The Number Ones: Paul McCartney
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B J Conlee wrote:
wingsoverkc wrote:
Well, read the remaining #1 articles by this 'journalist' and yep, he continues his 'snarky' views. Called Band On The Run 'sloppy' and 'jumbled'; said that With A Little Luck was a 'bad song'; and Listen To What The Man Said was 'lazy' and 'fatuous'. Whatever. These tunes were listened by and probably loved by millions of people through the years. The wonder of it all baby, the wonder of it all.
Pretty ridiculous to call "Band on the Run" sloppy and jumbled. Some of these type of music critics are what I would call music wannabe's. In some cases they don't like a particular artist and they are jealous that they couldn't make it on their own.
It brings up a good point about the Beatles and Paul after he left the Beatles. I think some of Paul's best Beatle songs were Here, There & Everywhere, For No One, Blackbird, I've Just Seen a Face, Eleanor Rigby and Michelle. What is one thing all these songs have in common. None of them were "singles". Paul's Post Beatles' career was similar. Many of his best songs were not singles (Band on the Run is an exception). Take an album like Tug of War. While Ebony & Ivory and Take It Away were the main singles from the album, some of the best songs on Tug were Wanderlust, Here Today, Somebody Who Cares, The Pound is Sinking and Ballroom Dancing.
Exactly BJ. Singles are picked because they are commercial and radio friendly. Rarely, are they the best song off an album. Another example is "Fine Line" from CHAOS, good upbeat song but not even close to the best song. Songs like "Too Much Rain", "How Kind Of You" and "Riding To Vanity Fair" are much better IMO.
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Great example of the great Paul Solo album...Chaos and Creation where the Record Company put "Fine Line" as its lead single. As you say, a good upbeat song but not close to being the best song on the album.
How are doing hunkered down in your house?
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B J Conlee wrote:
Great example of the great Paul Solo album...Chaos and Creation where the Record Company put "Fine Line" as its lead single. As you say, a good upbeat song but not close to being the best song on the album.
How are doing hunkered down in your house?
All things considered not too bad. I am concerned for my wife who is a nurse but she wears a mask and is excellent with hand washing and cleaning counters, keys, phones etc. We miss not having our daughters come by on weekends but are doing "Zoom" to see them. I need to get out of the house so I am running 5 miles or so every day. We have done a bunch of spring cleaning which was needed, too much junk in house. One good thing about this is I have been playing McCartney a bunch and getting my wife more into his solo albums/songs -lol. Be safe.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
wingsoverkc wrote:
Well, read the remaining #1 articles by this 'journalist' and yep, he continues his 'snarky' views. Called Band On The Run 'sloppy' and 'jumbled'; said that With A Little Luck was a 'bad song'; and Listen To What The Man Said was 'lazy' and 'fatuous'. Whatever. These tunes were listened by and probably loved by millions of people through the years. The wonder of it all baby, the wonder of it all.
Can't be much of a critic if he thought "Band On The Run" was sloppy. Even people who trashed his early work after The Beatles liked that song and album. While the other songs you mentioned were not great, they were still good and obviously a commercial hit. In other words to this journalist, the public liked the songs. You really have to pick critics that you can respect, for example the two guys from the "Take It Away" podcasts. These guys while obviously McCartney fans are very fair about their opinions regarding McCartney's music. They will dislike some things that may surprise you and like other things that will equally surprise you. So in the end, I would really not take this critic regarding the McCartney #1 songs too seriously.
Everyone is a critic on everything these days. Band on the Run, really? Then there are the trolls...always picture them as coming out from under a rock in the basement floor...after living under a rock, everything must seem to look so dark in that basement computer lair... surely why not go to something you like, after living in the dark? But no... LOL sorry, just tired of reading that stuff.
Glad you brought up the two guys from the Take It Away podcasts, they are cool guys and also fair. I find them quite knowledgeable on the music and really enjoyed finding them. They really take the time and do a thorough review. Very enjoyable to listen to!
During this period of isolation, I've found myself listening to McCartney even more. So many gems and the Joie de vivre in the songs bring me to a happy place, if for just a while all is normal, peaceful and hopeful again. Finding myself waking up to one of the songs played during the previous day. It's a good way to start the day.
Cheers to Paul for his uplifting songs. You all take care and stay in. It's going to be so important in the next couple of weeks... praying all of us stay safe
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Great example of the great Paul Solo album...Chaos and Creation where the Record Company put "Fine Line" as its lead single. As you say, a good upbeat song but not close to being the best song on the album.
How are doing hunkered down in your house?
All things considered not too bad. I am concerned for my wife who is a nurse but she wears a mask and is excellent with hand washing and cleaning counters, keys, phones etc. We miss not having our daughters come by on weekends but are doing "Zoom" to see them. I need to get out of the house so I am running 5 miles or so every day. We have done a bunch of spring cleaning which was needed, too much junk in house. One good thing about this is I have been playing McCartney a bunch and getting my wife more into his solo albums/songs -lol. Be safe.
Same thing for us down here in Central Florida. My wife (of only a year and a half) is a nurse. She is retired and also is excellent with doing all the correct things we need to do with this virus. We've been house cleaning too. Another added benefit is that my wife is a very good cook so we have adjusted pretty well without being able to go to our favorite restaurants. Say Safe too. I know you love to travel so that must be frustrating. I have a 16 month old grandson in the Boston area so not being able to plan a trip to visit them is very frustrating. Thank God for Facetime and videos from our smart phone.
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B J Conlee wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Great example of the great Paul Solo album...Chaos and Creation where the Record Company put "Fine Line" as its lead single. As you say, a good upbeat song but not close to being the best song on the album.
How are doing hunkered down in your house?
All things considered not too bad. I am concerned for my wife who is a nurse but she wears a mask and is excellent with hand washing and cleaning counters, keys, phones etc. We miss not having our daughters come by on weekends but are doing "Zoom" to see them. I need to get out of the house so I am running 5 miles or so every day. We have done a bunch of spring cleaning which was needed, too much junk in house. One good thing about this is I have been playing McCartney a bunch and getting my wife more into his solo albums/songs -lol. Be safe.
Same thing for us down here in Central Florida. My wife (of only a year and a half) is a nurse. She is retired and also is excellent with doing all the correct things we need to do with this virus. We've been house cleaning too. Another added benefit is that my wife is a very good cook so we have adjusted pretty well without being able to go to our favorite restaurants. Say Safe too. I know you love to travel so that must be frustrating. I have a 16 month old grandson in the Boston area so not being able to plan a trip to visit them is very frustrating. Thank God for Facetime and videos from our smart phone.
My wife and I were supposed to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary next weekend in Disneyworld so that is not happening. We had cruise to go to Alaska in mid May and that will be cancelled also. I had planned on visiting my brother (he is battling cancer) in June for his birthday and since he lives in upstate NY that has been put on hold also. My 50th HS reunion was supposed to be in September on LI, NY and not sure if that will happen now. So in a nutshell, yes this has been frustrating - lol.
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Paul's biggest post-Beatle number one in the UK was Mull of Kintyre which topped the chart for NINE weeks at the end of 1977. I loved it, a simple tune with a stirring arrangement, paying tribute to the beautiful part of Scotland where he and Linda had a home. It's a very Scots anthem, I know it divided opinion, but it sold plenty !
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dirkmcquickly wrote:
Paul's biggest post-Beatle number one in the UK was Mull of Kintyre which topped the chart for NINE weeks at the end of 1977. I loved it, a simple tune with a stirring arrangement, paying tribute to the beautiful part of Scotland where he and Linda had a home. It's a very Scots anthem, I know it divided opinion, but it sold plenty !
Paul and his Band have done great live versions of "Mull"especially in Canada. Paul can sing it pretty well even as late as a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, he hardly ever does it in the US so even though I have attended around 10 shows (Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and 1 time in Washington DC) I have never seen a live performance. Watching youtube clips of performances of Mull of Kintyre, it always goes down very well with the crowd.
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B J Conlee wrote:
dirkmcquickly wrote:
Paul's biggest post-Beatle number one in the UK was Mull of Kintyre which topped the chart for NINE weeks at the end of 1977. I loved it, a simple tune with a stirring arrangement, paying tribute to the beautiful part of Scotland where he and Linda had a home. It's a very Scots anthem, I know it divided opinion, but it sold plenty !
Paul and his Band have done great live versions of "Mull"especially in Canada. Paul can sing it pretty well even as late as a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, he hardly ever does it in the US so even though I have attended around 10 shows (Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and 1 time in Washington DC) I have never seen a live performance. Watching youtube clips of performances of Mull of Kintyre, it always goes down very well with the crowd.
I agree, always surprised me he did not do it in a place like NYC especially in a stadium show.
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The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder's "Ebony And Ivory"
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jimmix wrote:
The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder's "Ebony And Ivory"
Didn't fully agree with the article. Always enjoyed Ebony and Ivory. Why should a song about Ebony and Ivory living in Unity be critiqued as not enough. Heck we need lots more songs about Ebony and Ivory living in Unity in this world today. May those songs bring us some comfort and Understanding and a more harmonious world in the future.
The Civil War was over 154 years ago. Thats a long time ago now. Some people need to get rid of an ancient war, an ancient flag that represents slavery and dig deep into their heart. We are all immigrants from somewhere (except Indians and Mexicans who lived here first ). Love thy neighbor as thyself. Looking at all of the people in the streets gives me much hope that we get it right this time. The younger kids have it right and are so much more open. The Beatles taught us All You Need is LOVE.
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love2travel wrote:
jimmix wrote:
The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder's "Ebony And Ivory"
Didn't fully agree with the article. Always enjoyed Ebony and Ivory. Why should a song about Ebony and Ivory living in Unity be critiqued as not enough. Heck we need lots more songs about Ebony and Ivory living in Unity in this world today. May those songs bring us some comfort and Understanding and a more harmonious world in the future.
The Civil War was over 154 years ago. Thats a long time ago now. Some people need to get rid of an ancient war, an ancient flag that represents slavery and dig deep into their heart. We are all immigrants from somewhere (except Indians and Mexicans who lived here first ). Love thy neighbor as thyself. Looking at all of the people in the streets gives me much hope that we get it right this time. The younger kids have it right and are so much more open. The Beatles taught us All You Need is LOVE.
Lovetotravel...Thanks for your imput. Musically I don't agree with this writer's opinions at all. In fact I haven't agreed with this writer (McCartney's # 1's) on practically anything he has said. I've been a McCartney and Beatles' fan all of my life and I lived through critics like this guy way back in the early 70's after the Beatles' broke up. Somehow there were some music critics who believed that if you loved John Lennon you couldn't even like Paul McCartney. I've read their opinions back in the day. Never understood this concept by some critics that you couldn't like both John and Paul. After their jointly written early hits (e. g. She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand) they wrote mostly independently. How could you not love songs from Revolver like Here There & Everywhere, For No One, Got to Get You into My Life and Eleanor Rigby that were written by Paul. How could you not see his talent?
Is Ebony and Ivory the best song on Tug of War. Not even close but it doesn't deserve a 3 out of 10 either. And it was the obvious choice as the "lead single". At the end of the day, the music company was right!. It was number 1 for like 8 weeks and helped skyrocket the album to #1 as well. In my opinion, the only thing wrong with E&I was its own success. it got way,way overplayed especially by the leading AM radio stations at the time that everyone listened to. You would start to dislike any song that got that much airplay hearing it every 5 minutes. When I hear it today on the radio from time to time or on a playlist like Spotify's This is Paul McCartney, the song sounds fine. Unlike what this critic says (who is obviouslly very bias concerning all things Paul anyway) the song and lyrics are very heartfelt. Lyrically Ebony and Ivory starts by taking a simple metaphor (the keys on a piano) and therefore showing that people are really the same everywhere and Paul uses it as a plea that the human race should live together in harmony. Like Silly Love Songs, what is wrong with that sentment. Yes it was simple but Ebony and Ivory as one of its lead Tug of War tracks fit perfectly with the overall theme of the album (a theme of opposites) and I thought putting E&I as the last track on Tug of War worked great in my opinion.
The funny thing about this critici is that I even disagreed with his opinion that the other Stevie /Paul song "What's That Your Doing" was a far better song than E&I. To me, this 2nd Stevie/Paul collaboration was by far the worse song on Tug of War. Not because I don't like Stevie Wonder or because it's a terrible song on its own but because in my opinion, it just didn't fit well with the rest of the album. It also went on entirely too long (well over 6 minutes). I think it's another case where Paul got so enamoured by having Stevie as a guest on Tug of War, he overcompensated by giving his guest too much space on the album. Afterall it was Paul's album and Ebony and Ivory is a Paul song (written entirely by Paul). Conversely, this 2nd Paul/Stevie song is mostly a "jam song" written almost entirely by Stevie. I remember the first time hearing Tug of War, I absolutely loved the way Tug of War started out with the first 3 songs. I loved the first song (the title cut) and how it seemlessly went into Take It Away. The 3rd track "Somebody Who Cares" is then in my opinion one of Paul's greatest hidden gems on any Paul album. Unfortunately, the next song "What's That Your Doing" (again my opinion) just took the air totally out of the momentum that the 1st 3 tracks had achieved. For a little while I thought maybe it was just me (who couldn't like this song because afterall it IS Paul and Stevie) but the more I listened to it, the more I didn't like it. it was like "work" trying to get through it. A classic song should never feel like "work" just listening to it. Later on I felt a little more justified after listening to the wonderful"Take It Away" Podcast on Paul McCartney's Solo career. The 2 very objective Paul McCartney critics on this Podcast felt the same way I did about the Tug of War album. They both felt that the 2nd Paul/Stevie collaboration was the worse song on Tug of War. Like me they felt the song was entirely too long and that Paul's singing sounded "too white". While I hadn't thought of that as a fault to the song, I understand better what they said. It was another way of saying that it didn't fit well on the album.
Getting back to this series (Stereogum and Paul's #1's) this writer was even very critical of the Song...Band on the Run. That should told me everything.