McCartney
Studio album by Paul McCartney
Released 17 April 1970 (UK), 20 April 1970 (US)
Recorded Late 1969 Ð March 1970 at McCartneys Home; Morgan Studios, Willesden and Abbey Road Studio No. 2, London
Genre Rock, Pop, Experimental
Length 35:03
Label Apple, EMI
Producer Paul McCartney
Professional reviews
* Allmusic 4/5 stars
* Robert Christgau (B)
* Rolling Stone (favorable)
* Georgiy Starostin 12/15 stars (12/15)
McCartney is the first solo album by Paul McCartney and was released in 1970. It is notable for the fact that McCartney, a multi-instrumentalist, performed the entire album (all instruments and voices) by himself, except for some backing vocals from his first wife, Linda McCartney. McCartney stated that he played "bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano, Mellotron, organ, toy xylophone, and bow and arrow" on the album. Notable, also, is the use of a large number of instrumental tracks.
History
Recorded privately at his home in London; at Morgan Studios, London; and at Abbey Road Studios, London under the pseudonym "Billy Martin" from late 1969 to March 1970; the development of McCartney was undertaken as the Beatles were falling apart. McCartney had brought his instruments with him, as well as a portable Studer four-track tape recorder. He recorded the ad-libbed "The Lovely Linda" to test the equipment before the year was out. Enjoying the experience, he continued, composing and improvising new material and overdubbing his singing. In March 1970, as Phil Spector was concurrently mixing the Let It Be album, McCartney was completed.
The other Beatles realised that McCartney could conflict with the impending release of the Let It Be album and film. Ringo Starr, whose own first album was almost ready for release, was sent to ask McCartney to delay his solo debut. McCartney later commented, "They eventually sent Ringo round to my house at Cavendish with a message: 'We want you to put your release date back, it's for the good of the group', and all of this sort of shit. He was giving me the party line; they just made him come round, so I did something I'd never done before or since: I told him to get out. I had to do something like that in order to assert myself because I was just sinking. I was getting pummeled about the head, in my mind anyway."
On 10 April, after intense disputes with Phil Spector over the final results of the long-delayed Let It Be album, McCartney snapped and publicly announced his departure from the Beatles. The world was stunned and Ñ whether deliberate or not Ñ the media circus surrounding the band's dissolution proved to be beneficial to market McCartney, which was released a week later. Advance copies sent to the press included a Q & A package containing questions McCartney could Ñ and probably would Ñ have been asked about the Beatles' break-up and their future. He stated that he did not know whether the group's break-up would be temporary or permanent. (The complete questionnaire, as well as McCartney's own song-by-song commentary, is included in Richard DiLello's book, The Longest Cocktail Party, as an appendix.)
McCartney shot to #1 in the US for three weeks, eventually going double platinum. In the UK, it was only denied the top spot by the highest-selling album of 1970 (and one of the all-time top-selling albums) Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, which stayed at #1 for 41 (non-consecutive) weeks. There McCartney debuted straight at #2, where it remained for 3 weeks.
Although McCartney contains several pieces that are considered to be less than profound, it also includes "Every Night" and, more importantly, "Maybe I'm Amazed", one of McCartney's many love songs for his first wife, and one of his most enduring songs. McCartney has subsequently revealed that Linda was instrumental in bolstering his spirits and confidence during the album's making, and helping him out of his depression over losing the Beatles.
Shortly after the album's release, George Harrison described "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "That Would Be Something" as "great", and regarded the other tracks as "fair". John Lennon stated in his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner that, given McCartney's penchant for demanding perfectionism in the studio from his fellow Beatles, he was surprised at the lack of quality in the album; Lennon also made several remarks comparing McCartney negatively to his own solo album debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
In 1993, McCartney was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series. There were no bonus tracks available.
Track listing
All songs by Paul McCartney.
Side 1
1. "The Lovely Linda" Ð 0:42
2. "That Would Be Something" Ð 2:37
3. "Valentine Day" Ð 1:40
* Instrumental
4. "Every Night" Ð 2:30
5. "Hot as Sun/Glasses" Ð 2:06
* Instrumental
* "Hot as Sun", one of McCartney's earliest songs, was composed during his Quarrymen days in 1959
* The beginning of "Glasses" consists of notes being "sung" on the rims of crystal glasses; the track then breaks into a fragment of another McCartney song, "Suicide"
6. "Junk" Ð 1:54
* Originally written in 1968 in India where The Beatles were studying transcendental meditation, and demoed at George Harrison's house with some of McCartney's inclusions for the double album The White Album; also subsequently considered for the Abbey Road album
7. "Man We Was Lonely" Ð 2:57
Side 2
1. "Oo You" Ð 2:47
2. "Momma Miss America" Ð 4:04
* Instrumental
* Originally titled "Rock 'n' Roll Springtime", hence McCartney's announcement at the track's beginning
3. "Teddy Boy" Ð 2:22
* Written in 1968 in India, and originally recorded by The Beatles in January 1969 as a contender for the Get Back project before being dropped
4. "Singalong Junk" Ð 2:34
* An instrumental version of "Junk", featuring Mellotron strings
5. "Maybe I'm Amazed" Ð 3:49
* Achieved the #338 position in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004
6. "Kreen-Akrore" Ð 4:14
* Instrumental
* The Kreen-Akrore are a forest Indian tribe living in the Amazon basin of Brazil