OLIVIA HARRISON, LINDA McCARTNEY And BARBARA BACH At The Premiere Of GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD STREET.

“Nowadays, McCartney’s problem is one of perceptions, publicly and his own self-perception, I think. He’s always leaned toward the grand, the orchestral; his musical progression away from the rigid rock & roll rules is entirely natural – if not well received – all the way to 1992’s Liverpool Oratorio. His rock & roll performances of late are often retreads of his older material – Unplugged, Live in Russia – and well they should be; he’s not a 20-year-old Beatle, and he’s not trying to be. If you’re disappointed with Paul for not somehow matching his work with the Beatles, as I often was growing up, reroute your expectations. That innocence is long gone. Just look at the black-and-white footage of him singing ‘Yesterday’ as compared to the footage of him doing ‘Let It Be.’ There’s something so sweet in his arched eyebrows, quivering smile and shy eyes that barely glance at the camera, that’s been totally eradicated by the bearded, bloated ‘Let It Be’ performance – by which time he’s aware that the eye of the camera is the face of the audience, and he won’t let it go. And now he’s stuck with the task of growing old gracefully, knowing full well that the single eye is holding him accountable for his every move. He should have followed Lennon’s lead by behaving like an ass – under the guise of the naked truth no one questions your motives. People confuse purported “total honesty” with integrity. That’s why Lennon was allowed to say whatever he damn well pleased about whomever he damn well pleased and still change his mind the next week with impunity. He was the Honest Beatle. […] My final point is this (and I do have one): I don’t want Paul McCartney to go down in history as a pussy-whipped vegetarian goofball in linen suits and high tops, always pointing at the crowd woo-hooing and yee-hawing, like somebody’s dad on Karaoke night. I don’t want him to pass quietly in the night not having heard in a very long time that his music thrilled, aroused, and colored some peoples’ lives to a greater degree than his wildest ego-rides could even imagine. I want to tell him that his voice is as familiar to me as a family member and, in the direst times, has calmed me like my father’s hand. I want to tell him that my best friend is my best friend because she always skips to the McCartney songs on Beatles’ albums and because she gave me a copy of Live in Russia. I want to tell him that I just may marry my boyfriend because he thinks ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ was saved by Paul’s drumming and harmony on the chorus. I want to tell Paul all this, and I want to tell him now, because if there’s one glaring reminder to take home from the Beatles [Anthology] special it’s that when a musical idol dies, there simply is no more music. Yes, I know, John, the dream is over, but I still believe in Beatles. Namely Paul.”

— Mindy LaBernz, Austin Chronicle: In Defense of Paul McCartney. (December 15th, 1995)

“George told me once that I smelt like home. I got all paranoid, you know, thinking I smelt of fish and chip shops or dirty bars or something. But he said no, I just always smelt of home.” — Paul McCartney

“It used to be PaulnGeorge… as one word. They were the kids from the grammar school. That’s how we referred to them. For ages we didn’t even know George really, he was just ‘Paul’s mate’.” — Len Garry

“The papers try and stir things and act like there’s some kind of problem, but at the end of the day, I love him, he’s my mate and that’s all there is to it.” — George Harrison

“Paul and George always ganged up on people. Like Stuart. They could get pretty bitchy.” — John Lennon

“They used to spend all of their spare time together. Even the school holidays.” — Hunter Davis

“George didn’t mind slagging Paul off. But he HATED other people doing it.” — Tom Petty

It came as a welcome relief that John and Paul, along with Neil Aspinall, planned a quick trip to New York on May 11, where several press events had been scheduled to announce Apple Records in the States. Friends agreed that getting John away might do him a world of good; being alone, with just Paul to steady him, might have a calming influence. Paul was grappling with his own set of anxieties. “We wanted a grand launch,” Paul said, “but I had a strange feeling and was very nervous.” Drugs, he later admitted, may have been at the root of his problem. – Bob Spitz, The Beatles: The Biography

The Beatles perform at the Scala Theatre during the filming of A Hard Day’s Night, 1964

MAY 17th, 1971: RAM IS RELEASED

❝ Ladies and gentlemen, this is an album from a long, long time ago, when the world was different. This is an album that is part of my history – it goes back to the wee hills of Scotland where it was formed. It’s an album called RAM. It reminds me of my hippie days and the free attitude with which was created. I hope you’re going to like it, because I do! ❞

Genre: indie pop, psychedelia SIDE ONE: 1. Too Many People                                2. 3 Legs                                  3. Ram On                    4. Dear Boy                    5. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey                    6. Smile Away SIDE TWO: 1. Heart of the Country                     2. Monkberry Moon Delight                     3. Eat at Home                     4. Long Haired Lady                     5. Ram On (Reprise)                     6. The Back Seat of My Car

PAUL: Linda and I were travelling through Scotland, heading north from Glasgow. As I’m driving, I’m just thinking. Linda often used to say she can see my brain working, my face would get a look on it and it’d be just filing through ideas. And I just hit upon the word ‘ram’. It’s strong, it’s a male animal, and then there is the idea of ‘ramming’, you know, pushing forward strongly. 

⊱  The cover photo was Linda’s and the surrounding border was something I did. It was all very homemade and quirky, but I think that added to the charm of it. I remember when we were doing the layout for the gatefold, we put a little piece of grass from the garden and stuck it on. There were all sorts of little things that just came from our lifestyle at that moment. […] when we went to Scotland, we had a very free, sort of hippie lifestyle. It meant I could sit around in the kitchen in the little farmhouse we lived in, with the kids running around and me just with my guitar, making up anything I fancied. 

⊱  I’d been serious long enough with the Beatles, and I wanted to see if I could do something that played more into my love of the surreal. As far as art’s concerned, I probably like modern art more than traditional art. […] For me, it manifested itself in things like “Monkberry Moon Delight” or “3 Legs”. They were slightly wacky; it was nice having an opportunity to do that rather than having to write for someone else’s preconceived notion.

 ⊱  I tried to avoid any Beatles clichés and just went to different places. So the songs became a little more episodic or something. I took on that kind of idea a bit more than I would’ve with The Beatles. I suppose I was just letting myself be free. So if I wanted to do “Monkberry Moon Delight” with a “piano up my nose”, then I figured, that’ll be ok.

Skåne, Sweden

The Beatles in Stirling, Scotland. 30 April 1964

THE divorce selfie