Tag Archives: Paul McCartney

Beatles, Music Calendar

July 19: The Beatles released the single “Help!” in 1965

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help single

“The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was subconsciously crying out for help”.
– John Lennon (1980)

Help! is a song by the Beatles that served as the title song for both the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was also released as a single, and was number one for three weeks in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Help! was mainly written by John Lennon, but credited to Lennon–McCartney.

“I seem to remember Dick Lester, Brian Epstein, Walter Shenson and ourselves sitting around, maybe Victor Spinetti was there, and thinking, What are we going to call this one? Somehow Help! came out. I didn’t suggest it; John might have suggested it or Dick Lester. It was one of them. John went home and thought about it and got the basis of it, then we had a writing session on it. We sat at his house and wrote it, so he obviously didn’t have that much of it. I would have to credit it to John for original inspiration 70-30. My main contribution is the countermelody to John.”
– Paul McCartney (Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now)

The Beatles – Help! (live):

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Beatles, Paul McCartney

21 Paul McCartney songs that would have been great Beatles songs

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nature-paul-paul-mccartney

Definition of BEATLESQUE:
of, relating to, or suggestive of the musical style or technique of the Beatles
– Websters Dictionary

There are songs by the members of the Beatles that were not used by them but that re-appeared on their solo albums. Songs that was written in the last days of The Beatles and discarded for some reason or another. A lot of songs suffered that faith, not just McCartney songs, but some of the best songs from George Harrison and John Lennon’s first albums as well. Some of Paul McCartney’s stuff from that area would not be out-of-place on a Beatle record (nor some of George or John’s songs for that matter).

Today we are looking at Paul McCartney (just because I’m seeing him in concert for the first time on Tuesday). I will pick his most Beatle-sounding songs, songs that would fit in on an album by the Fab-Four. Some from the last days of The Beatles, some from later albums. This isn’t supposed to be a best of Paul McCartney list (but maybe it is…), but his most “Beatles sounding” songs , as I said, songs that would have been good enough for a Beatles album.

Please send in your suggestions in the comments.

If this is a popular post, I’ll do another one with Lennon and Harrison songs that would not be out-of-place on a Beatles record.

It was really popular, so here is my Lennon list!

Junk, the song was originally under consideration for The Beatles (also known as the White Album). It was passed over for that LP, as it was for Abbey Road. It was eventually released on McCartney’s debut solo album McCartney in 1970:

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Beatles, Featured Articles, John lennon, List, Paul McCartney

Who’s your favorite songwriter – Lennon or McCartney ?

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This post is all about the songs…

Although the songs where credited Lennon-McCartney / McCartney-Lennon, one of them usually contributed more than the other.

Many books, interviews, articles & not at least the artwork itself  have helped us  get a sense of  who was the “mastermind” behind each song. Most of them where collaborations.. but usually one of them was more to “blame”.

Some important books on this subject:

  • Ian Macdonald – Revolution in the head
  • William J. Dowlding – Beatlesongs
  • Mark Lewisohn – The Complete Beatles Chronicle
  • The Beatles – The Beatles Anthology
  • Bård Ose – Beatles hele livet (Norwegian)

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Beatles, Great Bands, John lennon, Paul McCartney, The Best Songs, Video

John Lennon or Paul McCartney, who’s the better songwriter? McCartney’s 20 best Beatles songs

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John Lennon or Paul McCartney, who’s the better songwriter? McCartney’s 20 best Beatles songs

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

Ok, so it is about the songs, is it? Not John’s cockiness and dry wit, not Paul’s technical skill, not the fact that death is the best career step a musician can have. (John Lennon would have laughed and agreed, so shut the fuck up. ) The fact is that John Lennon’s death put a blanket over Paul McCartney’s reputation and legacy (especially his work in The Beatles) and he will not be taken seriously until they meet in rock’n roll heaven.  It is only about the songs? yeah right…

Yes, I am saying that Paul suffered in critical regard because he didn’t get murdered. But…

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Beatles

June 23: The late Stu Sutcliffe was born in 1940

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stu sutcliffe

He wasn’t really a very good musician. In fact, he wasn’t a musician at all until we talked him into buying a bass. We taught him to play twelve-bars, like Thirty Days by Chuck Berry. That was the first thing he ever learnt. He picked up a few things and he practised a bit until he could get through a couple of other tunes as well. It was a bit ropey, but it didn’t matter at that time because he looked so cool. We never had many gigs in Liverpool before we went to Hamburg, anyway.
~George Harrison (Anthology)

Nice tribute video:

It was John and Stuart who thought of the name. They were art students and while George’s and my parents would make us go to bed, Stuart and John could live the little dream that we all dream: to stay up all night. And it was then they thought up the name.
One April evening in 1960, walking along Gambier Terrace by Liverpool Cathedral, John and Stuart announced: ‘Hey, we want to call the band The Beatles.
~Paul McCartney (Anthology)

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