“The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969 – 73” released

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On this day, a new biography of Paul McCartney was published, but not the typical biography.

Set against the backdrop of the Beatles splintering over both business and creative issues, The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-73 covers a period in which Paul McCartney recreated himself, both as a man and as a musician. This is an in-depth and revealing exploration of his creative life beyond the Beatles?featuring hundreds of interviews with fellow musicians, tour managers, recording engineers, producers, filmmakers, and more.The story of the Beatles has been told many times, covering all periods and perspectives. Paul McCartney’s work in the 50 years since the Fab Four’s breakup has been extraordinarily successful and enduringly popular?his 26 post-Beatles albums have sold upwards of 86.5 million copies; McCartney’s 2019 Freshen Up tour was the highest grossing tour ever, in the entire world; and his last solo album McCartney III debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and number two on Billboard 200. Beside his extraordinary, creative solo output, he has collaborated with the most influential artists of his generation and the next: from Elvis Costello to Stevie Wonder, from Michael Jackson to Dave Grohl, even with Johnny Cash and Kanye West. McCartney, too, has explored new poetry styles with Allen Ginsburg and teamed up with Peter Martins and the NYC Ballet to create Ocean’s Kingdom. The list goes on from there. And he has done all this post-Beatles and while maintaining a mostly normal family life. Paul McCartney has lived ten lifetimes in the span of one and become increasingly more relevant, yet curiously, his creative output since the Beatles has never had the full exploration such a life and body of work demands.The McCartney Legacy gives McCartney’s post-Beatles life and work the kind of in-depth treatment that Mark Lewisohn has given the Beatles, and Philip Norman has given John Lennon. It is the first truly comprehensive biography, and the most finely detailed exploration of McCartney’s creative life beyond the Beatles, ever undertaken.

We undertook this mainly because as much as Paul has been written about, we didn’t feel anyone had looked at his work in the kind of detail we wanted to read.

Why his solo career has been given short shrift is tough to answer, but I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that when The Beatles broke up, an influential part of the press set up a distinct Lennon vs McCartney opposition, with Lennon as the cool revolutionary and McCartney as a middle-of-the-road singer of silly love songs. That divide has persisted, but if you listen seriously to McCartney’s post-Beatles work, it’s clear that’s not a fair assessment.”

Alan Kozinn – From The new book that explores Paul McCartney’s legacy – Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.co.uk)

“Finding and exploring sources as close to the event as possible is critical to painting an accurate picture of incidents that took place over 50 years ago—hence we spent eight years researching this period. But because Nigerian press coverage of his visit was so limited, establishing a precise timeline for Paul’s eventful Lagos trip (during the making of Band on the Run) was difficult. But when the pieces finally slotted into place, the nightmarish chain of events that happened in Lagos—ending in Paul collapsing in the studio—finally began to make sense. But McCartney can be forgiven for not remembering the dates and details of every event that has taken place during his lifetime, I can barely remember what I went into a room for most of the time.”

Adrian – From The new book that explores Paul McCartney’s legacy – Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.co.uk)

“Because his journey with Paul began in October 1970 and ended almost three years later, Denny Seiwell knows Macca better than most, and during the making of this book we spent more than 10 hours in conversation with Denny,” says Adrian.

“Paul’s relationship with his sidemen was complex. On one hand, he was desperate to go back to page one with Wings, they made their first album in a couple weeks (much like The Beatles recording and mixing Please Please Me in a matter of days), and Wings’ first concerts were low-profile gigs like The Beatles’ Cavern Club appearances. But Paul quickly realised whatever he did would be judged against his work with The Beatles—there was no escaping his past. Trying to reach that high watermark with Wings made life difficult for every member of the group.”

Adrian – From The new book that explores Paul McCartney’s legacy – Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.co.uk)

Linda McCartney’s role in Paul’s musical rebirth has been washed away by a torrent of negative press over the years. First, she and Paul were sued by their music publisher when they claimed they were co-writing songs together, then the music papers questioned her legitimacy as a member of Wings. Critically, Linda rarely got a break and must have been incredible thick-skinned to put up with the relentless attacks she faced. But Linda really did stick her neck on the block for Paul, and over time became an integral member of his band and served as his creative muse for three decades.

Adrian – From The new book that explores Paul McCartney’s legacy – Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.co.uk)

“Paul McCartney is a very complicated man, as anyone who has lived a life like his would have to be,” he says. “He gives the impression that what you see is what there is, and to an extent, that’s true. But it’s by no means all there is, and I think working on the book gave me a far better perspective on the many layers that make him the person, and the artist, he is.”

Alan Kozinn – From The new book that explores Paul McCartney’s legacy – Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.co.uk)

“It crystallized my thoughts about thoroughly and properly documenting his life for future generations. The Beatles were undoubtedly the most influential band in popular music history, and with a solo career expanding beyond five decades, has become of the most revered, influential, and important figures in the history of popular culture. Five hundred years from now, when I’m six feet under, people will still be talking about Paul McCartney, a man who grew up in social housing in Liverpool and grew up to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and hopefully our volumes will help future historians better understand the crests and troughs of his incredible musical life.”

Adrian – From The new book that explores Paul McCartney’s legacy – Reader’s Digest (readersdigest.co.uk)

Last updated on October 19, 2023