Paul's most underrated songs?
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"Sweet, Sweet Memories" "The Other Me" "Daytime Night Time Suffering" "New" "Morris Moose and the Grey Goose"
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The "hidden" piano ballad at the end of the album "New" is very moving and poignant, to me. He's almost begging someone for love. Very sensitive and emotional. Heartfelt.
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SusyLuvsPaul:
The "hidden" piano ballad at the end of the album "New" is very moving and poignant, to me. He's almost begging someone for love. Very sensitive and emotional. Heartfelt.
Totally agree with you Susy. Personally I think its well within the top 10 songs Paul has written in the last 50 years. Its that rare combination of a great song backed with a great performance.
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Little Lamb Dragonfly. This is probably my all time favorite song by Paul, so even though it is generally rated pretty high, I think it is still underrated in a sense. It's got a hazy/dreamy nature feeling that I just love. Beautiful and comforting, but with a twinge of melancholy, it's a wonderful song.
Others that I think are also underrated are: Oo You, Put It There, Your Way, English Tea, Dance Tonight, Hosanna, and Demons Dance.
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McCall wrote:
Little Lamb Dragonfly. This is probably my all time favorite song by Paul, so even though it is generally rated pretty high, I think it is still underrated in a sense. It's got a hazy/dreamy nature feeling that I just love. Beautiful and comforting, but with a twinge of melancholy, it's a wonderful song.
Others that I think are also underrated are: Oo You, Put It There, Your Way, English Tea, Dance Tonight, Hosanna, and Demons Dance.
Little Lamb Dragonfly and Back Seat of my Car are epic.
Epic!
Epic!!
Stranglehold.
It's Not True.
One of These Days.
Through Our Love.
Beautiful Night.
A Love for You.
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If I could update and add a few songs from the post I made in 2014, I would add the songs below. Note - I don't think you can add songs from "McCartney III" yet, maybe in a couple of years.
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Little Willow - Can't believe I forgot it the first time.
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Early Days
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Confidante
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I Can Bet
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Home Tonight
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I'm on board with Toris for Little Lamb Dragonfly, it's a hidden gem I can never get enough of!
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Just a few hidden gems from Memory Almost Full alone that Paul never did "live" on a tour:
See Your Sunshine
You Tell Me
Mr. Bellamy
Vintage Clothes
Why So Blue (Bonus track)
The End of the End
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Talking about hidden gems and underrated songs, there is almost no better place to start than "Off the Ground - The Complete Works". The 2nd CD on the "Complete Works" is filled with Underrated Songs and Hidden Gems. This package is almost impossible to buy. It was only originally released in the Netherlands and Germany and is currently out of print.
Here is my list of terrific songs and hidden gems from the 2nd CD on "Off the Ground - The Complete Works:
Long Leather Coat (Paul and Linda)
Sweet Sweet Memories
Style Style
I Can't Imagine (my personal favorite of the bunch)
Kicked Around No More (another great hidden gem and favorite of mine)
Big Boys Bickering
Down to the River
*Just want to add that I think Paul's Band was terrific (especially Robbie McIntosh and Hamish Stuart ) on the subsequent tour following Off the Ground). In my opinion, many of the live versions on the "New World Tour) were vastly superior to the original album tracks. The Band did a great job of providing more excitement to the songs. Some of the "Live versions" available on Youtube should be put on a future "Compilation" Package. The much improved "live versions" compared to the original album release include:
Off the Ground (the song)
Looking for Changes
Hope of Deliverance (much better)
I Owe It All To You (much better)
Biker Like an Icon ((vastly better)
Peace in the Neighbourhood (vastly better and i love the version with Wix doing an introductory Keyboard solo to the song)
Get Out of My Way (although the album version is also very good)
C'Mon People (again much better)
I have to add that Paul's vocals on some of these "live" versions are great and better than their counterpart studio tracks
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Forgot to include another track from "Off the Ground - The Complete Works".
The 2nd CD also included:
"Keep Coming Back to Love" great R&B tune written jointly by Paul McCartney and Hamish Stuart
*Hamish was not only a great musician but he provided great background vocals and harmonies with Paul. It was nice that "Keep Coming Back to Love" was featured as one of the extra tracks on the Flaming Pie Archive Edition
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2 relatively unknown Paul Songs that have been "added" on Youtube lately are:
*Love Come Tumbling Down
*Same Love
In my opinion, both songs are teriffic hidden gems and should have been included on the original Flaming Pie CD. I chose to put them on this "underrated" list becasue it's not like they are disliked by fans. It's just they aren't "known" by Paul McCartney fans by and large and that's why they are so underrated.
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B J Conlee wrote:
2 relatively unknown Paul Songs that have been "added" on Youtube lately are:
*Love Come Tumbling Down
*Same Love
In my opinion, both songs are teriffic hidden gems and should have been included on the original Flaming Pie CD. I chose to put them on this "underrated" list becasue it's not like they are disliked by fans. It's just they aren't "known" by Paul McCartney fans by and large and that's why they are so underrated.
BJ, I think not being known is a bit different than being underrated. I take the meaning of underrated to be a known song to casual fans that may not be truly valued/appreciated. I think a perfect example is a excellent song from FITD called "We Got Married". The song was on a very well received McCartney album and was played live during his 1989 tour so it was known to the casual McCartney fan. I think it never got its due in comparison to the more commercial songs from FITD like "My Brave Face", "Figure Of Eight" and "Put It There" so I feel it is underrated. The songs you mentioned can't be underrated because they really are not known to most people since they were not on the original "Flaming Pie" album and only hardcore McCartney fan has ever heard them. I guess I am splitting hairs but just offering my two cents -lol
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
2 relatively unknown Paul Songs that have been "added" on Youtube lately are:
*Love Come Tumbling Down
*Same Love
In my opinion, both songs are teriffic hidden gems and should have been included on the original Flaming Pie CD. I chose to put them on this "underrated" list becasue it's not like they are disliked by fans. It's just they aren't "known" by Paul McCartney fans by and large and that's why they are so underrated.
BJ, I think not being known is a bit different than being underrated. I take the meaning of underrated to be a known song to casual fans that may not be truly valued/appreciated. I think a perfect example is a excellent song from FITD called "We Got Married". The song was on a very well received McCartney album and was played live during his 1989 tour so it was known to the casual McCartney fan. I think it never got its due in comparison to the more commercial songs from FITD like "My Brave Face", "Figure Of Eight" and "Put It There" so I feel it is underrated. The songs you mentioned can't be underrated because they really are not known to most people since they were not on the original "Flaming Pie" album and only hardcore McCartney fan has ever heard them. I guess I am splitting hairs but just offering my two cents -lol
Yankeefan, I agree with you. I have never even heard of Same Love! Have heard of the other one, but couldn't tell you one lyric of it. I guess I'm not a "hardcore" McCartney fan! It's true - I know more about The Beatles than Paul's solo career!
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
2 relatively unknown Paul Songs that have been "added" on Youtube lately are:
*Love Come Tumbling Down
*Same Love
In my opinion, both songs are teriffic hidden gems and should have been included on the original Flaming Pie CD. I chose to put them on this "underrated" list becasue it's not like they are disliked by fans. It's just they aren't "known" by Paul McCartney fans by and large and that's why they are so underrated.
BJ, I think not being known is a bit different than being underrated. I take the meaning of underrated to be a known song to casual fans that may not be truly valued/appreciated. I think a perfect example is a excellent song from FITD called "We Got Married". The song was on a very well received McCartney album and was played live during his 1989 tour so it was known to the casual McCartney fan. I think it never got its due in comparison to the more commercial songs from FITD like "My Brave Face", "Figure Of Eight" and "Put It There" so I feel it is underrated. The songs you mentioned can't be underrated because they really are not known to most people since they were not on the original "Flaming Pie" album and only hardcore McCartney fan has ever heard them. I guess I am splitting hairs but just offering my two cents -lol
Sorry Yankeefan for not getting back to you sooner You're so right...I probably should have filed these 2 songs as some of Paul's best hidden or lost gems rather than the term "underrated." While both songs were officially released as B-Sides to the Flaming Pie single Beautiful Night, they are definite "lost" gems in my opinion. People our ages just don't buy "singles" liked consumers did in the early 60's so these songs are mostly" unknown" which is a shame. Just my opinion, I do think they are both better than a couple of the weaker "Pie" tracks including the title cut and Really Love You.
Different than many casual and hard core "Beatle" fans, I'm much more of a Paul McCartney hard core fan as you know. I find his mid to latter 80's period to be fascinating. Unlike his Beatle's period, his subsequent Post Beatle's career has been full of ups and downs. One of his reallly "down" periods was ironically after he had so much commercial success with Tug of War and Pipes of Peace. His two hugely successful Duets/Singles with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson also can carry a heavy double edge sword. While both singles propelled their respective albums to be huge best sellers, too much exposure in the music industry can sometimes lead to "later" disastrous results even if you're Paul McCartney. As a huge fan, I was even getting tired of hearing those songs constantly on the radio and it didn't help when Paul released a subsequent single "Spies Like Us" tied to the movie in 1986. It was way too 80's sounding to many Beatle fans from what I remember. Because of all the "over exposed"backlash, I wasn't surprised at all when Broad Street and Press to Play did so poorly commercially at the time. It didn't help that the reviews were also widely terrible.
One thing I've always admired about Paul however is his work ethic and tenacity. Even when he was going through such a rough career cycle musically he never stopped writing songs and working hard with various producers like Phil Ramone and even a little bit with David Foster. "Love Come Tumbling Down" originated from those Phil Ramone sessions along with songs like We Got Married, Beautiful Night, Loveliest Thing, This One, Once Upon a Long Ago and Back on My Feet (w/Elvis Costello). Subsequently, many of these songs were included on later Paul Albums or released officially as B-Sides or Archive releases. But the songs that didn't make it on the "original" Paul McCartney album release unfortunately do become what I call "lost" songs or even "lost" gems.
"Same Love" is another "lost"song I have gotten to like especially with the beginning piano solo by Nicky Hopkins who played with all of the Beatles individually and collectively.
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"People our ages just don't buy "singles" liked consumers did in the early 60's so these songs are mostly" unknown" which is a shame. Just my opinion, I do think they are both better than a couple of the weaker "Pie" tracks including the title cut and Really Love You."
Totally agree about singles BJ, they are not a big deal today so a "B" side will remain fairly obscure to most people. I like "Love Come Tumbling Down" a bunch better than "Same Love" but agree they both would have been better songs than "Flamng Pie" and "Really Love You". I think classifying these songs as "hidden gems" is better than underrated.
"Different than many casual and hard core "Beatle" fans, I'm much more of a Paul McCartney hard core fan as you know. I find his mid to latter 80's period to be fascinating. Unlike his Beatle's period, his subsequent Post Beatle's career has been full of ups and downs. One of his reallly "down" periods was ironically after he had so much commercial success with Tug of War and Pipes of Peace."
Like you BJ, I am much more a Paul McCartney solo fan than Beatle fan now. IMO how much more can you say about the Beatles than has been said the last 50 years. McCartney is still a prolific songwriter so IMO it is much more interesting to talk about his solo career. To each their own but there is very little I care about in regards to the Beatles now with the possible exception of what the "new" "Let It Be" movie may be like. "Tug Of War" to me was fantastic album which may not have aged as well as some other albums but still has some fantastic songs. Sadly, IMO "Pipes Of Peace" to me was a major letdown in quality and led to the downfall of McCartney commercially for years to come. While "Ebony and Ivory" and "Say Say Say" were big hits, I think to many in the rock/pop world they came off as McCartney trying too hard to have commerical hit and attaching himself to two superstars to do it.
""Love Come Tumbling Down" originated from those Phil Ramone sessions along with songs like We Got Married, Beautiful Night, Loveliest Thing, This One, Once Upon a Long Ago and Back on My Feet (w/Elvis Costello). Subsequently, many of these songs were included on later Paul Albums or released officially as B-Sides or Archive releases. But the songs that didn't make it on the "original" Paul McCartney album release unfortunately do become what I call "lost" songs or even "lost" gems."
Sometimes when you listen to some of the songs that did not make the original album you wonder why especially since these songs are better than the "clunkers" he has left on some albums. Like you, I did not think much of the song "Flaming Pie" and yet he made it a single and the title of the album -lol. Once again, I will point out how important Nigel Godrich was as a producer of CHAOS. "Summer of 59" is excellent 50's style rocker that was B side of "Jenny Wren". Godrich knew that even though it was excellent song that it did not fit the somber tone of the CHAOS album and making it a B side was perfect place for this song.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
"People our ages just don't buy "singles" liked consumers did in the early 60's so these songs are mostly" unknown" which is a shame. Just my opinion, I do think they are both better than a couple of the weaker "Pie" tracks including the title cut and Really Love You."
Totally agree about singles BJ, they are not a big deal today so a "B" side will remain fairly obscure to most people. I like "Love Come Tumbling Down" a bunch better than "Same Love" but agree they both would have been better songs than "Flamng Pie" and "Really Love You". I think classifying these songs as "hidden gems" is better than underrated.
"Different than many casual and hard core "Beatle" fans, I'm much more of a Paul McCartney hard core fan as you know. I find his mid to latter 80's period to be fascinating. Unlike his Beatle's period, his subsequent Post Beatle's career has been full of ups and downs. One of his reallly "down" periods was ironically after he had so much commercial success with Tug of War and Pipes of Peace."
Like you BJ, I am much more a Paul McCartney solo fan than Beatle fan now. IMO how much more can you say about the Beatles than has been said the last 50 years. McCartney is still a prolific songwriter so IMO it is much more interesting to talk about his solo career. To each their own but there is very little I care about in regards to the Beatles now with the possible exception of what the "new" "Let It Be" movie may be like. "Tug Of War" to me was fantastic album which may not have aged as well as some other albums but still has some fantastic songs. Sadly, IMO "Pipes Of Peace" to me was a major letdown in quality and led to the downfall of McCartney commercially for years to come. While "Ebony and Ivory" and "Say Say Say" were big hits, I think to many in the rock/pop world they came off as McCartney trying too hard to have commerical hit and attaching himself to two superstars to do it.
""Love Come Tumbling Down" originated from those Phil Ramone sessions along with songs like We Got Married, Beautiful Night, Loveliest Thing, This One, Once Upon a Long Ago and Back on My Feet (w/Elvis Costello). Subsequently, many of these songs were included on later Paul Albums or released officially as B-Sides or Archive releases. But the songs that didn't make it on the "original" Paul McCartney album release unfortunately do become what I call "lost" songs or even "lost" gems."
Sometimes when you listen to some of the songs that did not make the original album you wonder why especially since these songs are better than the "clunkers" he has left on some albums. Like you, I did not think much of the song "Flaming Pie" and yet he made it a single and the title of the album -lol. Once again, I will point out how important Nigel Godrich was as a producer of CHAOS. "Summer of 59" is excellent 50's style rocker that was B side of "Jenny Wren". Godrich knew that even though it was excellent song that it did not fit the somber tone of the CHAOS album and making it a B side was perfect place for this song.
Great points Yankeefan. I agree that "Love Come Tumbling Down" is a better song than "Same Love". The latter song has grown with me with repeated plays but I can see why it was left off of Flaming Pie. FP already had a great ballad with "Beauriful Night"(top 10 Paul song imo). I have to admit that "Same Love" comes close to crossing the line from a great ballad to sappy and too sentimental. Again, I appreciate "Same Love" the more I hear it. It's similar to "Through Oor Love" the final track on Pipes of Peace. A great ballad in my opinion but I can see why some fans might think it is too "adult contemporary" or even sappy.
Your point about Paul's career with the Beatles is so true. I love almost all his Beatle songs in general but I tend to lose interest in all those songs because they've been discussed to death. When you think about it, Paul had very little "hidden gems"or "lost songs" among his Beatle songs because they are so universally known. Even his great Revolver songs that were never "singles"eventually got widespread radio play. I'm thinking about songs like For No One or Got to Get You Into My Life.
Paul's Solo Albums (even the great ones imo) never became "legendary"like Revolver, Rubber Soul, Pepper, The White album and Abbey Road. Like you, I love Tug of War but there are great songs on it like Wanderlust that are not universally known. A great song like "Somebody Who Cares" is almost totally unknown. This did not happen to Paul's Beatle songs even the "non-singles"
You and I have consistently question some of Paul's track choices on his Solo albums in favor of "better songs" he leaves off. The title track of Flaming Pie is, in my opinon, is "fair" at best but the lyrics of the song had an interesting history with John Lennon dating way back to the early 60's. It was why Paul originally wrote the song in the first place albeit with all of its eventual "throw away" or goofy lyrics. Because of its history to the Beatles, the song became the title track of the album. In my opinion, "Love Come Tumbling Down" is a far better song. Another reason why "better tracks" sometimes get left off the original albums is because of the special guests that are already on the album. Flaming Pie has a great example with a "jam" track like "Really Love You". Paul got so nostalgic playing with Ringo again, he kept it on FP. The same thing happened with Tug of War. Paul got so excited of jamming with Stevie Wonder, he and George Martin kept "What's That Your Doing" on the album.
I have to say that I really like "Love Come Tumbling Down"even though it was written in 1987. I like Paul's singing, I like the instrumental part in the middle and I love the "fade out" portions at the end. Another great and unfortunate "lost" Paul song in my opinion. At least it became officially released as a B-Side to Beautiful Night and it was added to the Flaming Pie Archive Edition.
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"Another reason why "better tracks" sometimes get left off the original albums is because of the special guests that are already on the album. Flaming Pie has a great example with a "jam" track like "Really Love You". Paul got so nostalgic playing with Ringo again, he kept it on FP. The same thing happened with Tug of War. Paul got so excited of jamming with Stevie Wonder, he and George Martin kept "What's That Your Doing" on the album. "
Once again, this proves my point with Nigel Godrich. These jams would not have made the original album with him as the producer. These songs should have been "bonus" tracks or B side to a single. Even George Martin did not appear to be able to convince Paul to make better decisions about song selections or the quality of a song. It seems Godrich has been the only one able to be strong enough to tell Paul something is not good enough or the right song for the album and that is why CHAOS is basically flawless.
"Paul's Solo Albums (even the great ones imo) never became "legendary"like Revolver, Rubber Soul, Pepper, The White album and Abbey Road. Like you, I love Tug of War but there are great songs on it like Wanderlust that are not universally known. A great song like "Somebody Who Cares" is almost totally unknown. This did not happen to Paul's Beatle songs even the "non-singles"
First, beating a dead horse again I will say that part of the reason is he never played his solo music live with the exception of songs being on his current album enough to make them well known and maybe legendary. There have been rare exceptions like "Here Today" but we all know why that is being done every night. I believe music critics think some of his solo stuff is legendary but that will never happen with the general music public. There is too much surrounding the legend of the Beatles and everything he has done the last 50 years since will never be given a fair shake IMO. Oh well -lol.