An unfamiliar regret: The album Paul McCartney said was full of throwaways
We’ve seen it time and time again. Band conquers the musical world. Band breaks up. World waits for subsequent solo material, with its arms crossed and brow furrowed.
The freedom that is supposed to come from breaking up with your fellow band members is then taken away, with the critical curiosity of what follows and perhaps no two artists felt this burden heavier than John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Their entire legacy up until 1970 was built on the fact that they were a powerhouse duo. Together, they crafted songs that would become the bedrock of popular music. So when they were no longer side by side, fans understandably wondered just how brilliant they would be.
Of course, the decade slowly revealed that their brilliance was resolute, regardless of their partnership. Lennon could spiral into his much-loved sense of artistic darkness on solo efforts Imagine and Plastic Ono Band, while McCartney went on to forge something entirely unique to him, first with RAM and then with the later Wings discography. He was given free rein to delve into his playful songwriting sensibilities and write the sort of chirpy love songs his fellow bandmates were rolling their eyes at, come the end of the 1960s.
However, that creative comfort didn’t come instantly. While RAM felt entirely more liberated sonically, the first solo album of McCartney’s that came one year before proved there was some hesitancy in terms of stepping forward into this bold new era. Rather than laying down a catalogue of fresh new ideas, McCartney reworked old songs, while others acted as complete improvisations, and so, the end product felt a little half-baked.
“They were almost throwaways, you know?” he admitted. “But that’s why they were included. They weren’t quite throwaways. That was the whole idea of the album: all the normal things that you record that are great and have all this atmosphere, but aren’t that good as recording or production jobs. Normally, that stuff ends up with the rest of your demos, but all that stuff is often stuff I love.”
Naturally, McCartney’s throwaways were of a calibre most musicians would kill to own. But by 1970, McCartney had proved he had a precise ear for arrangements, and on this record, some of that ability fell away. However, there were two tracks that stood out to his fan base and, more importantly, his fellow bandmate George Harrison.
Explaining, “‘That Would Be Something’ and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ I think are great, and everything else I think is fair, you know. It’s quite good, but a little disappointing, but maybe I shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s best not to expect anything, then everything’s a bonus. I think those two tracks are very good, and the others just don’t do anything for me.”
It’s safe to say, though, that in the following years, McCartney found his creative slipstream and once again became a prolific songwriter. Throughout the entire decade, he delivered new songs and ideas that did away with the idea that his greatness was inextricably linked to John Lennon and instead, affirmed his legacy as one of the greatest songwriters in the world.
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