No Linda McCartney after Flaming Pie, no Paul

After Flamming Pie, for obvious reasons, there is no Linda McCartney presence on Paul's albums.
Even if it were songs where she wasn't on keyboards or harmonies, Linda was always there.
Either in the studio, sometimes in artwork and certainly in Paul's songwriting at times.
It never really hit me til she got sick what a big part of my life Linda was.
Even though as fans we always joke about the wannabe musicians the wives are, just knowing how inseparable Paul and Linda were and seeing her on stage all those years on recorded concerts and in the videos (promo films) and home movies, it affected me to the point that I stopped my McCartney buying with Flaming Pie.
Paul is certainly a different person in the music that followed Flaming Pie than he was for 27 years, because of her absence.

 

For me it was all over when Martha died.

 

So why not get rid of all the Beatles records he made before Linda?

 

You're missing out on a lot of good music by one of your favorite artists! Have you listened to anything post-Flaming Pie? I don't know the details of your personal relationship with the McCartneys and I know people process death and loss differently, but as a fellow fan I encourage you to at least check out Memory Almost Full, Chaos & Creation, and his other post-Linda releases.

 

So Paul's own death in 1966 didn't bother you?

This is an odd thread, honestly...

 

I actually just looked up when the dog died...1981 if anyone cares.

 

hmmmm.....

 

Well... THAT changes my mind on all 'post-Martha' albums!
.......not really....

 

There was a certain charm to her harmonies/backing vocals that has been missing, but it's not gonna stop me from buying and listening to his music.

 

Did Martha's passing lead to the break-up of Wings???

 

Martha?

 

Because it's not sad to me.
It's not about him but who he became once they were married.
I've listened to his post Linda music via stream but was never motivated to purchase.

 

Odd, but not surprising, Lets be honest after thousands and thousands of Beatles/Macca threads it must be difficult to come up with a new angle, hence yet another imaginary last Beatles album thread doing the rounds just now.

 

Doesn't Paul have samples of Linda's vocals? Believe they were used to create /simulate a Wings sound on either C&C or MAF.

 

Not to be morbid, but I actually think that Linda's dead pulled him out of his comfort-zone and changed his music for the better. With the possible exception of "Driving Rain", which I thought was unfinished, he has only made different and challenging albums that I'm sure will be remembered as examples of an ever-moving artist, compared to the fluff he had a tendency to make before Linda died.

 

Ironically his last good powerful vocal album imo.

 

Much as I appreciate that Linda kept Paul happy and by all accounts seemed a wonderful person, I think overall solo Paul has been more consistently enjoyable post her passing

Maybe he needed an edge after much the saccharine 80s through Off the Ground, or maybe it was the times, or both but I'd take all his Flaming Pie and after records to everything except Ram and BoTR. I know she was around for Flaming Pie but not as around.
Now another thing is "the Paul McCartney Band" Rusty, Abe and co are stronger musicians than Wings, etc but they aren't on all Paul's albums.

Of course Paul was still around his peak when the Beatles split so the first 4-5 years with Linda have some of his very best songs, but I think while he's rarely hit those song heights, his albums have been genuinely strong the last 21 years and his live albums and performances tighter ;I've been listening to the Desert Trip show incidentally as I found this post--pretty excellent even though Paul's voice is and has been going).

Flaming Pie-forward releases
1. Flaming Pie - a low 4/5 a high 3.5/5 (wavers)
2. Rushes (not very good, I'll leave at that )
3. Run devil run 4.5/5
4. Liverpool sound collage (worse than Rushes)
5. Driving Rain 3.5/5 (better than its rep!)--too long
6. Back in the US -4.5/5 best live album
7. Chaos...Creation... 4/5
8. Memory Almost Full 4/5
9. Electronic Arguments 4/5
10. Amoebas secret 3/5 (not really necessary but otherwise nice and why not release it so I'm glad it's there)
11. Good evening NYC 4.5/5 fantastic
12. Kisses on the bottom- debut the rougher voice , terrible album name and a pretty boring record (not at all on par with say Nilsson's excellent but initially hard to crack A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night) 1.5/5
13. New. 4/5, would be 4.5/5 if his voice was at its old glory

I don't have the classical albums

This is all mostly solid stufg save for the experiments and Kisses

 

Not sure if it's because of Linda's death, but I also think Flaming Pie was his last great lp.

 

Paul's dog...the subject of Martha My Dear

 

Linda also did lots of photos (for the Beatles, solo Paul, even some for Jimi Hendrix, etc.), some pics became album covers for Paul's albums. I love her photos.

 

Really? This is new to me. Couldn't recognize any vocal samples on Chaos And Creation.

 

My pizza slice /ratings.


Flaming Pie - 4/5
Rushes - 2/5
Run devil run 2/5
Driving Rain 3/5
Chaos...Creation... 4/5
Memory Almost Full 4/5
New 4/5

 

As I read Paul worked on Chaos and Memory simultaneously, I prefer Chaos because (to me) it's the last album before his voice became weaker.

 

Oddly the only CD I listen to much after Flaming Pie is Rushes, just makes nice background music. I attribute none
of this to Linda, only liked some of his 80s & 90s music.

 

In my humble opinion, Paul's music got much more interesting after Linda died. Deep personal tragedy can obviously shake a person to their core and in Paul's case it seems to have unshackled the creative juices that had only been seen in traces since the mid-70's. With the possible exception of Driving Rain and Kisses On The Rear, every post-Linda album has been good or better. Macca has been on an incredible late-period roll.