McCartney (album)

McCartney
Studio album by Paul McCartney
Released	17 April 1970 (1970-04-17)
Recorded	Late 1969 – March 1970 at McCartney's Home; Morgan Studios, Willesden and Abbey Road Studio No. 2, London
Genre	Rock, pop, experimental
Length	35:03
Label	Apple, EMI
Producer	Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney chronology
McCartney (1970) Ram (1971)

McCartney (1970) is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed (and recorded) the entire album solo. Featuring loosely arranged (and in some cases, unfinished) home recordings, McCartney further explored the "back-to-basics" style which had been intended for The Beatles Let It Be.^[1][2]

History

The development of McCartney was undertaken as the Beatles were growing apart. Recordings were made from late 1969 to March 1970 in London at his home, at Morgan Studios, and at Abbey Road Studios (under the pseudonym "Billy Martin"). McCartney had brought his instruments with him, as well as a Studer four-track tape recorder. He recorded the ad-libbed "The Lovely Linda" to test the equipment before the year was out. Enjoying the experience, he continued, composing and improvising new material and overdubbing his singing. In March 1970, as Phil Spector was concurrently mixing the Let It Be album, McCartney was completed.

The other Beatles realised that McCartney could conflict with the impending release of the Let It Be album and film. Ringo Starr, whose own first album was almost ready for release, was sent to ask McCartney to delay his solo debut. McCartney later commented, "They eventually sent Ringo round to my house at Cavendish with a message: 'We want you to put your release date back, it's for the good of the group', and all of this sort of shit. He was giving me the party line; they just made him come round, so I did something I'd never done before or since: I told him to get out. I had to do something like that in order to assert myself because I was just sinking. I was getting pummeled about the head, in my mind anyway."

On 10 April, McCartney publicly announced his departure from the Beatles in the form of a Q & A package included in advance copies of the album sent to the press, containing questions McCartney could — and probably would — have been asked about the Beatles' break-up and their future. He stated that he did not know whether the group's break-up would be temporary or permanent (the complete questionnaire, as well as McCartney's own song-by-song commentary, is included in Richard DiLello's book, The Longest Cocktail Party, as an appendix).

One of the most notable songs on the album is "Maybe I'm Amazed", one of McCartney's many love songs for his first wife, which later went on to reach No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon being released as a single from the album Wings over America in 1977. McCartney has subsequently revealed that Linda was instrumental in bolstering his spirits and confidence during the album's making, and helping him out of his depression over losing the Beatles.^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	(B)[4]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[5]
Pitchfork Media	(7.9/10) link

McCartney shot to #1 in the United States for three weeks, eventually going double platinum. This was despite the fact that it did not have a hit single released, a video promo or a tour to promote it. In the United Kingdom, it was only denied the top spot by the best-selling album of 1970, Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, which stayed at #1 for 33 (non-consecutive) weeks. There McCartney debuted straight at #2, where it remained for 3 weeks.

Shortly after the album's release, George Harrison described "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "That Would Be Something" as "great", and regarded the other tracks as "fair".^{[citation needed]} John Lennon stated in his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner that, given McCartney's penchant for demanding perfectionism in the studio from his fellow Beatles, he was surprised at the lack of quality in the album; Lennon also made several remarks comparing McCartney negatively to his own solo album debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

When the new remastered version was released in 2011 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, the album re-entered the charts in the UK, Netherlands, France and Japan.

It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

All songs written by Paul McCartney.

Side one

1. "The Lovely Linda" – 0:42
2. "That Would Be Something" – 2:37
3. "Valentine Day" – 1:40
4. "Every Night" – 2:30
5. "Hot as Sun/Glasses" – 2:06
6. "Junk" – 1:54
7. "Man We Was Lonely" – 2:57

Side two

8. "Oo You" – 2:47
9. "Momma Miss America" – 4:04
10. "Teddy Boy" – 2:22
11. "Singalong Junk" – 2:34
12. "Maybe I'm Amazed" – 3:49
13. "Kreen-Akrore" – 4:14

2011 Hear Music re-issue

In 2011 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of The Paul McCartney Archive Collection.

The album was released in three different versions: a two-disc special edition with the second disc containing bonus audio tracks, a two-disc 180-gram remastered vinyl, and a deluxe two-CD and one-DVD version that contains a 128-page hardcover book with never-before-published photos and all-new liner notes.

Disc 1: The original album

Disc 2: Bonus audio tracks (Previously unreleased)

1. "Suicide" (outtake) – 2:48
2. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (from the "One Hand Clapping" video, 1974) – 4:53
3. "Every Night" (live at Glasgow, 17 December 1979) – 4:30
4. "Hot as Sun" (live at Glasgow, 17 December 1979) – 2:27
5. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (live at Glasgow, 17 December 1979) – 5:11
6. "Don't Cry Baby" (Instrumental version of "Oo You") – 3:07
7. "Women Kind" (Demo) [Mono] – 2:09

DVD: Bonus film

1. "The Album Story"
2. "The Beach"
3. "Maybe I'm Amazed" (music video)
4. "Suicide" (from the "One Hand Clapping" video, 1974)
5. "Every Night" (live at Concert for the People of Kampuchea, 29 December 1979)
6. "Hot as Sun" (live at Concert for the People of Kampuchea, 29 December 1979)
7. "Junk" (MTV Unplugged performance, 25 January 1991)
8. "That Would Be Something" (MTV Unplugged performance, 25 January 1991)

Personnel

• Paul McCartney - bass, drums, acoustic guitar, lead guitar, piano, Mellotron, organ, toy xylophone, and "bow and arrow"
• Linda McCartney - Harmony and backing vocals

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1970-71) Position Weeks U.S. Top Pop Albums[6][7] 1 47 UK Albums Chart (top 60)[8] 2 32 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart (top 20)[9] 2 21 Australian Kent Music Report[10] 3 14 Dutch Mega Albums Top 10[11] 4 7 Japanese Oricon Weekly LP Chart (top 100)[12][13] 13 20 Year-end charts Chart (1970) Position UK Albums Chart[14] 10 Australian Albums Chart[10] 17 U.S. Billboard Year-End[15] 25

Chart positions (reissue) Chart (2011) Position U.S. Top Pop Catalog Albums[6] 7 Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart[16] 27 Spanish Albums Chart[17] 74 Dutch Mega Albums Top 100[11] 85 UK Albums Chart[18] 88 French SNEP Albums Chart (top 200)[19] 91 Certifications Region Provider Certification (sales thresholds) Date United States RIAA 2× Multi-Platinum[20] 3 December 1991

References

1. ^ http://thebeatles.com/#/films/Let_It_Be
2. ^ ^{a b} Paul McCartney: McCartney (album) | The Beatles Bible
3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Paul McCartney: McCartney > Review at Allmusic. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Review: McCartney". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=7378. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
5. ^ Winner, Langdon. "Review: McCartney". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/mccartney-19700514. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Allmusic - Charts & Awards
7. ^ "Paul McCartney - Chart trajectories on the US Billboard 200". October 2006. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_paul_albumchartaction_usa.htm/. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
8. ^ "Chart Stats Paul McCartney And Wings - Band On The Run". The Official Charts Company. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=3336. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
9. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Paul McCartney - McCartney". VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=McCartney&cat=a. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 
10. ^ ^{a b} Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. 
11. ^ ^{a b} "dutchcharts.nl Paul McCartney - McCartney". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=McCartney&cat=a. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
12. ^ "Paul McCartney Japanese Album Chart listings". Original Confidence. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_paul_albumchartaction_japan.htm/. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
13. ^ a-ビートルズ "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). 30 December 2007. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html a-ビートルズ. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
14. ^ "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 13 August 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20071217020426/http://www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1970.php. Retrieved 17 December 2007. 
15. ^ "Billboard.BIZ - TOP POP ALBUMS OF 1970". http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/archivesearch/article_display/855911?imw=Y. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
16. ^ ポール・マッカートニー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of McCartney (2011 reissues) by Paul McCartney" (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/916910/1/ ポール・マッカートニー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
17. ^ "spanishcharts.com - Paul McCartney - McCartney". http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=McCartney&cat=a. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
18. ^ Chart Log UK - New Entries Update 25.06.2011 (week 24)
19. ^ "lescharts.com Paul McCartney - McCartney". lescharts.com. SNEP. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=McCartney&cat=a. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
20. ^ RIAA - Gold & Platinum "(Searching results by albums entitled "Band on the Run")". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=band%20on%20the%20run&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50 RIAA - Gold & Platinum. Retrieved 13 August 2010. 

• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles. Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-80352-9. 

External links

• The McCartney Recording Sessions
• JPGR's Beatles site: Paul McCartney's McCartney
• McCartney Album reviews

Preceded by Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)

Billboard 200 number-one album 23 May – 12 June 1970

Succeeded by Let It Be by The Beatles