Excited about the new McCartney album? Never mind.

Cafe Society
1

Some of us were all excited to learn that there would be a new Paul McCartney album this month. It’s called Twin Freaks, and is going to be issued only as a digital download, or a 2 LP set. No CD.

As it transpires, this is not a new Paul McCartney album. It’s extended club mixes of some of his old recordings (some still unreleased in any form), done by a couple of DJ club remixers.

If you like that kind of thing, this may be up your alley. If not, it will pass under the radar and you’ll never hear a thing about it.

Exactly like what happened with his “Fireman” albums. Among collectors, we can’t find anybody who’s heard either of them twice. :: eugh. ::

2

well, so no album, but he does have a children’s book coming out.

What is with famous people and children’s books?

sorry, OT.

3

As much as I like and respect Paul McCartney from his Beatles and Wings days I wouldn’t be interested in hearing anything new from him. He has lost the spark, the whatever it was that made him great.

4

Yes, he lost it around 1991. The only worthwhile music he has released since then has been a couple of songs written and recorded many years before their public debut. His contemporary material has become trite and inconsequential; more than ever a case of “all filigree and no substance.” I can’t listen to anything he’s put out since “Flowers In The Dirt” (1989). Even if there was still something resembling the Top 40 of long ago in radio, nothing he has released since that album could have squeaked onto the bottom of the charts.

Yet he has at least a dozen albums of unreleased material from all through his career that would sell incredibly well, because they still retain some of that greatness. But we’ll probably never get it. A collection of some of this guy’s B-sides would have a lot better music on it than some artists’ A-sides. But we’ll probably never see that, either.

5

Hmm. I liked Flaming Pie. Not all the tracks, but I like “Little Willow” for example.

Pretty much didn’t like most Wings stuff at all. How long has it been since he had a hit, anyway?

IMO, McCartney has always been on the trite side (trite-ish?)…I have always considered a more sophisticated musician than lyricist. For me, since I am not a musician, I look to how the lyrics and music work together–it is not enough for a song to have a great melody line etc, if the lyrics are shallow and basically silly(unintentionally that is)-so much of what Sir Paul writes makes me cringe.

If memory serves (and that’s a big if) I believe that Sir Paul once credited Jphn for keeping him up to the mark regarding lyrics.

Why don’t you think we will ever see the ones you mentioned released? Just curious.

6

Well, eleanorigby, here are some thoughts…

Paul has always leaned toward the trite. Mind you, some of his trite is something that zillions of aspiring composers would kill to be able to create. I think it’s true that he needed John to make fun of him when he got too syrupy, and to challenge him to write words that mean something. If you look past his pop sensibilities, Paul is a master of arrangement. He can make the most boring, insipid music sound excellent and wonderful by virtue of arrangement (see under “Girlfriend”). He is master of several instruments, master of atmosphere and provoking emotion. But without a producer to weed out the fluff, he has seemed to be intent on putting out the fluff.

The guy writes so much music that he can’t be an objective judge of its quality. I mean, so much of the time he was right on the money. Other times, we are left wondering why this track or that is on the album, when the B-side of this or that single is so great that it could have been an A-side, but it’s not on any album at all. That’s the curse of producing yourself. He’s too close to it. When he worked with George Martin during his solo career, he made great records, because he’d play all his new songs for George, and George would tell him, “well, that one’s nice, but you need to change the lyric, or write a bridge for it, etc.” and reject songs that were unworthy. Whereas, he thought it’d be a great idea to put out a two record set of himself playing all the instruments and singing all the voices on what was essentially a collection of demos (McCartney II), until some sane person made him pare it down to one really stupid record. It’s got “Coming Up” going for it, and that’s all. Have you ever heard the rest of the songs that got cut? Gawd, they suck!!!

I don’t know why Paul has so many singles and B-sides that remain unavailable on any album or CD. He could make two box sets of just this material. And another multiple-disc set of his 12" remixes. I really have no idea why he hasn’t released them. It looks as though he’s trying to get the bread together to buy Northern Songs if it ever comes up for sale again. Releases like this would overflow his bank account. Of course they would be mainly for the people who were there at the time; not many teenagers would even look at it. There are millions of people worldwide who would line up at the store for the release of “The B-Sides Box Set”. All older folks, who could afford to buy such an expensive item. Why it hasn’t happened yet is a mystery.

I really love this guy’s gift, and I have been really sad since he lost it. I keep buying his records, mainly as a completist now, but hoping to hear some of that greatness on one of them, but it isn’t happening. “Freedom”? Gimme a giant break!!!

7

Sorry-was worknig all weekend so couldn’t get back to this.

D’ya think it’s because he is a egotist? Wouldn’t it be great if someone could challenge him–keep him up to the mark? I think John did that (and I sometimes fall into that meloncholic speculation as to what Lennon would be doing now)–I wonder if there IS anyone (outside of Martin) who could tell Paul-cut out the tripe and give me some real stuff.
I wouldn’t think that anyone should produce themselves like that–writers NEED editors, so must creative genuises like Paul.

8

If you had people telling you that you were the best thing ever, over and over for decades, only the most grounded person could refuse to allow that to go to his head. But just think of the records he’s broken, the awards he’s won, the heights he has scaled, the adulation that has been heaped upon him since he was in his early twenties. At some point, he started to believe it. He’s a workaholic and a control freak, and he never stops creating. The problem is that what he’s been creating for the last decade and a half breaks no new ground; the ground it covers is not very interesting.

With George Martin too old to work with him now, and nobody to dare to tell him what of his material is not good enough to release until more work has gone into it, he will continue to release drivel. And the reason is because he’s too close to it. The two other people who could conceivably cut him down to size are, unfortunately, deceased. I think Paul has surrounded himself with yes-men. Whatever he plays for them, they must tell him it’s fantastic and wonderful, because they’re scared to lose their job working for Paul McCartney. I know that even though I am extremely critical of music, if I had a job working for this guy, you can bet that I’d be striving not to fuck it up by disagreeing with the boss. Talk about a rock and a hard place!

9

I agree and it’s too bad.

It needs someone of equal stature to say-it’s shite, man. Kinda like how Dylan told Lennon to pay attention to the words. (supposedly–I tend to think that Lennon, loving word play etc would ahve gone for more sophisticated lyrics soon enough).

I wonder if Sir Paul would really discount anyone curtailing him at this point–I am no musician, but even say a star of equal stature (a point I know could be argued for all time) like Jagger to say: cut the crap. Guess Ringo is a non-starter there! (not a down on Ringo, but he likes to get along with people). Even Linda is now gone.

So, I guess unless he has a blinding moment of enlightment we are stuck with schmaltz. Hey! there’s an idea! Get Barry Manilow to tell Paul that it sucks!

:smiley:

10

The 1st of 2 LPs, STRAWBERRIES OCEANS SHIPS FOREST don’t usually fetch too much on eBay.

11

That was the particular genius of the Lennon-McCartney collaboration. Paul was the sweet boy who wanted to entertain; John wanted to be the angry artist. They meshed well that way and each wanted to top the other so bad they put out a solid collection of songs as well as clunkers; everyone has their off days.

As a side note, a graphic design group called Hypgnosis put out a book of their work. They did the design for McCartney’s “Wings Over America” album (they also did a lot of Led Zep and Pink Floyd – “Dark Side of the Moon” was their design ). Anyway, they wrote that during their initial work with Paul, their creativity was hampered by their knowledge that they were sitting there talking to Paul McCartney. The resulting work wasn’t up to their standards, but they found it really difficult to deal with the Paul in their heads.

12

Wow-what a burden for all involved.

the whole mystique and legend thing–how do you get around it?

It cuts both ways, apparently. I (infortunately) do not remember the context, but post break up, someone in a recording studio said something to George and he fired back, “that’s not the way you talk to a Beatle.”
(kinda goes against my mellow man image of George, but AFAIK, it’s true).
Maybe we can’t expect anything else because he has no challenger or challenges?
I will try not to think abou this–it’s too depressing.

13

Paul needs to get back into the studio with Elvis Costello.

I’m sure Elvis wouldn’t dare give him shit the way Lennon would’ve — “Are we supposed to giggle in the solo?” and all that — but he does stand up for his views, and managed to motivate McCartney to produce better work without setting off Macca’s temper very much.

14

I’ve read this quote, too. I believe it’s in the Mark Lewisohn book “Recording Sessions.” I think it was during a White Album session that the engineer asked him to turn down his amp a bit, and that was his response. He had as big a head as the rest of them.