Book Review: Man on the Run - Paul McCartney in the 1970s by Tom Doyle

By the time the Beatles had officially broken up in April 1970, Paul McCartney was one of the world’s most celebrated musicians, having achieved just about every benchmark in the music business as well as the notoriety that comes with being a cultural icon. With John Lennon he’d forged the most beloved (and lucrative) songwriting partnership in pop music history. With the band as a whole he’d crafted a catalog that was by and large regarded as creatively unrivaled. Such distinctions were ones which McCartney understood all too well when, while confronting the unenviable prospect of following up the Fab Four, he embarked upon the next phase of his musical life.

He was 27-years old.

As author and music journalist Tom Doyle chronicles in Man on the Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s, McCartney’s next phase ended up being the most turbulent decade of his career. 

Well researched and partly informed by Doyle’s own interviews with his subject, the book adds sharper context to the familiar portrait presented by other such biographies of a preternaturally gifted, boyishly charismatic family man to reveal the McCartney of this era as being often oblivious to (or at least careless of) the ways in which the real world works outside the Beatles bubble. Matters that likely never crossed his mind as a member of the Beatles now as the leader of his next band, Wings, not only became necessary concerns—auditioning and hiring (and firing) musicians, compensating those musicians, replenishing the band’s requisite marijuana supply—but were also his responsibility. If he wasn’t quite longing to reunite with his old mates from Liverpool, McCartney nevertheless seems to have missed the sense of refuge they collectively conferred, from the implicit quality of musicianship in John, George, and Ringo, to producer’s George Martin’s almost paternal guidance, musical wisdom, and studio expertise. 

As far as the music McCartney composed in the ‘70s is concerned, pertinent circumstances of its creation are offered throughout the book. There isn’t too much in the way of session details (examining how songs evolved, critiquing specific takes, etc.), with the emphasis instead focusing on how McCartney maneuvered through the various twists and turns of his life while making that music. Given a subject as well-documented as McCartney, it’s an effective narrative approach. The depicted scene surrounding the recording of 1973’s Band on the Run, in particular, which found McCartney naïvely travelling not only with Wings (and former Moody Blues) mate Denny Laine and engineer Geoff Emerick but also with his own wife and children to Lagos, Nigeria—a scene of rampant crime, poverty, and political corruption—is especially gripping. 

Man on the Run tells of McCartney the human being as much as McCartney the superstar musician, and readers will likewise appreciate its insights and enjoy the story it has to tell.

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The Beatles U.S. Catalog Readied For iTunes Release

Photo © Apple Corps Ltd.

With the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ maiden American voyage fast approaching, the Fab Four’s music is sure to enjoy an all new retail resurgence—including an exclusive digital release of their thirteen U.S. albums on iTunes. The entire catalog, from 1964’s Meet the Beatles through 1970’s Hey Jude, is currently available for pre-order from the online Apple music outlet. 

Both physical and digital versions of the catalog will be released on January 21.

Photo © Apple Corps Ltd.

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Classic Albums: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon sure knew how make a statement. The Beatles had—mere months prior—officially and acrimoniously disbanded as the public held his wife, Yoko Ono, most responsible for their fate. His vociferous political views and social activism garnered as much derision as they did praise. And as his public image suffered, so too did his psyche. In late 1970, during a time of intense self-discovery, Lennon exorcised his pent-up anguish, rage, and frustration on his first proper solo LP, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

The album’s predominant theme and, moreover, its message, lay in one cryptic line: “The dream is over.”

Existential and unnervingly introspective, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band reflected a harrowing catharsis for Lennon both as a musician as well as a man. The context and creation of this landmark recording is deftly examined and discussed on the latest installment of Eagle Rock Entertainment’s video series, Classic Albums.

Discerning commentary from Yoko Ono as well as by the album’s principal musicians, drummer Ringo Starr and bassist Klaus Voormann, complements archival footage of Lennon discussing the work. Especially perceptive and pertinent insight also comes from therapist Dr. Arthur Janov and Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Jann Wenner, both men who then served—in different yet significant roles—as agents for Lennon’s expression.

As told in the film, Lennon was confronting some deep-seated emotional demons and struggling through an identity crisis after (though not entirely due to) the breakup of the Beatles. He explored primal therapy, a psychoanalysis treatment proffered by Dr. Janov, in which one revisits early traumas in order to better appreciate and cope with one’s present existence. Janov recollects, with modesty and compassion, how Lennon subscribed to his method and how it influenced his music. Gripping songs like “Mother” and “God”—the latter opening with the bold conviction, “God is a concept by which we measure our pain”—not only reflected Lennon’s involvement in primal therapy, but also the depth of his despair and of his struggles to understand it.

Also, Jann Wenner offers an indicative viewpoint, shrewdly depicting Lennon’s state of mind (as he interpreted it) during this period. His infamous 1970 interview with Lennon not only shocked readers for its frankness, but also for how it dispelled the idealism that the Beatles espoused. Based on that encounter as well as on their social (and often adversarial) relationship, Wenner reflects on how Lennon was beginning to realize his purpose and potential as a solo artist. In assessing the album in question, Wenner says, “The power, the strength, when an artist of that quality, and that imagination, that creativity, reaches such truths about himself, [it’s] overwhelming.”

For all of the turmoil that inspired its creation, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band does not—then and now—invite casual listening. In fact, it provokes an emotional response, if not a visceral jolt. In retrospect, perhaps the notion of an introspective album (and certainly one by John Lennon) doesn’t seem unusual, but in 1970, this one set a precedent. Classic Albums does a fine job in explaining why such was the case.

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Album Review: Ringo Starr - Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr

Since The Beatles disbanded, Ringo Starr has sustained a respectable solo career, one that’s allowed the iconic drummer to call the shots and make music by his own accord. Much of the finest music he’s made comes together on the newly released retrospective, Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr.

This solid compilation features twenty tracks, many of them bona fide hits, most of them instantly familiar. What this disc underscores, besides the songs themselves, is the quality of musicians that Starr worked with in making them, from his three former bandmates to the likes of Elton John, Billy Preston, and Eric Clapton.

Of all the artists that contributed to this music, none resonate as often or as profound as George Harrison. “Photograph” and “It Don’t Come Easy” rank as two of Starr’s most recognizable recordings, not least because of Harrison’s involvement in their creation, having co-written and produced the former while producing the latter. He also contributed the loose and bouncy track, “Wrack My Brain,” and produced the weird and wonderful smash, “Back Off Boogaloo”. Starr wrote the poignant song, “Never Without You,” which features Eric Clapton on guitar, in tribute to his departed friend.

During his “Lost Weekend,” John Lennon offered Starr two songs, “Goodnight Vienna” and the tongue-in-cheek humor of “I’m The Greatest,” which illustrates that Lennon was, perhaps, not quite as “lost” during this time as he’d claimed.

While Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have collaborated on various projects ranging from McCartney’s Tug of War and Flaming Pie to Starr’s Vertical Man, his only appearance on this compilation comes on “You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine)”.

Other highlights of this disc include the rollicking groove of “Oh, My My,” featuring Billy Preston on piano, and “Snookeroo,” an Elton John/Bernie Taupin composition on which the Rocket Man participated in recording.

Given his stature, it’s not surprising that Ringo Starr recruited such renowned artists with whom to make music. What’s impressive, though, is how well these songs have held up, and, moreover, how much fun it is to listen to them now.

In the liner notes, Starr offers commentary on what he remembers most about each track. While nothing jumps out as exclusive news or insight, what does come through is his lasting enjoyment of the music he’s created and covered, often with a little help from his friends.

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