Help! You need a lower key, fans tell Macca
AT THE grand old age of 74, Sir Paul McCartney is a national treasure, and rightly lauded after writing some of the most memorable pop hits of all time.
But as he embarks on yet another gruelling tour, some fans are beginning to question whether he needs help – with hitting the high notes.
Scathing posts on internet forums have accused the star of ruining Beatles classics during his current One On One tour of the US.
Sources on the tour have also told The Mail on Sunday that McCartney’s weakening voice now has to be concealed by his backing group and other band members in the sound mix – and he has been urged to sing in a lower key.
On one forum, a fan asks: ‘Would you rather have him touring all the time or saving his voice and making records more regularly?’ Another writes: ‘Yes, touring is ruining his voice (along with ageing) and, selfishly, I personally wish he’d take more care of it, rest up and save it for future recordings.’
A third says: ‘I think age and all those years of smoking… did more damage to his voice than anything else.’ Another suggests: ‘What I find distracting in his voice is his shortness of breath.’
A source close to the current tour told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Paul’s voice breaks often in every show. The song Maybe I’m Amazed seems to be at the top of everyone’s list as the worst offender. It’s dog awful.
‘He really needs to lower the keys on almost all of the songs he sings. But he insists on singing them in the same keys as they were recorded in 50 years ago.
‘The thing about Paul is that quite often, because he is such a big megastar, all of the people he surrounds himself with are on the payroll and a bit frightened to speak their mind and be honest with him.
‘The same happened with his disastrous marriage to Heather Mills. Everyone could see what was going on, the complete car crash that became. But no one had the guts to take him to one side and tell him what was so obviously happening under his nose until it was too late.’