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.

Lennon's Imagine tuns 50 today. He had released " Power to the People " in March. Ringo had released " It Don't Come Easy " - produced by George - in April. Paul and Linda put out  Ram  in May. George's only studio output for 1971 was the " Bangla Desh " single in July, as he devoted most of his time first to production and then to preparations for the benefit concerts. Had the Beatles still been a band, they would have had enough material for a quality album, Ramagine . It is a solid one, with three or four tracks still garnering airplay in the classic rock format. For the sake of variety, we'll use the first take of Imagine. It has a different mix, with a more prominent harmonium. We'll also include the All Things Must Pass out take, " I Live For You ". At the risk of alienating fans of Wings Wild Life , we won't include any of its tracks here, as the album didn't come out till December. It would have been a pret...

We're coming up on the 40th anniversary of John Lennon's murder.  Last week I saw that somebody is auctioning off his last autograph, which he signed for his murderer. Forty years ago last month he released his last album. A joint effort with Yoko, I don't know if it is a great album, but it had three charting singles as well as another track that received significant airplay on classic rock and AOR stations. Not a bad showing for anybody, but after all of these years thats about as far as I've ever been able to get into it. One story is that John was inspired to go back into the studio after hearing McCartney II  earlier in the year. The year before, 1979, saw George's release of George Harrison .  It includes an update of the White Album outtake , " Not Guilty ", played in a yacht rock style. Most of the rest of the album is the same. " Soft Hearted Hannah " has some 1969 b-side Beatleyness. The standout track was the single, "Blow Away ...

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 ...

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...