Paul McCartney
The 100 Greatest Rock Stars Since That Was A Thing
Three of the 100 are in this picture! The Rolling Stones, in 1964, from left to right: Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones. The problem with lists like this is they are invariably bullshit. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a bullshit list. I’m not saying we did a scientific one either. Because that isn’t possible — actually, it is, if you wanted some compilation of who sold the most records/concert tickets/has the most fans/got the most death threats, etc., and someone could come up with a bunch of very empirical metrics and create a “heat index” or something, and could deliver an actual scientific ranking! But we, um, didn’t do that. In fact we didn’t even, technically, do the “we...
The 50 Best Live Albums of the 1970s
The concert industry exploded in the 1970s, and the live album, a stopgap project once reserved for only the biggest artists, became a compulsory ritual and a pivotal moment for many artists. Live albums captured legendarily loud bands like The Who and The Ramones in their natural element. Once obscure regional acts like Bob Seger, KISS and Cheap Trick exploded into the mainstream with live albums. The Band, The Stooges, and Velvet Underground put their final gigs on vinyl. Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young (as his ongoing archive series shows), and Jackson Browne recorded entire sets of new songs onstage. The Grateful Dead released several official live albums (and continue to do so) that only made fans want to bootleg shows on their own more. With the 50th anniversary of a landmark live album, Th...
SPIN Daybreaker: 20 Songs to Kickstart Your Weekend
It’s been a minute since we last made put something out, but what a lovely week to kickstart a new and improved SPIN Daybreaker. We are back and better with a new format and lucky for you, no more saving new playlists every week. We’ll now be updating the same playlist with new songs weekly, so just be sure you save your favorite tunes from our selection before they disappear into the void, or follow our SPIN Daybreaker: Complete Collection playlist to keep the entire Daybreaker catalog. That being said, we are coming back with an uptempo mix of some of the catchiest pop, indie-pop and electronic songs that’ll get you out of your seat and have you daydreaming about the summer fun that’s right around the corner. These artists have been quickly dominating the charts and circulating the socia...
Paul McCartney Recalls First Time Bob Dylan Got the Beatles High
For Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday next month (May 24), Paul McCartney spoke to Uncut for a special series on the legendary songwriter called “Dylan Revisited.” McCartney recounted the time Dylan gave the Beatles marijuana, getting them high for the first time. “I’m not sure whether he’s very keen on me telling this, but here we go,” McCartney said, innocently pretending this is his first time telling his favorite story of all time. But, in honor of the soon-to-be octogenarian, let us revisit: “It was at the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue and 59th in New York City in August 1964,” McCartney began. “We were in a hotel room, all being good lads having our Scotch and Coke – it was an afterparty, I think. Dylan arrived and he went into the bedroom with h...
Radiohead Guitarist Ed O’Brien Remixes Paul McCartney’s ‘Slidin’’
The latest reimagining of a Paul McCartney tune comes courtesy of Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien, who shared his remix of “Slidin.’” It will appear on the April 16th release of McCartney III Imagined, which features numerous artists putting their own spin on songs from last year’s McCartney III. O’Brien worked on the track with producer Paul Epworth. and told BBC Radio 6 Music more about remix. “I really liked [‘Slidin’], and so I said to Paul Epworth, ‘would you fancy getting stuck in?’ He was really up for it. It was great. A moment of light in the darkness of the winter that’s just been,” O Brien said. “We had a lot of fun. Got into [McCartney’s] vocals and added some chaos, some guitar — my reference point was ‘Helter Skelter.’ Ramp up the intensity!” Prior to “Slidin’,...
Paul McCartney’s McCartney III Imagined to Feature Phoebe Bridgers, Damon Albarn, St Vincent, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak
Paul McCartney ended up having quite a productive lockdown, or in his own words, “rockdown.” He made an album by his lonesome, the aptly titled McCartney III that was released in December. Now? He’s upped the ante quite a bit! The ex-Beatle has personally enlisted an all-star group of artists to contribute their takes on a fresh version of the LP titled McCartney III Imagined. Phoebe Bridgers, St. Vincent, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak, Damon Albarn and Massive Attack are just some of the big-timers who lent their talents to the collection with either a new performance or a remix of the original tune. <!– // Brid Player Singles. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ “div”: “Brid_10143537”, “obj”: {“id”:”25115″,”width...
The 50 Best Albums of 1971
It’s become a cliché, even for post-Baby Boomers, to look back wistfully on the early ’70s as some kind of untouchable golden age for popular music. But when you survey all the era’s best albums in list form, it’s hard not to trust that instinct. I mean…holy shit. In 1971, the psychedelic era hadn’t completely wilted; prog was nearing its popularity apex; Motown was still a revolutionizing soul music; the folk-rock movement was in full flight. The possibilities were limitless. You know it’s a banner year when 50 albums don’t begin to scratch the surface — when both John Lennon and Paul McCartney release definitive LPs and neither make the top 10. Was 1971 the greatest album year ever? We’ll save that debate for another time (or maybe another list). For now, we present 50 stone-cold cl...
Paul McCartney Pays Tribute to His ‘Biggest’ Rival Gerry Marsden
After news of Gerry Marsden’s death broke on Sunday, Paul McCartney took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Gerry and the Pacemakers frontman. “Gerry was a mate from our early days in Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene. His unforgettable performances of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey remain in many people’s hearts as reminders of a joyful time in British music…” he wrote alongside a backstage photo from the Beatles tour with Gerry and the Pacemakers and Roy Orbison in 1963. “My sympathies go to his wife Pauline and family. See ya, Gerry. I’ll always remember you with a smile.” See his thoughtful post below. My sympathies go to his wife Pauline and family. See ya, Gerry. I’ll always remember you with a smile. – Paul — Paul McCartney (@Pa...
Paul McCartney Pays Tribute to His ‘Biggest’ Rival Gerry Marsden
After news of Gerry Marsden’s death broke on Sunday, Paul McCartney took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Gerry and the Pacemakers frontman. “Gerry was a mate from our early days in Liverpool. He and his group were our biggest rivals on the local scene. His unforgettable performances of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey remain in many people’s hearts as reminders of a joyful time in British music…” he wrote alongside a backstage photo from the Beatles tour with Gerry and the Pacemakers and Roy Orbison in 1963. “My sympathies go to his wife Pauline and family. See ya, Gerry. I’ll always remember you with a smile.” See his thoughtful post below. My sympathies go to his wife Pauline and family. See ya, Gerry. I’ll always remember you with a smile. – Paul — Paul McCartney (@Pa...
Paul McCartney to People Who Think Masks Infringe on Civil Liberties: ‘That Is Stupid’
On Friday, Paul McCartney finished his McCartney album trilogy with the release of McCartney III. On Sunday, he visited CBS This Morning to chat about making the record at home during “rockdown,” and likened it to other quarantine activities, like baking bread and cleaning. “The other thing people have been doing has been cleaning out their closets. So that’s a bit what [McCartney III] was,” Macca explained. “I just started cleaning out my cupboards. Like, ‘What about that song last year that I started but never got to finish. ‘Let’s have a look at that, let’s finish this.” As with his other namesake albums, McCartney played all the instruments on his new collection of songs; however, he was reluctant to work with anyone aside from a few engineers at his house...
Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin Team for Six-Part Documentary Series
Paul McCartney’s new album, McCartney III, will release this Friday, and it was announced today that McCartney and Rick Rubin are joining forces for a six-part documentary series that will take a look at Macca’s historic career. In the trailer, the duo are working together at an undisclosed studio location, where they talk about how the bass guitar can control a band while showing vintage footage of the Beatles and McCartney’s home archives. “We realized we were writing songs that were memorable, not because we wanted them to be memorable, because we had to remember them,” McCartney tells Rubin. He also alludes to what is the greatest songwriting moment of his life. Watch the full trailer below. [embedded content] According to Deadline, the untitled project is the first time that...
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr Remember John Lennon on the 40th Anniversary of His Murder
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Sean and Julian Lennon, remember their bandmate and father on the day when, 40 years ago, John Lennon was shot and killed in front of his New York City apartment, in what news outlets at the time called “an unspeakable tragedy.” A deranged fan, Mark David Chapman, killed the former Beatle with two gunshots. Lennon’s Yoko Ono was by his side at the time and the singer was only 40. In 2020, Chapman was denied parole for the 11th time; he’ll next be eligible in 2022. On social media, McCartney said, “a sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world.” A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known ...
