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Friday, April 21, 2017

McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed


Here's another first (as in first bought when it came out) and the McCartney solo album was a straight away purchase and no mistake but 'Maybe I'm Amazed' became something of an anthem for loads of us. What a great love song it is. I recall hitchhiking to Leicester Polytech as was then (later to be DeMontfort University and also where I did my fine art degree under the tutelage of Gavin Bryars and art historian Fred Orton) to see The Faces and Rodney introduced their version of 'Maybe..' by saying . . . "Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Mateus Rose Ltd  . . . . and here's a number you may not know it and if you don't know it, I really don't know where ya bin!"

He was right, recorded on home recording machines for the most part this showed us all, as if there had been any doubt, that Paul could play every instrument if required not just bass, but drums and lead guitar too


On this day in music history: April 20, 1970 - “McCartney”, the solo debut album by Paul McCartney is released (UK release date is on April 17, 1970). Produced by Paul McCartney, it is recorded at 7 Cavendish Avenue, Abbey Road Studios in London and Morgan Studios in Willesden, UK from Late 1969 - March 1970. Following the recording of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album, Paul McCartney works on his first solo release while The Beatles are in the process of breaking up, booking studio time under an assumed name and also recording at home on a Studer four-track recorder set up in his living room. The home recordings are done without the benefit of a mixing board, with McCartney literally plugging microphones directly into the back of the tape machine. Though no singles are issued from it, the album is very successful with the track “Maybe I’m Amazed” becoming a major airplay hit. Eight days prior to the albums UK release, advance copies of the album are received by the press. Inserted into the album is a short Q&A written by McCartney that in effect announces the break up of The Beatles, and publicly declares his departure from the band the next day on April 10, 1970. In June of 2011, a remastered version of the original album is reissued, including  a 2CD + 1 DVD archival boxed set, featuring previously unreleased material from the recording sessions. “McCartney” spends three weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 200, number two on the UK album chart, and is certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

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