Happy Birthday Paul McCartney

Ram on, give your heart to somebody soon, right away, right away.....

Magical Mystery Tour

This is my favorite scene from The Beatles 1967 movie "Magical Mystery Tour", which at the time was put down as "too weird" & "self-indulgent". I think its great to watch. I agree it is very weird, but in a great way. Of course the songs are fantastic: I Am The Walrus, Fool On The Hill, Blue Jay Way, Your Mother Should Know. Anyway this photo is from the scene where John is a waiter shoving spaghetti onto the fat woman's plate. In The Beatles Anthology book Paul says that John dreamed that scene and they decided to film it based on the dream. Can you imagine that happening in a movie today? Another reason why "Magical Mystery Tour" is great.

The Beatle War: Lennon vs McCartney

After the Beatles split of early 1970, Lennon & McCartney started one of the most bitchy public break-ups of all time. Many things were said in the press, with many people taking sides. I personally don't care about all of that nonsense. What I think is interesting is how they took jabs at each other in their solo songs. I will now list various songs and which lines each Beatle took as a slap in the face from the other.

1. Man We Was Lonely - this McCartney song appeared on Paul's first solo album "McCartney" released 1970. The line "I used to ride on my fast city line, singing songs that I thought were mine alone" most certainly refers to the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership.

2. I Found Out - Lennon's song from his first solo album "The Plastic Ono Band" released 1970. Filled with jabs at Paul & the Beatles in general, the lines "I told you before stay away from my door, don't give me that brother brother brother brother" & "i've seen religion from Jesus to Paul" are obvious in their meaning.

3. Too Many People - appears on McCartney's "Ram" album released 1971. McCartney himself has admitted this song is about his feelings towards Lennon & Ono at the time. The song opens with Paul yelling "piss off yeah, yeah, yeah". Other lines "too many people preaching practices" "too many people never sleep in late" "you took your lucky break and broke it in two" "too many hungry people losing weight" all refer to Lennon & Ono. This song is what sent Lennon into his McCartney hating best.

4. How Do You Sleep? - appears on Lennon's 1971 "Imagine" album. Leave it to Lennon to cut the bullshit and just come right out and sing a full fledged attack on McCartney. Every single lyric to this song was meant to hit McCartney, and hit him hard. Perhaps the single biggest blow didn't even come from a lyric, but the fact that ex-Beatle George Harrison plays the stinging lead on the track.

5. Dear Friend - appears on Wings 1971 album "Wild Life". After "How Do You Sleep?" McCartney had enough sense to try and put an end to the feud with this track. Sung as an open letter to Lennon, McCartney clearly feels hurt and tries to remind Lennon of their old friendship.

6. Let Me Roll It - appears on Wings 1973 album "Band On The Run". Some have speculated that this "Lennon-esque" track was McCartney's attempt to let Lennon know the battle was over. After its release, Lennon & McCartney never released another song bitching at each other.

album of the week: paul mccartney's ram 1971

hello friends. i'd like to introduce to you a new segment to the paul starling blog, 'album of the week'. each week (or when i remember to do it) i will pick and discuss one of my favorite albums. the point of this being that if you like my music then you may like my musical taste and discover some albums you haven't yet discovered. anyway here goes.
this weeks choice is one of my all time favorite albums: 'ram' by paul mccartney. 'ram 'was paul mccartney's second solo release after the breakup of the beatles & his first true solo 'studio' recording. i say studio because he recorded his first solo album 'mccartney' almost entirely in the living room of his london home, which a few minor overdubs done at the nearby abbey road studios.
'ram' also marked the first time mr. mccartney would record outside of england, starting a trend he seemed to enjoy for the rest of his recording carrier. with wife linda, paul started the recording sessions of 'ram' in new york with various session men at his side. now onto the music:

1. too many people - the album opens with chugging acoustic guitars & paul yelling/singing "piss off yeah", which some, including myself, think was directed at former band mate john lennon. the actual song seems to be about paul's feelings for john at this moment in time. lines such as 'too many people preaching practices' certainly refers to john & yoko's political activities at the time. but don't let all the bitchy lyrics get in the way of a truly great mccartney album opener. amazing acoustic guitar work from paul & great drumming from session man denny seiwell.

2. 3 legs - one of the strangest songs paul ever committed to tape, '3 legs' seems to be a joke that only paul & linda are in on. again lines such as "when i thought you was my friend" seem to be directed at john lennon. for me the highlight of the song is when it jumps out of its bluesy acoustic stomp into a rocking electric guitar led verse of paul singing "when i fly, when i fly above the clouds!". it then swings into a slightly different groove and then back into its original blues start. its typical mccartney in that he takes one line & plays it 3 different ways in order to create what seems like a whole song. other examples include: 'why don't we do it in the road', & 'that would be something'.

3. ram on - ukulele! the first time i heard this i couldn't help but smile. just a simple tune that would be throwaway for anyone else other than paul mccartney. oddly enough the ukulele is so out of tune, but it dosn't seem to matter. great harmonies from linda as well.

4. dear boy - great album track full of haunting harmonies from paul & linda. they must have spent hours upon hours rehearsing and tracking all of these layered vocals. elton john gave high praise to this albums use of interesting backing vocals, and this track really supports that.

5. uncle albert/admiral halsey - the US single from "ram", this song started out as a lullaby to paul's children. its really 3 songs rolled into one. starts with the 'we're so sorry uncle albert' bit then transforms into a fast moving falsetto bridge about being a gypsey..... don't get me wrong i really love it, just very odd. after that it storms into one of paul's catchiest chorus's he ever wrote "hands across the water, hands across the sky". the song went onto #1 in the US singles charts, if you care about that kind of stuff.

6. smile away - simple strait ahead rock song paul can churn out in his sleep. my least favorite track on the album, but by no means a bad song. its fun and a bit silly. "man i can smell your feet a mile away, smile away!"

7. heart of the country - lazy breezy song about paul & linda's time spent living in scottland. has some really nice jazz guitar played i believe by hugh mccracken. i could imagine john lennon & george harrison not liking this song very much, so i guess its a good thing they decided to go solo cause i like it quite a lot.

8. monkberry moon delight - if u listen to only one paul mccartney song for the rest of your life, listen to this one! amazingly insane & super fun. its paul screaming about various craziness such as "well i know my banana is older than the rest, and my hair is a tangled morretta, and when i leave my pajamas to billy budapest, and i don't get the jist of your letter". amazing. listen to this one. p.s. john lennon said many times that this was his favorite solo paul song.

9. eat at home - 50's style rocker about eating in bed. great drums & electric guitar. def has some buddy holly vocal nods throughout, which only makes it that much better. great song.

10. long haired lady - to me this song sounds like all of 'ram' rolled into one: tons of harmonies, jazzy guitars, great drums, silly lyrics, & great melodies. to me this song really shows you just how much input paul had on beatle albums such as 'abbey road' & the whole medley on side 2.

11. ram on (reprise) - in case you didn't get enough of it the first time.....

12. backseat of my car - if you ever wondered what paul would have sounded like had he been in the beach boys then this song is for you. big production done to this one. full strings, echoing drums, reverb'd guitars, & lots and lots of harmonies. i really love this one and think its a great album closer.

i basically love 'ram'. i think you will too. give it a listen.