Paul Muldoon

I’m glad I had seen the eight hour documentary “The Beatles: Get Back” before reading McCartney’s book. I gained a new respect for all four of the Beatles after watching the Peter Jackson film, and that helped me see and hear what Paul said in this book much more objectively. The book is really a wonderful peek into Paul’s world from the time he was in his early 20s until now into his 80s. Some of the friction between Paul and John is discussed here, not with any particular new insight, but with a sensitivity and emotion that only time can provide. I saw the Beatles in concert in Indianapolis in 1964 when I was 14-years-old, and reading Paul’s book gave me another appreciation for that privilege. This book is definitely a “must read” for any Paul McCartney fan and an “absolute read” for any Beatles fan.… (més)

Fun to read through. Paul’s quite a packrat, reproductions of lots of lyrics written on scraps of paper, of course, but also lots of other paper artifacts like papers from high school and funny little sketches. Mountains of photos from all times in his life. And the main thing is lyrics to many of his songs,each accompanied with recollections about writing the song or other memories that the song provoked. These comments are well written, he’s very well spoken and funny. I totally loved the book to start with but 800 pages in a couple weeks is a lot of anything, even something good. (Of course the majority of the pages are photos, it’s not 800 pages of text!)

… (més)

Was Paul your fave Beatle? Do you enjoy reading song lyrics and being in on the creation? If not, you might want to skip this immense tome that covers A - K songs written by Lennon/McCartney (or McCartney/Lennon, depending on Paul's recollection of who wrote more of each) from “All My Loving” through “Kiss of Venus” (no, I don't remember it nor many Wings songs). There's some remarkable recollections of John and Paul's friendship, dating back to their teenage years, and of their ability to sit down, two boys with two guitars, and not get up until they had composed a song or two. His ambivalence about the grown-up John, his lashing attacks and lack of confidence, are attributed mostly to John's miserable childhood. Paul's, in contrast, was sunny until his mother died when he was in his early teens, but he still had his father and brother to keep him striving. There's very little about George and Ringo and about how John and Paul's partnership excluded them and caused George to leave the group. Paul's choices of his own favorites here – “I Saw her Standing There”, and “Here, There, and Everywhere” - pretty much match my own. Perusing this was time would be time well spent for any Beatles fan.… (més)