SOMEWHERE MAN
Pandemic lockdown has given Sir Paul the chance to finish his trilogy
Many of us resolved to tackle those jobs in lockdown that had fallen to the bottom of the to-do list. In the case of Sir Paul McCartney, it was to finish a trilogy of albums he started half a century ago.
McCartney announced this week that he has made McCartney III, 50 years after the release of his first self-titled solo album and 40 years after McCartney II.
As with the two earlier records, he plays every instrument — guitar, piano, bass, drums and more — and has written and produced every song.
The 78-year-old former Beatle had not planned to release an album in 2020, but isolation at the family home in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, proved to be an inspiration — so much so, he rechristened it “rockdown.”
McCartney said: “I was living lockdown life on my farm with my family and I would go to my studio every day. I had to do a little bit of work on some film music and that turned into the opening track and then when it was done I thought, what will I do next?
“I had some stuff I'd worked on over the years but sometimes time would run out and it would be left half finished, so I started thinking about what I had. Each day I'd start recording with the instrument I wrote the song on and then gradually layer it all up. It was a lot of fun. It was about making music for yourself rather than making music that has to do a job. So, I just did stuff I fancied doing. I had no idea this would end up as an album.”
One song is built on an unreleased track from the early 1990s, When Winter Comes, originally co-produced by Sir George Martin, who died in 2016.
McCartney crafted a new passage for the song and it bookends the album in two versions — Long Tailed Winter Bird and Winter Bird/When Winter Comes. Vintage instruments used on the album include several from a 1971 Wings session, a mellotron from Abbey Road Studios used on Beatles recordings and a double bass that belonged to Bill Black, part of Elvis Presley's '50s trio.
The cover was photographed by McCartney's daughter, Mary, whose mother Linda, his late wife, took the cover images for the first two albums.
McCartney spent lockdown with Mary and her children. In an interview this summer, he said: “The weather's been brilliant and Mary and her kids are great, so I'm seeing a lot of my grandkids and (wife) Nancy, so it's been all right. I feel dreadfully sorry for all those who are less fortunate and obviously all those who have lost loved ones, but I've been lucky.
“I've been able to write and get into music, starting songs, finishing songs. And on top of all my projects, I've had the luxury of just being able to sit down and write songs for no reason, which is great. It keeps me off the streets.”
The first McCartney album featured Maybe I'm Amazed and The Lovely Linda. It was recorded in secrecy at the star's homes in Scotland and St John's Wood and at Abbey Road at a tumultuous time for The Beatles — John Lennon had told the band that he was leaving.
The album was released in April and McCartney, without informing the rest of the band, issued a release to the press in the form of a “self-interview” Q&A. In it, McCartney said the album was the start of his solo career. Asked about the reasons for his “break with the Beatles,” he replied: “Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don't really know.”
McCartney also said his songwriting partnership with Lennon was at an end. The next day, The Daily Mirror ran the front page headline Paul Quits The Beatles.