Paul McCartney Archives - Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

From Faith Current: “Fool on the Hill: The Myth of Perfectionist Paul”

By Michael Gerber|2022-10-23T14:25:37-07:00October 23, 2022|Paul McCartney|

Folks, here's an interesting revision of opinion from Faith on Paul McCartney. Enjoy—MG. I got it wrong. Back in April, I wrote a piece for Hey Dullblog about Paul’s choice to put Linda in his band (“I’m Gonna Go WIth Linda on Keyboards”). It included this paragraph: Paul seems to have been the one who protested loudest about Stu’s and Pete’s musical shortcomings. That guy matures into Studio Obsessive Paul. Which then turns into Micromanaging Paul, the Paul of “let’s do sixty-two fun-filled takes of ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer!’” royally pissing off everyone in service of a song he apparently didn’t even like. [...]

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“I’m going to go with Linda on keyboards.”

By Michael Gerber|2022-04-04T17:18:47-07:00April 4, 2022|Paul McCartney, Uncategorized|

[As part of our New Regime here at Dullblog, we've started reaching out to commenters with interesting, well worked-out opinions to write these up as posts. Commenter @Faith pitched this idea last week, and here's what she came up with. Enjoy. -- MG] By FAITH CURRENT • (The headline quote is from Carlin's McCartney: A Life, p. 215) Paul and Linda McCartney in the studio, 1970 Every time I read a new McCartney bio, I dread this moment in the story. I ache for Paul’s naive enthusiasm, for the damage it will do to his credibility, for the soft underbelly [...]

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Happy 50th Birthday to McCartney’s “Ram”

By Nancy Carr|2021-05-17T09:07:42-07:00May 17, 2021|1971, anniversaries, Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney, Ram, Uncategorized|

It was 50 years ago today that Paul and Linda McCartney released Ram, an album that's become more popular over the decades. I've talked at length about my love for the album here, and have often recommended this Jayson Greene Pitchfork review of the album's 2012 reissue. Perhaps because Ram was created at a time in Paul McCartney's life when he had to figure out how to pick up and keep going when everything was falling apart, my affection for the album has increased over the past year and a half. In this second decade of the 21st century, we're all trying to "ram [...]

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Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift on making music in 2020

By Nancy Carr|2021-12-07T01:42:59-08:00November 13, 2020|Interviews, Paul McCartney, solo|

Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift are on the cover of Rolling Stone this month, as part of the magazine's "Musicians On Musicians" series. You can read their conversation here. Sounds as if this meeting was a real family affair, with Stella McCartney supplying Taylor Swift's clothes for the shoot and Mary McCartney taking the photographs. To me, the most interesting part of the talk is the practical discussion of making music during a global pandemic. McCartney talks about being in lockdown on a sheep farm with his wife Nancy, his daughter Mary, Mary's husband Simon, and the couple's four children. Apparently this [...]

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RIP Little Richard, Unique Trailblazer

By Nancy Carr|2020-09-10T11:02:03-07:00May 11, 2020|1960s, Beatle History, Obituaries, Other bands, Paul McCartney|

Richard Penniman, whose music and performance stylings reshaped rock 'n' roll, died on Saturday at the age of 87. His full-throated, emotion-packed singing, piano playing, and songwriting had a profound influence on the Beatles, as well as on a wide range of other musicians and performers through the decades. I wrote about seeing Paul McCartney perform "Long Tall Sally" at Candlestick Park back in 2014, and that performance was such a strong reminder of the many, many influences that go into creating a musical moment. There are a multitude of reasons to celebrate Little Richard's legacy; his impact on the Beatles [...]

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The Problem With Being a Genius

By Michael Gerber|2022-07-24T13:51:44-07:00December 20, 2019|Paul McCartney, Uncategorized|

In catching up on recent comments, I ran across a couple that suggested Hey Dullblog judges Paul McCartney more harshly than it does the other Beatles; and one of the persistent conversations here for the last couple years is an anti-Paul bias in the media (I suppose we are part of the media?). Why doesn't Paul get his due? commenters ask. Is it because he's been coded as feminine? Is it because he traditionally appealed to female Beatles fans? Is it misguided post-murder worship of Lennon? Is it Jann Wenner's Rolling Stone vendetta hardening into a permanent attitude? This is how a [...]

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But Paul Is My Favorite Beatle

By Michael Gerber|2019-08-19T13:30:49-07:00August 19, 2019|Paul McCartney|

As I've written, John Lennon was my favorite Beatle growing up—for all the reasons we love John: his intelligence and wit, his directness, his unique gifts with words and music, his sense of larger purpose in the world and ability to inspire. Plus, I felt that as a young creative person in the middle of nowhere trying to make a black-and-white life turn into glorious Technicolor, John Lennon had specific things to teach me. Plus, his difficult beginnings were similar in some ways to my own, and so we shared that fierce desperation to make it, no matter what. Happy people don't [...]

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Lennon and McCartney’s “lost reunion,” by David Gambacorta

By Nancy Carr|2019-06-25T11:11:23-07:00June 25, 2019|1974, Beatles in LA, bootlegs, Breakup, Chris Carter/Breakfast With the Beatles, Harry NIlsson, John and Paul, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Unreleased/Outtakes|

Posted at the excellent aggregator and original writing site Longreads is David Gambacorta's exploration of the 1974 California jam session John Lennon and Paul McCartney engaged in -- the last time they would play together. Most Beatles fans will be familiar with the history Gambacorta recounts, but it's nice to see it laid out succinctly. Gambacorta does turn up a few facts that were, at least, new to me: for example, it's not clear what happened to the master tapes made that night. And the piece is well worth reading for the recent comments Gambacorta got from several people, including Elliot Mintz, [...]

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McCartney Talks Carpool Karaoke

By Nancy Carr|2019-06-21T11:14:32-07:00June 21, 2019|Interviews, Live, Liverpool, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Television, Uncategorized|

The Paul McCartney episode of Carpool Karaoke has been so wildly popular (about 130 million people have watched it on YouTube or Facebook, and it spawned an extended version as well) that it's hard to imagine that the show almost didn't happen. But it's true. McCartney and Corden in the car. I saw McCartney play at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX on June 14 (another three-hour marathon, featuring 38 songs), and the tour program includes a lengthy interview with the following exchange: You made even more headlines when your appearance on Carpool Karaoke went globally viral, generating millions of views. And [...]

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Interview with Jay Goeppner of the the Beatle Brothers

By Nancy Carr|2021-07-23T07:28:33-07:00August 28, 2017|Beatle-inspired, concert, Covers, Covers, Interviews, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Fest for Beatles Fans|

Chicago-based singer Jay Goeppner pours his fervent love for the music of the Beatles, and John Lennon, into every performance. His voice, and his energy onstage, are almost eerily similar to Lennon's. I've seen several of his Beatle Brothers shows, and can testify that the only time I've gotten a stronger Beatles vibe was at Paul McCartney's concerts, since rock and metal concerts have always been my favorites and I even look for metal concerts near me every time I can. I caught up with Jay by phone recently, as he was returning from a last-minute road trip to fill in for [...]

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