Interview for New Musical Express (NME)

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So I forget the shouting, and I sit back and listen to Paul McCartney’s first solo LP, “McCartney.” He himself describes the mood and the feel of the music as “light and loose,” but the first play still comes over as perhaps too harmlessly mild.

The second time around, and ever since, “McCartney” turns out to be an immensely warm and pleasurable album … nice to hear, satisfying to own, good to have around. Listening to it is like hearing a man’s personal contentment committed to the sound of music.

The flavour is quietly inventive to the point where it becomes frequently necessary to remind oneself that the rockin’ group on one track, and the full orchestra on another, are really one man recording himself layer upon layer.

There is also so much McCartney musical confidence on display that, by the end of track 14, the impression is one of having listened to an LP which is largely instrumental.

Most of the sounds, effects and ideas are sheer brilliance; much of the aura is of quiet songs on a hot summer night; and virtually all of the tracks reflect a kind of intangible roundness. “Excitement” is not a word to use for this McCartney album — “Warmth” and “Happiness” certainly are.

I would say that if this recording mood of Paul’s is one of the moment — then fine. The LP gives me a soft-shoed kick, and the truth is that at home right now, “McCartney” is never off the record-player. But if the music he’s making now really did become his permanent level of expression then the fact is that the Beatles on their own are superb, but together they are unbeatable.

HERE IS MY ASSESSMENT OF THE ALBUM TRACK-BY-TRACK, with McCartney’s comments following.

THE LOVELY LINDA. A cheerful, light-voiced lilting thing (is that squeak meant to be there?), all about the lovely Linda with the lovely flowers in her hair. But it hardly starts before it pulls up to a stop with a kind of horsy flourish.

PAUL: When the Studer 4 track was installed at home, this was the first song I recorded, to test the machine. On the first track was vocal and guitar, second — another acoustic guitar, then overdubbed hand slaps on a book, and, finally, bass.

Written in Scotland, the song is a trailer to the full song which will be recorded in the future.

THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING. This is a kind of oozy sexy bass back-and-forward conga, in which McCartney broods that it’d be somethin’ to meetcha in the fallin’ rain, momma meetcha in the fallin’ rain. All very hot, this, with the riff rumbling around and around, and then the whiplash of the cymbals moving into a kind of kiss of the brass and some back-of-the-throat yelps. A good track.

PAUL: This song was written in Scotland in 1969 and recorded at mike, as the mixer and v.u. meters hadn’t arrived (still haven’t).

On the final track are these sound bands: 1 vocal, guitar; 2 tom tom and cymbal; 3 electric guitar; 4 bass.

VALENTINE DAY. This is an instrumental with a slight “up” feel – unusual to describe, but again slightly tropical.

PAUL: Recorded at home. Made up as I went along — acoustic guitar first, then drums (maybe drums were first). Anyway — electric guitar and bass were added and the track is all instrumental. Mixed at E.M.I.

EVERY NIGHT. A beautiful song which should become some kind of standard, flowing along like a high-class singalong, and at first just a little like an extension of “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Nice “oo-oo” chorus, chiming echo, and plenty of acoustic.

PAUL: This came from the first two lines which I’ve had for a few years. They were added to in 1969 in Greece (Benites) on holiday. This was recorded at E.M.I. with 1 vocal and; 2 acoustic guitar; 3 drums; 4 bass; 5 lead guitar (acoustic); 6 harmony to the lead guitar; 7 double tracked vocal in parts; 8? electric guitar (not used).

HOT AS SUN: A pleasant Hawaii-type instrumental; mid-temp; with a quick runaway finish.

PAUL: A song written in about 1958 or 9 or maybe earlier, when it was one of those songs, that you play now and then. The middle was added in Morgan Studio, where the track was recorded recently. 1 acoustic guitar; 2 electric guitar; 3 drums; 4 rhythm guitar; 5 organ; 6 maraccas; 7 bass; 8 bongoes.

GLASSES: No more than a few seconds of brief and eerie Doctor Who stuff, slightly disturbing, before a few sung words about “nothin’ doin’.”

PAUL: Wine glasses played at random and overdubbed on top of each other — the end is a section of a song called “Suicide” — not yet completed.

JUNK: Lovely, beautiful, wistful; probably the best song on the album. Floating voice and images of nostalgia … a sentimental jamboree.

PAUL: Originally written in India, at Maharishi’s camp, and completed bit by bit in London. Recorded vocal, two acoustic guitars, and bass at home, and later added to (bass drum, snare with brushes, and small xylophone and harmony) at Morgan.

MAN WE WAS LONELY: Starts like a Shadows’ film theme, then into a Tony Hatch-Jackie Trent-type singalong with Linda. Homely fun stuff.

PAUL: “The chorus (“Man We Was Lonely”) was written in bed at home, shortly before we finished recording the album. The middle (“I used to ride…”) was done one lunchtime in a great hurry, as we were due to record the song that afternoon. Linda sings harmony on this song, which is our first duet together. The steel-guitar sound is my Telecaster played with a drum peg.

The steel guitar sound is my Telecaster played with a drum peg. Bands are 1 guitar; 2 voices (two tracks); 3 bass drum; 4 bass; 5 steel guitar.

OO YOU: Earthy intro, tight throat, clipped soft-sway vocal about “talk like a baby … love like a woman.” Good.

PAUL: The first three tracks were recorded at home as an instrumental that might someday become a song. This, like Man We Was Lonely, was given lyrics one day after lunch, just before we left for Morgan Studios, where it was finished that afternoon.

Vocals, electric guitar, tambourine, cow bell, and aerosol spray were added at Morgan, and it was mixed there. On the mix, tape echo was used to move feed-back from guitar from one side to another.

MOMMA MISS AMERICA: Can’t figure why there’s this straight voice calling “rock ’n’ roll springtime” take 1, because it moves into an even more Shadows’-flavoured “Man of Mystery” thing. But it’s another first-class track.

PAUL: An instrumental recorded completely at home. Made up as I went along — first a sequence of chords, then a melody on top. Piano, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar. Originally it was two pieces, but they ran into each other by accident and became one.

TEDDY BOY: The soft, chunking, wistful singalong of a boy named Ted, whose momma went off with this bloke while his dad was away at war. Linda is in the background singing nice Poni-Tails type harmonies.

PAUL: Another song started in India, and completed in Scotland, and London, gradually. This one was recorded for “Get Back” film, but later not used. Rerecorded partly at home… (guitar, voices, and bass) — and finished at Morgan. Linda and I sing the backing harmonies on the chorus, and occasional oos.

SINGALONG JUNK: Another version of this haunting “French-style” piece of romantic memory.

PAUL: This was take 1, for the vocal version which was take 2, and a shorter version. Guitars, and piano and bass, were put on at home, and the rest added at Morgan Studios. The strings are Mellotron, and they were done at the same time as the electric guitar, bass drum, and sizzle cymbal.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED: Tight, light voice again, with a mid-tempo which gets wilder and softer by turns.

PAUL: Written in London, at the piano, with the second verse added slightly later, as if you cared. Recorded at E.M.I., in No. 2 Studio. First 1 piano; 2 vocal; 3 drums; 4 bass; 5 and vocal backing; 6 and vocal backing; 7 solo guitar; 8 backing guitars.

Linda and I are the vocal backing group. Mixed at E.M.I. A movie was made, using Linda’s slides and edited to this track.

KREEN-AKRORE: This is a fascinating and imaginative instrumental telling the story of a jungle hunt in musical images, right down to the sound of heavy breathing (going faster and faster), and the thump of heartbeat drums.

PAUL: There was a film on TV about the Kreen Akrore Indians living in the Brazilian jungle, their lives and how the white man is trying to change their way of life to his, so the next day after lunch I did some drumming. The idea behind it was to get the feeling of their hunt. So later piano, guitar and organ were added to the first section.

The second had a few tracks of voices (Linda and I) and the end had overdubbed breathing, going into organ and two lead guitars in harmony. Done at Morgan. Engineer, Robin Black. The end of the first section has Linda and I doing animal noises (speeded up) and an arrow sound (done live with bow and arrow – the bow broke), then animals stampeding across a guitar case. There are two drum tracks. We built a fire in the studio but didn’t use it (but used the sound of the twigs breaking).

TO SUM UP: This is an album to be appreciated most of all for its complete sound-style. Even the packaging — with some fine colour pictures by Linda, and its design by both of them — has obviously been a labour of love and immense satisfaction.

PAUL IS STILL A BEATLE

WHAT in the name of sanity IS all this hysteria in the daily and Sunday press, and on television and radio, about Paul McCartney having left the Beatles?

Paul McCartney has no more “quit” the Beatles at the present time than did John Lennon by recording with the Plastic Ono Band, or Ringo Starr recording his current album of oldies but goldies. Paul McCartney had no more gone and effectively severed his association with the Beatles last weekend than at any time in the long and spectacular history of the group.

Of course the Beatles are not recording together at the moment. But in any event, with McCartney issuing “McCartney”, Ringo releasing “Sentimental Journey”; and the group’s own “Get Back” LP due within weeks, is there not already more than enough material on the market?

Of course there are differences of opinion. McCartney is blunt about them, and the fact is that in some ways he may well have the right to be.
The sickness of the national newspapers and television is that in almost every case they have chosen to take a basic misinterpretation of one of McCartney’s answers in the questionnaire which you, too, can read above — and then gleefully bandy the inaccuracy about until they themselves believe it to be the truth!

Trivial though the never-more-influential world of popular music may be to most of the national newspapers — evident by their oft-embarrassing ignorance about major pop names — I shudder to imagine the frightening potential of a story like this translated into delicate political terms and misreported around the world. Should World War Three ever come, blame a journalist!

However, it may help those more seriously concerned about the future of a recording group which has brought popular music to new frontiers if (when they read McCartney’s answers) they bear in mind that it was this document alone which provided the entire starting point for last weekend’s load of national flannel.

Do YOU read anything there about McCartney having broken with the Beatles once and for all? Do YOU see anything there about him “quitting” the group, which is what the hysteria is supposedly all about?

The truth is that as on many occasions in the past, the Beatles have not recorded for some time. Is there anything new in that? You will see that in the questionnaire McCartney has therefore asked whether this current recording break was temporary or permanent. His answer is a plain “I don’t know.”

He has also asked if he was embarking on a solo career, and his answer was “Time Will Tell.” He has further asked if he will write with John again — and when he said “no” it may well be news to Fleet Street — but it will hardly shatter millions of record-buyers around the world who will have been aware that Lennon and McCartney have written separately for some time!

As for McCartney having no plans at present to record a new album and a single with the other Beatles — has he not just finished the rigours of making one album? Does he not say he is now on holiday? Is there not a new Beatles’ LP on the way?