Paul McCartney

McCartney in 1970 places fully formed songs beside shorter instrumental pieces and modest recording experiments. Paul played the instruments and sang the parts, with Linda contributing backing vocals. Maybe I’m Amazed, Every Night and Junk demonstrate how much melodic substance can exist inside a record whose surface often remains informal.

RAM in 1971 was credited to Paul and Linda McCartney. Recording in New York brought other musicians into the process, giving the arrangements a different kind of friction and exchange. Too Many People, Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey and The Back Seat of My Car make contrasting demands on the voice and structure. The album’s quick turns are part of its character, with pastoral ease and much more concentrated studio construction living side by side.

Band on the Run in 1973 was made after two band members left before the Lagos sessions, leaving Paul, Linda and Denny Laine to carry the project forward. The title track changes scenes within a single song, while Jet and Let Me Roll It make very different uses of a short, recognisable instrumental idea. Those records show three distinct working environments rather than three steps towards one final method. McCartney could later return to solitary, electronic experimentation on McCartney II without abandoning the melodic instincts heard in the earlier songs. The thread is an interest in what a musical phrase can become once it is given a rhythm, another voice or an unexpected change of direction. The setting matters because it changes the possibilities available to the writing.