I found have to go back and listen to things I first and for a long time didn’t like….I did that a few years ago with rrsw and WL albums and drastically upgraded them later as found they really held up. I’ve never found any of his off beat stuff embarrassing though I like some of it better than others as it was unique to his style and the man had a very broad stylistic range. His widely adventurous and weird stuff actually makes his music more varied and interesting IMHO. For instance it was only on about the fifth listen to Macca iii that it clicked with me.
I just wanted to add that I certainly also owe a lot to a few great radio personalities and many more, but can no longer edit. Besides owing a lot to The Beatles and McCartney which The Lyrics has made me more aware than ever ... shout out to (in order of appearance in my life) these radio hosts that have influenced and enriched my life significantly: Joachim Deicke's "Pops Tönende Wunderwelt" for it's humor (Monty Python!), eclectic music and storytelling Ecki Stieg's "Grenzwellen" and "Stille Nacht" for his genre bending art of playlist building, music journalism and deep knowledge of music John Peel, no comment necessary the wonderfully passionate and eloquent Paul Catty and his eclectic and laid back "Sunday Brunch" the epic Rex Joswig and his "Grenzpunkt Null" that keeps on inspiring with strange DJ sets of Dub and Indie and more paired with avantgarde poetry Michael Engelbrecht, humble and restrained yet amazingly intense and effective presentation of "Klanghorizonte" I bow to them all. And Paul McCartney.
A mate had brought round WOA previous to my London Town purchase and I was aware of The Beatles even at primary school where we would sing stuff like Yellow Submarine and Yesterday in class when the teacher played his guitar, but I’m sticking with my first purchase for my serious Macca timeline fandom, plus it’s neat as London Town remains a desert island disc for me.
The next question then is: when did the McCartneys first get a television, and how often did Paul and his brother use it? From the way it sounds, Paul grew up as part of a family that amused themselves through radio and musical performance – and then, in his teen years, was so focused on music that television wouldn't do it for him. The first reference I can see about the McCartneys and television as entertainment is someone reporting how Linda loved Dallas. Better is subjective, but Paul definitely has the more commercial solo career compared to the others — and it's clear why: Lennon's music was heavily personal, George's music excels when he puts himself amidst other musicians of that level (which isn't consistent), and Ringo was never much of a songwriter - while his albums are dominated by handoffs from the others and covers (nothing wrong with that) he's also seen more of an actor and therefore not a full-time musician like the other three. Paul's solo career, though, really excels to me by the fact he kept his eye focused on what others were doing in the field instead of just himself and his family life. He wants to stay current through the 70s, and it helps that (by the end of the decade) he's got kids who's interests are more current than his own from childhood. He's the only ex-Beatle who's evidently listening to punk at the same time he's fondly remembering Elvis. And Linda must have been part of that too. It's only with Driving Rain that he's less focused on the trend of the day and more just on having a sound that is contemporary thanks to younger musicians. And when you add in his incredible level of discipline to keep writing and recording, you end up with a catalogue that cannot be skipped. There's something in there for everyone, especially beyond the singles – which is not something that most musicians can boast these days.
I agree with pretty much everything you say, with the one caveat that The Who Sell Out was obviously even more inspired by radio than was Sgt. Pepper.
I’ve long predicted this will happen. Listening to his songs on YouTube, I can’t tell you all of the brit slang insults and mocking that’s directed towards him and his music. I was at first actually shocked at the amount of this I saw. However, when he passes I’m sure it’ll be a different story and he did live in Scotland and England a very long time as a full time resident. The man will sadly have to die for folks especially there to acknowledge him and for others to acknowledge his solo work especially.
I’m a true backwards oddity..as first as a boomer was a Beatles fan then gradually became more of a solo Beatles fan. In the last many decades, I’m a solo Paul fan almost exclusively.
Wow. I did not have a clue. She has got quite some impressive list of references. Ilsey Juber - Wikipedia That can justifyably be called an interesting turn of events.
I have finally listened to the album again in a looong time, it has been on my toListenList far too long ... and ... wow, it is a lot of fun. The SDE is on the way. Why I did not jump on it immediately ... I do not know. I hope it will arrive safely, it seems to be going OOP and the prices begin to reflect that, if shops carry it at all. Had to go with Amazon, so I am worried. Furthermore they are shipping it over from the UK. Even more chances for damage. And yes, I agree. Sell Out is satierizing commercial radio at it's finest. Pepper though is way more subtle and taking more from the storytelling toolbox than entertainment and consumerism. Yes, Good Morning Good Morning is inspired by an ad, but it is not that obvious listening to it. It is an interesting song, it is much more a Paul-like approach, telling a kind of story across a day. The difference may be that it is not centered around a directly mentioned character, like Paul does so often. Oh, I completely forgot to mention The Beatles' Christmas Records. Strange (literally!) side projects, but I love how they develop to little scenes and sketches. Also a testament to their radio upbringing, creativity and playfulness. Of John we do know that he obviously switched to TV later on, Paul also does love his entertainment TV shows ... I'd say his love for radio has never left him, though. I believe that growing up with the radio has been an advantage for especially Paul. I believe he picked up a lot from there, from radio drama and so on and has incorporated it into his music production style. Later he also enjoyed stage shows, branched out to art and avant-garde, all did on top influence his music. I am no visual person at all ... so I ma more than biased. But just the effort alone to create some film ... camera, light, cutting plus audio production on top ... I like audio much better, to me it is more subtle, direct, personal. Which is how I lastly developed a deep love for field recordings and binaural audio ... Radio aesthetics does include so much, it does not cease to excite me ... ranging from the commercial service shows, to reporting, features, works relying on original sound recordings only, documentaries, drama, book readings, information, comedy ... up to sound art or even the specific art forms of radio art. Oh yes, I will shut up now.
It’s very interesting group and solo how they and each solo used both radio and visual media especially in the seventies and how they are used in their lyrics and integrated visually throughout their works. I find this going through their music and their group and solo videos and especially notice this going through their solo and how they use radio sounds and references ..for instance on such records as back to the egg the radio parts, the letting go lyric..”I wanna put her on the radio” lyric and how use of film allusions affected their solo videos and such tv oddities as ognir rats and the JPM tv special, J&Y art films, George pirates skit, etc. Yeah, those beatles Xmas records were also great and skit things. I also think Paul’s Australian and American concerts were also radio influenced as especially in America, he was huge on AM radio and somewhat on fm as band on the run played a good bit on fm stations then and the songs from those tours were almost completely huge radio hit songs with a few exceptions.
Macca got a couple of Grammy Noms for Mc3 today. I don’t know if he’ll win, but to see a 79 year old Beatle still getting some industry love is a wondrous thing for me. Hari got one as well for ATMP uber
Lol..yes…an even more appropriate citation and lyric…It’s amazing how much great stuff they have like this…
There’s also a nomination for “Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals” for this take on Eleanor Rigby:
This does belong in here as it is also going to give us new insights into McCartney's handling of the whole band situation during the Get Back project, the band dynamics. We will get a glimpse into how he was working on new music, including a few of his most iconic songs (Teddy Boy !!! LoL eh ... and some other ditties called Let It Be, The Long And Winding Road ... ) with his mates. We will obviously get a much more nuanced story than before, as telling stories is what a filmmaker like Peter Jackson does. He says that his concern was telling a story, not creating a song movie. It just happens to be a story with a lot of songs. Just watching the Things We Tell Today podcast with Peter Jackson. Almost 4 hours interviewing Peter Jackson! I am floored. I am more than enthusiastic. For us Beatles nerds chosing him for the Get Back project turns out means striking gold. I love how passionate he is about the whole project, genually humbled and trying to make this the best he can. I love how he says that when lockdowns came he said: 2 hours including the rooftop for all this is ridiculous, let's make it longer. He ended up with 6 hours. Three months ago he was talking to Disney who are to decide the release on DVD/Blueray about an extended cut, which they nixed, arguing today nobody would still be interested in extended cuts. At that point one of the interviewers does a facepalm. Peter goes on, that so they quickly recut the whole thing, inserting all the bits and pieces they had already set aside, even went back and included more, additional stuff. He says he does not want to be responsible for some interesting stuff going back to the vaults for another 50 years when he had the chance to get it out. So he made it almost eight hours, turned it in being the extended cut without saying anything ... and they just put it through. He is still hopefull he may be able to include even more on the physical release, or a rerelase. I have not heard it yet myself, but allegedly he is open for suggestions what he should try to get in. .oOo. Hello, what???! Someone working on a Beatles project is actually open for fans' opinions and auggestions?! That has to be a first. This four hour interview is essential listening for anybody remotely interested in this time and project. I also love that he does wholeheartedly acknowledges that it was Lindsay-Hogg who recorded all this, who earns the praise for documenting as much as he could. He himself only draws from that work. Also interesting, he mentions that especially John came across as passive aggressive making random noises on guitar, but he gained the impression that was their way to get some privacy and to talk without being heard. That is a very different view, and given he has been able to actually watch more raw material than we ever will, I guess his opinion is a more informed one. He also does state that listening to the audio on A/B Road is one thing, but watching the filmed sequences does give a more complete ... well, picture. He also used demixing to get conversations out of the noise in order to include them. I think it is another nice touch that they named the demixing software based upon artificial "intelligence" Mal, as a reference both to Hal from the movie 2001, but also Mal Evans. He said, it was kind of as if Mal was still part of the team: "Let's see if Mal can do this." A YT commenter stated that this interview has already made history and this interview is as eye-opening and essential for this period as Lewisohn's work. He sure had access to source material that Lewisohn does not have. I am convinced they will have a few fruitful conversations. From Beatles fan to Beatles fan. It sure is essential listening, the Things We Said Today team has earned themselves a place as part of The Beatles' story. And that is not even the most surprising aspect. One of them mentioned somewhere else that they did not ask Jackson, he asked them. I will see when I will decide to watch all this, I do not want to rush it, I want to enjoy it. May be tomorrow, may be around christmas ... I will see. I am ready to subscribe to Disney for a while. After all, there is also the McCartney/Rick Rubin series which I am eager to watch. And so much Simpsons. Including the episode with Paul and Linda. If I need an extra subscription I do want to make the best of it. I wonder if Disney will see a significant increase of subscriptions due to Get Back. But, and I am really happy about all the silence regarding a physical release, that he has indirectly confirmed that as of now it appears to be a possibility. I will gladly transfer money away in exchange for this.
