Hello Huskies! I hope you all spent your spring breaks waiting in anticipation for the return of British Invasion, a column about British music history.
Today is part three of the Beatles’ solo dives, and this edition’s focus is the other half of the famous Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership and the one with the busiest solo career since 1970: Paul McCartney.
McCartney’s first solo record was named… after himself. 1970’s “McCartney” gets its name from the one-man carry job McCartney was performing, as he sung and played all the instruments himself, minus some vocal contributions from his wife, Linda.
Much like his bandmate John Lennon, much of McCartney’s solo career was in lockstep with his wife. Linda McCartney was an American photographer, who was the first woman to have her photo on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1968.
Apart from her exploits in photography, Linda also lent a hand in 1971’s “Ram,” the only album credited to Paul and Linda McCartney. Here, Linda played some piano and got songwriting credits on most of the songs.
Despite early bashings from prominent critics — and Lennon’s theories that songs like “Too Many People” were hidden attacks against him — the album has had a critical reappraisal by new generations. Stereogum writer Tom Breihan says it “sounds like a couple setting inside jokes and baby-talk nicknames to music. It’s the sound of people holing up and figuring out their own private language.”
The album also includes McCartney’s first solo chart topper in the U.S. with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” a sprawling, silly little song with non-sequiturs like “I had a cup of tea and butter pie.”
Disillusioned at the prospect of continuing as a solo artist, Paul formed the second band of his life, Wings, in 1971. Paul roped in Linda to play keys, Denny Laine on bass, Denny Seiwell on drums and later, Henry McCullough on guitar.
Things started off rough; the band had the shadow of Paul’s previous group looming over their every decision, and their first two records were seen as disappointments in comparison to Paul’s work with the Beatles.
Recording for their third album started terribly. While rehearsing, McCullough quit the band in a heated argument with Paul, and Seiwell left soon after. They recorded the album in Lagos, Nigeria, hoping the West African city could serve as both a serious recording spot and chill vacation destination. One night, Paul and Linda got robbed at knifepoint and lost a few demo tapes, including the one for the title track. Afrobeats legend Fela Kuti confronted Wings at their studio to make sure they didn’t come to rip him off, so they played him some new songs they were recording.
These new songs were eventually compiled on 1973’s “Band on the Run.” The title track is seemingly inspired by the Nigeria trip, telling the story of a band trying to escape prison. It’s a hodgepodge of half-finished song ideas Paul had laying around, a sprawling three-part suite not unlike “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.”
The suite and the album were a rousing success among the public, repairing Paul’s bruised reputation. Afterwards, the rest of the 1970s were a jolly good time for Paul and company.
In 1975, Wings went on a 14-month world tour, which marked the first time Paul returned to the USA since the mid-1960s, and the first time Paul played songs from his Beatles catalog. In 1977, Paul co-wrote “Mull of Kintyre” with bandmate Laine, which soon became one of the best-selling singles in the U.K. Throughout the decade, Wings continued their run of platinum-selling records with four more studio albums, a greatest hits compilation and a live album recorded during their shows in America.
But by 1981, the band disbanded after Laine, the only longtime member not a part of the McCartney family, quit for financial reasons. Back to the solo path for Paul, it is.
The 1980s started with “McCartney II” the second edition of Paul’s self-produced work. His most famous works in the 1980s were his chart-topping collaborations with two famous African American musicians.
Reuniting with former Beatles producer George Martin, Paul sung a duet with Stevie Wonder titled “Ebony and Ivory.” The track became a polite adult contemporary jam that gives rather tame opinions on racial division and equality.
Paul also made two songs with the pop star of the moment, Michael Jackson. The first was “The Girl is Mine.” The lead single for the blockbuster 1982 album “Thriller,” it’s a breezy soul track which covers both men arguing over a girl.
The second single “Say Say Say” was Paul’s last chart-topper in America, recorded for his 1983 solo album “Pipes for Peace,” and much more of a collaboration between both men. Paul manages to keep up with Jackson’s vocal theatrics on this dance-pop number, tapping into Jackson’s groove; it wouldn’t sound amiss if it was on “Thriller,” instead.
Apart from his solo releases, the most interesting things Paul did in the next few decades were his collaborations and concerts. In 1991 he ventured into orchestral music with “Liverpool Oratorio.” He made an electronica album in 1993 with Youth from post-punk band Killing Joke. In 2015, he worked with Kanye West and Rihanna to make the single “FourFiveSeconds,” which helped Paul reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time since 1986.
Out on the road, Paul has been selling out stadiums around the world thanks to his enduring fame. He performed at Citi Field when it opened in 2009, and the new Yankee Stadium two years later. Outside of playing to thousands at arenas and stadiums, Paul also made the end credits song for the video game “Destiny.”
That’s all I have for this edition of British Invasion! Come back in two weeks to read about the secret fourth member of the Beatles (hint: his name starts with an R).