SamuelBLupowitz Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Paul McCartney released McCartney III today, a record he's been working on in lockdown as a spiritual successor to his 1970 and 1980 entirely-solo albums. The debut video release, which I've posted below, shows him playing a harpsichord of some kind, plus a Minimoog, piano, and sampled brass, on top of all the vocals, guitars, bass, and drums. He also did a fun interview with Chris Rock as part of the album drop (always nice to have some less-standard interview questions, since Macca, bless him, has a tendency to ebulliently tell the same stories over and over again), in which he plays a segment of one of the other tunes on the grand piano in his studio. I've been both excited and apprehensive about the new record. Paul is probably #1 on my list of musicians who have influenced and inspired me, but I think even his most devoted fans would admit that his solo output is a little uneven. He's still capable of the great songwriting and recording genius he developed in the Beatles, but his penchant for writing throwaway lyrics and lightweight music can get a little out of hand without a creative partner willing to push back. His early solo stuff and Wings material definitely runs into that problem, and I find some of his 80s stuff unlistenable. But I thought he had an amazing later-career run from about 1997 to 2007, starting right after the Beatles Anthology with Flaming Pie, through his return to touring and the formation of his excellent, long-running live band with Abe Laboriel, Jr. and Rusty Anderson on Driving Rain, then the sparse, Nigel Godrich-produced Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, and the ambitious soundscapes of Memory Almost Full. Of course, those records coincide with my discovery of the Beatles and ensuing teenage years, so that might have something to do with my high opinion of that era... At any rate, what I've heard from the new record hasn't blown me away, but it's still a pleasure to hear a master in action. In a year full of tragic loss, I'd rather a world with too much Paul McCartney than not enough. [video:youtube] [video:youtube] Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 I have been awaiting this album since hearing a sneak preview a few months back that blew me away as possibly being McCartney's best effort since Back to the Egg (one of my favorite Wings albums). Although I've enjoyed some of his later solo albums, my favorites have always been the Wings catalogue, McCartney, and Ram (my overall favorite). I do wish he had put more time into Wild Life as the songs themselves are good. What impressed me about McCartney was that it sounded like a live band. full of energy and good interplay and phrasing. McCartney II was more of a throwaway, with a couple of strong songs that needed better treatment. I still prefer McCartney to the Beatles versions of those songs (part of the Get back/White Album sessions, many pop which were released eventually on Anthology 3). Linda's voice helped too. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 I loved Band on the Run, which was basically McCartney doing impressions of all the Beatles. I liked McCartney, which, like Harrison's and Lennon's just-post-Beatles releases, benefitted from the residue of the band dynamic. I liked Ram well enough. I consider McCartney a giant, an Irving Berlin or George Gershwin level figure of American pop composition, and yet...to me every solo album after the first couple have been messes of unedited self-indulgence. Those ridiculous 50's-style novelty songs, the vapid lyrics...I wish his entire solo career had been edited into one barely-complete Greatest Hits album. Same with the other ex-Beatles. Their strength was in the push-pull. Left to their own devices, it's all push. Having said that: the McCartney show I saw at Petco in 2015(?) was a barn-burner. That band has been together longer than the Beatles now, and it shows. One of the great musical experiences of my life. And of course I'll listen to McCartney III. I'll just complain the whole time. Then I'll go back and listen again, because underneath it, he really is just ridiculously good. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzzz Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 I will never forgive him for this song, which tortured my summer of '76: [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Or Ebony and Ivory. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 Here, I'll toss in something lesser known that I really like. Aside from the aforementioned Anderson and Laboriel, this song (this whole record) has some really tasty, funky Hammond and Wurlitzer playing by Gabe Dixon, who opted out of joining the road band to focus on his Ben Folds-esque solo work... coming back around, he's been in the keyboard chair for Tedeschi Trucks Band since we lost Kofi Burbridge last year. There's some now-dated production aesthetic that takes me right back to the late 90s/early aughts, but there's a timelessness to the live band vibe -- the performances sound downright spontaneous at times, and that's one of the things that gives the Driving Rain record so much personality to me. Hard for me to believe it's nearly 20 years ago that I got it as a gift at the holidays! [video:youtube] Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Or Ebony and Ivory. I think he paid the price for that abomination. Around that time MJ got the idea to to buy up the Beatles publishing. MJ probably would have not got the idea if they never met. Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted December 18, 2020 Author Share Posted December 18, 2020 Or Ebony and Ivory. I think he paid the price for that abomination. Around that time MJ got the idea to to buy up the Beatles publishing. MJ probably would have not got the idea if they never met.Ebony and Ivory was with Stevie Wonder ... you're understandably confusing his collaborations with virtuoso R&B artists with results far less than the sum of their parts! Semi-related, any time my wife or I hear something we think is factually suspect, we sing out "I don't beliiieeeve it!" just like Paul does at the end of "The Girl is Mine." I've long felt that it is a true testament to Thriller's monumental stature that it can remain one of the greatest albums of all time and still have a song that devastatingly bad on it. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Or, and I shudder to even bring it up, lest it somehow unleash it upon us: that Christmas song Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Or, and I shudder to even bring it up, lest it somehow unleash it upon us: that Christmas song Brotha MOI beat me to it. Sim-ply having a wonderful... Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
232006 Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Or, and I shudder to even bring it up, lest it somehow unleash it upon us: that Christmas song No! No, no, no , no PLEASE no - don't do this! It is possible to not play that.........PLEASE I beg you...... As a Brit I must admit I (IMHO Elmer...) find the US veneration of the Beatles and the members a bit....um....."over the top" TBH....... If the silly old tosser (McCartney not Elmer) doesn't want to do Glastonbury 2021 because of the "risk of spreading CV..." then he should probably book into the care home now... I've never forgiven the Beatles for "She loves you" and my brother (5 years my senior) being caused to "sing" it into a reel to reel tape recorder at the time. I was only 4 going on 5..... I think I need to seek therapy for the memory...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 McCartney is criminally underrated I think. Lennon has been immortalized and had he not passed I think the whole thing would be different. . Fans don't like to hear that. My guitarist has a lot of inside information as he is an author and wrote about the Beatles a few times I think. That new song is really cool. Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 On the flip side, this product of the Partnership That Almost Was, is a big entry in the win column IMO: [video:youtube] Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 What a sweet bass line on "Find My Way". So simple, and yet so effective and appropriate. I can tell his voice is being processed as it has a bit of a phasey quality to it, but it still sounds good overall. It's funny to see "Let 'em In" mentioned here, as I too hated it when it came out, but now I understand it better. Truly a work of genius, using a military band or bandstand style pedal tone, then opening it up on the choruses. I've learned a lot by studying his bass line on that song, and so many others. But yeah, the lyrics... Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathOfInsects Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 OK, that single is not prompting me to track down the album. Best ELO song of 1978. Ugh. Quote Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material. www.joshweinstein.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 What Synth is he using for the low brass sounds? 1:49 Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 I think he said elsewhere that he's using sample libraries for brass sounds now. I don't recall if he said which ones. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marczellm Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 I like Ebony and Ivory But there is a Hungarian version on the radio sung by 2 white guys with a 90s drum machine under it. Quite a bit worse. Quote Life is subtractive.Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Wanted to chime in that I listened to the whole record, and really enjoyed it. There's nothing on it that I'd single out as a Timeless McCartney Classic (like "Maybe I'm Amazed" or even "Coming Up"), but it's a fun, beautiful, interesting exploration of sonic textures, melodies, and an artist controlling and layering his voice (figuratively and litereally) late in his life. Some of the lyrics achieve his frequent compelling, 60s-born impressionistic affect, and others are more in his, er, nursery rhyme vein. I'm thinking specifically of "Lavatory Lil" for the latter, but that one at least has a cool rock 'n' roll arrangement. Highlights for me are "Slidin'" and "Deep Deep Feeling." It makes me understand his whole "I didn't think I was making an album, I was just having fun" spiel a little better; Paul loves to downplay his intense creative commitment in the interest of seeming low-key and not a Lifelong Music Legend, but I think this record is similar to the first McCartney in its aesthetic of Playing Around in the Home Studio rather than Making a Bulletproof Collection of Songs. And god, that bass sound still hits me in just the right spot. Oh, and since this is a keyboard forum, after all, some Mellotron shows up here and there... pretty sure the one he owns is the one that used to live in Abbey Road, which he played on Strawberry Fields Forever among other well-known tracks. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 On the flip side, this product of the Partnership That Almost Was, is a big entry in the win column IMO:Paul and Elvis Costello co-wrote many of the songs on the Flowers in the Dirt record, and there are some standouts from the era. "This One" and "My Brave Face" are also on the live "Tripping the Live Fantastic" collection from his 1989/90 world tour, and those are superior to the studio versions. Apparently the two of them didn't get along very well, though... Anyway, dig Hamish Stewart of Average White Band fame on guitar and background vocals! [video:youtube] Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElmerJFudd Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Show Us Your Space Quote Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Schmieder Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Awesome cartoon drawn from McCartney's farming life in Scotland back when Linda was still alive. Quote Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1, Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 take 60 minutes of your life and watch this, might change your mind about a few things, certainly did for me, for the better [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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