disappointingly peaked at No. 83. Having thoroughly enjoyed
his 1989-90 touring experience, the singer embarked on yet another trek. The New
World Tour, the biggest in McCartney's career, reached five continents and
featured performances of long-unheard Beatle hits such as "All My Loving," "Here
There And Everywhere," and "I Wanna Be Your Man." In late 1993, he again
released a live album: Its cover was a parody of that of the Beatles' Abbey
Road, depicting McCartney walking a dog while crossing the street in front of
famed London studio; its title, Paul Is Live, a play on the "Paul is dead"
rumors rampant at the time of Abbey Road's release. And in 1997, he released
Flaming Pie *, which, significantly, entered the Billboard charts in the top 10.
McCartney also has been faced with his share of tragedy. In April 1998, Linda
McCartney succumbed to breast cancer after a three-year battle. Devastated by
the death of his soul mate, McCartney kept a low profile before returning to his
roots with the 1999's Run Devil Run. The set of mostly early rock 'n' roll
covers features McCartney jamming with a group of friends, including Pink
Floyd's David Gilmour. That was followed by the Grammy-nominated Liverpool Sound
Collage in 2000.
Seemingly on a roll, McCartney's profile rose dramatically in 2001 when he
applied the same formula used for the Beatles Anthology to his career with
Wingspan, a TV documentary and CD set focusing on his post-Beatles band.
Looking back didn't hamper McCartney's ability to move forward. In October 2001
he appeared at Concert For New York City at Madison Square Garden performing a
new song titled "Freedom," his response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The song was a last minute
addition to his 2001 album, Driving Rain, which also featured "From A Lover To A
Friend," a tribute to his late wife Linda.
In late 2001, McCartney dealt with the death of another loved one, former
Beatles mate George Harrison, who also died of cancer. Harrison and Linda
McCartney were the subject of tributes performed during his 2002 highly
successful Driving USA Tour. McCartney also scored an Oscar nomination for
"Vanilla Sky" theme in 2002 and performed the track on the Academy Awards
telecast. Days before his 60th birthday, McCartney married model Heather Mills.
In April 2006, the couple announced they were separating amid tabloid
speculation about the state of their four year marriage.
Clearly at peace with himself and his illustrious past, Paul McCartney has, in
the course of his lifetime, sold over one billion albums worldwide. He will very
likely sell many more.
Paul McCartney Biography
The Beatles Lyrics