The one musician that makes Paul McCartney jealous: “I always like what he does”
Paul McCartney possesses more musical talent than most artists could ever dream of attaining. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who played every facet of each track on the McCartney trilogy of albums. He also has an unmatched ear for melody and songwriting skills of the highest calibre.
McCartney is a Jack of all trades who can turn his mind to anything with aplomb in a musical capacity. Therefore, it’s difficult to envisage him looking at any other artist through the lens of jealousy. Even when he admired The Beach Boys’ efforts on Pet Sounds, McCartney funnelled this love into his work, which he expressed in Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Rather than going green with envy, McCartney has merely used the talents of others to improve his own game. It’s served him tremendously well. However, certain elements of artistry are innate and can’t be altered.
The Beatles, including McCartney, openly discussed how Bob Dylan single-handedly forced them to rethink their approach to songwriting. Dylan made each band member look in the mirror and add substance to the words they beautifully delivered. As a direct result of his influence, they matured their sound and started to weave storytelling into their songs masterfully.
Lennon went through a self-coined Dylan period, which birthed Beatles classics such as ‘Norwegian Wood’ and ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’.
Their American contemporary equally inspired McCartney. The two first met in New York on August 28th, 1964, a date now carved into music history. Famously, during this fateful day, Dylan introduced the Fab Four to marijuana for the first time, which would also alter their approach to songwriting.
Music journalist Al Aronowitz was responsible for the meeting of musical giants. At the time, Dylan’s stock was high thanks to The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times They Are A-Changin’, which led to him being labelled as the voice of a generation, even if he wasn’t dominating the charts. Meanwhile, The Beatles were a four-person hit factory that couldn’t stop producing number-one records but wanted to add substance to their work.
Reminiscing on that special evening, McCartney once commented: “It was a crazy honour to meet him, we had a crazy party the first night we met. I thought I’d found the meaning to life that night.”
Dylan remains the only other artist who makes McCartney feel starstruck. Typically, other musicians lose their cool in McCartney’s company, but Dylan made him feel that same way during their first encounter. Even now, those emotions return whenever they reunite. In 2019, McCartney said of Dylan’s intimidating presence: “There’s one or two people who I would be quite nervous about. Bob Dylan would make me go, ‘Oh my God, what am I gonna say?’ I did see him, we did Coachella… I got to talk to Bob there and he was really nice. I don’t know why I would’ve been nervous, but you get that with some people.”
Furthermore, in 2020, McCartney told Uncut about the one element of Dylan’s personality that makes him jealous, admitting, “I always like what he does. Sometimes I wish I was a bit more like Bob. He’s legendary… and doesn’t give a shit! But I’m not like that.”
McCartney made the remark shortly after the release of Dylan’s album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, which also blew him away. “I thought it was really good. He writes really well. I love his singing – he came through the standards albums like a total crooner. But, yeah, I like his new stuff,” he divulged before adding, “People ask me who I’m a fan of, and Bob Dylan and Neil Young always make the list.”
As McCartney said, Dylan “doesn’t give a shit”, which has given him the courage in his convictions over the years. Whether deliberately singing his hit songs in a different key during live shows or going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Dylan has never been a crowd-pleaser; it’s simply not part of his nature. Meanwhile, simultaneously, McCartney can’t help but try to put a smile on people’s faces and care about the opinions of others, which has also made him a musical great. If either of them tried to be like the other, it would be inauthentic, and these two distinct ideologies can harmoniously co-exist.
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