Would "Maybe I'm Amazed" have been a number 1 hit if it was released as a single from "McCartney"?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Pizza, Mar 20, 2017.

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  1. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I remember checking all the local record stores for the single, "Maybe I'm Amazed," when the "McCartney" album was released. No one had it though a couple had a labeled space for it. I was confused as it was getting heavy rotation on the radio. I don't remember when I discovered there was no actual single but I do recall being shocked. It is still my favorite Paul McCartney solo song.

    I believe it would have been an easy number 1 hit but there are plenty of other songs I feel as strongly about that didn't hit the top spot. What do you folks think?
     
  2. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

  3. theMess

    theMess Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    I don't see why not; it is a great McCartney ballad, and it would have been released hot on the heels of two other McCartney ballad hit songs. The promotion that it would have received as the first solo single released by Paul would have helped it become a hit.
     
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  4. videoman

    videoman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lake Tahoe, NV
    It would have stalled at #2 like "Live and Let Die"
     
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  5. ukrules

    ukrules Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kentucky
    I much prefer the live version...it was a single.
     
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  6. ralph7109

    ralph7109 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Franklin, TN
    It would have been - easily.
    I also think Paulie would have recorded it differently - perhaps a bit more polished - if he was going to do that.
     
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  7. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    It was a Beatles-worthy single.

    If it had been released as a Beatles single with a bit of George Martin polish, no doubt it would have been as big, or almost as big, as Hey Jude.
     
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  8. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    For sure.
    It was a Top ten years later in the live version.
     
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  9. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    No doubt; at least a Top Five - depending on whatever singles were competing.

    It has so many positives going for it:
    Post-Beatles momentum and feel, a love song, highly memorable melody and lyrics, Great soaring guitar solo, trademark stellar vocals by McCartney...
     
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  10. hello people

    hello people Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth
    Nah

    Rhyming maybe with amazed is always career suicide

    :righton:
     
  11. theMess

    theMess Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    That must be why Paul's solo career tanked in 1970.............Oh wait......:D
     
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  12. hello people

    hello people Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth
    Yeah he limped along til around 1980 and then he forgot how to write good songs.

    He's been in a 37 year slump

    :righton:
     
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  13. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    Maybe/maybe not. It's kind of unpolished, the recording?
     
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  14. ralph7109

    ralph7109 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Franklin, TN
    Paul's lyrics sometimes leave a lot to be desire.

    His rhyming, however, is top notch (seriously).

    But he wasn't trying to rhyme "Amazed" with "Maybe" in that song.

    "Line" with "Time" ; Man" or "Woman" with "Understand"; "Song" with "Wrong" - yes.

    But he wasn't trying to rhyme "Amazed" and "Maybe" - they are in the same line right after each other.
     
  15. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    A #1 hit single? Probably yes (depending on the chart competition during those weeks), but if so it probably would have been at the expense of the McCartney album reaching #1 as I'm sure a significant number of those album sales were driven by the fact that Maybe I'm Amazed (easily the best song on the album - by a massive margin) wasn't available as a single.
     
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  16. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Here's US top 10 for week of April 25, 1970. There's Let it Be, Instant Karma and Come and Get It, so, yeah, I think it would have had a good chance at hitting #1.

    1 2 ABC –•– Jackson 5 (Motown)-7 (1 week at #1)
    2 1 LET IT BE –•– The Beatles (Apple)-6
    3 3 SPIRIT IN THE SKY –•– Norman Greenbaum (Reprise)-9
    4 4 INSTANT KARMA (We All Shine On) –•– John Ono Lennon (Apple)-9
    5 9 AMERICAN WOMAN / NO SUGAR TONIGHT –•– The Guess Who (RCA)-6
    6 5 LOVE GROWS (Where My Rosemary Goes) –•– Edison Lighthouse (Bell)-10
    7 7 COME AND GET IT –•– Badfinger (Apple)-12
    8 8 LOVE OR LET ME BE LONELY –•– The Friends Of Distinction (RCA)-8
    9 6 BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER –•– Simon and Garfunkel (Columbia)-12
    10 16 TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME –•– Tyrone Davis (Dakar)-6
     
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  17. hutchenstance

    hutchenstance Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    I think it would have hit #1.....

    i always love hearing Faces play it and Rod introduce it
     
  18. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    A bit old by then though, not the live version, but most knew the studio version.
     
  19. qwerty

    qwerty A resident of the SH_Forums.

    Yes. Why didn't they release it? - McCartney would have retained a lot more post-Beatles credibility.

    It was following his tradition of big production ballads, that had previously had acclaim: Hey Jude, The Long and Winding Road, Let it Be.

    And it was clearly the best song (i.e., the most developed and most produced song) in what I find a very patchy album (I know many disagree with that opinion).
     
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  20. fallbreaks

    fallbreaks Forum Resident

    Yes - but only if it wasn't also competing with Let it Be and the Long and Winding Road in the charts.
     
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  21. hello people

    hello people Forum Resident

    Location:
    Earth
    You're talking about conventional end of the line rhyme...which isn't a crime of course. Mayyyyybe and amaaaaaaze rhyme. No accident they are used together like that.

    That's how Paul rolls.

    :righton:
     
  22. fallbreaks

    fallbreaks Forum Resident

    It would have gone head-to-head with the singles of Let it Be (early March) and the Long and Winding Road (early May). The McCartney album was released in mid April. If he could have held on for a few months like the others requested, he might have gotten a single release and his first big solo hit.
     
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  23. Jackson

    Jackson Senior Member

    Location:
    MA, USA
    It's a number 1-hit with me.:)
     
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  24. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade

    I actually never heard "Maybe I'm Amazed" until the live version on WINGS OVER AMERICA became a hit, but I do think it would have been a #1 hit had it been released back in 1970.
     
    Fullbug likes this.
  25. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I posted the top 10 for week of 25th . My view is just the opposite of yours, that it wouldn't be a negative at all.
     
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