Paul McCartney is one of the most gifted songwriters alive. Here are five things you need to know about him:
From Bournemouth, with love: Photographer Robert Freeman released the coffee-table book “The Beatles: A Private View” in October 2003. In the introduction, he talks about his first time meeting the band in August 1963 in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. “The purpose of my trip was just to meet them, and if the rapport between us was good, to take some informal portraits and shots of their stage performance. … Two days later their record producer, George Martin, phoned Brian to say the deadline for the
printing of their new album cover was close. He needed a photograph urgently. Brian asked me if I had any ideas. Remembering a shot I had done earlier that year of three graphic designers, I said I did. By the end of the next day, the cover for ‘With the Beatles’ was done. The picture was shot on grainy black-and-white film (same as for the jazz musicians), using the window light of the hotel dining room. I wanted simplicity and visual impact. No smiles – just a straight, simple look – like four dark angels.”
From the fans, with love: The Beatles’ career has been ceaselessly documented, and Allen J. Wiener’s “The Beatles: The Ultimate Recording Guide, Third Revised Edition” is an example of the extent to which fans will go. A day-by-day tracking of the Fab Four through 1967, for example, includes: Jan. 18, Paul was interviewed by Jo Durden- Smith for a half-hour program “Scene Special: It’s So Far Out It’s Straight Down”; on March 11, the band won three Grammys in America; on May 15, Paul met Linda Eastman during a Georgie Fame performance at London’s Bag O’Nails nightclub; on June 14, they recorded “All You Need Is Love”; five days later, Paul told Life magazine that he had experimented with LSD, becoming the first Beatle to admit it.
From Russia, with love: McCartney and Ringo Starr were the only Beatles to ever play in Russia, where the Beatles were effectively banned in the ’60s. Starr played the capital in 1998, but it was McCartney’s mid- 2003 concert in Red Square that got the most attention. One news organization said, “The only person in Red Square who wasn’t moved was Lenin.” Author Artemy Troitsky said, “The Beatles – Paul, John, George and Ringo – have done more for the fall of communism than any other Western institution.” McCartney’s monumental show is captured on the DVD “Paul McCartney in Red Square.”
From Denver, with love: Glimpses of previous set lists suggest McCartney will lean toward the heavy variety in his show Tuesday night: A “Magical Mystery Tour” start and a closing with “The End.” In the middle: “Let It Be,” “Blackbird” and “Yesterday” – of course. But also perhaps “I’ll Follow the Sun,” “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Got to Get You Into My Life.”
From “Jenny Wren,” with love: The second single on McCartney’s latest LP, “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard,” is “Jenny Wren” – and the bouncy track is more stripped-down than much of his solo catalog while at the same time maintaining that hushed acoustic nature that distinguished so many of his legendary compositions.
Paul McCartney plays the Pepsi Center Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Tickets, $45.50-$250, are available via Ticketmaster.
