A few of your favorite solo Paul McCartney songs and why

Just a few, starting with the obvious:

Maybe I'm Amazed - It's a full on Power Ballad that feels authentic. It's packed with emotion, and the guitar solos, while fairly basic, are simply perfect for the song.

Put it There - Another authentically emotional song. Even as a teenager, I could empathize with the desire of a father to bear the weight of his son's problems. As a father now, it holds even more meaning. This is an ultimate deep cut; an unheralded classic.

Come on People - To me, this song is the end of the 60s resurgence that my generation went through. I've always heard it as less of a call, and more of a pleading. A great melody, and a gentleness that barely hides a sense of frustration.

Soily - McCartney's great solo rocker. While other rockers of his might be more polished, better constructed, or have higher quality lyrics, the rawness of this track trumps them all. And it doesn't have the high end guitar tone that make so many of his other rave ups sound a bit twee.

 

My top 10:

Driving Rain - Love the groove.
Motor of Love - So ahead of it's time!
Little Willow - Beatles quality.
Too Many People - "Hit Em' Up" has nothing on this!
Venus and Mars - Celtic beauty.
Listen to What the Man Said - "The wonder of it all baby!"
Jet - Terrific rocker.
Let Em' In - Irresistibly catchy.
We're Open Tonight - I wish it was longer!
Spinning on a Axis - That menacing bass!

 

A one-song list: "Maybe I'm Amazed", because it was better than anything the Beatles did in their last years, and could have been a great Beatles song.

Otherwise, McCartney solo leaves me completely cold. He had no one to stop him from total self-indulgence. Still doesn't.

 

Hi Hi Hi - This song has it all when it comes to rockers, the energy, the drive, the guitars, and an absolutely exploding climax! Just a blistering hard rocker!

Call Me Back Again - This is McCartney showing that he is a premier singer, (I love Lennon's singing but he just can't touch this) the soulful shouting vocals are some of McCartney very best. Always love when McCartney does his blue eyed soul.

Venus & Mars/Rockshow - McCartney gives a clinic on how to start a rock concert! one of the absolute greatest rockin openers in rock concert history!

Coming Up - A funky bass thumping rocker that is full of energy! McCartney gettin down to the real nitty gritty, and the crowd is thrilled shouting out Paul McCartney! Paul McCartney! One of the absolute best songs of his entire career!

One Of These Days - Absolutely love the Vocals on this, love the sentiment, McCartney should be performing this song right now.

Cafe On The Left Bank - Love everything about this song. McCartney's vocal is just excellent and the guitar playing and soloing is a highlight of the song.

Alligator - This is just excellent song craftmanship, McCartney's masterful pop skills are on full display in this song!

Silly Love Songs - Speaking of masterful pop skills, this song is a pop masterpiece by the man! The approach, vocals, harmony and absolutley genius bassline, just masterful!

I'll stop there because I could list so so many more!

 

My Love - Beauitful ballad with a lyrical guitar solo by Henry McCullough
Junior's farm - a fun rocker with a great inventive guitar solo by Jimmy McCulloch
Getting Closer - McCartney power pop with fun nonsense lyrics
Summer's Day Song - Atmospheric, inspired by Bowie's "Low"?
Ever Present Past - My favorite McCartney single in recent years.

 

Goodnight Tonight - Love the Spanish flamenco style and the disco beat.

 

Once Upon a Long Ago-the poor lonely track with no album ('All the Best' UK doesn't count) and now not on 'Pure McCartney'. So sad. It's got beautiful melodies, a dynamite McCartney guitar solo which leads into a fantastic sax solo. It's got a nice climax and is dynamic throughout. The production feels different than his typical work-not sure if it was co-produced. But it feels like it's own mystical land-it's an absolute standout that was a big hit in the U.K. so it had major commercial success. Wish it was remastered for 'Pure McCartney'.

 

I could not agree more; it is a beautiful song, with a wonderful melody and I am shocked that it wasn't included on the 'The Princess Bridge' soundtrack. The lyrics were written specifically with that film in mind supposedly, and it does make sense that they thus have a 'fantasy' feel to them, and that they are quite sentimental, but that doesn't bother me; I just love Paul's vocals and the melody so much.

 

But that's another reason why maybe though it was a UK success, Mac didn't want to include it on 'Pure...'. The director felt it was too sappy-with that guitar blasting knocking everything down in its path, I don't think it's that sappy. Plus, Macca could have just changed a couple of lines like the 'puppy dog tails' one and he could have used it for that movie. Maybe it stuck in Paul's mind now - he never released it as a US single-I guess his confidence is shaky with this tune.

 

I agree; Paul could easily have tweaked the lyrics if asked. How could a director turn down two songs with melodies as beautiful as 'Once Upon A Long Ago' and 'Beautiful Night'? It would have been fascinating to see what would have happened had they been used in the film and then released as a single together; maybe they would have been a US hit?

 

Paul is master at arranging his songs. It's like a writing a great poem: no one word is complicated but it's how you put the words together to create something wonderful. He does the same with music. No one thing is hard as far as what he does but he puts instruments and voices together in a way that is wonderful.

 

That Album should have been called "Laid an Egg”. Including that LP, I can only stomach a few songs from each album for the rest of his career.

Anything from 1970-1977 Macca is pure magic for me.

 

It was remastered in 2007 for the McCartney Years DVD set. You could rip the audio from there, and it would fit in very nicely with the Pure McCartney tracks.

 

Here is ten
Love in song-a melody to die for on this overlooked Venus and Mars ballad.
Run Devil Run- Classic rock n roll.Another overlooked gem
Summer s days song- Ambient, electronic and yet another melody to die for
Ridin to Vanity fair A moody masterpiece
My Valentine- If only someone like Adele picked up this one it would be the modern standard it should be
Souvernir-Such a great soulful ballad with throaty singing and memorable words
Little Willow-Pure magic with such a simple melody.
Girl School- A naughty and fun rocker with a very Lennoneaque guitar-riff
Old Siam sir- A heavy number with stunning vocals
Wanderlust -Another brilliant ballad with some of Pauls best ever vocals , great melody and clever arrangement

 

Mr. Bellamy - the amazing twists and turns of the melody and structure

A Certain Softness - timeless songwriting, perfectly written and arranged

Golden Earth Girl - the melody, arrangement, lyric and vocal performance

Little Willow - heartfelt

Early Days - touching. wonderful melody, song structure and arrangement

Distractions - McCartney masterpiece

Arrow Through Me - moving, soulful, creative, listenable

No Other Baby - vocal performance, bass playing

Hope Of Deliverance - Uplifting; clever melody, instrumentation and structure

Little Lamb Dragonfly - touching. creative arrangement, gorgeous melody and harmony.

 

Monkberry Moon Delight - I like to play it really loud when I'm frustrated. It's such a release.
Little Willow - I lost my mother to cancer, so that song really touches me.
No More Lonely Nights - It was the first Paul song I ever heard (that I knew it was his). I wasn't familiar with the Beatles or Paul's career at the time.
Another Day - Because there was a time that song described my life. I've seen a lot of people dismiss it as lightweight fluff, but I think he did an amazing job of capturing the feeling of the situation.
Oh Wohman Oh Why - I just love the vocals. He sounds completely hysterical.
Riding to Vanity Fair - I can empathize.
Sing The Changes - It's just so uplifting. It never fails to brighten my mood.
Magneto and Titanium Man - I was a big Marvel and X-Men fan when I was a kid and I was tickled when I found out Paul had written that song.
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five - Because it's perfect.

ETA
Venus and Mars / Rock Show / Jet - Not really one song, but, IMO, the best concert opening ever. I wish I had a chance to see that live.