When did it all go wrong for Paul McCartney? (1 Viewer)

[Denny Oubidoux]

i'd agree with the "Paul is better than john" thing too - lennon was such an irritating fuckhead and all of his solo material was shite. im going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Eleanor Rigby constitutes compelling evidence that something was already amiss with paul at this early stage. had he disappeared into obscurity at this point then this song could be overlooked as a bizzare aberration but we all know how things turned out.

i like mull of kintyre and the frog chorus.

 

[Ciansy]

I rate him well above Lennon as the most talented tunesmith in the Beatles

Thirdeded, for the same reasons you put forward.

Bunny, a lot of the Beatles stuff was a load of nonsense while also being amazingly well-crafted and just plain good. M'sSH was a load of shite as well as being a load of nonsense.

 

[Jerry Twig]

Are you sure?

Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps etc.

Course I'm sure. Three good songs in the cannon with the Beatles (Taxman too) and then All Things Must Pass, when he was finally unshackled from those bullies and came into his own.

 

[Mitchum]

Course I'm sure. Three good songs in the cannon with the Beatles (Taxman too) and then All Things Must Pass, when he was finally unshackled from those bullies and came into his own.

Er, he wrote/co-wrote over thirty Beatles songs.

 

[Jerry Twig]

Er, he wrote/co-wrote over thirty Beatles songs.

Mitchum, I am well aware of what he did and didn't do, and what I'm saying is he was better solo as his ideas were suffocated in the Beatles, in my humble opinion.

 

[egg_]

Paul's melodies were catchier, no doubt about it.
I loved The Frog Chorus when it came out, bought the 7 inch and played it to death. Dunno why everyone is so down on it

 

[Mitchum]

Mitchum, I am well aware of what he did and didn't do, and what I'm saying is he was better solo as his ideas were suffocated in the Beatles, in my humble opinion.

Well you seem a bit oblivious to the fact he wrote All Things Must Pass while '...shackled [to] those bullies..the stupid-ass Beatles'.

Sure he was in the shadows of Lennon/McCartney but his solo work doesn't compare with the tunes he wrote as a Beatle.

 

[magnetize]

it all went arseways after helter skelter for macca

 

[Oggy Pip]

He's shown moments of Beatle brilliance even as recently as album Chaos & Creation... from about three years ago. 'Jenny Wren' could have sat easily on the White Album and been one of the best tracks. The fact that he could write a song that good thirty years after his prime is an impressive feat.

I think the first proper below-par album was the first Wings album, after Ram.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

When he released Spies Like Us. 1985.

 

[SBob]

The frog chorus sorts out the men from the boys in my opinion, if you cant see the genius of this because you're too concerned with its absolute 'uncoolness' then shame.
I much prefer Johns solo stuff to Pauls, but preferred pauls beatles contributions.

Nonsense ha? Their music transended ordinarily 'meaningful' lyrics. The talent that drove them to prolifically create progressive and extraordinary music was the same as that which allowed them to overcome almost all musical self consciousness, it never occured to them to check themselves whilse they were recording, they just let it flow. And ya some nonsense came out, but its friggin fantastic. Paul was self motivated, he drove himself, he would have been decent without the beatles, but at the same time he needed that environment to hold back whatever ego he may have had, which came out in his solo music later. John on the other hand, who knows where he would have been without paul to stir up his competitive nature and drive him on, and thus when paul remained prolific after the split john continued to work hard, but his vision came out in the end as a solo artist, whereas i think paul lost his way a bit.

 

[P. Littbarski]

its a bit of a pointless discussion, is it not, to say lennon was a better songwriter than macca...they were both amazing musicians, who for the time they worked as a unit, wrote probably the best collection of tunes in the 20th Century...they had very different styles (best illustrated on 'a day in the life').

both went on to write some amazing tunes a solo artists but they were never going to be as prolific as the beatles were...i bet you if lennon was alive today (and i'm a huge fan of john lennon's post beatles music) his musical output now would be really, really shit.

and anyway...the best Beatles song (long long, long) was written by Harrison

 

[Jerry Twig]

Well you seem a bit oblivious to the fact he wrote All Things Must Pass while '...shackled [to] those bullies..the stupid-ass Beatles'.

Not oblivious at all. How do you come to that conclusion? That's exactly my point. He had all those songs in his head while the Beatles were recording Let It Be.
But as a music reviewer for the Guardian or whatever it is I guess you're oblivious to the fact that people actually don't need your opinions to have an opinion of their own.

 

[Jerry Twig]

sorry, bad start to the day

 

[rettucs]

Bunny, a lot of the Beatles stuff was a load of nonsense while also being amazingly well-crafted and just plain good. M'sSH was a load of shite as well as being a load of nonsense.

Yeah, but as well as those things it was also great. Its one of my favourites, along with Bungalow Bill and Rocky Racoon. Pure genius.

I thought everyone reached their songwriting peak at 25 anyway?

 

[snakybus]

no way

at 25 you don't know your arse from your elbow

 

[Mitchum]

Not oblivious at all. How do you come to that conclusion?

1) In your previous post you reckon George Harrison only wrote three good Beatles songs

2) In another previous post you imply he wrote 'All Things Must Pass' after the break-up of The Beatles.

"Course I'm sure. Three good songs in the cannon with the Beatles (Taxman too) and then All Things Must Pass, when he was finally unshackled from those bullies and came into his own."

 

[Franco]

i've never listened to the beatles. i think that was a little oversight on my part.

 

[Goodbye]

Christ, give it a rest you two or I'll send you both to bed early

 

[Lefty Frizzell]

The point where he thought it was a good idea get a band together with Linda.