☆ Players

It’s half a century since Sir Paul McCartney walked away from the biggest band ever formed. That seismic event often obscures his subsequent work with Wings, who rose in a few short years from college level to an American stadium phenomenon. How the heck did he pull that off?

Words: Joel McIver Photography: Getty

You think that when your favourite band releases an album every three years, that’s normal? Compare that to Paul McCartney, who – in his first decade of music-making after the split of the Beatles in 1970 – released two solo albums and seven more with the band Wings, as well as touring at all levels of the music industry, from universities to arenas. The man was incredibly busy, even though – as a millionaire since he was 25 – he could easily have spent the rest of his days sipping cocktails on the Mull of Kintyre.

It wasn’t all easy going, though. Inevitably, it took the most famous bass player in history a little while to start firing on all cylinders again after the four-way divorce of the Fab Four. Plagued by depression and embroiled in an existential crisis, he was pulled out of the rabbit-hole by his wife Linda, for whom he wrote ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ before the Beatles split. The song appeared on his first solo album, McCartney, recorded entirely by him apart from vocals from his ever-supportive wife. The LP was released in April 1970, after Macca had walked away from the other three but before the band had legally dissolved.

Now, here’s a thing. McCartney’s first solo record, along with every single album he’s released since then, has always been compared against his work in the Beatles, and it’s always come out on the wrong side of that equation. In a sense, this has been unavoidable. The Beatles’ catalogue contains so much gold – and so few misfires, relatively speaking – that no artist, whether you’re the Rolling Stones, Drake or Adele, could hope to match it.

That includes McCartney himself, who knew from day one that people were comparing Wings to his golden era of the Sixties – but he got over it as the years passed. “I used to think that all my Wings stuff was second-rate, but I began to meet younger kids, not kids from my Beatle generation, who would say, ‘We really love this song’,” he later said.

That huge millstone around his neck aside, it should also be noted that McCartney changed his approach a little when he embarked on his solo career. Adjectives such as ‘homegrown’, ‘organic’, ‘indie’ and ‘lo-fi’ suited his new music down to the ground; picture the man on a Scottish farm, surrounded by wife, kids and livestock and strumming a ditty about how good life is out in the country, and you’ll get the picture. This approach wasn’t for everyone, least of all fans of the Beatles’ high-concept, avant-garde work. Compare the winsome ‘Lovely Linda’ against the apocalyptic ‘A Day In The Life’, for example.

Five Of The Best

A fistful of Wings bass parts that you need to hear...

‘Magneto And Titanium Man’, from Venus And Mars, 1974

Bouncing, staccato and fleet-fingered, this sweet little line sets up a pleasant, drone-like effect for this quirky song.

‘Listen To What The Man Said’, from Venus And Mars, 1974

Simple and effective, this part sits low in the mix and anchors the rest of the instrumentation.

‘Silly Love Songs’, from Wings At The Speed Of Sound, 1976

With its ever-so-slight crunch, the tone of this line perfectly complements the funk edge of this unlikely dancefloor-filler.

‘Getting Closer’, from Back To The Egg, 1979

Walking bass-lines had been a standard part of McCartney’s armoury for years, but they rarely walked as elegantly as this one.

‘Goodnight Tonight’ [single, 1979]

A full-on disco line with some chordal fills, this part channels two parts Bernard Edwards to three parts James Jamerson.