I do not need to hear "Get Back" or "Hey Jude" any time soon.
There are many terrible things about Wings. Many good things too, but many terrible. As well, his 80's output and beyond were incredibly scary.

The man crafted many beautiful songs, with the beautifully rubbery fluid bassing. Examples - the "Michelle" song and the "Blackbird" song, they ring the ears with loveliness.

This man and his backing band (not Wings) were recently excellent live. Mostly they played Beatle songs so there you go. Viewed at Chicago's sports venue United Center, despite this, it was a filling experience.

Occasionally oversweetened non-crap.

Mr. Chimp wrote:The man crafted many beautiful songs, with the beautifully rubbery fluid bassing. Examples - the "Michelle" song and the "Blackbird" song, they ring the ears with loveliness.

These two songs, of course, not being exceptional examples of bassy rubber fluidity. Nonetheless.

"Ram On" is a pretty cool song.

I haven't read this page:

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsi ... ennon.html

But it is from a TV progamme in which said named fella goes on about the Beatles and, in part, the influence stockhausen had on them.

It is a really good show if you can get your hands on it.

I wonder would people have liked McCartney more if he'd been shot by an obsessive deranged fan in 1980.

I probably would even though we'd have missed out on 'play the pipes of peace' but he wasn't and I still say Not Crap

He's Paul McCartney!
I admit there's stuff not to like in there. Maybe his love of music hall pastiches, and overtly cutesy songs, and most everything he's done since the Beatles broke up (though there's some good Wings stuff). Linda (a whole other category). What does that leave?

A guy who was a really really good bass player.
The guy who played the noisy guitar stingers on "Taxman".
The guy who wrote "Helter Skelter" AND "For No One" - hell of a range.
A guy who snuck pataphysics into a top 20 pop song.
A real experimental musician who really wanted to push the limits of both the studio and the conventional pop song of the day. It was his expertise and experience with tape loops that was used on "Tomorrow Never Knows", for instance. (he also helped John and Yoko a lot with their own loops on "Revolution #9 too)
Paul always struck me as someone who'd be just as happy being a career musician...I mean, he goes and plays tons of shows. He doesn't have to at all. He was really pushing for the Beatles, at the end of their days, to go play live again. I think that's cool.

I like that Paul really respects history. This is an example. When "Let It Be" came out, and it was really John and Phil Spector's record, Paul was angry. When he got the chance to do it like he wanted to, he didn't piss off millions of Beatles fans by taking away what they had listened to for so many years, he put out "Let It Be...Naked". I'm still pissed you can't buy the original Bowie mix of "Raw Power" anymore.

I consider a fierce hatred of the Macca to be pathelogical. I don't care if a person likes him or not, but how can this man ever be "crap?"

The guy is guilty of being nice, and fucking brilliant musician, devistatingly handsome, and so up for anything that he's made some really bad decisions. All of his bad decisions added up equal half of one of his many masterpieces.

It's easy to hail Lennon as the Cool One. He was very cool, for sure, but a lot of his ideas wouldn't have made it to our ears if Paul and George Martin hadn't made it so. Lennon often times couldn't have been bothered to learn how the machines worked. His lack of articulation in the studio is why we use the term "flanging" today.
Paul figured that he could be a bigger badass if he knew what all the knobs did. Wisely, he paid attention and learned from the best, George Martin.

Whenever you get a guy that good in your band, it can be annoying. George Harrison, the under-rated Beatle, certainly got frustrated.
We've all been there. However, most of the time, the band doesn't function without that person.

If it's indisputable that the Beatles changed Western Civilization, then Paul deserves massive credit, because a lot of the ideas that changed people's perceptions wouldn't have made it to tape without McCartney there to arrange it. The best invention in the world isn't worth a damn if it doesn't get into the hands of the people.

For christ's sake, if Lennon got half the shit that Macca does for bad output...
Some of John's stuff is truly awful. We were probably saved from more of it by the incident at the Dakota.

Last of all, Paul deserves respect for having been through the system many times while still remaining a (seemingly) decent guy.

-A

Paul McCartney deserves respect. I don't think that the "Let It Be" sessions were an anomaly, he was the one that actually got the others to put their self-indugences aside to create albums. Yes, he did create crap like "Teddy Boy" and "Junk", but has any musician created 100% winners without a dud? NOPE.

NOT CRAP.

extremely talented, well-rounded musician who was an integral part of one the most famous and influential bands ever.

as a songwriter, a somewhat disappointing track record considering. i thought people would start listing his beatles songs and i'd go "yeah, so many i love" but that didn't really happen. sure, he's written some great ones like eleanor rigby and helter skelter, and plenty of good stuff, but man, lots of bad fluff. i never heard much of his solo stuff but what i've heard has never impressed me, and "temporary secretary" is shockingly terrible.

personality and personal life are absolutely irrelevant. do we know him personally? no. even if we did, crap/not crap on someone as a person i think is tasteless. if their public persona is fair game, well then i'll say that his "golly shucks" quality is cheesy but lennon seems more gratingly egomaniacal.

I don't think anyone didn't write a list of Paul's great songs because there's only 1 or 2....because there's just too damn many. However, I will give it a shot. I'm only going to write definite, 'pretty much' Paul songs as opposed to classics he and John certainly both had an equal hand in (like Please Please Me) as well as strictly-John songs (I'm A Loser). I probably got one or two of these wrong in my attributing them to Paul, and probably missed some...but that's why I hang with you smart people.

Blackbird
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
I've Just Seen A Face
I Saw Her Standing There
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
There's A Place
Here, There and Everywhere
All My Loving
Birthday
Let It Be
Mother Nature's Son
I'll Follow The Sun
I'm Looking Through You
Penny Lane
I've Got A Feeling
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Magical Mystery Tour
Fool On The Hill
Yesterday
Eleanor Rigby
What You're Doing
Helter Skelter
Can't Buy Me Love
With A Little Help From My Friends
Things We Said Today
Get Back
Oh Darling
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window/Golden Slumbers/The End
From Me To You
I'm Down
Hey Jude
Michelle

i have said it before and will say it again.

pick up your bass and write anything like the bass on silly love songs.

you can't ?


cause 'yer not p.mccatrtney.