Take It Away: The Complete Paul McCartney Archive Podcast
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How anyone could not love “Beautiful Night” is beyond me! Did you hear what George Martin said to Paul about that song?
”You’ve still got it!”
Abso-freakin-lutely!!
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Nancy R wrote:
How anyone could not love “Beautiful Night” is beyond me! Did you hear what George Martin said to Paul about that song?
”You’ve still got it!”
Abso-freakin-lutely!!
Nancy,
You have me laughing again. Love that last word! Not sure I would find it in the Dictionary.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
For those interested, the 2nd Half Podcast of Flaming Pie is now up. As usual, I loved both Podcasts and I really like their guests for these 2....Simon Barber and Brian O'Connor who have their own Podcast from Britain although their's are broader focusing on many different songwriters. I liked that both guys showed a little of the "British perspective" on Macca especially his Post Beatles' career.
As I said previously, I had more disagreements with the "Take It Away"commentators (pretty much Chris) than all the other Podcasts but that made it so interesting. I appreciated Chris's honesty and it just proves how subjective music is especially someone as widely known as McCartney. With that in mind, I will continue my own views of the 2nd half/side of Flaming Pie (FP) along with the commentators' opinion. I will also include my ranking of each song (1 to 10 with 10 being a perfect score):
Heaven on a Sunday (9) - This was one song where I disagreed with the guests (I think it was Simon) mostly. I love "Heaven" whereas Simon thought it should have been left off of FP and didn't fit with the rest of the album. Don't understand that latter point at all. While I don't consider it one of the very top songs on FP, I love the overall jazzy, relaxing sound and Paul's vocals. I also 100% agree with Chris about the french horns adding a classy touch to the overall sound. While it's not one of Paul's most inventive melodies, again I love the overall feel and I think it fits the album mood very well.
Used to be Bad (5) - Here I agree with all the guys that this track is one of the weakest ones on FP. Paul was quoted as saying how quickly this song came together in the studio and that is probably the main problem I have with it. I just sounds like a stereotypical bluesy number you might hear walking into a regular Blues club in Chicago. It's inoffensive to me on FP but, as always, Paul had far better alternatives for the album. The guys pointed out that Paul seems to have difficulty with selecting final tracks for his albums in general (Yankeefan and I have been talking about this for years). Chris and Simon brought up a great point that Paul is too often guilty of "honoring his various collaborators" much to the detriment of the overall album. Chris pointed out "Hey Hey" on the Pipes of Peace album. I would use "What's That You're Doing" as another example where Paul put a Stevie Wonder song on Tug of War when it, in my opinion, didn't fit the album themes at all. To me it kept Tug from being a true masterpiece and marred the album.
Souvenir (10) Fortunately, Paul gets back on track with this great R&B number and all the guys agree. I often love Paul's soul voice and this is no exception. Love this one!
Little Willow (10) All of the guys (except Chris) loves this one and I 100% agree. I love Paul's vocals here and particularly his lyrics. Jeff Lynne's production is also great. Simon and Brian use the words poignant and emphathy to describe the songs meaning and I agree 100%. Relative to Paul's Post Beatles' work, I would put "Little Willow" (and Beautiful Night, Calico Skies, Somedays and possibly Souvenir in his top 20) and that is what makes in my opinion one of Paul's best Solo albums. More on the lyrics later.
Really Love You (3) As I have said, this is the worse track on FP in my opinion. It was nice to hear that all of the guys agree with me that it should have been left off the album. It is just a jam session (with Paul and Ringo) with Paul just plucking out lyrics as he is going along). It also goes on entirely too long (like the similarly mentioned "What's That You're Dong" from Tug of War). I get that Paul enjoyed jamming with Ringo but it would should have "only" been a B-side to the Beautiful Night single. Really Love You and Used to be Bad keeps FP from being a masterpiece. Again, not the first time that Paul has done this when he had much better alternatives where those became relegated to obscurity.
Beautiful Night (10) Another fantastic song on FP in my opinion with only Chris not in love with it. Again I respect his opinion and honesty. This is what makes their Podcast great because you do get varying thoughts. I agree with the fact that Beautiful Night is one of Paul's best melodies. I also love the changes as the song progresses (while it is a long track, it doesn't seem long). I also agree with Ryan 100% that the "middle 8" is the best part of the song. I also think like Simon or Brian said, the lyrics in the middle 8 are the best lyrics on the song. Like I think Simon said, the outro portion of the song (with Ringo's vocals and George Martin's score) is also outstanding.
Great Day (9) While a very simple and short song, I agree with the guys that "Great Day" is a great ending song to FP. One of the guys points out that sadly this song is possibly Linda's last relative to being there in the recording process. I also think her background vocals on Great Day are outstanding.
I will talk more about the extra songs later along with a few other points about FP as a whole. As I said, I love these podcasts.
Thanks again BJ for these posts. Just curious as to the reasons Chris did not love "Little Willow" and "Beautiful Night". You and the guys make great point about McCartney honoring his collaborators to the detriment of the album. I think it is a great idea if these songs don't fit the album or not that good, make them a B side. I agree 100% about "Great Day" and it always will put you in a great mood after hearing the song. BTW - My new picture was taken when my wife and I were in France last summer. I don't know if you are into Broadway musicals but that is a "Hamilton" shirt I am wearing - lol.
Relative to your question about Chris's opinions on "Little Willow" and "Beautiful Night"....not sure exactly all his reasons. Because Chris and Ryan had 2 terrific guests, there were 4 people giving their opinions on FP so Chris didn't have enough time to expand. He did like Calico Skies and Souvenir a lot so it wasn't like he didn't like some tracks on FP. As I have found over the years (and especially here on Maccaboard), Paul's music does evoke many varying opinions. I remember mentioning how I loathed the "medley" as a closer to Red Rose Speedway and yet to my surprise, there were fans who loved it. Go figure.
Love your new picture. Once we get married (in late October) we have talked about various trips/vacations to take and Europe is one of them since neither of us have been. Since we both have a lot of Irish in our backgrounds, Ireland might be a great place to start. And of course I would like to go to London and Liverpool! My fiancee loves theater so I'm sure we are going to do more of the that too. Last 2 Broadway shows I have seen were both musicals... Beautiful (about Carole King) and Jersey Boys (about the "Four Seasons") and they were both great.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
For those interested, the 2nd Half Podcast of Flaming Pie is now up. As usual, I loved both Podcasts and I really like their guests for these 2....Simon Barber and Brian O'Connor who have their own Podcast from Britain although their's are broader focusing on many different songwriters. I liked that both guys showed a little of the "British perspective" on Macca especially his Post Beatles' career.
As I said previously, I had more disagreements with the "Take It Away"commentators (pretty much Chris) than all the other Podcasts but that made it so interesting. I appreciated Chris's honesty and it just proves how subjective music is especially someone as widely known as McCartney. With that in mind, I will continue my own views of the 2nd half/side of Flaming Pie (FP) along with the commentators' opinion. I will also include my ranking of each song (1 to 10 with 10 being a perfect score):
Heaven on a Sunday (9) - This was one song where I disagreed with the guests (I think it was Simon) mostly. I love "Heaven" whereas Simon thought it should have been left off of FP and didn't fit with the rest of the album. Don't understand that latter point at all. While I don't consider it one of the very top songs on FP, I love the overall jazzy, relaxing sound and Paul's vocals. I also 100% agree with Chris about the french horns adding a classy touch to the overall sound. While it's not one of Paul's most inventive melodies, again I love the overall feel and I think it fits the album mood very well.
Used to be Bad (5) - Here I agree with all the guys that this track is one of the weakest ones on FP. Paul was quoted as saying how quickly this song came together in the studio and that is probably the main problem I have with it. I just sounds like a stereotypical bluesy number you might hear walking into a regular Blues club in Chicago. It's inoffensive to me on FP but, as always, Paul had far better alternatives for the album. The guys pointed out that Paul seems to have difficulty with selecting final tracks for his albums in general (Yankeefan and I have been talking about this for years). Chris and Simon brought up a great point that Paul is too often guilty of "honoring his various collaborators" much to the detriment of the overall album. Chris pointed out "Hey Hey" on the Pipes of Peace album. I would use "What's That You're Doing" as another example where Paul put a Stevie Wonder song on Tug of War when it, in my opinion, didn't fit the album themes at all. To me it kept Tug from being a true masterpiece and marred the album.
Souvenir (10) Fortunately, Paul gets back on track with this great R&B number and all the guys agree. I often love Paul's soul voice and this is no exception. Love this one!
Little Willow (10) All of the guys (except Chris) loves this one and I 100% agree. I love Paul's vocals here and particularly his lyrics. Jeff Lynne's production is also great. Simon and Brian use the words poignant and emphathy to describe the songs meaning and I agree 100%. Relative to Paul's Post Beatles' work, I would put "Little Willow" (and Beautiful Night, Calico Skies, Somedays and possibly Souvenir in his top 20) and that is what makes in my opinion one of Paul's best Solo albums. More on the lyrics later.
Really Love You (3) As I have said, this is the worse track on FP in my opinion. It was nice to hear that all of the guys agree with me that it should have been left off the album. It is just a jam session (with Paul and Ringo) with Paul just plucking out lyrics as he is going along). It also goes on entirely too long (like the similarly mentioned "What's That You're Dong" from Tug of War). I get that Paul enjoyed jamming with Ringo but it would should have "only" been a B-side to the Beautiful Night single. Really Love You and Used to be Bad keeps FP from being a masterpiece. Again, not the first time that Paul has done this when he had much better alternatives where those became relegated to obscurity.
Beautiful Night (10) Another fantastic song on FP in my opinion with only Chris not in love with it. Again I respect his opinion and honesty. This is what makes their Podcast great because you do get varying thoughts. I agree with the fact that Beautiful Night is one of Paul's best melodies. I also love the changes as the song progresses (while it is a long track, it doesn't seem long). I also agree with Ryan 100% that the "middle 8" is the best part of the song. I also think like Simon or Brian said, the lyrics in the middle 8 are the best lyrics on the song. Like I think Simon said, the outro portion of the song (with Ringo's vocals and George Martin's score) is also outstanding.
Great Day (9) While a very simple and short song, I agree with the guys that "Great Day" is a great ending song to FP. One of the guys points out that sadly this song is possibly Linda's last relative to being there in the recording process. I also think her background vocals on Great Day are outstanding.
I will talk more about the extra songs later along with a few other points about FP as a whole. As I said, I love these podcasts.
Thanks again BJ for these posts. Just curious as to the reasons Chris did not love "Little Willow" and "Beautiful Night". You and the guys make great point about McCartney honoring his collaborators to the detriment of the album. I think it is a great idea if these songs don't fit the album or not that good, make them a B side. I agree 100% about "Great Day" and it always will put you in a great mood after hearing the song. BTW - My new picture was taken when my wife and I were in France last summer. I don't know if you are into Broadway musicals but that is a "Hamilton" shirt I am wearing - lol.
Relative to your question about Chris's opinions on "Little Willow" and "Beautiful Night"....not sure exactly all his reasons. Because Chris and Ryan had 2 terrific guests, there were 4 people giving their opinions on FP so Chris didn't have enough time to expand. He did like Calico Skies and Souvenir a lot so it wasn't like he didn't like some tracks on FP. As I have found over the years (and especially here on Maccaboard), Paul's music does evoke many varying opinions. I remember mentioning how I loathed the "medley" as a closer to Red Rose Speedway and yet to my surprise, there were fans who loved it. Go figure.
Love your new picture. Once we get married (in late October) we have talked about various trips/vacations to take and Europe is one of them since neither of us have been. Since we both have a lot of Irish in our backgrounds, Ireland might be a great place to start. And of course I would like to go to London and Liverpool! My fiancee loves theater so I'm sure we are going to do more of the that too. Last 2 Broadway shows I have seen were both musicals... Beautiful (about Carole King) and Jersey Boys (about the "Four Seasons") and they were both great.
Been to Ireland and we loved Dublin, just a very charming little city. The Cliffs Of Moher in Western Ireland was the highlight of our time there, just stunningly beautiful. My great grandmother was born in Ireland (Cork), missed not getting there during our short time in Ireland. Heading to London (will be our 3rd time there) in December, my wife has always wanted to be there during Christmas season. I would highly recommend Italy also, words can't describe how amazing it is there. I never saw "Beautiful" but did see "Jersey Boys" many years ago with the original cast, fantastic show. It is a great big world out there, only time and money keep us from seeing it all - lol.
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A few more notes about Flaming Pie...
I'm a big fan of a lot of Paul's Solo career starting with Tug of War. It is also by far his most neglected and unknown. He has always been criticized by and large for his lyrics in many songs but when he gets them right, they are really good. This is certainly true in his Solo years and I think his lyrics on many of his latter songs (more mature, personal and meaningful) are outstanding.
Since we are talking about Flaming Pie, here are just 2 examples:
Beautiful Night (starting with the middle 8 and one of my favorite parts of the song)
"Things can go wrong, things can go right Things can go bump in the dead of the night So let me be there, let me be there Let me be there with you in the dead of the night"
"Make it a beautiful night for me It's a beautiful night for love A Wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold Make it a beautiful night for me Such a beautiful night for love Such a wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold"
Little Willow
"Bend, little Willow Wind's gonna blow you Hard and cold tonight
Life as it happens Nobody warns you Willow, hold on tight
Nothing's gonna shake your love Take your love away No one's out to break your heart It only seems that way....hey
Sleep Little Willow Peace gonna follow Time will heal your wounds
Grow to the Heavens Now and Forever Always came too soon"
I would put these lyrics (and also Somedays and Calico Skies) with many of Paul's Best Beatle songs. My fiance is a big music fan (different genres) and of course she knew Paul McCartney but primarily his Beatle songs and Wings' hits only. She had never heard these very good Flaming Pie songs. We plugged Paul McCartney into her Spotify account and her comment was that she never knew that Paul had such great music from his later eras. She loved, in particular, the 4 songs I mention above. She thought that the music was very Beatlesque and she loved the lyrics as well.
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B J Conlee wrote:
A few more notes about Flaming Pie...
I'm a big fan of a lot of Paul's Solo career starting with Tug of War. It is also by far his most neglected and unknown. He has always been criticized by and large for his lyrics in many songs but when he gets them right, they are really good. This is certainly true in his Solo years and I think his lyrics on many of his latter songs (more mature, personal and meaningful) are outstanding.
Since we are talking about Flaming Pie, here are just 2 examples:
Beautiful Night (starting with the middle 8 and one of my favorite parts of the song)
"Things can go wrong, things can go right Things can go bump in the dead of the night So let me be there, let me be there Let me be there with you in the dead of the night"
"Make it a beautiful night for me It's a beautiful night for love A Wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold Make it a beautiful night for me Such a beautiful night for love Such a wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold"
Little Willow
"Bend, little Willow Wind's gonna blow you Hard and cold tonight
Life as it happens Nobody warns you Willow, hold on tight
Nothing's gonna shake your love Take your love away No one's out to break your heart It only seems that way....hey
Sleep Little Willow Peace gonna follow Time will heal your wounds
Grow to the Heavens Now and Forever Always came too soon"
I would put these lyrics (and also Somedays and Calico Skies) with many of Paul's Best Beatle songs. My fiance is a big music fan (different genres) and of course she knew Paul McCartney but primarily his Beatle songs and Wings' hits only. She had never heard these very good Flaming Pie songs. We plugged Paul McCartney into her Spotify account and her comment was that she never knew that Paul had such great music from his later eras. She loved, in particular, the 4 songs I mention above. She thought that the music was very Beatlesque and she loved the lyrics as well.
McCartney has had some cringeworthy moments lyrically in his career but these two songs are him at his best lyrically IMO. "Little Willow" is such a beautiful song and it is a shame it is only known by big time fans like us.
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Just a few notes about the extra songs (that didn't make it on the album) during the FP period...
*Love Come Tumbling Down (One of the B-sides to Beautiful Night) - an older Paul song from the late 80's that I really like tbut I agree with the guys that it probably wasn't a good fit for FP. Much better and so much more creative than "Used to be Bad" or "Really Love You". An undiscovered gem and perfect for a future Paul Anthology or Compilation By Decade of Paul's unreleased, B-side gems that I've been talking about.
*Broomstick ( B-side to Young Boy) - A nice acoustic number that in my opinion would have been a better choice than either "Used to be Bad" or "Really Love You". Very creative chords with a rockabilly/blues feel.
*Same Love (another B-side to Beautiful NIght) - Beautiful piano ballad from Paul but probably didn't make sense for FP since he already had the "great" Beautiful Night already. "Same Love" would be yet another perfect track for a future compilation of "Lost and Forgotten" songs by Decade
*I Love This House (on one of the Oobu Jooby CD Singles) - I like this one but it was too 80's sounding to be included on FP. David Gilmore plays with Paul on this one. Definitely to be included on a future Compilation of "Lost and Forgotten".
Paul didn't have as many fully realized "extra songs" around the FP period like he did during the "Off the Ground" sessions probably because of Linda's health. While were other songs from the period that the guys played but they were more fragments or of the "novelty" type.
Commercially, Flaming Pie was quite sucessful (similar to Flowers in the Dirt and Tug of War). The reviews were generally good with the exception of the 2 duds that we have already mentioned. As I said, I wonder in retrospect how much better FP could have been with replacements for "Really Love You" and "Used to be Bad". "Boomstick" alone would have a made FP better. Another one of my favorite unreleased songs that I think would have worked perfectly on FP was "On the Wings of a Nightingale". The reviews on FP spoke highly about the acoustic guitar gems on the album and a fully realized "Nightingale" would have been a great song to include. The lyrics on this simple creative love song are great and would have been a nice sentimental choice relative to Linda's health situation at the time. Also, the fact that the title has "Wings" on it would have brought back memories of Paul and Linda starting way back in the early 70's.
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As I just mentioned the beautiful unreleased song "On the Wings of a Nightingale", I wonder if my good friend Nancy could put up Paul's "Demo" video version from Youtube. For those unfamiliar, Paul wrote this song for the Everly Brothers "comeback" album in the early 80's. The song was a relative "Country" hit during that time in the US but certainly wasn't huge. Unless you were a country fan, you never or rarely heard it. Why Paul never put it on one of his own future albums is another mystery because I think a fully realized version could be that good. As I said, it would have been perfect for Flaming Pie.
Getting back to Paul's perplexing, inferior song choices (at least 1 or 2 on most of his albums), here are some of my theories:
* Honoring his collaborators (either performers or producers) - The guys pointed this out in the most recent Podcast. In this case, Ringo and Steve Miller on FP with Used to be Bad and Really Love You.
* Paul having fun or just having a good feeling during the recording process - I think this was true here (and on other albums) but it doesn't mean that it is a good album choice long term. For example, on "Really Love You", Paul already had a similar song with the title cut. Flaming Pie as a song at least had the Bealtes and John connection in the title and the melody was upbeat/clever with a lenght of only 2:30. He didn't need another nonsensical/jam type number (Really Love You) on the album that was way too lenghty (5:18). As I said, put "Really Love You" as a B-side to Beatiful Night as an additonal tribute to Ringo.
* Paul likes to include an experimental or against the grain type track or two sometimes to the detriment of the album.
The good news is that Paul has such a great number of hidden gems (and better than some of his album tracks) that never made it on his proper albums. Now only if only he realized how good his total Post Beatles' Catalog is!
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Paul’s demo:
Everly Brothers:
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Nancy R wrote:
Paul’s demo:
Everly Brothers:
Thanks so much Nancy. You should be charging me!
What a great song...music and lyrics. Looking at the lyrics, a "finished" Paul version would have been great on Flaming Pie. Put "On the Wings of a Nightingale" on the album and take out "Really Love You" and think how much better FP would have been as a complete album.
You would think that Paul would want every Beatle/Paul fan to know "NIghtingale" as a McCartney song but it is still "relatively" unknown and meanders in obscurity. To this day, he has never sung it live at one of his shows nor has he ever included it on one of his albums. He hasn't even put it out as a "B-side". Where are his kids?
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B J Conlee wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Paul’s demo:
Everly Brothers:
Thanks so much Nancy. You should be charging me!
The bill is in the mail.
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Just so everyone knows, Ryan and Chris have just added a "Bonus Episode"...Egypt Station Singles - "Come On To Me" and "I Don't Know". This "Bonus" was the result of the "Just released" Double A Single Paul has released to promote the new album due in early September.
As always, I love hearing Ryan and Chris's opinions on albums/songs etc. They also do a great job of giving background information on Paul's Producer on "Egypt Station". While I had heard of Greg Kurstin through his work with Adele, I didn't realize just how many artists with whom he has worked as a Producer. It was impressive to say the least and both guys really like his overall work as a musician and arranger.
Ryan and Chris like both new songs. Based on these singles, they are quite high and optimistic for the new Album. In this "Take It Away" Series and Podcast, they will be beginning Season 3 in August with taking on "Driving Rain" and then they will be doing a complete episode for Egypt Station in September.
Getting back to the new singles, Chris definitely likes "I Don't know" better but still likes "Come On To Me" whereas Ryan liked them both a lot.
As far as "Come On To Me" they refer it to as a "groove" tune and they think it has that Wings style a la Back to the Egg or Ram (they mentioned Smile Away). They also likened it to "Dance Tonight" from Memory Almost Full. While it certainly has Paul's "Older voice", they think his vocals sound "stronger" than his more recent albums/songs.
Both guys really like "I Don't Know". Chris and Ryan like the melody, the different changes in the song that Paul is known song and the lyrics. Chris refers to it as good songcraft. They also talk about the meaningful lyrics that convey doubt, sadness, vunerability etc. and they like the production with an organic feel to the beginning of the song. They also love his vocals and how maybe Paul has gotten more adjusted with his changing, older voice.
Like me, they are very optimistic for "Egypt Station" and definitely feel like Paul has the right "Producer" for this era of his career. They are very anxious to hear the complete album. They finally touched on the fact that Paul will be touring to promote the album and they are very curious as to what songs he will be performing live.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Just so everyone knows, Ryan and Chris have just added a "Bonus Episode"...Egypt Station Singles - "Come On To Me" and "I Don't Know". This "Bonus" was the result of the "Just released" Double A Single Paul has released to promote the new album due in early September.
As always, I love hearing Ryan and Chris's opinions on albums/songs etc. They also do a great job of giving background information on Paul's Producer on "Egypt Station". While I had heard of Greg Kurstin through his work with Adele, I didn't realize just how many artists with whom he has worked as a Producer. It was impressive to say the least and both guys really like his overall work as a musician and arranger.
Ryan and Chris like both new songs. Based on these singles, they are quite high and optimistic for the new Album. In this "Take It Away" Series and Podcast, they will be beginning Season 3 in August with taking on "Driving Rain" and then they will be doing a complete episode for Egypt Station in September.
Getting back to the new singles, Chris definitely likes "I Don't know" better but still likes "Come On To Me" whereas Ryan liked them both a lot.
As far as "Come On To Me" they refer it to as a "groove" tune and they think it has that Wings style a la Back to the Egg or Ram (they mentioned Smile Away). They also likened it to "Dance Tonight" from Memory Almost Full. While it certainly has Paul's "Older voice", they think his vocals sound "stronger" than his more recent albums/songs.
Both guys really like "I Don't Know". Chris and Ryan like the melody, the different changes in the song that Paul is known song and the lyrics. Chris refers to it as good songcraft. They also talk about the meaningful lyrics that convey doubt, sadness, vunerability etc. and they like the production with an organic feel to the beginning of the song. They also love his vocals and how maybe Paul has gotten more adjusted with his changing, older voice.
Like me, they are very optimistic for "Egypt Station" and definitely feel like Paul has the right "Producer" for this era of his career. They are very anxious to hear the complete album. They finally touched on the fact that Paul will be touring to promote the album and they are very curious as to what songs he will be performing live.
Nice to hear they like the two new songs and are optimistic about "Egypt Station". I am glad they think the producer is right for McCartney, I just hope he make sure there are not 2-3 of those "dreaded" songs that ruined a bunch of other albums. I will be interested in their opinion of "Drving Rain" which I like but once again another album that needed editing. For example "Rinse The Raindrops" is experimental but really needed to be cut by at least 4-5 minutes. "Freedom" does not fit on this album and should have never been included. "Heather" has nice groove to it but sounds unfinished to me. On the positive, I love songs like "Lonely Road" (think McCartney does a killer vocal) , "About You" which is good rocker (should have been played live) and the title song "Driving Rain" ( the 1,2,3,4, 5 lyric did not bother me). Another one of my favorites is "Magic" which I hope is about Paul and Linda. Thanks again for this thread, it is really cool.
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A new episode of Take it Away premiered on August 1. Ryan and Chris reviewed Driving Rain.
While I agree with them that Paul was not in good voice (the story about Paul buying the rug in India and then finding out that he was ripped off and calling the rug dealer and losing his voice is classic Paul), that the songs can feel rushed and not polished or finished, and there is there is some filler on the album, I was surprised at the quite negative reaction to the album on the show (and have since seen in tweets on the podcast's Twitter page).
Personally, I find Lonely Road, From a Lover to a Friend, Magic, I Do, Your Way, About You, Heather, Tiny Bubble, and Your Loving Flame all as solid McCartney compositions. None of them are classics but they are good McCartney songs. The title track came off better live where it was sped up and Abe's drums drive it (the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 does bother me a bit but not as much as some) and I think She Has Given Up Talking is decent (probably agree that it is more a b side but a good b side) and I like Rinse the Raindrops as an extended jam (my wife does not).
I am a bit indifferent to Riding to Jaipur and Back in the Sunshine Again (both don't understand the negativity toward them). I could live without Freedom and Spinning on an Axis (the latter being one of my least favorite Paul songs).
I have seen the negative sentiment toward this album in the past on this message board and elsewhere and I don't get it. I would say it is a solid McCartney album and nothing close to a disaster as others seem to assert. But we all have our own views of songs and albums.
I also don't agree with Ryan and Chris' assertation that Driving Rain was a critical and commerical failure (though I believe they question their own assertion a bit on the podcast's website).
On Meta Critic, the album received 9 positive reviews and 3 mixed reviews, 0 negative reviews. http://www.metacritic.com/music/driving-rain/paul-mccartney
I remember several other good reviews that are not on Meta Critic (and there are also probably some more negative reviews). But I don't see evidence that it was not a critical success or at least evidence that it was a critical disaster. All Music (which Chris and Ryan did cite), gave it a good review by giving it four of five stars. https://www.allmusic.com/album/driving-rain-mw0000591223
Finally, as for commerical success, my memory is that the album did not sell well in the fall of 2001 in the USA which was understandable to some degree given what was going on in the world at the time. However, after Paul toured with the album in spring 2002 (and I saw him twice that year for the first times), the album charted again and ended up going Gold. It sold 399,000 in the USA and 650,00 world wide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_Rain), not great but not a commerical disaster I would argue (as album sales were lagging for everyone in the 2000s, I think). I do think that sales in Great Britain were very low for McCartney so it might had been a commerical disaster in his home country.
Of course, he followed this with a classic album (Chaos) but I consider Driving Rain a solid effort with some good song writing. I wonder what the current consensus is on the message board?
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In the future, please make your links clickable by pasting them into the URL box in the link icon (6th from the left that looks like a paper clip) Thanks.
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As requested, here are my links to my earlier post, properly done.
http://www.metacritic.com/music/driving-rain/paul-mccartney (Metacritic)
http://https://www.allmusic.com/album/driving-rain-mw0000591223 (All Music review)
http://(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_Rain) (Driving Rain Wikipedia page with sales figures).
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thrillington wrote:
As requested, here are my links to my earlier post, properly done.
http://www.metacritic.com/music/driving-rain/paul-mccartney (Metacritic)
https://www.allmusic.com/album/driving-rain-mw0000591223 (All Music review)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_Rain (Driving Rain Wikipedia page with sales figures).
Trying to fix your links. The last 2 were not working.
Still saying Site can’t be reached. ️
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Here is the Driving Rain Wiki Page:
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And the link on allmusic.com:
https://www.allmusic.com/album/driving-rain-mw0000591223
Don’t know why yours that I fixed wouldn’t work. They look identical.
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Chris and Ryan, thank you so much !! I will love hearing your Paul music podcasts and appreciate completely you two young men's work on these, and your love for Paul solo...B.J.'s extensive commentary is also greatly appreciated and Yankee Fan's many comments, and Nancy R's. I'll read these more closely when I get more time. Presently what sticks out is, I love Red Rose Speedway in its entirety much more than B.J. does, including the exciting, rousing medleys, and I like Pipes of Peace more, though I agree the few throwaways on there should have been replaced with some of his true gems. I really like "Motor of Love" for its celestial other worldly sound and lyrics. I'm wild about certain "Driving Rain" offerings that don't much strike his fancy. I agree the fantastic diversity of styles and genres in "Flowers in the Dirt" are all enthralling delights, for the most part, and his more mature sophisticated lyrics and themes for songs reflecting his stage of life, during that time period.
"Beautiful Night" and "No More Lonely Nights" blow me away, especially the latter. I adore "World Tonight" "From A Lover To A Friend" and "Daytime/Nighttime Suffering," just to name a few of the numerous genuine jewels in Macca's songwriting and singing Crown. "That Day is Done" really grew on me.