One thing I like
Paul McCartney for is his b-sides and his lesser-known work.
Sadly, a clichéd
view of his solo material has formed over the years that does no justice to his
huge back catalogue. At best, people tend to rate Wings 1973 album Band on the
Run as a near-return to form of his unparalleled Beatles period, but after
that, critique tends to fall silent, save the easy - and unreasonable -
allusions to twee granny musak made by Lennon during the bitter early
Seventies.
In reality, the
last twenty years have seen a surprising array of top-quality albums that are
regularly described as “his best work since Band on the Run”, whilst forgetting
this same comment has been applied to nearly every release since 1997’s Flaming
Pie. It’s normally his choice of singles that cloud the water, by not always
being reflective of his current output.
While there are
many songs I’d site as favourites, one popped in my mind that’s worth a
mention: the lovely ‘She is So Beautiful’ from 2005. It was recorded during the
sessions that produced the stunning Chaos and Creation in the Backyard album,
but didn’t make the final cut, only being included on the Japanese version. It’s pretty with an undertone of sadness, much like me.