Ringo Starr - Beaucoups Of Blues (1970) Part One

Album 3 - Ringo Starr - Beaucoups Of Blues (1970) - Part One

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1. Beaucoups Of Blues
2. Love Don't Last Long
3. Fastest Growing Heartache In The West
4. Without Her
5. Woman Of The Night
6. I'd Be Taking All The Time
7. $15 Draw
8. Wine, Women And Loud Happy Songs
9. I Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way
10. Loser's Lounge
11. Waiting
12. Silent Homecoming


For his second solo album, Ringo set about issuing an album of country songs.

While Ringo was performing drum duties for George's album All Things Must Pass, he met pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake, with whom he developed a good friendship through discussions about country and western music, of which Starr was a big fan.  Along with Peter Drake came his friend Chuck Howard, with whom  Ringo discussed the possibility of working together in the future, to which Howard said he and his friends could write and record material for Starr to choose from.

I find it strange that it came out two months before All Things Must Pass, but it obviously did.  Perhaps the fact that All Things was a triple album meant that more time was required to get that album prepared.  In this way, Ringo released two solo albums in 1970 before John or George had released even one.

What Ringo got was a great set of tunes written by some fantastic country music writers, and with performances from some of the best Country backing musicians of the time.  DJ Fontana, The Jordanaires, Charlie McCoy, Jerry Reed, and Pete Drake himself, to name just a few.  Unlike the sessions for Sentimental Journey however, here Ringo could join in on the proceedings more by actually playing on the songs.  He plays drums and guitar on the album as well.

Group shot

Now I wasn't initially going to discuss the songwriting of anyone outside of the ex-Beatles foursome, but after looking online at other blogs, I thought that this album had been given short shrift, and well it does seem that no one has looked into it in that much detail.  The fact of the matter is that it is very difficult to find anything about the songs themselves other than scant details, which is a shame because it is actually a really good country album.   In essence I sort of see Sentimental Journey as an early form of karaoke where the music was recorded already, with Starr just having to show up to sing.  Here however he got to join in as a fellow musician sometimes (where and when we can't be sure of).  So I have decided for that purpose that I would break that rule and look into the songs, but I am not giving them as much as I would normally to songs because in truth they aren't written by the ex-members.

The Jordanaires (with Elvis Presley)

The opening song of the album is the Buzz Rabin composed title song, which Buzz himself had previously issued as a single (I can't find any more information than that out, so if anyone knows more then that would be most helpful).  Chord wise this is a very simple three chord trick (E, A & B), but a very well crafted one.  In song writing terms it doesn't really matter how simple or difficult a piece is.  After all, Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles (written by John) only has two chords (rather than just the one C chord as McCartney said in the Anthology).

This song is a beautifully melancholic tune that has an arrangement perfectly suited to Starr's delivery.  The playing, as with virtually the whole album, is absolutely first rate, which would be expected from seasoned session musicians in the world of Country music.  These guys proved that they had the chops.  I think it is great that the song actually finishes on the A major chord, rather than the root of the song - E major.

The second song on the set is Love Don't Last Long written by Chuck Howard.  As with quite a bit of country music, it is an incredibly sad song, this time talking about the tragic side to love.  For the most part the song is essentially four chords (C, F, Dm, and G), but then after the second verse it moves up a tone (D, G, Em and A).

Guitarist/Actor/Singer Jerry Reed

There is a very clever use of the drop from F major to the D minor (and the G major to E minor when it shifts up an octave) where the melody drops.  This just adds to the great vocal of Ringo, aided by the fantastic instrumentation and lush backing vocals by The Jordanaires.

Fastest Growing Heartache In The West, the third song, is written by Larry Kingston and Fred Dycus, both of whom had already written for artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, and Crystal Gayle.  Most of these mentioned are for Larry Kingston, whereas Dycus was an occasional collaborator.  All the same, here is one of a three songs that Kingston had a hand in writing for this album.

Again the song is a very downbeat look at the tragic side to love.  The song is in Bb, made up of the chords Bb, Eb minor, F, and C minor.

The fourth song on the set is the first of four songs written by Sorrells Pickard, entitled Without Her.  Another song that is basically in the scale of C major, and a song about a lost love.  It is actually a verse/chorus pattern, with the verse working on a C | F | C | C | G | F | C | C.  The chorus is G | F | C, then the simple but great run of G | F | Em | C | G, followed then by a line of C, a line of F, and another line of C to get back into the verse.

Pedal steel player Pete Drake

The fifth song on the album is Woman Of The Night, again written by Sorrells Pickard.  Unlike the last song's lyrics, this song is about a, ahem, woman of the night.  The lyric is written as if from the perspective of an onlooker, someone who is observing (in the third person).  This person probably likes the lady in question, but it isn't that sort of song.  It's about a person who sells themselves, but here the narrative speaks of how they are still a woman and not an object, and of the respect that they should still receive (can't you just tell that this bloke wrote for Tammy Wynette).

The song uses the same pattern throughout, and is again in the key of C major.  Here there are two runs of C to F as an intro, followed by the pattern C | F | G | F twice, then Dm | G | F | F | Dm | C | G | G.  That is the same all the way through, albeit with a fantastic push in the chord when playing the C | F | G | F, where the second F chord is played slightly later in the syncopated G to F change.  A really well observed lyric, with a very strong subject matter for the time considering that a lot of music at the time, including country & western and rock 'n' roll, was very sexist to a point.  The woman in question also seems to be happy that she is getting by in the world, even though it ins't the greatest job in the world.  She has pride in the fact that she is earning money and living - "She wakes to find no sign of appreciation, still she isn't wearing any shame."  It's a dark world she lives in, and it doesn't hide that fact.

The next part of this blog will look at songs six to ten, which includes another of Sorrells Pickard's four songs on the album , the two others that Larry Kingston has been involved in the writing of, another two of the four that Chuck Howard has been involved in the writing of (one of which is a a co-writing with Larry Kingston), and a cracking song written by Bobby Pierce.

Links -
1. A great little blog post by Donald Sauter about Sorrells Pickard's involvement  on Beaucoups of Blues.
2. A webpage biography about Ringo Starr.

Link to check out - Coverville

I thought I would just post up a link on here for people to check out something called Coverville, where this particular link will lead you to a page where you can download and listen to one of the shows where they have specifically looked at cover versions of George Harrison's songs.

There are other shows available, and Brian Ibbot (the presenter) is well known for doing a Beatles special every so often, which features versions that will make you go wow as well as versions that will make you go ow!

Here are ones on John Lennon one, two, and three, and Paul McCartney one, two, and three.

Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part Two

Album 2 - Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part Two

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1. Sentimental Journey (Bud Green/Les Brown/Bon Homer)
2. Night And Day (Cole Porter)
3. Whispering Grass (Fred Fisher/Doris Fisher)
4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Mort Dixon/Ray Henderson)
5. I'm A Fool To Care (Ted Daffan)
6. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish)
7. Blue, Turning Grey Over You (Andy Razaf/Thomas "Fats" Waller)
8. Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing (Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster)
9. Dream (Johnny Mercer)
10. You Always Hurt The One You Love (Allan Roberts/Doris Fisher)
11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (Scott Wiseman)
12. Let The Rest Of The World Go By (Ernest Ball/Karen Brennan)

The seventh song on the album (and the first of Side Two as it was) is the brilliant composition by Fats Waller and Andy Razaf entitled Blue Turning Grey Over You, made famous by Louis Armstrong.  This version was arranged by Oliver Nelson, who was one of the most sought after arrangers at the time, having worked with the likes of King Curtis, Roy Haynes, Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich and, well the list just continues to go on.  Those are some absolute legends there for sure.  Being a very seasoned arranger by this time, his treatment of the music to this song is much faster paced and show tune style (for want of a better phrase) than any version that I have heard (Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Billie Holiday).   I think that it works incredibly well, and is a great opening to the second side.  I’m sorry but as something from that time I am looking at it from that angle because that was how it was back then.  People looked at records back then as Side One and Side Two, so they had to think of how to give the listeners something to grab their attention.

The eighth song on the set is a song that I have personally always loved in the various versions that I have heard.  The fantastic Love Is A Many Splendored Thing written by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, which was originally released by The Four Aces in 1955.  Here it is arranged by Quincy Jones, which has a fantastically soulful feel to it.  It has that amazing classic arrangement that he is always so known for with the absolutely lush vocals and sweepingly soulful orchestration.

Quincy Jones

I’ll just mention in passing that I am very much of a fan of this album, now that I have listened to it a good few times, and hadn’t actually listened to it before researching for this blog series.  I can see where people would have been surprised with this album, because they were used to him being Beatle Ringo.  If people had thought about it though, then it wouldn’t have been that much of a surprise.  After all, there is the arrangement for the song Good Night on The Beatles’ White Album, where Ringo was singing to a lush orchestral arrangement.

The Pied Pipers

Now I will be completely honest and say that I never knew the song Dream until I heard this album, as in the Johnny Mercer song first released by The Pied Pipers in 1945.  Here the arrangement is credited to George Martin, and it is a beautiful song and arrangement.

Following this is the 1944 Mills Brothers song You Always Hurt The One You Love, arranged by the late great John Dankworth, English jazz arranger, saxophonist and clarinettist.  Strangely enough it is the second song on the set that is a Doris Fisher co-write (the other being the earlier Whispering Grass), this time having co-written with Allan Roberts.  For this arrangement, Dankworth decided to give it a very laid back approach, giving the backing music a smooth and lilting mood.

The penultimate song on the set is a song that is absolutely timeless.  Have I Told You Lately That I Love You was actually first released in 1946 by Lulu Belle and Scotty Wiseman, having actually been written by Scotty himself.  Here the genius of Elmer Bernstein (yes you heard me right – the guy behind The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Ghostbusters, et al) has given the song a fantastically exciting and much faster arrangement than I had previously heard personally, and I think it gives the song a completely different approach that still works, but makes it more celebratory in feel maybe rather than the usual laid back arrangements where it is someone sombrely saying “I haven’t said it for so long, but let me just let you know that I really do love you.”  It is a great way to make the song stand out.

Finally the last song is the 1944 Dick Haymes song Let The Rest Of The World Go By, here arranged by the great Les Reed who wrote the classic songs Delilah (Tom Jones), The Last Waltz (Engelbert Humperdinck), and There’s A Kind Of Hush (Herman’s Hermits/The Carpenters).  It’s one of those songs that like the perfect ending to an album, something that Ringo would do a lot on his solo releases (thinking of You & Me Babe on his self-titled third album as just one example).

Even though the album isn't exactly what you might expect from an ex-Beatle, it is full of beautiful arrangements that, for the most part, compliment the songs and the artist perfectly.  It also features some great contributions from the famous arrangers.  In a way that also brings in the fact that a lot of the time when Ringo goes to his famous friends for help, he succeeds in issuing something that is first rate.  Just look at the the eponymous third album where he gets help from all three of the other ex-Beatles, as well as Marc Bolan (T Rex), and the list is endless.

This in no way is a put down of Ringo, but rather the fact that he can bring out top rate material, and that it usually means him having "a little help" from his friends.

Links -
Billie Holliday version of Blue Turning Grey Over You
The Pied Pipers performing Dream - a video clip
A couple of fascinating insights from the Beatles Bible website - First article/Second article
Dick Haymes performing Let The Rest of the World Go By in a video.

Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part One

Album 2 - Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (1970) - Part One

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1. Sentimental Journey (Bud Green/Les Brown/Bon Homer)
2. Night And Day (Cole Porter)
3. Whispering Grass (Fred Fisher/Doris Fisher)
4. Bye Bye Blackbird (Mort Dixon/Ray Henderson)
5. I'm A Fool To Care (Ted Daffan)
6. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish)
7. Blue, Turning Grey Over You (Andy Razaf/Thomas "Fats" Waller)
8. Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing (Sammy Fain/Paul Francis Webster)
9. Dream (Johnny Mercer)
10. You Always Hurt The One You Love (Allan Roberts/Doris Fisher)
11. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? (Scott Wiseman)
12. Let The Rest Of The World Go By (Ernest Ball/Karen Brennan)


So, the first one past the post then with an album was Ringo.  He needed something to do, and so he discussed with George Martin the idea of recording an album full of standards as a gift basically to his mother, using songs that she always loved and that were sung at home when she was growing up.

Actually, it’s funny looking at this album now considering that McCartney is releasing an album full of standards a few days after I am typing this out.  That plus Ringo has just this week released a new album himself, but I digress.  However, some people are bemoaning about the fact that McCartney is recording a bunch of old time songs that allegedly The Beatles and their like were supposed to have been usurping, but I obviously don’t agree with that opinion, and in fact believe that a lot of material from then added to that rich field of compositions, rather than toss it all aside.  Anyway, I’ve gone off subject.

George Martin brought in his own orchestra to play all of the music, with some assistance from un-credited performers.  Another idea that was utilised was for each song to be arranged by different people.  The song Stormy Weather was recorded using an arrangement that Paul McCartney had come up with, which featured both McCartney and Harrison playing apparently, but this song wasn’t issued for some reason.

The opening song is the title track, first made popular by Doris Day in 1945.  This arrangement has a very old style musical feel to it, up until the voicebox use in the instrumental break.  This arrangement is by Richard Perry, who would go on to himself produce Ringo’s acclaimed eponymous third album.

Following this is the absolute classic Cole Porter song Night & Day.  Originally this song was released by Fred Astaire and Clair Luce in 1932).  This arrangement of the song is by Chico O’Farrell and is sort of between the Sarah Vaughan version and the Frank Sinatra / Nelson Riddle arrangement from 1956.  It is probably one of my favourite arrangements on the whole album.

Ringo with wiife Maureen plus Maurice Gibb and Lulu

The third song on the set is the Fred & Doris Fisher composition Whispering Grass originally released by The Ink Spots in 1940.  This arrangement is by Ron Goodwin, and has a beautiful feel to it with the classical guitar and absolutely lush orchestration that rises and falls, comes out and returns, allowing the song to breathe.  I suppose that in the UK a lot of people know this song by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies from the British comedy series It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

The fourth song on the set is the song Bye Bye Blackbird.  Written by Mort Dixon and Ray Henderson, it was first released by Gene Austin in 1926.  This Maurice Gibb (yes, of The Bee Gees) arrangement is very much in the traditional music hall tradition, starting with banjo and vocal, and then being joined by double bass, swing time drums, and eventually the full orchestra.

Ted Daffan’s composition I’m A Fool To Care, originally released by Les Paul & Mary Ford in 1954, is here arranged understatedly by Manfred Mann bassist and long time Beatles’ friend Klaus Voormann, with some cracking syncopation.

George Martin, Paul McCartney & Ringo

Finally the sixth song (and the original end of Side One to the vinyl and tape) is the Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish composition Stardust (strange in a way considering that Ringo would be in a film with title some four years later).  For this song it says on Wikipedia that George Martin arranged this song, but on the album sleeve it says that it was arranged by Paul McCartney.  It is a beautiful song, beautifully played by all involved.  The dispute about McCartney having arranged this is that the originally recording logs show the arranger to have been Martin rather than McCartney.  Other than the fact that someone may have been credited when someone else should have been, it still doesn’t deter from it being a lovely song.

Links -
Miles Davis Quintet - Bye Bye Blackbird
Joe Cocker - Bye Bye Blackbird
George Jones & Gene Pitney - I'm A Fool To Care ( specially for my friend Drew)
Nat King Cole - Stardust (Had to put this, especially since you can see him singing - love it)
Henry Mancini - Stardust (who doesn't love the Mancini?)

1970

Looking back on this blog series, I probably should have started differently, since Ringo's Sentimental Journey album was the first release post-Beatles of any of the four members.  Nobody outside of The Beatles' team knew that though, since the general public wouldn't know until McCartney's album was issued exactly three weeks later to the day, which included the now famous press release fake interview sheet that explained about the split of The Beatles.

When I originally started this blog series though, I wasn't sure what I would be doing completely.  I had discussed McCartney's debut album in my other blog as a subject and some people felt that I was giving it too little for it to be in just one basic blog.  I ended up agreeing after much thought and so set about doing the blog that you now see before you.

Initially then I probably just envisioned doing McCartney because, quite honestly, I have a McCartney songbook.  I have since decided to make it tougher on myself though, by looking at the post-Beatles careers of all four ex-members.

The last album that The Beatles had recorded together was Abbey Road, which they had finished work on during the summer of 1969 I think.  They had already decided that The Beatles would be no more, but hadn't officially announced it.

The now ex-Beatles were doing their own thing.  George was apparently holidaying and touring as a guest musician for Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, Paul was going through a period of depression and recording at home (the fruits of which are too be seen in a few years time officially actually, since the release of multiple volumes of what are called The Rude Sessions have been announced - the name given to his home studio in Scotland), and John was doing the political statements such as the bed-in's and that, whilst recording what are now known as classic solo singles in the way of Give Peace A Chance, Cold Turkey, etc.  He would not release his first post-Beatles album until December of 1970.

Surprisingly, Ringo actually issued two albums in 1970.  Sentimental Journey in March was a set made up of standards such as the title track, Night And Day, and Whispering Grass.  His second release, Beaucoups of Blues, was a set of Country & Western songs that was released in September, with all of the songs written for him specially and recorded using the cream of Country musicians such as Jerry Reed and Pete Drake in Nashville.

In November George absolutely took the world by storm issuing his triple disc opus All Things Must Pass.  George had been very prolific in the latter years of The Beatles, and he had stockpiled an enormous set of songs because of the apparent difficulty with trying to get more songs on albums that were quite frankly written by Lennon & McCartney - a tough job for anyone.  He was, unfortunately, the third songwriter in the group.  Many have said that if he were the sole songwriter in another band then he may have got more acclaim in the sixties.  That is just what some people think, whereas he probably needed the inspiration of working with John and Paul to spur him on.  Who knows?  I do know that he continued to use material that he had written during the sixties on releases throughout the seventies.

John's first post-Beatles album release, Plastic Ono Band, was a very stark and bleak set, made up of tunes that must have been incredibly cathartic for him, because they were all incredibly honest and up front (to say the least).

Looking back on it, I can see that John's use of profanity on the album wasn't all that surprising, because he is after all heard using language in the background on Hey Jude, which if recorded now would have easily have been edited out, possibly even back then?  Back then though it would have surprised people, and it certainly did when I first heard the album.  I didn't hear it until the late eighties if truth be told, but it made an impact.

Paul's first album, as discussed, was a mixed bag of styles, experiments, song fragments (a piece of the unreleased song Suicide tagged on to Hot As Sun/Glasses for instance), and all sorts, recorded in a very lo-fi way to be honest.  The one ex-Beatle that everyone thought would have the most produced and arranged sound.  Something that did come as a shock to people.  It would take time for McCartney to become comfortable again with music.

So, during 1970 every single ex-Beatle issued an album at least.  A full year for me to look at then, albeit with the get-out clause that none of the ex-Beatles actually wrote anything on either of Ringo's first two albums that came out in 1970, so I'll take that as a bit of relaxation.

Now, time to get on with the next part then.

Links (Amazon) -
1. Ringo Starr - Sentimental Journey (UK/US)
2. Paul McCartney - McCartney UK - MP3/CD
3. Paul McCartney - McCartney US - MP3/CD
4. Ringo Starr - Beaucoups of Blues (UK/US)
5. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass (UK/US)
6. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band (UK/US)

Paul McCartney - McCartney (1970) Part Eleven

Album 1 - Paul McCartney - McCartney (1970)

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MP3 / CD / SPECIAL EDITION

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MP3 / CD / SPECIAL EDITION

1. The Lovely Linda

2. That Would Be Something

3. Valentine Day

4. Every Night

5. Hot As Sun / Glasses

6. Junk

7. Man We Was Lonely

8. Oo You

9. Momma Miss America

10. Teddy Boy

11. Singalong Junk

12. Maybe I'm Amazed

13. Kreen-Akrore

If I am being honest, this project isn't as easy as I thought it would be.  I never thought that it would be that easy, but I know now that it will be far more tricky than it probably should be.

Paul McCartney is probably the most accessible when it comes to getting hold of the music, evident in the fantastic Paul McCartney Chord Songbook that I keep advertising, but even that isn't a completist set, with some songs missing.  Even though I am technically going through the albums of their careers post-Beatles, I am still surprised that there aren't songbooks available that are more thorough for any of them.

Anyway, on with the blog then.

Here with Paul's first album I had to find alternative means to learn 'Valentine Day', 'Hot As Sun', 'Momma Miss America', and of course 'Kreen Akrore'.  Paul's album after this, Ram, features two more songs not included in the book.

So what we have then with the début album by Macca is, in all truth, a mixed bag.  It has some of his best material in Every Night, Junk, and Maybe I'm Amazed.  It has the sweet innocence of The Lovely Linda, which wouldn't have been the same if he had written and recorded more for the song as originally planned.  It has a song that is so very close to being his best with That Would Be Something, with just a Lennon bit missing (think about the middle eight in We Can Work It Out).  I know that is a controversial opinion, but it is just that - an opinion.  A fun song to play though, with a great groove.

Teddy Boy is one of those songs that he is so well known for from The Beatles' days - the story song.  It does a great job of that as well.  The music is lovely, the lyrics move it along, and it is one of his better story songs to be honest.

There are ideas that he "jammed" in the shape of 'Valentine Day', 'Oo You', 'Momma Miss America' (both parts), and the free form groove of Kreen Akrore.  Hot As Sun is a fantastic instrumental apparently from pre-Beatles times surprisingly.  I say surprisingly because I would have thought that they would have tried to record it themselves, especially as it was included in their set before even being signed.

Finally there is Man We Was Lonely, which is a really good country song.  It's unfortunate that a recording McCartney made with Johnny Cash in the late eighties of the song has never been issued, because that sounds like it would have been a good collaboration.

Anyway, the début album by Macca is a cross section of material, which I have obviously gone into great depth discussing.  Maybe I could have said more on some songs and the like, but still there is a lot for people to read and check out.

I like the set for the most part, and feel that it has a very lo-fi approach to it.  This is very much a sound that is in use today, which is in direct contrast to the glossy production sound that The Beatles became known for, and which today is very much the norm with almost all chart music having an almost overproduced sound to it.

There is so much variation in styles of music on the album as well, going through folk, reggae, rock, and other forms, which shows his obvious love for all forms of music.

In some ways it expands on the feel of the material that McCartney had on The White Album, which was very similar in feel and style.  There is also the fact that a couple of the songs featured on McCartney's début album were written at the same time as the material featured on that album (Junk and Teddy Boy specifically).

When it first came out it went immediately to number two, being held off by the best-selling album of the day, Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.  To be honest, I don't think that anyone stood a chance of knocking that album off, especially since that is one of the best selling albums of all time, spending 42 weeks at number one.

The actual recording style utilised also shows his extreme creativity, with the fact that he was just laying tracks down so quickly, and just seemed to know what was required.  He had irritated Lennon in the latter days of The Beatles sometimes with his seemingly assuming the role of arranger almost ("Beatle Head" as he jokingly called him).  It was just Paul's mind working so quickly that he wanted to get his ideas out there.  It showed the widening divergent paths where they were all going and, in a way, proved that The Beatles would inevitably have to split anyway, because they were stifling each other essentially.

There had been problems for all involved to get a look in with their compositions and ideas, especially for George Harrison I might add.  They almost needed to go elsewhere for an outlet for their creativity.  It's almost a shame in a way because there are a lot of bands who would allow their members the freedom outside of the group, such as members of Queen, The Rolling Stones, and so many more.  If this had been available as an option in the sixties (soundtracks and the Unfinished stuff of Lennon with Yoko Ono not taken into account), then who knows what might have happened?  This is pure conjecture though.

What this album does show though is that McCartney did need to really knuckle down with his songwriting. There are traces of absolute brilliance, but also some material that could have used a little more time involved.  It does however stand out when held up against the releases of the other ex-Beatles from that period.  It is for the most part a very laid back set, with warts and all on show for all to see.

For many years it was an acclaimed album but, tellingly, a recent review in Q magazine of the album's reissue marked it with I think just three stars.  Lennon, when asked in a 1970 interview for Rolling Stone magazine in the US, said he thought that Paul had "missed an opportunity, and that he wouldn't make the same mistake again."  I do think that Lennon was very bitter at that time though.

I most definitely wouldn't dismiss the album though, because as I said to do so would mean missing some of Paul's best material from the post-Beatles years.  The other titles aren't quite as irritating as you may remember either.  You can take that from someone who used to avoid the album.


Links -
1. Paul McCartney Chord songbook at Amazon UK
2. Another blog about the McCartney album. (It was actually the rock band The Faces who recorded a cover version of Maybe I'm Amazed, who featured Rod Stewart as their lead singer, and not a solo recording by Rod Stewart).
3. A fantastic website that details Paul McCartney's recording sessions called Macca Central.

Paul McCartney - McCartney (1970) Part Ten

Album 1 - Paul McCartney - McCartney (1970)

UK Amazon -

MP3 / CD / SPECIAL EDITION

US Amazon -

MP3 / CD / SPECIAL EDITION

1. The Lovely Linda

2. That Would Be Something

3. Valentine Day

4. Every Night

5. Hot As Sun / Glasses

6. Junk

7. Man We Was Lonely

8. Oo You

9. Momma Miss America

10. Teddy Boy

11. Singalong Junk

12. Maybe I'm Amazed

13. Kreen-Akrore

Now we come to the last song on Paul's début album, and what a distinctive finish it is.  In some ways it highlights the whole approach of the album perfectly.  The whole set is topped and tailed by experimentation essentially.

The album starts with a test of the equipment apparently with The Lovely Linda, and here it is finished by one of the most experimental pieces in his entire solo catalogue.  I put it that way because things such as The Fireman and Twin Freaks are pseudonyms that he hid behind to a point.  Even the Electric Arguments under the pseudonym of The Fireman was pretty much straight McCartney considering that he even went out promoting it as if it were a fully fledged solo album, and in fact it could very easily be seen as McCartney 3 in my book, even featuring the brilliance of Sing The Changes, which is classic McCartney.  But again I digress as per my usual self.

He said that the idea behind this last song (Kreen Akrore) on his debut album came from him watching a programme on television about a Brazilian tribe, where at one point they were doing their native music with the traditional drums, chanting and such.  He took inspiration from this and decided to come up with something in a similar vein.  He even named the piece after the tribe from the television programme that he had watched.

In essence he is experimenting to try and work out where to go now that The Beatles had finished.  The album in a way is just that.  There are obvious left-overs from that time, but for the most part it is made up of tracks like this where he is trying out something to see where it would take him.

To start things off he was recording at Morgan Studios and began this song by just coming up with drum patterns, possibly with ideas in his head as to what he would add.  To this he added piano, guitar and organ to the first part.  A later section of the piece that was similar had the same added, but with two guitars rather than one.  Elsewhere there is multi-tracked vocalised animal noises, chanting and the like from Paul and Linda.  Finally there is an actual bow and arrow sound (the bow broke in the process), a stampeding animals sound that is basically Paul (and maybe Linda) patting a guitar case.  There was a recording made apparently of a fire that was started in the studio, but not used.  Nowadays I think that health and safety would have something to say about that!

Oh, I almost forgot.  The drums on the piece are actually two takes at the same time by the way, which would explain a lot.  This isn't something new, but it does give it a very interesting sound considering the use of stereo on show.

It is an interesting piece, especially if you take it in context as an experimental piece.  McCartney said that the piece is supposed to signify "the sound of a hunt", which I think it does very well.  It isn't supposed to be Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, She's Leaving Home, or of that sort of ilk.  To compare it to such would be understandable, but not getting the point.  It would be like people sitting down and comparing Lennon's Revolution 9 to In My Life, Norwegian Wood (itself featuring a some lines written by McCartney as Lennon helped McCartney on Eleanor Rigby), and Julia (an underrated gem of a song).


Links -
1. Me performing a section of Kreen Akrore
2. Zongadude performing Kreen Akrore live.
3. Paul McCartney Chord songbook at Amazon UK