#21

I’ve been meaning to listen to those first 2 albums for an age. Can’t think why I haven’t
Maybe not on Spotify?
I don’t know if it’s true but I read that the electronic album he did was just the demos that the (Moog?) salesman played him and not his compositions at all. Probably not true though.

#22

aye, they are. Spotify was how I first heard them.

And, yes, one of the tracks was a Moog demonstration by another fella, Bernie Krause. George recorded it without him knowing and used it as the first track, haha.

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#23

It’s clearly Paul, as much as I love All Things Must Pass (especially as it reminds me of my late Grandma, she loved that album so much).

John has some great singles. Starting Over, Jealous Guy, Instant Karma and Working Class Hero are all smashing.

Ringo should be locked up, that song about the sixteen year old is deeply disturbing.

RAM is my fave of the lot.

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#24

what’s the consensus on Double Fantasy? I love the whole balance and back and forth between Yoko and John. Lots of genuine emotion going on plus really good songs

#25

Listened to both of these now. Really interesting.

Wonderwall basically sounds like a sketchbook of his musical ideas that presumably he wasn’t able to explore with the Beatles. I actually really like the Indian stuff especially the points at which it almost gets into drone territory. It doesn’t really flow as an album though - those Indian tracks are all pretty short and get interrupted by a few more conventional rock/Beatles style tracks and the ‘comedy’ tracks are just not my thing, although obviously Beatles always had that music-hall side to them so not surprising he was developing that side.

The electronic album I actually think is kinda great. Well side 2 anyway - funny that he stole half the album! And it’s a shame as I think that 2nd track is really good. I guess the main thing you can say is it doesn’t do much that hadn’t been done in the previous years by university and research labs but I don’t think any of that stuff was really in the public realm to any great degree at the time. It’s a shame if he didn’t really do anything in this field beyond this - didn’t see any possibilities of blending it into a more pop/rock style, or just didn’t have any interest in doing experimental stuff. Would have been one of the few people able to afford the equipment and the possibilities of combining with the Indian influences seems obvious at a distance.

Anyway well worth a listen so cheers for this tip!

#26

That’s not his song tbf (although a very short-sighted choice to cover it)

#27

I did not know this. But yeah, still.

#28

just read about it because I’ve not actually heard it, but it seems like it was a bit of a cynical cash in as the original was on American Graffiti the year before (again, not defending it at all but it just seems (i hope) that’s why he did a version)

#29

The Bruce McMouse Show, an abandoned film in which Wings interact with a family of cartoon mice who live under their stage (based on Paul’s doodles), is soon to be released for the first time alongside an expanded super-deluxe box set of Red Rose Speedway, itself a widely unloved album. It says a lot that I’m considering purchasing all of this.

Even stuff that once seemed hideously embarrassing about Paul’s solo career now fascinates me. It’s how he totally trusts his instincts, and then what results can come across as effortless genius, or throwaway, or total self-sabotage. I don’t think the other Beatles have this same mixed gift and curse.

Ram, Tug of War, Flaming Pie and Chaos and Creation In The Backyard are my favourite Paul albums, to choose one from each decade. Not sure which of the last couple I’d pick.

I have all of George’s solo albums and like them, but they get patchy and laboured after Living In The Material World (though the posthumous one, Brainwashed, is strong). His solo career would be second best for me purely on the merit of the incredible All Things Must Pass. Almost all of John’s stuff leaves me cold.

#30

Why were the Lennon songs the best Beatles song but his solo stuff is the worst? What happened?

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#31

John with “The Luck of the Irish” though.

#32

Would say Instant Karma is an absolute banger though

#33

There’s definitely the odd good song hidden in there, but he’s no George Harrison.

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#34

John was pretty lazy by his own admission and benefited from the structure of the Beatles getting him into the studio and his rivalry with Paul to write songs (so he would have a roughly equal number of songs to Paul on each album) and to push himself to create work of a higher quality. Plus he benefited from the musical input of the other Beatles. Outside of that he was prone to not getting much done, and being pretty slap dash when he did get it together to record an album

Paul is far more self motivated

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#35

Also, the Lennon songs weren’t the best Beatles songs.

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#36

I don’t deal in best / worst ranking of things

But Paul is my favourite

#37

Just listened to McCartney II and it’s actually really good. Tug of War is good too.

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#38

All I’ve got to say is that Imagine is the worst song ever written

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#39

I searched for ‘worst ringo song’ to try and prove you wrong but ended up with this ridiculous breezy fun

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#40

It’s better than Imagine.

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