“Can we do without”: The Paul McCartney album that featured no members of his band
It can be strange to make the transition to solo songwriting after spending so long working within a band, particularly if that band was the biggest in the world. After the break-up of the Beatles in 1970, each member of the Fab Four went solo. John Lennon started up the Plastic Ono Band, while George Harrison showed off just how much he had been under-utilised as a writer during the Beatles years. But the most successful Beatle to go out on his own was Paul McCartney.
The former Beatles bassist proved he could still top the charts as a solo artist, continually claiming number ones with both albums and singles. He penned beloved Christmas songs and James Bond themes, wormed his way back into the hearts of critics with Ram and Band on the Run, and even linked up with Kanye West and Rihanna for a track. His solo career has lasted decades and earned unparalleled praise, but he didn’t do it all alone.
Rather than completely shrugging off the band life when he left the Beatles, McCartney started up a new band called Wings to support his songwriting efforts. He recruited his wife, Linda, and a group of other musicians to accompany him in the studio and on stage. From 1971 onwards, McCartney’s solo efforts featured Wings for almost an entire decade. It was only with the release of McCartney II in 1980 that he returned to solo releasing.
Although this marked the beginning of McCartney’s release under his own name once more, he was still committed to collaboration. He worked closely with other musicians on each album and had his own band when he first got to work on 2005’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. However, producer Nigel Godrich had other ideas for the record.
McCartney set out to record with his usual group of musicians, but Godrich sought to work with the former Beatle on his own. “When I came to make what turned out to be Chaos And Creation In The Backyard with Nigel Godrich,” McCartney explained in a Q&A about his Flaming Pie Archive Collection, “he said ‘can we do it without your band?’ So that was the reasoning behind that.”
Although there were other musicians who featured on the record, including Godrich himself, McCartney took on the lion’s share of work. He played almost every instrument you could think of, from guitar to güiro. The result was perhaps the purest form of “solo work” in his catalogue, an album steeped in McCartney’s voice and style. Godrich may have pushed him out of his comfort zone by encouraging to let go of his band for one record, but it was worth it.
No one could bring McCartney’s ideas to life in the studio better than McCartney, a statement that Chaos and Creation In The Backyard proved to be true with each and every song. The gorgeous album allowed his talents to shine, his familiar vocals and lyrical interests, and his intriguing arrangements and melodies. It remains a highlight of his solo discography as a result.
McCartney brought his band back into the studio for his next offering, 2007’s Memory Almost Full, working closely with his trusted collaborators once more. And while his creations still thrive in this environment — how could they not? — Chaos and Creation In The Backyard still provides an intimate look at his solo songwriting in its purest form.
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