With touring no longer a consideration or care, the Beatles dive head first into the recording studio. From 1967 until 1969, they created some of the most interesting pop music art pieces of their generation (and of all time). While at their creative peak as a group and creative collective, the fracturing from a unit into four distinct individuals is poured directly into the music. 1967 was the beginning of the end. While many have speculated where the start of the break-up begins, I think it's most important to understand the radical change that took place from 1966 to 1967. Rejecting the public "A Hard Day's Night" image, the group swaps it for Carnaby Street and Swinging London. With psychedelic music on the rise in both the US and the UK, and Revolver skewing the Beatles' sound towards rock and baroque pop, the concept of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band gestated in Paul's mind as the next Beatles project. Going back to the later half of 1966, t
The Great McCartney Re-Listen... is my journey though the works of Paul McCartney. Over many many posts, I will uncovering his tropes, tricks and musical experiments through-out his complex and diverse solo career. But before we skip ahead to 1970's McCartney (I). We need to start at the beginning... As a solo writer within the Lennon-McCartney partnership and the band's bass player, Paul McCartney starts with a handful of solo tunes. Yet, the tunes that he brings to the band are stand-outs, microcosms of pop, and later giants within the greater classic rock landscape. The success of the Beatles allows McCartney to explore musically unlike any other songwriter, amassing a bag of "songwriting tricks" to produce songs. As collaborator, Lennon and McCartney fuel the Beatle machine with endless tuneful songs until 1969. 1962-1966 Paul's contributions to the first two Beatle albums are minimal, but not slight. Please Please Me offers 'P.S. I Love You' and