Paul McCartney - McCartney III (Dec 18, 2020)*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jerry Horne, Jun 23, 2018.

  1. Paul P.

    Paul P. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    Like which is Bip and which is Bop?

    :whistle:

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
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  2. Resroc62

    Resroc62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Excuse me, but that is my opinion.
     
  3. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    For me McCartney has been on an unrelenting role forward since the depths of the '80s! The 80's were his nadir, though with some still wonderful albums like Tug of War and Flowers In The Dirt!

    The '90s had some missteps like the subpar Off The Ground, but that was saved by a Flaming Pie and a quick Run With The Devil!

    The 200os were a little shaky at the start with an unfortunate Drive Through the Rain, but Paul grabbed the wheel with a little help from a Rich God and that lead to the sublime creation of Chaos the motivation for which was always right there in his backyard! He continued in that decade to steer into a couple of his most triumphant achievements with his Memory Almost Full and some wonderful Electric Arguments with the help of a Youth!

    Then in the 2010s he was cleared for blast off in a submersible rocket ship headed for Ocean's Kingdom, then followed that excursion into orchestral ballet with a jaunt into the american songbook with Complete Kisses and the stunning live performances from it at Capital! What an insane opening to a decade with nary a POP/Rock album in sight until his in you face explosion of "New" material. He could have stopped right there and had his most diverse decade of music ever and arguably his best since the seventies, but he wasn't done yet, thank goodness. toward the end of the decade he grabbed a concept from his heyday of the sixties and the seventies to come up with the delightfully powerful trip to Egypt Station. Now we all expected to be done, but Paul does like his codas so we get Paul making the most of the "rockdown" to come up with one final piece to his 2o10 decade puzzle with his third self titled bout of experimentation all by himself this time with McCartney III.

    A four decade long ride to the top of his game, who could ask any more? Not me, though I do hope he keeps going because i'm always intrigued to see what Paul comes up with next.
     
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  4. Resroc62

    Resroc62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I'm waiting for the inevitable duets album!
     
  5. Sean Murdock

    Sean Murdock Forum Intruder

    Location:
    Bergenfield, NJ
    I think I will; I'm really looking forward to it. I had a few weeks early on where I was too "lost" for any music to help me; I started to wonder whether I hadn't wasted a lot of my life loving something "frivolous" so much, for so long. But perhaps inevitably, music was there, waiting for me to come around. It would pop up unexpectedly and rescue me from a gloomy day -- or, just as often, provide words and perspective to help me understand my gloom. Music can't save anyone by itself, but if you're open to it, it can help you save yourself.
    I think that Paul has gained the wisdom to know that artistic tension often leads to better art, and he appreciates it now in a way that he might not have when he was younger. It was natural to want total control and total freedom after leaving the Beatles (and George Martin's watchful eye), but he eventually realized that nobody was ever going to offer uncomfortable truths unless he specifically hired them for that. People usually assume that Paul's just chasing hits or relevancy by hopping from producer to producer, but I think he finds new ideas and approaches to work stimulating and seeks them out.

    For an idea about how Paul has evolved in the last 30 years as a studio collaborator, I look at Flowers In The Dirt versus NEW or Egypt Station. All three used multiple producers, and the basic "story" is the same -- Paul's great, loves new ideas, is game for anything, etc. But I get the sense (mostly from Paul Sinclair's excellent "The Producers" booklet) that in the Flowers sessions there were lots of ruffled feathers, and ultimately Paul would do whatever he wanted anyway. Even Elvis Costello politely bowed out when he and Paul couldn't see eye to eye on the production of their tracks. The result was (to me) an unfocused album that frankly sounds like a "too many cooks" situation.

    But on his two most recent albums Paul seems to thrive on the collaborations, genuinely trusting his younger producers and even sharing writing credits when applicable -- something we know is a sensitive subject for Paul, and a gesture he pointedly declined to make with Steve Lipson, who maintains he co-wrote "Ou Est Le Soleil." And while I've read comments to the contrary, to me NEW and ES both sound like cohesive, single-minded albums. I suppose they sound "modern" and I'm sure Paul is happy about that, but to me they just sound like Paul McCartney music, and that makes them successful.

    Finally, to bring it back to Nigel Godrich briefly, I think the P.R. Man in Paul actually wants it out there that "Hey, Nigel really got in Paul's face and Paul took it like a pro! He really is down to earth!" So I take all the stories about their "tension" with a grain of salt...
     
  6. paustin0816

    paustin0816 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio USA
    Naa, Our Paul's not desperate like poor Sting, No lute albums for Macca.
     
  7. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    Nice
    Also can add that Paul made some memorable things in the sixties and seventies to
    So it s really a six decade long ride thst s still ongoing
     
  8. Geordiepete

    Geordiepete Tippet tyer

    Location:
    Japan
    What's a lute album? Medieval canticles?
     
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  9. paustin0816

    paustin0816 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio USA
  10. Geordiepete

    Geordiepete Tippet tyer

    Location:
    Japan
    Cheers. Never heard of it till now; I'm but a casual Sting fan. Giving it a listen on Apple Music now. Up to 'Can She Excuse My Wrongs'. Seems like a turn he took to refresh his musical outlook. Funnily enough, Apple Music credit Ben Johnson's 17th-century poem 'Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow' to blues master Robert Johnson.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2020
  11. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    Guess this have been posten before but nevermind. Kiss of Venus is a song of wondruous quality-up there with the very best acoustic songs from Paul. This is what Paul himself says about the song in the Deluxe Flaming Pie booklet

    I fight with myself sometimes. I did it recently. I had an afternoon, it was a lovely summer’s day last year, and the window was open and I was in the bedroom in London and I sat down and thought, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll have a noodle.’ So I was noodling on the guitar and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s quite good.’ And I thought, I’ll either just bang it down on my iPhone or I’ll finish it. And I wrestled with myself, and said, ‘Finish it – what else are you gonna do? stick it down then go and watch telly or something? Finish it. Take an hour or’. So I did and I was very proud of myself. I had a cool little book Jools Holland’s wife had given me, kind of an astrology book, all about the planets and the movements and the fantastic synchronicity of it all. A fascinating book, actually, when the planets go through all the little things, if you look at a graph, as it were, of them all, it like makes a lotus. It’s trippy. There was some great little phrases – “the kiss of Venus” was one of them. So I was loving that book and I was making up a song about that, but that was an instance of forcing myself to write. And I felt good after it. I thought, ‘Yeah that’s a pretty good little song.’ I haven’t had time to record it, but I will.

    Paul McCartney, from the Flaming Pie – Archive Collection book, 2020
     
  12. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    Don’t forget the inevitable “With The Philharmonic Orchestra” album.........
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2020
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  13. jimod99

    jimod99 Daddy or chips?

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON
    It is against forum rules to post links, the Gorts have posted this on more than one occasion.
     
  14. Greg Smith

    Greg Smith Forum Resident

    Possibly my fave song on the record.
     
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  15. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    Could be mine to
    It s an extraordinary well-composed song
    Unlike others here I also think Paul s vocal makes the song even more moving
    It s Paul at his very best
    Pure and Vintage McCartney
    :)
     
  16. Cledwyn

    Cledwyn Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Wales
    That's an interesting and insightful analysis.

    I tend to divide Paul's solo career into three periods:

    1. his youthful and fun period: 1970-1980 - when he enjoyed massive popular success and effortlessly exuded melody from every pore of his body

    2. his difficult middle aged, transitional period: 1981 - 1995 - when his popularity, creativity and self-belief declined, resulting in some of his weakest material. Though he was still able to come up with top-rate albums such as Tug of War and Flowers.

    3. his mature period: 1996 - 2020 - with both the greater maturity that comes from life's experiences and his confidence restored by reflecting on his Beatles achievements during the Anthology project, he starting writing more personal and reflective songs and working harder than before to produce good quality tracks. - though thankfully spontaneity and playfulness were never far away. His albums from Flaming Pie onwards have arguably been the strongest run of his solo career and represent a remarkable late-career renaissance. I haven't heard it but I really hope Mc3 continues this extraordinary run. :)
     
  17. rainingdogs

    rainingdogs Death Of A Clown

    Location:
    Location
    Paul McCartney Still ‘In Denial’ Over John Lennon’s Murder

    "...He added that he tried to find things to do that would help in small ways, citing his recent radio interview with Lennon’s son Sean. “That was nice — to talk about how cool John was and fill in little gaps in his knowledge,” he said. “So it’s little things that I am able to do … but I know that none of them can get over the hill and make it okay. But you know, after he was killed, he was taken to Frank Campbell’s funeral parlor in New York. I’m often passing that. I never pass it without saying, ‘All right, John. Hi, John.’”

    McCartney acknowledged he's asked more often about Lennon’s death than Harrison's. “John is probably the one in the group you would remember, but the circumstances of his death were particularly harrowing,” he said. “When you die horrifically, you’re remembered more. But I like your point, which is: What about George? I often think of George because he was my little buddy.”

    He recalled that he and Harrison had said “silly things” to each other as his death approached. That, he said, was “important” to both of them. “We were in New York before he went to Los Angeles to die," McCartney recalled. 'I was holding his hand, and it occurred to me — I’ve never told this — I don’t want to hold George’s hand. You don’t hold your mate’s hands. I mean, we didn’t anyway.'”
     
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  18. rainingdogs

    rainingdogs Death Of A Clown

    Location:
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    Not even the afternoon and i have already had a cry. Thanks Paul.
     
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  19. Dr. Dog

    Dr. Dog You can talk to me...

    Location:
    Australia
    I like this. I always had 1970-1980, and the 1981 onward, but I was never sure where to start the latter period.
    Am I the only one here who loves Off the Ground?
     
  20. nsm

    nsm Forum Resident

    No I love it, took me awhile on release to love it as much as Press To Play & FITD ( which are in my top 3 Macca ), however the more time passed the more I loved it & then with all the great B - Sides it is even better, as I'd swap about 4 or 5 of the B- Sides with a few of the album tracks.
     
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  21. Greg Smith

    Greg Smith Forum Resident

    Take away the title track, Get Out of My Way, Looking for Changes, Peace in the Neighbourhood and Biker, add in the bonus tracks and you have an album that competes with Flowers, as it is for me it's one of Paul's blandest and uninteresting records. Hope for a deluxe release so I can make my own version.
     
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  22. Greg Smith

    Greg Smith Forum Resident

    Agree with all of this, 80's is unfairly maligned in my opinion as there is strong work with some weak material....
     
  23. Dean R

    Dean R Forum Resident

    Of course Satisfaction was mixed with the idea of it sounding great on a 4 inch radio speaker.
     
  24. Dr. Dog

    Dr. Dog You can talk to me...

    Location:
    Australia
    I'd swap Get Out Of My Way and C'mon People (which I find forced. I think he did it better with Everybody Out There).
     
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  25. The Band

    The Band Forum Resident

    Agree with just about everything you say (or at least I understand your reasoning) except that last paragraph, which I am personally a little sceptical about.

    Paul undeniably has always been a bit of a PR guy and has absolutely promoted his ‘everyman’ image (riding the Tube in the Press video as one example) but I choose to believe (choose as I do not pretend to know) that the tension between Godrich and McCartney was real, but that both got past it like the professionals they are.

    Personally I’ve never loved Chaos in quite the same way as many others but I hold it in very, very high regard indeed. I guess my main gripe is that the instrumentation barely seems to vary - something I am not used to with a Paul album. It’s to me his ‘piano’ album, in much the same way Flaming Pie has always been set in my consciousness as his ‘acoustic guitar’ album. (Note I’ve barely heard a note of McCartney III yet).

    As for Flowers, it wasn’t my first Macca album but it was in terms of anticipating its release and I’ve always loved it. I was 13/14. Pretty crucial time. It’s never sounded half as disjointed from a production point of view as so many seem to feel it is, which I agree links it to New in particular.

    May I just add, I am so sorry to hear about your son. I cannot begin to imagine what you went through. Glad music played its part in due course. You have my respect and sincere condolences.
     

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