Get Back and Re-evaluate Paul McCartney

People are taking different things from Peter Jackson's edit of the Beatles  Twickers sessions, entitled Get Back that recently aired over eight plus hours on Disney +. But for me (I'll start a sentence how I fucking want to. That's rock 'n' roll) , a lifelong Beatle (there's nothing better) fan the vibe, the message, the word I get is that it's time to re-evaluate Paul McCartney.

 Of course Jackson's edit is not 100% truthful - the pressure is just too much and Yoko is presented as less than the annoying fucker she likely really was. If you watch the original Beatles Let it Be movie and then  Jackson's latest mammoth edit then the truth about the Yoko (remember she firmly holds the reign of the John Lennon brand)  is probably somewhere in-between. If you think she sat around knitting and on occasions uttered a series of unmelodic yowls, the sound of pain and anguish, then you're just a little bit fucked up. No doubt, the victim of reality TV and the dumbing down of the brain cells that fire, spark, and evaluate in the viewer. You can only watch so much consuming of kangaroo anus and bonding sessions between false fuckers, before you're critical facilities are as fucked up as the average Jeremy Kyle viewer.

All you need is love, baby!

After all this time (it was more than fifty years ago today! That's half a fucking century) nothing could be really truthful and all that gold tinged celluloid can be made to tell any story that is required, meet whatever agenda is needed to keep everyone happy. Fuck that though - it's time for some peace in the neighbourhood. Yoko bashing is no longer necessary, Lennon myth-making has run its course, and now it is time to look at the Beatles as they were - that is what made up the Beatles.

There is no doubt that Beatles were four hearts combined - the Ringoist, the Lennonesque, the Harritualist and the Maccamelodist that made the band greater than its parts. None of these quarter parts would ever equal the wonder, the sheer magic of the whole but the truth must be spoken and it is McCartney, that dude who looks more and more like Murder She Wrote with each passing year who was the heart of the latter period Beatles and since that heart stopped Beating it is the Macca who has continued to push the boundaries of what popular music can be.

One day the Press to Play album will be considered a fucking epic masterpiece because it  fucking is, even if Press is a shit song.

Watching Macca pull the song Get Back from thin air in the Jackson edit has drawn loads of comments - magic, wonderous, brilliantoid - but this is what songwriters do and McCartney is arguably (fuck the facile arguments) the greatest pop./rock songwriter the world has ever known. I saw two Magpies, We're open tonight, the other me wags the long tailed winter bird. I mean get real - stop dissing the genius and for every Ebony and Ivory there is a Looking for Changes to restore the equilibrium.

Macca rocks!!!!

That's what Get Back shows - I've always maintained that the Beatles as a functioning unit ceased to be after Revolver and that from Sgt. Pepper's onwards it was the Paul McCartney band. Sure John and George (actually George came up with his best stuff during this period) contributed a lot of greatness but Macca was the driving force. McCartney seemed to be the only one who cared - the others were burnt out from being the most amazing musical force the world had ever known. Paul was still Beatle-Paul while George was fast vanishing into mysticism, Lennon was in ego destroying and self indulging smack head mode and Ringo was Bricky building. It's all too much but listen to reason folks because you're mother should know.

Let's imagine (all the people) that's it's 1968 - John's off tripping the light fantastic, George's discovering that we all live on within you and without you, Ringo's coming up with a cool sand/cement mix and Paul's...well, Paul's all over the place and soaking up influences from the Asher's eclectic mix of friends and friends of friends. These Liverpool scallywags have done good but whilst the others are content to enjoy the trappings of wealth and fame Paul is still pushing boundaries. John Lennon may have been the original Punk, but Paul was the nutty professor on acid.

The recent album, McCartney III shows this...acid or otherwise.

It's that deep deep feeling in the carrot patch.

So let's re-evaluate Macca - let's pull him from his Beatle past, his ever present past, but remember the Beatles may have split up but Paul never stopped being Beatle Paul. He's still, after all these years, Beatle Paul.

Once you're Beatle Paul you are always Beatle Paul.

Ram is astounding - continues to astound with each passing listen, Venus and Mars is actually better than Band on the Run which in itself is actually AOR gold and if you Listen to what the man said then you may stumble across Electric Arguments which is  amazing. There's a lot more too - Don' Be Careless Love and That Day is Done from Flowers in the Dirt or No Values from the stroll down Broad Street, or the Pound is Sinking while we play Tug of War. There's so much in Beatle Paul's solo work that will astound you and with a little luck carry you on through life.

I got married last year, to a girl I'd known forever and directly after the ceremony (Hand in Hand was played in place of  the wedding march) we went and had a snap at the Abbey Road crossing.

The Beatles and me...we go back a long way.

McCartney III: aLbum review

 Let's talk Paul McCartney's new album, McCartney III - The previous two self titled albums were released at times when the artist found himself at crossroads in his career - McCartney came in 1970 just as the Beatles were falling apart, and McCartney II arrived ten years later just as Wings were about to be grounded.

'Well I can find my way, I know my left from right.'

 

This time out circumstances are somewhat different, though like the previous two McCartney albums this was recorded during a time of great  upheaval. Macca had planned on spending 2020 touring the globe but the pandemic found him confined to barracks and so given his workaholic condition and the fact that he has a  state of the art recording studio at his Sussex home he wrote a bunch of new songs, completed some old ones and here we have it, McCartney III. For Macca lockdown became rockdown.

'Chasing the morrow, getting ready to run'

It's a damn fine album too, that mostly sticks to the concept of the previous two McCartney albums with the artists doing almost everything himself - playing all the instruments, supplying the vocals, both lead and harmony and producing, mixing and even making the coffee. The album also follows the same pattern as the other McCartney albums with several instrumental pieces, a smattering of strange little ditties and the odd masterpiece thrown in.

Beatle fandom is a strange thing and there are some people who will knock this album - they tend to criticize McCartney because his voice is not as powerful as it once was, but that's bullshit and if you follow that lead them you may as well knock Macca for having more wrinkles than Beatle Paul or for having greyer hair than the Wings frontman. 

I'm comfortable with senior Macca and no matter what his detractors say he has remained consistent since those early days on Merseyside. He's still capable of turning out the most saccharine of tunes as well as pulling off something so left-field that he leaves the young turks standing. He's also not averse to singing about fixing fences to protect the chickens. Years ago he was fixing a hole to stop his mind from wandering and now he's ruminating about fixing the fence by the acre patch. All he wants, you know, is a home in the heart of the country.

'Dinosuars and Santa Claus will stay in tonight.'

McCartney seems to be chasing the strangest ideas throughout the album and coming up with some incredibly original tunes which contains that melodic gold that he's known for. Perhaps the strongest track is , Deep Deep Feeling which is astounding in the way vocal layers are built over a minimalist beat. I love that one

Track listing:

Long Tailed Winter Bird

Find my Way

Pretty Boys

Women and Wives

Lavatory Lil

Deep Deep Feeling

Slidin

The Kiss of Venus

Seize the Day

Deep Down

Winter Bird/When Winter Comes

 

And so McCartney's late career golden patch continues to shine bright and McCartney III continues a run of great albums that truly reward the listener with repeat spins. For now, I'm off to find the sun when winter comes.

Was Paul McCartney Jack the Hopper? Shocking evidence reveals Paul McCartney 's past as a frog killer

It's not new , was hit upon in Many Years From Now by Barry Miles back in 1997 but a new interview in GQ Magazine has brought up Paul McCartney's dark past as a serial killer of frogs. Yes as unlikely as it seems McCartney was actually Jack the Hopper, an amphibian serial killer, responsible for mass frogicide who has never been brought to justice.

"Yeah, I remember exactly why it was and what it was. We used to live on a housing estate called Speke, in Liverpool, just millions of houses, right on the border of woods and deep countryside. So I did a lot of that, went out in all that. But I was very aware that I would soon be joining the army, because all of us were called up for National Service. I was probably about 12, I was looking at being 17, which is kind of looming—it's going to happen fast—and the one thing that I thought is: 'I can't kill anything—what am I going to do? Get a bayonet and hurt someone? I've got to kill someone? Shit, I've got to think about that. How do I do that?' So I ended up killing frogs." McCartney told GQ Magazine when prompted of his blood thirsty past.


The Frog Chorus, Macca's  1984 song found the bloodthirsty musician once again thinking about frogs but this time he didn't torture the poor creatures but instead had them singing, 'Bom Bom, Bom', which upon reflection may have even been worse.


"I do look for rational explanations—I do think, you know, kids are cruel. Kids swing cats. I was from Liverpool—you do that kind of shit. It's dumb, it's mean, it's horrible, but you do that kind of shit. What is it? You're trying to toughen yourself up? I don't know. But I did. And I used to go out in the woods, and I killed a bunch of frogs and stuck them up on a barbed-wire fence. It was like a weird sort of thing that I kind of hated doing but thought: 'I'm toughening myself up.' I remember taking my brother there, once, to my secret place. And he was just horrified. Thought he had a nutter on his hands. And probably did." McCartney went on

Newspaper report from the time of the killings

McCartney's ritualistic killings resulted in dozens of frogs being impaled on barbed-wired fences, while the soon to be Beatle danced about, chanting 'Bom, bom bom,' and absorbing the amphibian's life force.

"I wonder. I don't know. He's just my younger brother—I showed him what I was doing. I think he was horrified, but I think I was, too. It was a dark thing, but no darker than a lot of stuff that was going on on our estate. It was just my way. I remember very consciously thinking: 'You've got to learn to harm things because you're a sissy. So you'd better get in some practice.'" McCartney tries to justify his froggicide.


The documents relating to this case are now with the AID, the Met's Amphibian Investigation Department.

'He's such a dirty old man!' Let's board Egypt Station

Many an artist I grew up with are now facing their autumn years, (shit, I can feel their icy grasp myself, telling me that the end of the end is not too far away.) and could be forgiven for taking a back seat. but for Paul McCartney it seems that senior citizenship has not only brought a bus pass, a penchant for hanging around with James Cordon and hobnobbing with royalty but also a massive boost in the needs of Little Macca. The latter ain't gonna curl up in a pair of comfortable high waisted underpants, content with the memories of early days. Hell no, Little Macca wants to party! Little Macca wants some action! This yearning, heartfelt or otherwise, is displayed in the slightly troubling Come On To Me and the hilarious, Fuh You.

These two songs, along with the lovely ballad, I Don't Know, were the first things people heard from the now released Egypt Station album and they provoked more than a few slack jaws, dozens of guffaws and tight smirks aplenty. Here was Macca, a national treasure, arguably the biggest legacy artist in the world inviting you to come on to him so that he could fuh you. Though those two tracks in all fairness, if you can separate the comedy value from the aural, rather than oral experience then they hold up as throwaway tracks. Come On To Me, Macca explained was written based around the memories of his younger self and not through the eyes of a man in his late 70's - hell, no that would be creepy. Fuh You is actually For You but it sounds like Macca is singing I just wanna Fuck You - and he knows it sounds like that, intended it to sound like that, and it is pretty Fuh'ing funny.

Fuh me, if Egypt Station is not a pretty funky album - coming across as a hybrid of his Fireman stuff and inward gazing of Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. It's a far better album that his previous two long players and represents something of a classic entry into his incredible catalog.

The album kicks off with the sound of a train chugging and then we have some choir sounds which flow seamlessly into, I don't Know and the track works really well here, far better than it did as a single. 'I've got crows at my window, dogs at my door, I don't think I can take anymore,' wails a world weary voice and it really is quite beautiful. The piano medley is classic McCartney and it weaves around a lyric that is very much anti-McCartney in its depth of despair. 'It's alright, sleep tight. I will take the strain.'

The second track rocks out - Come Onto Me, - again this seems more at home here than it did as a single. The sounds not clean, the melody not too sweet and although it's pretty much a simple song it does have that edge, that raspy quality that reminds me somewhat of McCartney's Electric Argument album.


It occurs to me after a few spins of this album that Egypt Station is a real album, rather than a collection of songs. What I mean by that is where say Memory Almost Full and New were song collections, Egypt Station seems to have a unity that has been lacking from Macca's work since maybe Chaos and Creation and Electric Argument.


The third track is a lovely acoustic ballad, a  kind of modern day take on Every Night, in which Macca informs us that he no longer has to get stoned and can, no doubt safely enter Japan without worry of customs. It's a sweet melody, quite wonderful. 'I'm Happy with you,' Macca tells us and so far I'm happy with Egypt Station.

Next up is Who Cares, which is a standout rocker - it makes you want to punch the air. It's a fine track that would again fit into the Electric Argument era. 'Who cares what the idiots say. Who cares what the idiots do.'

Then we have the already infamous Fuh You -  I just find this song hilarious and it is a ear worm. Listen to it a few times and be careful because you'll end up singing it as you walk down the streets. It'll be awkward explaining to the girl on the Tesco checkout why you just uttered, 'I just wanna fuh you.'

Confident is next, apparently a ode to Macca's guitar but it's an interesting lyric that could contain a little Beatle bashing or then again it may not. There's some startling imagery - butterfly's wearing army boots chanting long lost anthems. This is another great track.


People want Peace comes next - the opening is excellent but it ends up sounding like that song Macca did for a video game a few years back. It's not bad but not nearly as strong as the songs that preceded it. It may grow on me though and I certainly don't hate it.

The piano led Hand in Hand comes next and this one features another strained Macca vocal - a song that could have fitted on Kisses on the Bottom. It's romantic, hopeful and whimsical as well as even more optimistic than With a Little Luck. There's a lovely tune here but the song is a bit sappy. Maybe in the context of the album it works but taken from the whole it would maybe seem far too trite.

Dominoes follows and this song is, I think a late period masterpiece - an absolutely stunning song that goes all over the place. 'And like the dominoes are falling.' This is the album's top tune in my opinion.

Then we're going up tempo for a true party number with the gormless Back in Brazil but this songs has such a good vibe that it'll have you foot tapping aplenty. Musically it's a very complex piece and the lyric tells a little story. It's  a very experimental track, part lounge lizard music and part party piece. Quite brilliant.

Do It Now is another wonderful track, that echoes McCartney's best balladry. There's also some great Wings style harmonies flowing through this heavenly track. I'm loving it.

Ceaser Rock comes next and it really does rock and for this bemoaning McCartney's voice this is the perfect antidote with that voice sounding better than it has for many a year. He gets that perfect raspy vocal quality that reminds me of Rinse the Raindrops from the much maligned Driving Rain. The guitar work on this one is especially good.

Despite Repeated Warnings follows - this is the much hyped anti-Trump song but it's far more Admiral Halsey than Big Boys Bickering. It's got several inventive tempo changes and some nice Macca 'Yeah, yeah' wails. 'Well he's got his own agenda.' And at one point it goes all Live and Let Die with a crazy reggae/rock vibe. 'He'll take us with him.'  It's a great song with Macca seeming to be shouting for an uprising. 'Yes we can do it, yeah we can do it now.'

Then we arrive at Station II and it's been a breathless journey - some more heavenly choir sounds takes up into the closing medley of  Hunt you Down/Naked/ C-link. We get a hard rock riff to kick off proceedings with Macca rocking like it's 1970 all over again. This middle section is catchy in which Macca claims to have been mistaken for his little brother and confessing that he's been naked for so long. A brilliant wandering guitar solo takes us into the final movement in the medley and it's like the McCartney album meets No More Lonely Nights. A truly inventive medley then to round off a better than expected album from Macca.

In summing up then I would say that Macca's got balls on this album - to my mind it's far stronger than the safey stuff served up on the previous two albums. It was ironic that McCartney's previous album, New served up nothing even remotely new but this album certainly does. It's an album that works as an album, a unified whole and will no doubt reveal more of itself over repeated listens. I'd give this one top marks...I like dirty old man Macca.

EX-Beatle slams Murder She Wrote

Paul McCartney lookalike Angela Lansbury has called the forthcoming remake of her popular TV series, Murder She Wrote,a terrible mistake. Speaking to Variety magazine the ex-Beatle said that -

 "I suddenly became a worldwide-known character as Jessica Fletcher and really built an enormous audience, which I have to this day.That was the thing that really made me a star in the minds of everybody. It will be a terrible mistake if NBC go ahead with the remake.'




The new Murder She Wrote will star Oscar winner, Octavia Spencer as Jessica Fletcher mark II.

Lansbuy as Jessica Fletcher and also in her Beatle days

David Janollari and Alexandra Cunningham (“Desperate Housewives”) will exec produce the drama, which will aim for a light, contemporary feel, according to NBC. Spencer will play the hospital administrator and amateur sleuth who self-publishes her first mystery novel, then becomes an active participant in true crime investigations.




Lansbury says that she feels some ownership of the Jessica Fletcher character after playing her for so long, and is not at all amused by the prospect of a remake.

Paul McCartney - New

Paul McCartney's last album of original material, Memory Almost Full had some mighty fine moments but it was something of a backward step after the originality of  the excellent Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. Well who would have thought it but Macca, always the most creatively restless Beatle, now delivers an album that is without a doubt the equal to Chaos. It's up there with the best Macca and as the enlightened people know the best Macca is mighty fine indeed.

The album kicks off with a rocker that could have come from Macca's mid-Wings period, it's got those gorgeous harmonies. The song is called Save Us - keep on sending your love, in the heat of battle we've got something that will save us - is a great album opener and is up-tempo with some catchy hooks running through it.

Alligator follows - I want someone to come home to, I need somewhere I can sleep, I need a place where I can rest my weary bones and have a conversation not too deep - and is a mid-tempo tune that sees the Macca knocking his many detractors. The song changes temp in the middle eight and becomes very Beatlish. Everybody else is busy doing better than me, Paul wails and you know what that's just not the case. Well not any more.

On my way to work - typical McCartney that sounds like something from the early 1970's and is a great track in which the Macca looks back at his early days. The song also features some of the great man;s best lyrics, Lines like - on my way to work I bought a magazine, inside a pretty girl liked to water-ski, she came from Chichester to study history, she liked to remove her clothes for me - flow seamlessly around the laid back vibe. On first listen I found this track to be a stand-out and no doubt it will become a classic.

He may look like Stan Laurel these days but the Macca still rocks

Queenie Eye, the fourth track, rocks using chants from childhood games the Macca creates an instant singalong anthem that will, no doubt, become a favourite of his live shows. This is a song that will have stadiums full of dudes and dudettes punching the air and head banging to the rhythm. Infectious shit, dude.

A country sounding guitar kicks off Early Days in which Macca once again sticks up two fingers to those who denied his massive contribution to the Beatles - I lived through those early days. This song could fit nicely onto Chaos and Creation, it's got that sound. Again an excellent track.

Then we have the title track which was also the lead single. New is a catchy piece of fluff which, I think is the weakest thing on the album. Mind you it's not a weak song by any means. It's just that the rest of the album is so damn strong. I like New but it's not as kick arse as the other songs on the album - though it's getting tons of radio play and, I guess, that's what a lead single is supposed to do. It's as commercial as hell and as catchy as the best McCartney pop.

Appreciate is something of an experimental piece but I think this track will grow on listeners. I've heard it maybe half a dozen times and like it more and more each time. The Macca's vocal is for the most part buried back in the mix and the track is led by a drum and bass rhythm. Maybe the most Fireman sounding track on the album.

And then we get Everybody Out There, a song that will make you cream with orgasmic pleasure. This is truly an excellent song in which Macca sounds very much like Beatle Paul and that's that Paul we all love the best. There for the grace of God goes you...and I. Again this track is something of an anthem and is another that will work well live. Check out the live performance below.

Hosanna comes up next and we're almost through the album now and there's not been a bad track and this song is no exception. It's a slow piece that gradually builds to a rich soundscape. It's a love song but it's certainly not a silly love song. There's also a stunning sounding Beatley section that could have come from the Magical Mystery era.

And we're rocking again for the excellent, I can Bet - another brilliant up tempo song that ticks all the right boxes. I think this song is another that could have come from Wings best period. Brilliant, rocking and awesome.


Looking at Her is a lush sounding track with a superb vocal performance from the Macca that makes him sound twenty years younger than he truly is. It's a brilliant catchy song that could do well as a single. It's certainly far more substantial than the title track.

Road is the final track on the basic album - there are several deluxe version with more tracks and maybe even in these too commercial times a super duper deluxe edition - and the track sees McCartney looking back at his Beatle days. We came from nowhere, hiding from the storm, we came together, to keep each other warm. I got a feeling it's gonna be alright. McCartney seems to be reflecting on the long road he's travelled and you know what many of us have been with him every step of the way.

New then is an excellent album with no filler at all and shows just what McCartney is capable of when he puts his mind to it. Is there anyone else in rock/pop music that can match him? There aren't many and on past achievements along McCartney stands head and shoulders above all others, and it's good to see him pushing the envelope once again.

Paul McCartney - nobody does it better.

You must Press to Play

Whilst I was browsing and Googling, I did pause  upon a blogger blasting the Paul McCartney album, Press to Play. Now this album is, I think, very overlooked and actually one of Macca's best and so below, underneath these words, down the screen a bit, that's it right there,  you will find my deepest thoughts, or thoughts of this particular moment, on the sonic masterpiece that is Press to Play

Stranglehold is a great album opener - a rocker that is best appreciated from behind earphones, as there are so many interesting things going on in the mix that this is the only way to experience the full mix  - the song leads into a McCartney classic in which two similarly themed songs are merged into an astounding single entity. This is Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun - the first section seems to be culled from memory - that was a golden summer, so long ago - while the second half basks in the warmth of the present - feel the sun shining in on you - it don't get much better than that. Then we have a weird but compelling oddity called, Talk more Talk which is actually a classic tune with as much substance as anything Macca did with the Fabs and I'm not kidding. The song oozes rhythm and melody and it doesn't matter that the lyrics are mostly nonsensical. The song is all about the feeling and it's a bloody good feeling - words of a feather are worn in a hat. I hear water going through the pipes. Music is ideas. Then we have one of the Macca's greatest ever ballads - Footprints which starts out with the imagery of an old man gathering wood for a fire. It's a snowy landscape and the lush score helps create this movie in the mind as our attention shifts to other scenes in this winter wonderland. It's almost like wandering around in one of those snow globe thingies - the song also rubbishes claims that Macca is never any good at lyrics. There a wonderful sparse poetry about this piece - snow white blanket, covers the memory of all that used to be. And then we have the richly produced, Beatley number, Only Love Remains. The song is piano led and epic in scale but one of the nicest things is the warm bass line that holds things together as we move into a full blown orchestral sound.This certainly ain't no Silly Love Songs.

On the original album we are now onto side two with the title track, Press to Play - now this to my mind is the weakest track on the album but that's not to say it is bad. It isn't but it's just not as strong as everything else and the 80's pop production on this track sounds far more dated than anything else on the album. Pretty Little Head follows and this is a cosmic experiment that really should be better known. The lead in is infectious with chanted wordplay- Hillmen come down from the lava, Carrying trinkets, silk and precious stones. This is perhaps the most experimental track Macca did up to this point and its simply awesome. Then we have some good old rock and roll with typical Macca whimsey in Move Over Busker - any song that puts Mae West in a sweaty vest in our minds is OK with me.  Angry follows in which the Macca gets all irate and blasts the critics who keep harping on about his silly love songs - what the hell gives you the right to tell you what to do with my life - right on, Macca. However Absurd follows which is another big production number with whimsical lyrics.


When I originally bought the album it was on cassette and However Absurd actually ended the album, but the CD version had other tracks which I didn't experience until I got the album on CD a few years later- the extra tracks are Write Away, It's not True and Tough on a Tightrope. Write Away fits perfectly with the rest of the album, but the other two tracks, whilst good, don't really fit the vibe, so I actually think I prefer the original album, still bonus tracks can be skipped. And to me the album is much more satisying if it ends with However Absurd and then fades into silence, at least until the click of the play button releasing as we run out of tape. Remember that! Time to get up and change the tape!


The current CD version also contains another two bonus tracks - the shite, Spies Like Us which really should have been strangled at birth and the excellent, Once Upon a Time Ago.

Strange that this album was one of the lowest selling of all Macca's albums, and doubly strange that so many fans dislike it, even Macca's rubbished this album in interviews, because I really think it is one of his best. Maybe the reason so many fans don't like this is that they still expect Beatle Paul from a McCartney album, and yet in some ways that is just what you get because when you think about it Beatle Paul never played it safe either...

Macca in Nirvana

This is excellent.

Macca gets Desperate (Dan)

Sir Paul McCartney has fulfilled a "personal ambition" by being immortalised in The Dandy.

The former Beatle will appear alongside Desperate Dan in the last-ever print edition, which goes on sale tomorrow.

According to publishers DC Thomson, Sir Paul got in touch after they announced the end of the comic in August.

He wrote: "In 1963, in the NME, when asked what my personal ambition was, I replied - to have my picture in The Dandy! I hope it's not too late!"

"The Dandy was a favourite comic of mine when growing up in Liverpool and each week I would look forward to the exploits of Desperate Dan and his other comic book colleagues."

Sir Paul will be seen grimacing as Desperate Dan, unaware of the strength of his formidable handshake, crushes the bass player's fingers (thankfully the ones on his right hand - Sir Paul plays a left-handed guitar).

He then leads 50 of the comic's most famous characters in a sing-along version of Hey Jude.

Trivia - The issue dated April 22, 1950, sold 2,035,010 ? the most popular comic in UK history.

Why Paul is cool again

The UK radio are giving tracks from McCartney's Ram, particularly Back Seat of my Car a lot of airplay. Ironic given that the album was virtually ignored back in the day. And for many years now  Paul McCartney's image has been one of tweeness, but now it seems people have started to take him seriously again, and there is a major reevaluation going on. About bloody time too, whack.

Yep, Paul McCartney has suddenly become cool again - why is this?

Of course us fans have never considered him anything but cool and every time we hear someone say, but he only does ballads, we know they are ignorant and that the Macca has always rocked with the best of them. A string of acclaimed albums obviously helped put Macca back on top of the poppermost but I think that it is the new sharing of information that has put the Macca back in his rightful place.

I'll explain - the critics you see have always had it in for Macca ever since he dared leave the Beatles and they were too quick to jump on, admittedly twee songs like We all Stand Together, Ebony and Ivory and look what your bloody doing. They ripped him apart when he recorded the Soap Opera theme for Crossroads and ignored it in the context of following the song, Lonely Old People on the Venus and Mars album. The song was almost a coda to the track about growing old you dumb arse, strung out, rock critics!  It's easier for them to slag off poor numbers, or misunderstand numbers,  than write about the criminally underrated tracks that make up a truly remarkable career. The Pound is Sinking from the Tug of War album is another underrated Macca work of genius - course it could also be the theme song for the current UK government.

However these days we have the Internet and the critics don't matter anymore Fans, the people who really matter, can write about this stuff and point out the absolute gems.These days it's the same with books and reviews posted onling by readers, listeners, the end users have far more credibility than anything written by the spiteful critics.

It's also true that whilst pop music is these days bland and sat over by Simon Cowell, a real life Patrick Bateman, Macca's music seems real in comparison. It's always been real, though.


Paul's never been as hip as John - that's the general perception but things are changing and even the most ardent Paul hater would have to admit that Lennon, whilst great, was never as good without Macca. Mind you the visa versa is also true and Paul was always best alongside Lennon. Apart they were both major talents but when they got together something magical happened.

John though was political while Paul just wrote slushy love songs - not true and Paul has had his  moments such as releasing Give Ireland Back to the Irish when IRA activity was at an all time high in Mainland Britain. Mind you let's try and brush the well meaning but overly bombastic Freedom under the carpet.

The truth is that McCartney has a genius for melody and a true love of music and performing, and he's been vilified for that. It seem, the critics, can handle love songs but only if there's a darkness there, a regret and how dare Macca give us gentle sweet love songs. Yeah, guilty as charged but there's nothing wrong with a silly love song.

What's wrong with that?
I need to know...cos here I go again

Paul McCartney - cool!

Of course he is and even if he does often come across as being far too twee, false even, it should not be forgotten that this is the man who has given us some of the greatest music ever gifted to the world. And far from having lost it when he jumped ship on the fabs, recent years has seen some of his most creative work - the 2008 album, Electric Arguments remains a modern classic that is comparable with his best 60's work. That album of course was released under the pseudonym, The Fireman an identity Paul uses for experimental music but Arguments really should have been released as a McCartney album - it's excellent. Likewise Chaos and Creation (2005) is another excellent album and probably the most personal work McCartney has ever done, and the track "Riding to Vanity Fair" might be the coolest thing he has done in 30 years

Paul McCartney cool again.
Nah - he's always been cool.
Long may he rock on

Ramming

Braveheart - That was me!

I was so excited to get my grubby little hands on the latest in the Paul McCartney Archive collection, despite the fact that I already have it on CD. I first heard the Ram album sometime during the early 80's, and it was during this period that I first became a Beatle fanatic - incredible to think, but during the late 70's/early 80's hardly anyone was listening to The Beatles.They were almost a forgotten band and the youth, the main music buyers, had been battered by Punk, dismayed by New Wave and didn't give the Fabs a second thought.

By the time  I first heard Ram I don't think I'd even heard all the Beatle albums but I remember seeing Ram on cassatte tape (remember those! I'll have three C-90's and a pound of pick a mix, please,.) in my local Woolworths. I recall buying both Ram and Abbey Road that day. You know I remember not being fussed on either album on first listen but over time I realised their true greatness and Abbey Road is my favourite Beatle album and Ram is, by a long shot, the greatest thing Paul ever did outside of the Beatles.

 I don't apologise for not initially digging Abbey Road but by that time I don't think I'd even heard Peppers or the White Album and my Beatle's listening was the likes of Hard Day's Night and Help - you try jumping straight from Help to Abbey Road and you'll see what I mean. It's quite a shock!

However I digress - back to Ram. Ram is the first real McCartney solo album - his previous album McCartney was a collection of doodles and half finished songs and, as good as it was, Ram was a more structured and fully realized product.

It stands as one of the most joyous albums in all of rock music.
 


The album was originally credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and Mrs McCartney provides some great harmonies - Linda took a lot of flak for daring to sing with Paul and later with Wings, but her contributions  to this album are flawless.

It could quite easily have been called what Paul did next, because it is something of a diary, a musical narrative  of what must have been a wonderful period for the newly married McCartneys. Paul and Linda had gone to Scotland, Paul's farm in Mull of Kyntyre and the rustic lifestyle influenced Paul to such an extent that Ram comes out as something of a folk rock album. There's songs about sheep, horses, houses in the heart of the country and something called Monkberry Moon Delight.

 So I stood with a knot in my stomach,
And I gazed at that terrible sight
Of two youngsters concealed in a barrel,
Sucking monkberry moon delight.

 Even the cover image, so famously mocked by Lennon, speaks of countrified hippiness, but make no mistake about the album rocks with the best of them. It starts off with a bitter little number in which Macca has a go at Lennon - Too many people, going underground. Too many people preaching practices, don't let them tell you what you wanne be -  which infuriated Lennon to such an extent that he responded with the far more bitter, How do you sleep on the Imagine album.

That was your first mistake
You took your luck break
and broke it in two

During that period Paul and John were constantly sniping at each other and each followed up their musical missiles by slagging off each other, though the letters page of the Melody Maker.

3 Legs came next which may also have some Beatle bashing content - George Harrison said that 3 Legs was Macca's nickname for the other three Beatles. The song certainly have some lyrics that could be read that way - when I thought you was my friend but you let me down. Whatever the thoughts behind the song it's a rocking little number with an addictive melody,  a trademark of McCartney's best stuff. The harmless little ditty, Ram on follows and then we're into another Lennon baiting song with, Dear Boy, which is again a great song and curiously given its subject matter feels upbeat.

From this point onwards an already great album becomes one high point after another - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (an American No1) is one of those cleverly structured McCartney songs that gets into your soul and pumps Prozac into your heart. Then we have Smile Away which is my personal favorite track on the entire album.

I was walking down the street the other day
Who did I meet
I met a friend of mine and he did say
Man I can smell your feet a mile away
Smile away, smile away, smile away, yeah smile away
Smile away, smile away, smile away, yeah smile away

From there we are given a set of country tinged rockers which culminate in the excellent rock ballad, The Back seat of my car. This is another of those classics that changes tempo several times and is nothing short of brilliant.

The new edition has been remastered to the highest quality and contains a second disc made of material from the time. It contains the previously unreleased, Rode All Night which needs to be listened to by anyone who doubts McCartney's genius.

The next releases in the Archive Collection are to be Venus and Marts (whoopie), Wings at the Speed of Sound (take it or leave it) and Wings over America (awesome).

In fact the only complaint I've got is the frequency in which these special editions are being released - it's just too slow. Come on Macca and Co I can't wait to revisit Red Rose Speedway, Tug of War, Press to Play, Flowers in the Dirt and the criminally underrated, London Town.

RAM ON.

Ramming

A sneak peek of the video doc that will come with the remastered deluxe edition of, Ram

Ram on

Ram is gearing up to be the best reissue yet:

Pual McCartney's 1971 album, Ram which was critically slammed on initial release but as since gained higher regard and is now rightly placed among the best of the Fabs solo albums. The earth, down home, rocker of a record gets a remastered release this May - and I can't wait for this one as the other remastered reissues have been excellent and Ram is, on times, my favorite of all Macca's non Beatle albums. It's definitely in my top five in any case.

Ram is a almost folksy rocker of an album with songs about sheep, cows and long haired ladies. It also started a war of word between McCartney and Lennon, when John spotted little jibes in tracks Too Many People and Dear Boy - 'too many people preaching practices' - George Harrison and Ringo Star were also annoyed by Three Legs which was McCartney's nickname for his  ex - bandmates.

The great thing about the new issue is that we'll also get the rare mono version of the album which was originally recorded for playback on AM radio stations - I've only ever heard the mono tracks in bootleg and several songs differ to those on the standard release.

The album was originally released in the days when albums were described as funky and groovy, and critics were still waiting for something Beatle from McCartney and Ram was slated, but it's an excellent album and it's certainly groovy - these days most people seem to think so. Though why the critics felt this was so far removed from McCartney's usual style is beyond me - this collection of rustic rockers seems perfectly in standing with Mother Nature's Son. You know when you read the critical response to McCartney through the years and then hear the albums, you begin to wonder if the bad press was not a response to the Beatles break - for many years following the split of the band it was generally considered that McCartney was the instigator of the band falling apart. And even although McCartney has made a few weak albums, Ram is not one of them.

Expect some great packaging and a track listing that runs:

CD1: Ram (remastered)
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart of the Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat at Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Ram On
12. The Back Seat of My Car

CD2: Bonus tracks (remastered):
1. Another Day
2. Oh Woman, Oh Why
3. Little Woman Love
4. A Love For You (Jon Kelly remix)
5. Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle mix)
6. Great Cock And Seagull Race (Dixon Van Winkle mix)
7. Rode All Night
8. Sunshine Sometime (earliest mix)

CD3: Ram mono (remastered)
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart of the Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat at Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Ram On
12. The Back Seat of My Car

There will also be a deluxe version which will include the barking album, Thrillington which is a lounge music instrumental version of the Ram album Arranger Richard Hewson was asked to arrange the orchestration before Ram had yet been released and it was recorded in June 1971—with McCartney as producer—and with an intended release shortly thereafter. It wouldn't be released until 1977

CD4: Thrillington (remastered)

1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Back Seat Of My Car

.

Still a sucker for the fabs

Beatle Macca shits his pants after almost being knocked down by big boobed singer

Oi watch out you stupid bitch!

The Beatle was almost squished according to Demi Lovoto in her Tweets - So…. today I was pulling into a parking space that some guys were standing in the middle of, and almost hit them….. When one of the guys turned around…. it was a BEATLE…….. Yes, YOU HEARD ME…. SIR PAUL McCARTNEY!!! He was so sweet!! Can't believe I met him today.. WOW! And…. I can't believe I almost ran over a Beatle……. :

A minor incident but as there's a Beatle involved this news has spread like wildfire around the Internet and has also been picked up by the national TV news in several countries. Thankfully the Macca is still with us and Demi Lovoto is now a million times more famous than she was Yesterday - Hey, I'd never heard of her until now.

What we want to know is was Demi fiddling with her make up in the rear view mirror? Or did she have her One Direction MP3 on so loud that she failed to hear the faint cries of a Beatle who had almost done one in his pants? Baby, you can drive my car, indeed!

Valentine Macca

"This will sound like 1920-1940, the time when my father was 20. These are songs I heard, my family, my uncles, everybody sang. And there will be pieces that I've written, but in this style,"

So said Paul McCartney and he's talking about his new album, Valentine and Beatle nut that I am, I'm excited by this. Macca may have gone through a stale patch some time ago but his last few albums have all been uniformly good and his Fireman album, Electrical Arguments is a masterpiece.

"I worked with Diana Krall, and great jazz musicians like John Clayton. This is an album very tender, very intimate. It's an album on the way we listen work with a glass of wine or a cup of tea. From the background music." 

It sounds like an album with tracks along the line of Honey Pie, When I'm 64, You're Mother should Know and others of that ilk - sounds like er - gear, groovy, fab to me but what is realy exciting is that McCartney mentioned another album next year and the rumors are that it'll be a follow up to electric arguments. Now that would be fab.

They Finally get it - after all these years

Frog Chorus notwithstanding, I've never understood why Paul McCartney has been largely perceived as being bland and middle of the road - blandness is not a charge he deserves and  he's most certainly standing left field of the middle of the road. Recently two of his solo albums were reissued - 1970's McCartney and `1980's McCartney II. Both albums were largely slated at the time of original release but not any more and no less esteemed music magazines than Mojo and Uncut are praising both platters, although it is the second album that is getting the greatest praise. Personally I think the 1970 album is the best of the two, but each to their own.
 

Mojo magazine said of McCartney II - in 1980 it sounded like a man losing his mind but today it sounds fabulous. The magazine also went on to claim that Macca invented techno with the odd but jumpy, Temporary Secretary. That particular song is a strange one indeed, but in structure it's not that different to Paperback Writer. Both songs were composed in the manner of a business letter, but where Paperback Writer told of a struggling hack wanting success, Temporary Secretary told of a business man wanting someone sweet to bounce on his knee - a belly dancer or a diplomat are two of the choices. Confused? Get the album and listen to the song. For those who have a phobia about Macca should take Lennon's advice and, open up your mind.

On times it's been hard to be a Macca fan - The Frog Chorus, that damn knighthood (working class hero, indeed), appearing on the X-Factor, switching the order of credits on Beatle songs, but the truth is the guy's a musical genius. And there are many reasons to love him - here are just five:

1 - The music
2-He's slightly bonkers in a mad professor sort of way.
3-His sense of humour
4-He looks like Angela Lansbury and she's lovely in a granny sort of way.
5-For going on a drunken bender and calling David Blaine a C**t

Below I have embedded some top quality Macca that even non fans will have to admit is groovey:

Paul McCartney - I don't care too much for money cos...YEAH SURE!!!

The sales of last year's remastered Band on the Run album were not as good as expected - I bought a copy, even if I already have two different versions of it,but alas I'm a Beatle nut and tend to buy anything and everything.

I was looking forward to the rest of the McCartney solo catalogue being released in new remastered versions - Macca's solo albums are very underrated and all of them contain moments of true genius.

However I was shocked to find the price on these new versions - seems Macca has decided that the only people who will buy these albums are the die hard fans and that they deserve to be hit in the pocket. Both McCartney and McCartney II, which are released later this week, are on Amazon for pre-order at £60.97 - a mistake, surely. Not so I checked on HMV and they are also listed there at the price of £60.99 and on McCartney's own website they are being offered for over £40.

What the fuck!

OK they're nice box sets from one of the most important musicians on the entire planet but there's no way this price can be justified, and I for one will not be buying these editions.This is a shameless rip off, an attempt to fleece the die hard fans, those that have stood firm in their Macca convictions despite the loss of relevance, the credit changing from Lennon/McCartney to McCartney/Lennon, the hob-knobbing with Royalty and God know what else.

We even forgave him the Frog Song.

The Beatles remastered CD's all come in nice new packaging with bonus DVD material and the official price was just over £10 each- they sold like hotcakes. Does anyone seriously think Macca's solo albums are worth six times the Beatles albums? Obviously someone in the Macca camp does - talk about deluded! I suspect that because the albums will not sell in any massive amounts, because the Band on the Run (Macca's best known post Beatles album) underperformed, it has been decided to bring out these pricey overpriced deluxe editions in an attempt to rake in even more money for McCartney.

Money can't buy me love, he sang, but he may as well have added, give me more, more, moooorrrrreeee.

I'd like to end this piece by quoting from a song Lennon wrote about his old band mate - How do you sleep at night (?)

Know the feeling...

Yet more Beatle remastering

Paul McCartney is reissuing his famous 'McCartney' and 'McCartney II' albums in a very personal box set. The two-disc special edition of 'McCartney' will include seven bonus tracks including unreleased gems 'Suicide' and 'Don't Cry Baby,' while 'McCartney II' will come with three discs and a 128-page hard-bound book featuring previously unpublished photos by Linda McCartney.

On top of those extras, a real treat for any diehard fans is the audio, which was remastered by the same team at Abbey Road that reworked the Beatles' catalog.

The two albums included were recorded ten years apart and a very different, but if they do have something in common it is that they are very experimental. Good Macca as opposed to tedious Macca.