Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

You Gave Me The Answer: Well executed Paul McCartney music hall /vaudeville pastiche.

Is there a Wings song that sounds less like a Wings song than this one?

I don’t hate this tune, but I don’t like it on Venus and Mars. He should have given it to Barry Manilow or Tony Orlando/Dawn. It could’ve have been a hit for them. Here, it just sounds corny, and wimpy.

My least favorite on V&M.

 

You Gave Me The Answer 4/5 ~ "Honey Pie" reloaded and equally good!

 

I can understand you and others reaction to this song
However I don t agree the song doesn t fit on Venus and Mars. It s an album were Paul and the gang stylisticaly is all over the place. Hard rock, pop-music, light-physecedelia, RnB, folk-ballads it s all there. So why not throw in an old-timey show-tune for good measure. If one like it or not is another thing

 

You Gave Me The Answer:
Also not my favourite song on the album, but it’s enjoyable enough to fit the mood; not a skipper, if that makes sense. It’s much helped by it’s placement in the sequencing; the album just gets started and it zips by pleasantly and I also think that must have been the point.

———-

Another Day:
On first hearing it sounds rather mundane, like the song’s subject matter, but it’s a song full of hidden treasures. The bass-heavy production gives it a lot of it’s charm and I also love the little sound effects, f.i. what sounds like gallopping, the scat singing in the chorus and the applause near the end. It’s littered with such moments. The best part to me is the second chorus (‘so sad...’). Some first-rate arranging there.

 

I mostly like Paul's music hall pastiches, including "You Gave the Answer". He never fails to deliver a great melody.

It's not essential McCartney but it is pure McCartney.

 

Nobody's ever done poorly in life for being a Fred Astaire fan.

"You Gave Me The Answer" is part of the continued proof.

 

Well Said.

 

I like that. Music hall isn’t my favourite genre by a long stretch, but Paul seems to be a natural to translate some of that to a pop/rock audience without making it feel alien. Take something like Baby’s Request (the pseudo-patented ‘granny music’ he got accused of making). Hardly my favourite kind of thing, but I can’t think of anything else to end BTTE with.

 

You Gave Me The Answer annoys me in part because it’s just a solo Paul song. Wings the band is not material to the performance. It would’ve been better served on Tug of War or RAM.

Compared to another “pure” McCartney tune, Single Pigeon. While that is something only Paul could come up with, the gentle Wings backing gives it a feel that I love, and part of the reason I became a Wings fan (as opposed to just Paul) fan.

YGMTA is solo Paul on an album meant to display more fully the entire band’s talents. Wings is absent from this one. I guess Paul had to remind everyone who the star is with this one.

 

Jimmy and Joe are on it instrumentally, and Joe and Linda are doing backing vocals.

 

I know they are on it, but stylistically and spiritually they are absent.

This is a Paul vehicle, pure and simple. Could’ve been anyone backing him.

 

Don't care for 'You Gave Me the Answer. ' This is a style of writing that McCartney employs on several outings and I never enjoy them. I don' t know if it' s right to call it granny music but that' s as good a term as any.

 

Woah, I've fallen a bit behind. First some thoughts on Venus and Mars as an album . . .

Venus and Mars So how do you follow up the biggest success of your solo career to date? Why, with the second biggest success of your solo career to date, of course. Augmented to now a 5 piece and with a smash record already still on everyone’s mind, Paul was now ready to take his army on the road and become arena rock gods. It may not have been intentional (not sure) but V&M was certainly designed to be played live with several songs specifically tailored for that. Even Denny and Jimmy were given a song to sing and thus also was used in the tour. While not as high of a high as BOTR, V&M continues the high-water mark that Wings had ascended to. The healthy use of horns really amps up many of these tracks as well. I’m not always a big fan of the use of brass in rock music but this album just plain works.

One other thing I’ll say about V&M and this is I guess a personal statement but it always felt like when I played this album like your just wrapping yourself up in a blanket and getting all nice and cozy and toasty. There’s just an overall warmth to the sound on this album. There’s a few people on SHMF that think it’s sounds muddy and wish it was all cleaned up but that wasn’t an accident. It’s supposed to sound like this. It was an artistic choice by Paul.


And now the first four songs . . .

Venus and Mars: 3/5 As many have correctly stated, this simply an intro to Rock Show. Great way to open the show. You get a nice dreamy peaceful way to call everyone together, get them settled and paying attention and then wham!

Rock Show: 5/5 We get revved up right away as that ascending guitar kicks things off. Paul immediately goes into rock voice mode but the song also has some good melodic qualities to it as well. The Paul/Denny/Linda harmonizing is tight but also purposefully outrageous as opposed to their creamy smoothness during a ballad. The break in the middle, again, is tailor-made for playing live.

Love In Song: 4/5 Wish Wild Life or Dear Friend turned out like this one. Melancholic but with a powerful execution.

You Gave Me The Answer: 4/5 Paul again returns to the age of radio with some music hall old-timey stuff. Fun little gramophone effect on the vocals. I like the clarinets. Nice touch.

 

You Gave Me The Answer - I don't mind Paul's vaudeville style songs. Usually they are charming. Never my favorites but a welcome left turn. But You Gave Me The Answer is simply a poor song. It is twee instead of charming. And the spoken word parts (shall we dance, this is fun) are just cringe worthy. Best I can say about this song is that it is short at 2:15.

 

Next one
Magneto and Titanium man
What s not to like about this lighhearted rocker. Great groove, nice guitars and wondruous singing from Paul-not least the word-less part. It s a hoot from start to finish. Wings really sounds like a band here. Fun lyrics to. A song that never fails to put a smile on my face. Paul at the top of his game
Song facts

“Magneto and Titanium Man” is the B-side song to Wings’ single, “Venus and Mars/Rock Show” in 1975.

The song is in narrative form, and includes the Marvel Comics characters Magneto, Titanium Man, and the Crimson Dynamo in its story. When asked his opinion of the song decades after its release, Stan Lee (who co-created all three characters) said he thought it was “terrific”.

The song was included in the setlist for the band’s 1975/1976 world tours. While it was performed, comic art of the characters created by Jack Kirby were projected onto the large screen behind the band. McCartney, a Marvel Comics fan and comic book fan in general, contacted Marvel Comics to hire Kirby for the backdrop art. On the L.A. leg of the tour, McCartney gave Kirby front row seats and back stage passes (his daughter was a big Wings and Beatles fan), and Kirby backstage gave Paul and Linda an original comic drawing he did of them.

The song can be heard coming from a radio, creating an argument during a scene in the 1976 Mike Leigh play Nuts in May.

gneto And Titanium Man"

Well I Was Talking Last Night
Magneto And Titanium Man . . .
We Were Talking About You, Babe,
Oo --- They Said ---

You Were Involved In A Robbery
That Was Due To Happen
At A Quarter To Three
In The Main Street.

I Didn't Believe Them
Magneto And Titanium Man . . .
But When The Crimson Dynamo
Finally Assured Me, Well, I Knew

You Were Involved In A Robbery
That Was Due To Happen
At A Quarter To Three
In The Main Street.

So We Went Out
Magneto And Titanium Man . . .
And The Crimson Dynamo
Came Along For The Ride

We Went To Town With The Library
And We Swung All Over That
Long Tall Bank In The Main Street

Well There She Were And To My Despair
She's A Five-Star Criminal
Breaking The Code

Magneto Said "Now The Time Come
To Gather Our Forces And Run!!!"
Oh No . . . . . .
This Can't Be So . . . . . .

And Then It Occurred To Me!

You Couldn't Be Bad
Magneto Was Mad!
Titanium Too!
And The Crimson Dynamo
Just Couldn't Cut It No More
You Were The Law . . . . . .

 

You Gave Me the Answer

A wonderful vintage song. Paul is a versatile musician, and he gave us something different. A terrific musical mix with great vocals and harmonies.

Lyrics:

You gave me the answer to love eternally
I love you and you, you seem to like me
Wherever we wander, the local folk agree
I love you and you, you seem to like me

Heading back to old familiar places
Places where the cobwebs blow away
I can forget the airs and graces

Shall we dance?
This is fun
We should do this more often

You'll never be crowned by the aristocracy
To their delight, you'd merely invite them in for a cup of tea
And I love you and you
You seem to like
You seem to like
You seem to like me

Credits:

Produced by Paul McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney
Bass, Piano, Strings Arrangement, Vocals by Paul McCartney
Backing Vocals by Linda McCartney
Electric Guitar by Jimmy McCulloch
Backing Vocals, Drums by Joe English
Strings Arrangement by Tony Dorsey
Clarinet by Vito Platomone
Clarinet by Michael J Pierce
Violin by Carlos Klejman
Violin by Russell Joseph Bobrowski
Trumpet by Ronald B. Benko
Viola by John K. Branch
Bassoon by Harold Joseph Ballam
Cello by Bernard S. Richterman
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: May 27, 1975
Recorded at Sea Saint Studios, New Orleans, USA / Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles
Length: 2:15 minutes

Paul's own words:

" 'I know it's sort of a rock-and-roll album but' there's other things I like that aren't necessarily rock-and-roll,'' the artist explained. "On this LP I thought I'd like to get some of that in, so 'You Gave Me the Answer' is real fruity, imagining tie and tails, my impression of the Fred Astaire era.

"When I started to listen to music, the kind of music was Fred Astaire and the Billy Cotton Band Show (BBC radio), Cole Porter's type of lyrics. I like the Astaire films they show now on television. I think, wow, great, boy, can they dance! Boy, can they arrange tunes. They were only doing what we're doing now, but some of the time they were much better at it! Think of the choreographing of some of the big numbers, you just won't see that these days. We all know it's the money they had, but the class is still there for someone like myself to look back on and say 'That's a great idea.'

"I remember I was up in Liverpool once, just mucking around with this type of thing. If you play guitar, you like to do impressions. And I was singing an old tune and my Auntie Millie said to me, 'You know, that's just like Jack Buchanan!' He was one of my favourites, old Jack. I used to like all those blokes." (The British Buchanan was a star of stage musicals who also appeared in an Astaire film).

"I thought, great, she doesn't think it's a con, it's just a different style of singing, and she likes It. And I must admit, I do, it's very romantic. A fruity approach, but I'm not against all that.'' "

Source: Paul Gambaccini, " Paul McCartney in his own words", 1976

 

Back in 1974 (when I was 12) Magneto And Titanium Man was my favorite song on Venus & Mars. Today I don't think it's very good at all. Oddly for a McCartney tune, there really isn't much of a melody. Paul clearly recognizes this as he speak sings much of the track. This song is arranged to within a whisper of killing it - compensating for a weak song. This an example of how a great arrangement, a great performance and lots of energy can almost save a lame song.

 

More about You Gave Me the Answer...

Live...

 

Magneto: So we are now 4 and half songs into V&M (the 1/2 being V&M) and I confess that now, as I felt then as an impressionable 14 year old, I start to lose a little interest in this record. This tune is really a trifle, albeit a more rocking one, coming on the heels of another trifle.

As an impressionable (and passionate) 14 year old, I was keeping score a bit. With BOTR still in heavy rotation (and also with the Junior's Farm 45) - I started feeling that Paul and band were losing the plot some and that this album was simply not the same level of quality as the last.

Also: I had started buying more records; and was listening to other records my friends had. That proved to be a huge education for me really, exactly at this time. So I'm hearing Young Americans everyday to school in an older friend's car; Blood On The Tracks!!!; Dark Side of the Moon (and soon, Wish You Were Here); Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Walls and Bridges.

It was in this context, that even back then, I was wishing that Paul would dig a little deeper. This song just seems so frivolous. 1975 would be a year where Paul and Wings started to have some competition in my record collection! He'd have to do a little better than this!!!!

 

I got the V&M album in June of ‘75. I was ten. This is when I was still getting pretty much every solo Beatles just because!
“Answer” was just another song on a great Paul album. I hadn’t quite yet developed a critical thinking muscle when it came to The Beatles. So I had no problem with it.

Now? Well, yes- it’s kinda lame.....
I do like the “sound” of the song: swirly clarinets and the super compressed piano.
But the cutesy lyrics are embarrassing. I did think it was weird he played it during his ‘76 tour.

Like you, I usually like his “throwback” songs. “Baby’s Request” is actually a favorite of mine on Back To The Egg.

 

Yeah V&M seemed pretty lightweight.

 

More about You Gave Me the Answer...

The composition of the song apparently is simple but in fact is complex.

From 'You Gave Me The Answer’ - PaulMcCartney.com asks... (November 5, 2014):

"We had read in the impressive liner notes of the Venus and Mars Deluxe Edition that the song was a tip of the hat to the music Paul's father would play on the piano at home"

"Several of us here at PaulMcCartney.com play instruments and we’ve always been delighted and impressed by how intricate and complex Paul’s arrangements can be. ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ is a great example with Paul employing F diminished, G# diminished and Bb diminished; chords not often found in pop songs!"

"You have famously talked about how you jumped on a bus across Liverpool to learn the chord B7 from a guy who knew how to play it. How did you get from there to using the more complicated diminished and augmented chords that began appearing on the early Beatles albums and have continued to be used in your songs such as ‘You Gave Me The Answer’"?

Paul told us,

“It was a combination of three ways, really. Some were from people showing them to us; for example, Jim Gretty who was a guy from a guitar shop in Liverpool called Hessy’s. He had a guitar and was a jazz player, and I remember him showing us a chord that was F, but it had a couple of notes added. We called it F demented!"

"The chord found its way into a lot of things, like ‘Michelle.’ Another chord came in via ‘Along Came Jones’ by The Coasters.”

"Sometimes we would pick them up from sheet music, like, 'Oh! We don’t know that chord'. But mainly it was just figuring it out from listening to songs we liked. We knew that something went up in the chords, so me and George would work it out. Buddy Holly would use an odd chord like that - ‘Raining In My Heart’ - and the second chord in there was augmented. We worked a lot of that out by ear. There’d also be songs like 'Til There Was You’ that would have these chords in too."

Paul then told us whilst laughing, "Sometimes we’d be working with people who knew notation and stuff and they would say, 'Is that C diminished? Is that the chord?' And we’d look at each other, shrug and go, 'Yes!'"

 

Magneto and Titanium Man

A story rocker song. The performance is terrific with strong vocals and harmonies. Through music, the listener is "reading" a comic book where the characters come to life with every chord and the nice lyrics.

Lyrics:

[Verse 1]
Well I was talking last night
Magneto and Titanium Man
We were talking about you, babe
Oo --- they said

[Chorus]
You was involved in a robbery
That was due to happen
At a quarter to three
In the main street

[Verse 2]
I didn't believe them
Magneto and Titanium Man
But when the Crimson Dynamo
Finally assured me, well, i knew

[Chorus]
You was involved in a robbery
That was due to happen
At a quarter to three
In the main street

[Verse 3]
So we went out
Magneto and Titanium Man
And the Crimson Dynamo
Came along for the ride
We went to town with the library
And we swung all over that
Long tall bank in the main street
Well there she were and to my despair
She's a five-star criminal
Breaking the code

[Bridge]
Magneto said, "Now the time come
To gather our forces and run!"
Oh no
This can't be so
And then it occurred to me!

[Outro]
You couldn't be bad
Magneto was mad!
Titanium too!
And the Crimson Dynamo
Just couldn't cut it no more
You were the law

Credits:

Produced by Paul McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney
Bass, Electric Guitar, Moog, Piano, Vocals by Paul McCartney
Backing Vocals, Clarinet by Linda McCartney
Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar by Denny Laine
Electric Guitar by Jimmy McCulloch
Drums by Joe English
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: May 27, 1975
Recorded at Sea Saint Studios, New Orleans, USA / Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles
Length: 3:17 minutes

Paul's own words:

"The simple act of going to the corner market gave him the idea for 'Magneto and Titanium Man.'

"Yes, that's about Marvel Comics. When we were on holiday in Jamaica, we'd go into the supermarket every Saturday, when they got a new stock of comics in. I didn't use to read comics from eleven onwards, I thought I'd grown out of them, but I came back to them a couple of years ago. The drawings are great. I think you'll find that in twenty years time some of the guys drawing them were little Picassos. I think it's very clever how they do it. I love the names, I love the whole comic book thing."

Source: Paul Gambaccini, " Paul McCartney in his own words", 1976

 

More about Magneto and Titanium Man...

Live!!!

 

Magneto And Titanium Man:
Surprised about the disdain within here.
To me it sounds like Listen To What The Man Said’s nerdy little brother. I think it’s fun with a nice groove moving it along. It’s true that there isn’t much of a melody, but that’s where a good arrangement and great vocal harmonies carry the weight. The somewhat murky production also suits the song. I might like the version on WOA better for sheer energy.

——-

Oh Woman Oh Why
Great furious rocker. A lot of pent up anger being unleashed here, it seems. There’s even a pistol being fired (a pic of which you can see in Ram’s deluxe set).
It feels a bit stranded as a b-side. I think it should’ve been saved for Wild Life to replace the title track.
Great, great song!