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    BEST OF THE BEST OF Paul MCCARTNEY POST BEATLES' songs (TOP 20)

    NOT SUCH A BAD BOY
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    • B
      B J Conlee last edited by

      Similar to a previous Post that asked us to list our  the Top 40 of Paul's Post Beatles' songs, but in this case I thought it would be interesting to narrow that list down to the top 20 BEST OF THE BEST Paul songs beginning with his first album McCartney.  This list would include all Post Beatle Paul songs including his period with Wings.  I am going to start with my own personal Top 20 list.  I also decided to narrow my list to songs that are "relatively well known" to Beatle and Paul fans.  Songs that have gotten at least some airplay or in other cases, a lot of airplay.  I'm not going to include my favorites that I would call highly underrated or  generally unknown unless you're a Paul geek like I am.

      The general criteria I am using includes: songs written entirely or almost entirely by Paul,  final studio performance including vocals, overall melody, creativity (is it unique and doesn't sound like other Paul or Beatle songs) etc.

      Here's is my list pretty much in album order.

      TOP 20 PAUL MCCARTNEY POST BEATLE SONGS

      1. MAYBE I'M AMAZED (MCCARTNEY) ...Album version

      2. BAND ON THE RUN (BAND ON THE RUN)

      3. UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY (RAM)

      4. LIVE AND LET DIE (SINGLE)

      5. SILLY LOVE SONGS (WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND)

      6. WITH A LITTLE LUCK (LONDON TOWN)...album version

      7. MULL OF KINTYRE (SINGLE)

      8. COMING UP (MCCARTNEY 2)...album version

      9. HERE TODAY (TUG OF WAR)

      10. WANDERLUST (TUG OF WAR)

      11. PUT IT THERE (FLOWERS IN THE DIRT)

      12. CALICO SKIES (FLAMING PIE)

      13. BEAUTIFUL NIGHT (FLAMING PIE)

      14. LITTLE WILLOW (FLAMING PIE)

      15. RIDING TO VANITY FAIR (CHAOS)

      16. TOO MUCH RAIN (CHAOS)

      17. ONLY MAMA KNOWS (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

      18. THE END OF THE END (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

      19, EARLY DAYS (NEW)

      20. I DON'T KNOW (EGYPT STATION)

      IF I HAD TO NARROW IT DOWN TO A TOP 10, MY LIST FROM ABOVE WOULD BE:

      1.MAYBE I'M AMAZED

      2.BAND ON THE RUN

      3.LIVE AND LET DIE

      4.SILLY LOVE SONGS

      5.WANDERLUST

      6.RIDING TO VANITY FAIR

      7.CALICO SKIES

      8.BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

      9.ONLY MAMA KNOWS

      10. I DON'T KNOW

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      • wingsoverkc
        wingsoverkc last edited by

        BJ, why do you do this to us?? Ha.  Well, let me pour a tall bourbon and diet Coke, make some notes, and away we go (no particular order, they all are #1):

        Every Night  (McCartney) - should had been released as a single

        Backseat of My Car (RAM) - ditto as above

        Bip Bop (Wild Life) - Sue me; I just love this song

        RRS Medley (RRSpeedway) - Sue me again; ten minutes of beautiful and fun McCartney

        Hi Hi Hi (single) - powerful, naughty, and just rocks!

        Helen Wheels (BOTR) - Great fun lyrics, incredible guitars and drums

        Band On The Run (BOTR) - Duh

        Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (BOTR) - IMO, the greatest rock song of the 70's

        Listen To What The Man Said (Venus and Mars) - The perfect pop song; just perfect

        Silly Love Songs (Speed of Sound) - ditto as above; 'and what's wrong with that, I like to know!'

        Let 'Em In (Speed of Sound) - my daughter called it the 'marching song'; the reaction in Moline in 2019 was powerful!

        Maybe I'm Amazed (Wings Over America) - played at my wedding in 1990; still give me chills

        London Town (London Town) - the most Beatlesque song Wings recorded

        Girl's School (single) -  Wings at their absolute best; everything I love about Wings in this rocker

        So Glad To See You Here (Back To The Egg) - Another Wings classic; fast, loud, messy, and just plain rocks!

        Once Upon A Long Ago (single) - An amazing, haunting tune

        Average Person (Pipes of Peace) - Sue me again, but this song has lyrics that just touched my soul. I used to be both a bartender and boxer

        Every Present Past (Memory Almost Full) - A classic McCartney tune; so reminded me of Wings.

        Queenie Eye (NEW) - Another song that made me proud to be a McCartney fan.

        Dominoes/Happy With You (Egypt Station) - Sorry, sue me, but can't decided which song is better. Simple masterpieces.

        "If you want the Beatles, go see Wings"-George Harrison 1974

        "This is for all the Wings fans!" - McCartney introducing "1985" for the first time on American soil (Phoenix 2010)

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        • B
          B J Conlee last edited by

          wingsoverkc wrote:

          BJ, why do you do this to us?? Ha.  Well, let me pour a tall bourbon and diet Coke, make some notes, and away we go (no particular order, they all are #1):

          Every Night  (McCartney) - should had been released as a single

          Backseat of My Car (RAM) - ditto as above

          Bip Bop (Wild Life) - Sue me; I just love this song

          RRS Medley (RRSpeedway) - Sue me again; ten minutes of beautiful and fun McCartney

          Hi Hi Hi (single) - powerful, naughty, and just rocks!

          Helen Wheels (BOTR) - Great fun lyrics, incredible guitars and drums

          Band On The Run (BOTR) - Duh

          Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (BOTR) - IMO, the greatest rock song of the 70's

          Listen To What The Man Said (Venus and Mars) - The perfect pop song; just perfect

          Silly Love Songs (Speed of Sound) - ditto as above; 'and what's wrong with that, I like to know!'

          Let 'Em In (Speed of Sound) - my daughter called it the 'marching song'; the reaction in Moline in 2019 was powerful!

          Maybe I'm Amazed (Wings Over America) - played at my wedding in 1990; still give me chills

          London Town (London Town) - the most Beatlesque song Wings recorded

          Girl's School (single) -  Wings at their absolute best; everything I love about Wings in this rocker

          So Glad To See You Here (Back To The Egg) - Another Wings classic; fast, loud, messy, and just plain rocks!

          Once Upon A Long Ago (single) - An amazing, haunting tune

          Average Person (Pipes of Peace) - Sue me again, but this song has lyrics that just touched my soul. I used to be both a bartender and boxer

          Every Present Past (Memory Almost Full) - A classic McCartney tune; so reminded me of Wings.

          Queenie Eye (NEW) - Another song that made me proud to be a McCartney fan.

          Dominoes/Happy With You (Egypt Station) - Sorry, sue me, but can't decided which song is better. Simple masterpieces.

          Great post Wingsoverkc.  We're much alike being so crazy about Post Beatle Paul.  Some of your choices I had considered for my list (1985,  Listen to What the Man Said, Let 'em In,  Ever Present Past, Dominoes etc) and others had me laughing with your comments.  Great that Maybe I'm Amazed was played at your Wedding.  Thanks again for your quick resply.

          PS I loved your Bip Bop comment.

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          • Bruce M.
            Bruce M. last edited by

            This is impossible, but what the hell, I'll play. This list is approximately chronological as I can't possibly rate these over each other:

            Maybe I'm Amazed

            Too Many People

            Band on the Run

            Silly Love Songs

            Here Today

            Wanderlust

            The Pound Is Sinking

            Calico Skies

            Little Willow

            Somedays

            Too Much Rain

            Riding to Vanity Fair

            Mr. Bellamy

            Only Mama Knows

            The End of the End

            Sing the Changes (GENYC live version)

            Confidante

            Dominoes

            Hand in Hand

            Do It Now

            "The only true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, loyalty to government when it deserves it."

            \--Mark Twain

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            • Nancy R
              Nancy R last edited by

              In no particular order, although MIA is definitely #1:

              1. Maybe I'm Amazed

              2. Band On The Run

              3. Hi Hi Hi

              4. Magneto & Titanium Man

              5. Helen Wheels

              6. Jet

              7. Wanderlust

              8. Dear Boy

              9. No More Lonely Nights

              10. Beautiful Night

              11. Calico Skies

              12. Somedays

              13. Little Willow

              14. Young Boy

              15. Heaven On A Sunday

              16. Appreciate

              17. I Can Bet

              18. New

              19. I Don't Know

              20. Come On To Me

              Omni, Atlanta, GA May 18, 1976, Feb. 17, 1990

              GA Dome, Atlanta, GA May 1, 1993

              Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA May 12, 2002

              FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN May 26, 2013

              Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA Oct. 15, 2014

              Infinite Energy Center, Duluth, GA July 13, 2017

              Bon Secours Arena, Greenville, SC May 30, 2019

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              • Kestrel
                Kestrel last edited by

                In no particular order apart from Waterfalls being my absolute favourite:

                Waterfalls.

                Little Lamb Dragonfly.

                Scared.

                You Tell Me.

                Riding To Vanity Fair.

                How Kind Of You.

                Somedays.

                No Values.

                Love In Song.

                Somebody Who Cares.

                Distractions.

                Single Pigeon.

                That Day Is Done.

                Juniors Farm.

                I lie Around.

                Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

                One Of These Days

                Dear Friend.

                Country Dreamer.

                Band On The Run.

                Wembley Empire Pool, London  (Wings) 21st October 1976.

                'Take It Away' video shoot Elstree studios, London 23rd June 1982.

                'Give My Regards To Broad Street' film premier, London 29th November 1984.

                Docklands Arena rehearsal concert, London 5th February 1993.

                Run Devil Run launch party, Equinox Club, London 30th September 1999.

                O2 Arena, London 22nd December 2009.

                O2 Arena, London 5th December 2011.

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                • B
                  B J Conlee last edited by

                  Bruce M. wrote:

                  This is impossible, but what the hell, I'll play. This list is approximately chronological as I can't possibly rate these over each other:

                  Maybe I'm Amazed

                  Too Many People

                  Band on the Run

                  Silly Love Songs

                  Here Today

                  Wanderlust

                  The Pound Is Sinking

                  Calico Skies

                  Little Willow

                  Somedays

                  Too Much Rain

                  Riding to Vanity Fair

                  Mr. Bellamy

                  Only Mama Knows

                  The End of the End

                  Sing the Changes (GENYC live version)

                  Confidante

                  Dominoes

                  Hand in Hand

                  Do It Now

                  Great list Bruce.  There is not one song on your choices that I don't love.  I had Too Many People on my initial Top 20 but changed it out for Uncle Albert because it was such a big hit.  I actually like Too Many People better.  I also love some of your choices that weren't on my Top 20 like The Pound is Sinking, Somedays, Mr. Bellamy and Sing the Changes.  The last one is also a great choice.  I hear the GENYC live version on Spotify all the time and it is great.  Finally, I love the fact that you have 4 Egypt Station songs in your list.  I love them all but I have to say that I Don't Know is still my favorite ES song.  I still can't believe that Paul didn't play one of the 5 (including I Don't Know) on his post ES tours.  I still shake my head.

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                  • B
                    B J Conlee last edited by

                    Nancy R wrote:

                    In no particular order, although MIA is definitely #1:

                    1. Maybe I'm Amazed

                    2. Band On The Run

                    3. Hi Hi Hi

                    4. Magneto & Titanium Man

                    5. Helen Wheels

                    6. Jet

                    7. Wanderlust

                    8. Dear Boy

                    9. No More Lonely Nights

                    10. Beautiful Night

                    11. Calico Skies

                    12. Somedays

                    13. Little Willow

                    14. Young Boy

                    15. Heaven On A Sunday

                    16. Appreciate

                    17. I Can Bet

                    18. New

                    19. I Don't Know

                    20. Come On To Me

                    Love your list too Nancy.  I love almost all the songs.  I will have to relisten to Paul's album New.  I like the title track that you include but I will have to see how I like Appreciate now after so much time has gone by.  I listen to Spotify a lot but they don't include Appreciate on their Solo Paul playlist.  Appreciate didn't do that much for me when the album first came out.  I couldn't help notice that you had a whopping 6 Flaming Pie songs.  Glad you included I Don't Know which as you know I love,love.

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                    • B
                      B J Conlee last edited by

                      Kestrel wrote:

                      In no particular order apart from Waterfalls being my absolute favourite:

                      Waterfalls.

                      Little Lamb Dragonfly.

                      Scared.

                      You Tell Me.

                      Riding To Vanity Fair.

                      How Kind Of You.

                      Somedays.

                      No Values.

                      Love In Song.

                      Somebody Who Cares.

                      Distractions.

                      Single Pigeon.

                      That Day Is Done.

                      Juniors Farm.

                      I lie Around.

                      Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

                      One Of These Days

                      Dear Friend.

                      Country Dreamer.

                      Band On The Run.

                      Great list Kestrel.  I still remember that you got me onto Scared.  I didn't like it initially but after repeated listens I love it too.

                      Love some of your non-hit choices like Waterfalls, Country Dreamer, I Lie Around, Single Pigeon, Distractions, Love in Song and LIttle Lamb Dragonfly.  I liked You Tell Me as a song but didn't like the production on this track on the MAF CD.  The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.

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                      • Kestrel
                        Kestrel last edited by

                        B J Conlee wrote:

                        The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.

                        A victim of the 'loudness wars' era unfortunately? Hopefully a future re-mix / remastering project will put right that error of judgement.

                        Wembley Empire Pool, London  (Wings) 21st October 1976.

                        'Take It Away' video shoot Elstree studios, London 23rd June 1982.

                        'Give My Regards To Broad Street' film premier, London 29th November 1984.

                        Docklands Arena rehearsal concert, London 5th February 1993.

                        Run Devil Run launch party, Equinox Club, London 30th September 1999.

                        O2 Arena, London 22nd December 2009.

                        O2 Arena, London 5th December 2011.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote
                        • Yankeefan2
                          Yankeefan2 last edited by

                          B J Conlee wrote:

                          Similar to a previous Post that asked us to list our  the Top 40 of Paul's Post Beatles' songs, but in this case I thought it would be interesting to narrow that list down to the top 20 BEST OF THE BEST Paul songs beginning with his first album McCartney.  This list would include all Post Beatle Paul songs including his period with Wings.  I am going to start with my own personal Top 20 list.  I also decided to narrow my list to songs that are "relatively well known" to Beatle and Paul fans.  Songs that have gotten at least some airplay or in other cases, a lot of airplay.  I'm not going to include my favorites that I would call highly underrated or  generally unknown unless you're a Paul geek like I am.

                          The general criteria I am using includes: songs written entirely or almost entirely by Paul,  final studio performance including vocals, overall melody, creativity (is it unique and doesn't sound like other Paul or Beatle songs) etc.

                          Here's is my list pretty much in album order.

                          TOP 20 PAUL MCCARTNEY POST BEATLE SONGS

                          1. MAYBE I'M AMAZED (MCCARTNEY) ...Album version

                          2. BAND ON THE RUN (BAND ON THE RUN)

                          3. UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY (RAM)

                          4. LIVE AND LET DIE (SINGLE)

                          5. SILLY LOVE SONGS (WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND)

                          6. WITH A LITTLE LUCK (LONDON TOWN)...album version

                          7. MULL OF KINTYRE (SINGLE)

                          8. COMING UP (MCCARTNEY 2)...album version

                          9. HERE TODAY (TUG OF WAR)

                          10. WANDERLUST (TUG OF WAR)

                          11. PUT IT THERE (FLOWERS IN THE DIRT)

                          12. CALICO SKIES (FLAMING PIE)

                          13. BEAUTIFUL NIGHT (FLAMING PIE)

                          14. LITTLE WILLOW (FLAMING PIE)

                          15. RIDING TO VANITY FAIR (CHAOS)

                          16. TOO MUCH RAIN (CHAOS)

                          17. ONLY MAMA KNOWS (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

                          18. THE END OF THE END (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

                          19, EARLY DAYS (NEW)

                          20. I DON'T KNOW (EGYPT STATION)

                          IF I HAD TO NARROW IT DOWN TO A TOP 10, MY LIST FROM ABOVE WOULD BE:

                          1.MAYBE I'M AMAZED

                          2.BAND ON THE RUN

                          3.LIVE AND LET DIE

                          4.SILLY LOVE SONGS

                          5.WANDERLUST

                          6.RIDING TO VANITY FAIR

                          7.CALICO SKIES

                          8.BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

                          9.ONLY MAMA KNOWS

                          10. I DON'T KNOW

                          1. Maybe I'm Amazed

                          2. Venus Mars/Rock Show

                          3. Band On The Run

                          4. Tug Of War (the song)

                          5. How Kind Of You

                          6. Wanderlust

                          7. About You

                          8. House Of Wax

                          9. Too Much Rain

                          10. Jet

                          11. Dear Boy

                          12. Little Willow

                          13. Dance Til We're High

                          14. I Can Bet

                          15. That Was Me

                          16. My Brave Face

                          17. Early Days

                          18. Here Today

                          19. Despite Repeated Warnings

                          20. Beware My Love

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                          • Nancy R
                            Nancy R last edited by

                            I forgot about Waterfalls! I love that song! It's so hard to only pick 20!

                            Omni, Atlanta, GA May 18, 1976, Feb. 17, 1990

                            GA Dome, Atlanta, GA May 1, 1993

                            Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA May 12, 2002

                            FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN May 26, 2013

                            Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA Oct. 15, 2014

                            Infinite Energy Center, Duluth, GA July 13, 2017

                            Bon Secours Arena, Greenville, SC May 30, 2019

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote
                            • B
                              B J Conlee last edited by

                              Yankeefan2 wrote:

                              B J Conlee wrote:

                              Similar to a previous Post that asked us to list our  the Top 40 of Paul's Post Beatles' songs, but in this case I thought it would be interesting to narrow that list down to the top 20 BEST OF THE BEST Paul songs beginning with his first album McCartney.  This list would include all Post Beatle Paul songs including his period with Wings.  I am going to start with my own personal Top 20 list.  I also decided to narrow my list to songs that are "relatively well known" to Beatle and Paul fans.  Songs that have gotten at least some airplay or in other cases, a lot of airplay.  I'm not going to include my favorites that I would call highly underrated or  generally unknown unless you're a Paul geek like I am.

                              The general criteria I am using includes: songs written entirely or almost entirely by Paul,  final studio performance including vocals, overall melody, creativity (is it unique and doesn't sound like other Paul or Beatle songs) etc.

                              Here's is my list pretty much in album order.

                              TOP 20 PAUL MCCARTNEY POST BEATLE SONGS

                              1. MAYBE I'M AMAZED (MCCARTNEY) ...Album version

                              2. BAND ON THE RUN (BAND ON THE RUN)

                              3. UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY (RAM)

                              4. LIVE AND LET DIE (SINGLE)

                              5. SILLY LOVE SONGS (WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND)

                              6. WITH A LITTLE LUCK (LONDON TOWN)...album version

                              7. MULL OF KINTYRE (SINGLE)

                              8. COMING UP (MCCARTNEY 2)...album version

                              9. HERE TODAY (TUG OF WAR)

                              10. WANDERLUST (TUG OF WAR)

                              11. PUT IT THERE (FLOWERS IN THE DIRT)

                              12. CALICO SKIES (FLAMING PIE)

                              13. BEAUTIFUL NIGHT (FLAMING PIE)

                              14. LITTLE WILLOW (FLAMING PIE)

                              15. RIDING TO VANITY FAIR (CHAOS)

                              16. TOO MUCH RAIN (CHAOS)

                              17. ONLY MAMA KNOWS (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

                              18. THE END OF THE END (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

                              19, EARLY DAYS (NEW)

                              20. I DON'T KNOW (EGYPT STATION)

                              IF I HAD TO NARROW IT DOWN TO A TOP 10, MY LIST FROM ABOVE WOULD BE:

                              1.MAYBE I'M AMAZED

                              2.BAND ON THE RUN

                              3.LIVE AND LET DIE

                              4.SILLY LOVE SONGS

                              5.WANDERLUST

                              6.RIDING TO VANITY FAIR

                              7.CALICO SKIES

                              8.BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

                              9.ONLY MAMA KNOWS

                              10. I DON'T KNOW

                              1. Maybe I'm Amazed

                              2. Venus Mars/Rock Show

                              3. Band On The Run

                              4. Tug Of War (the song)

                              5. How Kind Of You

                              6. Wanderlust

                              7. About You

                              8. House Of Wax

                              9. Too Much Rain

                              10. Jet

                              11. Dear Boy

                              12. Little Willow

                              13. Dance Til We're High

                              14. I Can Bet

                              15. That Was Me

                              16. My Brave Face

                              17. Early Days

                              18. Here Today

                              19. Despite Repeated Warnings

                              20. Beware My Love

                              Great list Yankeefan.  You are the one that got me into About You from Driving Rain.  Like you, I always wished Paul did a live version of About You on one of his many tours (how many songs have we said that about).  Beware My Love is another good choice.  The 2nd best song on At the Speed of Sound after Silly Love Songs in my opinion.  And I forgot about Venus and Mars.  I'm just thinking that  a great choice would be coupling Venus and Mars and Jet the way Paul and Wings introduced their Wings Over America tour...an amazing and best tour intro again in my opinion.  Additional choices on your list that I also love are Tug of War (the song), How Kind of You, House of Wax, Dear Boy and Dance Till We're High.  I was surprised you didn't include Take It Away.  I was thinking about that one but I was already at 20.  Same thing with Despite Repeated Warnings and Dominoes.

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                              • B
                                B J Conlee last edited by

                                Just want to thank everyone for their responses.  I expected a lot of songs from Paul's 70's, but it was very refreshing to me to see many songs and albums represented from the 80's till now.  Although it was a small sampling, it was nice to see albums like Tug of War, Flaming Pie, Chaos and Creation, Memory Almost Full, New and Egypt Station so well represented.  It reminded me of just how underrated Paul's Solo and latter period career has been.  After No More Lonely Nights (a Nancy selection here) broad radio airplay for Paul pretty much stopped but these lists just show how many great Solo songs Paul has written and performed since his heyday on the charts.

                                Your combined choices also reminded me of great songs that I missed on my original Top 20.  Another song that I had on the back of my mind to include was Pipes of Peace (the song) which I think was the best track on that album.  It had great production from George Martin of course.  Again, thanks again for your imput.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote
                                • Yankeefan2
                                  Yankeefan2 last edited by

                                  B J Conlee wrote:

                                  Yankeefan2 wrote:

                                  B J Conlee wrote:

                                  Similar to a previous Post that asked us to list our  the Top 40 of Paul's Post Beatles' songs, but in this case I thought it would be interesting to narrow that list down to the top 20 BEST OF THE BEST Paul songs beginning with his first album McCartney.  This list would include all Post Beatle Paul songs including his period with Wings.  I am going to start with my own personal Top 20 list.  I also decided to narrow my list to songs that are "relatively well known" to Beatle and Paul fans.  Songs that have gotten at least some airplay or in other cases, a lot of airplay.  I'm not going to include my favorites that I would call highly underrated or  generally unknown unless you're a Paul geek like I am.

                                  The general criteria I am using includes: songs written entirely or almost entirely by Paul,  final studio performance including vocals, overall melody, creativity (is it unique and doesn't sound like other Paul or Beatle songs) etc.

                                  Here's is my list pretty much in album order.

                                  TOP 20 PAUL MCCARTNEY POST BEATLE SONGS

                                  1. MAYBE I'M AMAZED (MCCARTNEY) ...Album version

                                  2. BAND ON THE RUN (BAND ON THE RUN)

                                  3. UNCLE ALBERT/ADMIRAL HALSEY (RAM)

                                  4. LIVE AND LET DIE (SINGLE)

                                  5. SILLY LOVE SONGS (WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND)

                                  6. WITH A LITTLE LUCK (LONDON TOWN)...album version

                                  7. MULL OF KINTYRE (SINGLE)

                                  8. COMING UP (MCCARTNEY 2)...album version

                                  9. HERE TODAY (TUG OF WAR)

                                  10. WANDERLUST (TUG OF WAR)

                                  11. PUT IT THERE (FLOWERS IN THE DIRT)

                                  12. CALICO SKIES (FLAMING PIE)

                                  13. BEAUTIFUL NIGHT (FLAMING PIE)

                                  14. LITTLE WILLOW (FLAMING PIE)

                                  15. RIDING TO VANITY FAIR (CHAOS)

                                  16. TOO MUCH RAIN (CHAOS)

                                  17. ONLY MAMA KNOWS (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

                                  18. THE END OF THE END (MEMORY ALMOST FULL)

                                  19, EARLY DAYS (NEW)

                                  20. I DON'T KNOW (EGYPT STATION)

                                  IF I HAD TO NARROW IT DOWN TO A TOP 10, MY LIST FROM ABOVE WOULD BE:

                                  1.MAYBE I'M AMAZED

                                  2.BAND ON THE RUN

                                  3.LIVE AND LET DIE

                                  4.SILLY LOVE SONGS

                                  5.WANDERLUST

                                  6.RIDING TO VANITY FAIR

                                  7.CALICO SKIES

                                  8.BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

                                  9.ONLY MAMA KNOWS

                                  10. I DON'T KNOW

                                  1. Maybe I'm Amazed

                                  2. Venus Mars/Rock Show

                                  3. Band On The Run

                                  4. Tug Of War (the song)

                                  5. How Kind Of You

                                  6. Wanderlust

                                  7. About You

                                  8. House Of Wax

                                  9. Too Much Rain

                                  10. Jet

                                  11. Dear Boy

                                  12. Little Willow

                                  13. Dance Til We're High

                                  14. I Can Bet

                                  15. That Was Me

                                  16. My Brave Face

                                  17. Early Days

                                  18. Here Today

                                  19. Despite Repeated Warnings

                                  20. Beware My Love

                                  Great list Yankeefan.  You are the one that got me into About You from Driving Rain.  Like you, I always wished Paul did a live version of About You on one of his many tours (how many songs have we said that about).  Beware My Love is another good choice.  The 2nd best song on At the Speed of Sound after Silly Love Songs in my opinion.  And I forgot about Venus and Mars.  I'm just thinking that  a great choice would be coupling Venus and Mars and Jet the way Paul and Wings introduced their Wings Over America tour...an amazing and best tour intro again in my opinion.  Additional choices on your list that I also love are Tug of War (the song), How Kind of You, House of Wax, Dear Boy and Dance Till We're High.  I was surprised you didn't include Take It Away.  I was thinking about that one but I was already at 20.  Same thing with Despite Repeated Warnings and Dominoes.

                                  Yes, the opening of the WOA was the best ever !! Jet fit perfectly after Venus and Mars/Rock Show. If this list was my favorite songs , "Take It Away" would be on that list. Since you wanted best songs, it was a close call and lost out to the others I listed.  I am glad you like "About You" , it is really a song on that album that flew under the radar and IMO would have been great song to hear live.

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                                  • T
                                    TommyC909 last edited by

                                    Can't do it.  Limiting it to 40 was hard enough.

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                                    • Bruce M.
                                      Bruce M. last edited by

                                      B J Conlee wrote:

                                      Bruce M. wrote:

                                      This is impossible, but what the hell, I'll play. This list is approximately chronological as I can't possibly rate these over each other:

                                      Maybe I'm Amazed

                                      Too Many People

                                      Band on the Run

                                      Silly Love Songs

                                      Here Today

                                      Wanderlust

                                      The Pound Is Sinking

                                      Calico Skies

                                      Little Willow

                                      Somedays

                                      Too Much Rain

                                      Riding to Vanity Fair

                                      Mr. Bellamy

                                      Only Mama Knows

                                      The End of the End

                                      Sing the Changes (GENYC live version)

                                      Confidante

                                      Dominoes

                                      Hand in Hand

                                      Do It Now

                                      Great list Bruce.  There is not one song on your choices that I don't love.  I had Too Many People on my initial Top 20 but changed it out for Uncle Albert because it was such a big hit.  I actually like Too Many People better.  I also love some of your choices that weren't on my Top 20 like The Pound is Sinking, Somedays, Mr. Bellamy and Sing the Changes.  The last one is also a great choice.  I hear the GENYC live version on Spotify all the time and it is great.  Finally, I love the fact that you have 4 Egypt Station songs in your list.  I love them all but I have to say that I Don't Know is still my favorite ES song.  I still can't believe that Paul didn't play one of the 5 (including I Don't Know) on his post ES tours.  I still shake my head.

                                      Well, as I've said before, I think Egypt Station is his best solo album, by a significant margin. That said, this is so subjective that on any given day I might swap out 4 or  5 of these for others I love nearly as much, depending on my mooed.

                                      "The only true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, loyalty to government when it deserves it."

                                      \--Mark Twain

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                                      • B
                                        B J Conlee last edited by

                                        B J Conlee wrote:

                                        Just want to thank everyone for their responses.  I expected a lot of songs from Paul's 70's, but it was very refreshing to me to see many songs and albums represented from the 80's till now.  Although it was a small sampling, it was nice to see albums like Tug of War, Flaming Pie, Chaos and Creation, Memory Almost Full, New and Egypt Station so well represented.  It reminded me of just how underrated Paul's Solo and latter period career has been.  After No More Lonely Nights (a Nancy selection here) broad radio airplay for Paul pretty much stopped but these lists just show how many great Solo songs Paul has written and performed since his heyday on the charts.

                                        Your combined choices also reminded me of great songs that I missed on my original Top 20.  Another song that I had on the back of my mind to include was Pipes of Peace (the song) which I think was the best track on that album.  It had great production from George Martin of course.  Again, thanks again for your imput.

                                        Another great song that could have been easily made  my Top 20 list is "Only Our Hearts" from the "Kisses" album.  I started hearing more of "Only Our Hearts" when I started listening to Spotify's "This is Paul McCartney" Playlist.  They include both "Only Our Hearts" and "My Valentine".  I remember liking "Only Our Hearts" when I bought the original "Kisses" CD but hearing it again on a regular basis on the Spotify channel got me to really love it.  Besides loving Stevie Wonder's fabulous harmonica solo, I also really like Paul's vocal.  I didn't love Paul's vocals on all the "Kisses" tracks" but Paul's vocal and phrasing on "Only Our Hearts" was superb in my opinion.  I guess I didn't include either "Only Our Hearts" or "My Valentine" on my Top 20 Paul Solo list because the "Kisses" album as a whole was a covers' album.  But since Paul wrote both songs, either one in my opinion could arguably make a Macca Best Solo song list.  They are both great songs in my opinion.

                                        As a side note to this subject, I have been on a trip with my wife to Chattanooga this week and we have spent a good amount of time in the car.  We have been listening to different Playlists in the Adult Contemporary and Easy Listeining genres from the likes  of Spotify and Pandora.  Unfortunately we haven't heard any Paul songs on these type channels.  You hear songs from Eric Clapton (e.g. Change the World), Michael Buble, Norah Jones etc but never Paul.  Again, I don't understand why songs like I Don't Know, My Valentine, Only Our Hearts, People Want Peace, Hand in Hand etc. don't fit in with these channels.  Yes, you will hear the normal big Paul songs on the Classis Rock channels (MIA, Band on the Run, Live and Let Die etc) but you never hear Paul's ballads on the Easy Listening, Adult Contemporary type playlists.  For whatever reason, Paul hardly gets any airplay except for the 4 or 5 songs on the Classic Rock channels.  Well anyway I can't complain as we can always Play Paul channels on Spotify.  There we can be assured that we can hear some Paul Solo tracks.

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                                        • Bruce M.
                                          Bruce M. last edited by

                                          Kestrel wrote:

                                          B J Conlee wrote:

                                          The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.

                                          A victim of the 'loudness wars' era unfortunately? Hopefully a future re-mix / remastering project will put right that error of judgement.

                                          I love a lot of the songs on MAF, but I just have to put aside the production in the case of many of them.

                                          "The only true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, loyalty to government when it deserves it."

                                          \--Mark Twain

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                                          • T
                                            TommyC909 last edited by

                                            Bruce M. wrote:

                                            Kestrel wrote:

                                            B J Conlee wrote:

                                            The production on MAF still frustrates me a lot because so many of the songs are so great.

                                            A victim of the 'loudness wars' era unfortunately? Hopefully a future re-mix / remastering project will put right that error of judgement.

                                            I love a lot of the songs on MAF, but I just have to put aside the production in the case of many of them.

                                            I don't know enough about the recording process to know who to blame for the bad sound but I did read that it can't be fixed.  The harshness is "baked in".

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