Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

Hearing Helter Skelter live was a high point after so many high points. That one followed by Sgt Pepper ... I will never forget that feeling.
I think that says enough.
My loce for that song has only grown since the remix, since I learned what those strange noises near the end were. Sometimes it does pay to play instruments you can't play. I don't want to have been present at those overdub sessions (I'm sure there are others more worthy of a time machine), but the result is great in context.
I also love what we've got from take 2.

 

Paul's vocals are spectacular. It's a top Beatles song for sure.

 

Helter Skelter - Absolutely love it, and another I wish they had performed on the rooftop!

 

That would be something. That really would be something!

Instead of kicking over amps a la garage band thrashouts, they could have kicked Yoko off the roof.

 

As a kid I didn't much care for hard rock in general and couldn't really get into Helter Skelter, but I've grown to appreciate it since I saw him do it live a dozen or so years ago. What a blast. And seriously, how many artists can you name who could pull off Helter Skelter, Blackbird and Honey Pie on the same album?

 

John Lennon: Yer Blues, Julia, Goodnight.

I kid, I kid, but my general thought is valid, I think.

John and Paul could play both offense and defense. Ballads and rockers.

That’s one of the reasons we love them.

 

They make is seem so easy, but so few can do world class ballads and really rock the house as well, and the Beatles had at least two members that could and George was no slouch either, see My Guitar Gently Weeps, Piggies, Savoy Truffle, and Long Long Long for delightfully diverse reference! Hadn't really thought about it recently, but the White Album was the most diverse album of songs by all three of them and that is what makes it probably on most days my favorite Beatles album in that all three were pushing their musical boundaries to the limit with spectacularly interesting results. I mean you can break the songs up by lead vocalist and get a completely interesting and engaging solo album by Paul and John that would rank up there as one of their absolute best solo albums and for George get a fun little EP!

 

Let's do that shall we! We shall!

John Lennon's White Album on Spotify

Paul McCartney's White Album on Spotify

 

George's actually becomes an Album too with all his extra tracks floating around at the time!

George Harrison's White Album on Spotify

Ringo Starr's White EP on Spotify

 

I wouldn't include Piggies as a recommendation for George Harrison?!

 

Helter Skelter Rocks much better in Stereo!

How could they not have included "I've Got Blisters On My Fingers" on the mono?????

Ooooops sorry, this is a Wings thread~!

 

If Paul sings on it, it's in this thread!

 

You bring up an interesting point. Despite the removal of the blisters comment, for me the mono version feels more chaotic which is a good thing on this song. Doesn't make up for that deletion though.

Now the mono version of Don't Pass Me By on the other hand. Pfff.

 

Next Up - HONEY PIE (Lennon/McCartney)



HONEY PIE (Lennon/McCartney)

PAUL 1968: "My dad's always played fruity old songs like that, you know. And I liked 'em. I like the melody of old songs, and the lyrics actually as well. There's some old lyrics, like, you know-- the woman singing about the man, and she's saying something about 'I wanna have his initial on my monogram.' You know what I mean? There's good lyrics and just good thoughts that you don't sort of hear so much these days, you know. And so, I would quite like to have been a 1920's writer, 'cuz I like that thing, you know. Umm, you know, up in top hat and tails and sort of coming-on to 'em. So this kind of number, I like that thing. But, uhh... So this is just me doing it, pretending I'm living in 1925."


GEORGE 1987: "John played a brilliant solo on 'Honey Pie' --sounded like Django Reinhardt or something. It was one of them where you just close your eyes and happen to hit all the right notes... sounded like a little jazz solo."


PAUL circa-1994: "I very much liked that old crooner style-- the strange fruity voice that they used, so 'Honey Pie' was me writing one of them to an imaginary woman, across the ocean, on the silver screen, who was called Honey Pie. It's another of my fantasy songs. We put a sound on my voice to make it sound like a scratchy old record. So it's not a parody, it's a nod to the vaudville tradition that I was raised on."

 

What? No love for Honey Pie?

 

Anyway, now that we are through all of Paul's White Album tracks here is a commemorative playlist for you to enjoy. I'm enjoying it so much as a solo album that I think I may start listening to this version over the officially released White Album.

Paul McCartney's White Album (Can You Take Me Back) on Spotify

Track List
Lady Madonna - Remastered 2015
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - 2018 Mix
Back In The U.S.S.R. - 2018 Mix
Wild Honey Pie - 2018 Mix
Martha My Dear - 2018 Mix
Blackbird - 2018 Mix
Helter Skelter - 2018 Mix
Rocky Raccoon - 2018 Mix
Mother Nature's Son - 2018 Mix
Why Don't We Do It In The Road? - 2018 Mix
I Will - 2018 Mix
Birthday - 2018 Mix
Honey Pie - 2018 Mix
Hey Jude - Remastered 2015
Junk - Esher Demo
Step Inside Love - Studio Jam
Los Paranoias - Studio Jam
Blue Moon - Studio Jam
(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care - Studio Jam
St. Louis Blues - Studio Jam
Can You Take Me Back? - Take 1

 

While they both could do ballads and rockers, they had different emotional vocabularies, which is what made them such a perfect pair. There's an astringency to some of John's stuff that's just out of range for Paul (with the exception, much later in his career, of "Riding to Vanity Fair"). And John couldn't often bring him self to be as sweet or silly as Paul so regularly did.

 

Got this album then...I loved birthday...a great celebration song and rocker...It was a get down song from the album...I remember dancing to it and playing it repeatedly...

 

I thought several songs on Paul’s early solo albums were very astringent...some almost ascerbic...songs on WL especially ...Wild life song, Mumbo, monkberry., beware my love album version, then there’s So glad to see you, old Siam, sir ..so this doesn’t quite hold completely true and John did some beautiful sweet ballads, jealous guy, woman, mind games, etc., ..I know what you mean but just in the seventies it didn’t quite bear out always..As for silly, don’t forget..John did do the Oz ...despite the the rock style guitar, the lyrics are the height of silly...and did a cover version of..Ya yahs...They each were complex enough musically an creative to do all styles and did occasionally...and weren’t just their typecast yin yang versions of each other IMO...I always remember that they both were the height of silly n you know my name look up the number parody...

 

Lol....I see either my own expression has been..stolen..or perhaps I myself stole it or..would you perhaps be plagiarizing me? I’ll have to do a George...and do sue me, sue you blues..End the quoth from the ..bard. Anyway..let me first consult my lawyer...lol.

 

Immediately loved it...perplexed at how well Paul did that style and song then...extraordinary Tin Pan Alley type stuff....When bought WA in 68...had watched and continued to do a long time those great old movies with these types of songs..

 

I enjoy them so much..listen to them pretty regularly...was very proud when got the sessions on a seventies bootleg? Those color vinyl 45 singles with pic sleeve bootlegs maybe? ....it struck me how different the music style was in those sessions from early Beatles fame style..

 

Dissing my stuff here...it was their very early dawn...before their full sunrise..