Time may show Paul McCartney is more than a Beatle
LAST month Paul McCartney turned 74 and to mark the occasion he has released a compilation of his post-Beatles records called Pure McCartney.
It’s been a while since Beatle Paul has been cool. Not since the Fab Four broke up and John Lennon dismissed his former partner’s stuff as “as Muzak to my ears”, you could argue.
When I was a kid, Wings were considered sort of OK if a bit daggy. For every gem Macca produced, like Band on the Run, there was a lot of dross and some truly cringe-worthy moments: The Girl is Mine, anyone?
But a couple of years ago a friend persuaded me to listen to Ram, McCartney’s second solo record. I don’t know why I’d never heard it before. It’s the record that prompted Lennon’s Muzak insult and dismissed by one critic at the time of its release in 1971 as “pop for potheads”. Actually, thinking about it, that’s probably the reason I’d never tracked down a copy.
More fool me. It’s a brilliant inventive record, brimming with great tunes. And unlike like Lennon’s solo records, which have dated badly, it still sounds fresh. The Beatles produced so much great music of such diversity, it’s hard to remember their recording career lasted only seven years and the man who made Ram a year after they officially split was still only 29.
By: James Campbell
Source: Herald Sun
