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Showing posts with the label ex Beatles

Birthday Greetings, Bottle of Wine

John referred to some of Paul's songs as "granny music", music hall influenced pieces that would fit in on the a vaudeville stage....jaunty, tap dancing, tux-and-top hat stuff.  For years this contibuted to the perception that Paul wrote the light stuff while John was the rocker. Maybe so, but "Helter Skelter" is as wild as "Revolution" and some of John's work could be pretty sappy. Looking at his output from the '70's we see that Paul wrote quite a few rockers and power pop gems that cohere together nicely....or nastily, if you prefer. Not that there is anything wrong with "Granny Music". The man turns 80 today after all. Sir Paul, happy birthday to you.

It Was 50 Years Ago Today...

No more Beatles...miss them, miss them. Paul announced the breakup. It was sad, I am sure, although I don't remember it. We now know that Dave D had already left, leaving George, Mickey and Tich to finish off I Me Mine. Consider, also, that obvious collaborations between Lennon and McCartney after  Rubber Soul  are arguably few - a snippet of one's song would occasionally be inserted into another's. From the White Album  on the Beatles  were largely a backing band for each member's "solo" tracks.   Then, they officially break up. It's not like John, Paul and George suddenly lost their ability to write,  but the magic was gone. Or was it? What is missing? Several things come to mind. The guitar sound....who got the Leslie? George Martin wasn't producing anymore. Paul's tunes no longer have Ringo's drumming. John and George no longer have Paul's bass lines behind them. None of them have the Beatle harmonies on back up. George and John no ...

Elvis and Paul

I remember reading about the collaboration between Elvis and Paul : Costello and McCartney. There was some speculation that there'd be an album....which never came to pass. Too bad, I thought. Paul hadn't made a compelling album in years and I'd long since lost track what Elvis had been putting out. In all, they wrote 14 songs together - "Back on My Feet", "Veronica", "Pads, Paws and Claws", "My Brave Face", "Don't Be Careless Love", "That Day is Done", "You Want Her Too", "So Like Candy", "Playboy to a Man", "The Lovers That Never Were", "Mistress and Maid", "Shallow Grave", "Tommy's Comming Home", and "Twenty Nine Fingers" -  releasing the first 12 officially between 1987 and 1996, with the last two released in original demo form on a McCartney archival release in 2017. In addition, Paul plays bass on "...This Town...