Paul McCartney wants to be canonized

It is a true obsession for Paul McCartney.

He has spent decades trying to correct the public perception that, within the Beatles, the avant-garde impulse was embodied in John Lennon.

And he manages arguments in his favor: in the mid-sixties, Paul was immersed in the heart of the London

underground

while John languished in his house on the bourgeois periphery.

In 1967, McCartney produced, with his three cronies, a delirious 14-minute piece, 'Carnival of Light', conceived for occasional use in a psychedelic

rave

.

It was recorded a year and a half before Lennon's famous 'Revolution 9'... and never published, to the frustration of its author: Ringo and the heirs of Lennon and George Harrison have repeatedly refused to let 'Carnival of Light' be part of the canon of The Beatles.

'Self-portrait in a mirror' (Paris, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).© 1964 Paul McCartney

'Ringo Starr' (London, 1963).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).© 1963 - 1964 Paul McCartney

'The crowds that chased us in 'A Hard Day's Night' were based on moments like this.

Taken from the back of our car on West Fifty-Eighth, crossing the Avenue of the Americas' (New York, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).

© 1964 Paul McCartney

'Photographers in Central Park' (New York, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).

© 1964 Paul McCartney

'George looks young, handsome and relaxed.

Living life' (Miami beach, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).© 1964 Paul McCartney

'John and George' (Paris, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).

© 1964 Paul McCartney

'Self-portrait' (London, 1963).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).

© 1963 - 1964 Paul McCartney

'John Lennon' (Paris, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).© 1964 Paul McCartney

Another route to the cool

respectability

favored by McCartney: the instigation of projects that escape his main occupation and that are sometimes published abroad.

Thus, his collaborations with the producer Youth, under the name of The Fireman (perhaps not trivial fact: a tribute to Paul's father, who served as a volunteer firefighter during the Luftwaffe raids on Liverpool in the Second World War).

El Bombero released three albums between 1993 and 2008, ranging from

ambient

clouds to mostly conventional songs but with electronic clothing.

Youth, whom we met as the bassist of Killing Joke, also participated in

Liverpool Sound Collage

(2000), where fragments of Paul and the Beatles are fused with contributions from the Welsh Super Furry Animals.

With the Freelance remixer Hellraiser, Paul released

Twin Freaks

(2005), a dozen of his songs put through the

mash-up grinder,

the technique of grafting a pre-existing recording onto another of a different origin.

These diversions come out without much fuss, without revealing much about the production process, but with the underlying message that, be careful, Paul is there investigating.

The same goes for his five orchestral or choral albums, all released on classical music labels.

With the exception of the first, the

Liverpool Oratorio

(1991), which highlighted the participation of composer Carl Davis on the cover, there is mystery regarding the creative percentage attributable to the symphonic training assistants who developed and orchestrated the melodic occurrences of Paul, someone outside the world. of the scores;

More than one has whispered - but discreetly, so that the Beatle

does not get upset

- that he also deserved to appear as a co-author.

'John Lennon' (Paris, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).© 1964 Paul McCartney

Let's not look surprised: no pop artist refuses to win medals for his, let's say, extracurricular activities.

And Paul McCartney also has a powerful business structure—MPL Communications—that meticulously looks after his interests.

Sometimes, to the point of paroxysm: of his last album,

McCartney III

,

there are dozens of different versions, with minimal changes to the cover or the color of the vinyl.

Absurd?

Well, there will always be people willing to collect all the variations.

And marketing is there to encourage demand.

MPL also maintains the most extensive archive on McCartney.

For years, Paul has flatly refused to sign autographs — “let no one benefit from my signature” — but he invests money in the collectors' market, discreetly acquiring pieces of interest.

And he exploits what he stores.

Thus something that was thought to have been lost was discovered: a set of photographs taken by Paul himself during 1963 and 1964, when the Beatles went from British madness to global phenomenon.

They are images captured by the Pentax SLR of him in England, in Paris and on his tremendous first visit to the United States.

Bolstered by the author's memories, they have become a book and a traveling exhibition,

Eyes of the Storm

.

'The crowds that chased us in 'A Hard Day's Night' were based on moments like this.

Taken from the back of our car on West Fifty-Eighth, crossing the Avenue of the Americas' (New York, 1964).

Image included in the book '1964.

The eyes of the storm' (Liburuak, 2023).

© 1964 Paul McCartney

Now that taking snapshots has become trivialized, McCartney points out that he then worked with rolls of 24 or 36 photos, riding a roller coaster, sometimes without time to adjust the sharpness of the image.

He was in the eye of the hurricane and what he portrays is the excitement of the moment, the spirit of camaraderie of the Liverpool expedition, the delight of seeing that his success does not seem to have an expiration date.

American journalists are obsessed with the length of their hair, but ordinary people regard them with affability (yes, even those police officers whose weapons are intimidating).

A spark of genius: when they take a few days off in Miami, Paul switches to Kodachrome film and captures the tropical heat, the abundance of temptations, the amazement of finding himself in a country that ignores the post-war hardships that have marked the childhood of the four members of the Beatles.

If

1964. The eyes of the storm

offers us to look through the rear window,

Letras

is an exemplary product.

And strange: few musicians are willing to break down (and contextualize) their work.

The result of years of conversations with the Irish poet Paul Muldoon,

Lyrics

was released in a deluxe edition—two hardcover volumes in a slipcase—in 2021, addressing the secrets of 154 songs.

Now it has been compacted into a single, easily manageable volume: the color photos disappear but seven songs not included in the original version are added.

Although it is worth noting that the

printing

gremlins have done their thing: “Paperback Writer” has become “Paperback Composer” (uh?).

McCartney has been reluctant to biographies;

in fact, he actively attempted to torpedo those of Chet Flippo, Howard Sounes, Philip Norman and others.

Here we are amazed by the skill of the interviewer, perhaps endowed with the mythical

gift of the Irish gab

, a contagious eloquence capable of making Paul evoke the circumstances he was going through when a certain song emerged, the tricks of the trade and even the possible meaning of verses. elusive.

For example, the text about 'Eleanor Rigby' becomes a dazzling essay where we go from youthful experiences in Liverpool to Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and, uh, the mummified mother of

Psycho

.

Look for it in your bookstore

Look for it in your bookstore

You can follow

Babelia

on

Facebook

and

X

, or sign up here to receive

our weekly newsletter

.

Subscribe to continue reading

Read without limits

Keep reading

I am already a subscriber

_