Label: Toshiba Records (Japan), TOCP-3124
Style: Rock, Pop Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Liverpool, England (18 June 1942)
Time: 35:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 179 Mb
Charts: UK #2, AUS #3, GER #15, NLD #3, NOR #2, SWE #2, US #1. CAN: Platinum; US: 2x Platinum.
McCartney is an album that wants desperately to convince. Its explicit and uniform message is that Paul McCartney, his wife Linda and family have found peace and happiness in a quiet home away from the city and away from the hassle of the music business. This is a beautiful vision and, like most listeners, I wanted very much to believe it was true. On the basis of the music alone I was entirely persuaded. The 14 cuts on McCartney are masterful examples of happiness, relaxation and contentment.
Unfortunately, there is more to this album than just music. Accompanying the release of McCartney was a mass of external information — all of it coming directly from Paul himself — which casts real doubt on the beautiful picture which the songs create. The album jacket with dozens of family snapshots proclaims that Paul and Linda have found peace and happiness in a way that seems redundant and overdone. Numerous stories in the world press made the same message a headline event just three days before the album went on sale — PAUL AND LINDA FIND HAPPINESS AWAY FROM THE BEATLES. Last week’s Ed Sullivan Show announced that "Paul McCartney would introduce his new record for the American audience." As millions of viewers tuned in, the show flashed more pictures of the happy family on the screen while one of the songs from the album played in the background. It was not convincing.
Paul played everything on the record himself, apart from some backing vocals by Linda, recording much of it at home on a four-track. No singles were released, there are several instrumentals, and it's all a bit ramshackle, the type of album that in the hands of most musicians would lend itself to introspection. And yet McCartney doesn't really tell us much about McCartney. As a songwriter, he wasn't (and still isn't, really) the confessional type. To a degree, McCartney is an actor whose medium is his songs. His love for Linda, expressed so ebulliently on "Maybe I'm Amazed", was certainly genuine, but he wrote this eventual FM-radio staple as a classic, universal love song. When presented with the opportunity to let his guard down and show us his unvarnished self, Paul McCartney never did-- even in this intimate setting, his songs remain extroverted and devoted to achieving some measure of pop accessibility.
(Full version: rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/mccartney-186057/) Review by Langdon Winner. May 14, 1970
01. The Lovely Linda (00:45)
02. That Would Be Something (02:41)
03. Valentine Day (01:43)
04. Every Night (02:39)
05. Hot As Sun / Glasses (02:08)
06. Junk (01:56)
07. Man We Was Lonely (03:01)
08. Oo You (02:49)
09. Momma Miss America (04:07)
10. Teddy Boy (02:24)
11. Singalong Junk (02:36)
12. Maybe I'm Amazed (03:53)
13. Kreen-Akrore (04:15)
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