18. June 1942 (to Jim and Mary McCartney of Liverpool)- it’s a Mac attack

While George always has and always will be my favourite Beatle, have I to doff my cap to Paul. If for no other reason than he is seriously under-rated. Paul has an image as a cuddly inoffensive figure since the 1970’s. John Lennon’s tragic and appalling early death, his obvious interest in the avant-garde (as witnessed in his marriage to Yoko Ono) and his political activity have mean that he has always been seen as more credible. However over the last few years there has been a long overdue reassessment of McCartney’s contribution to popular culture (the loss of his beloved Linda and breakdown of his second marriage must help).

McCartney stayed in London throughout the Sixties while the other Beatles settled in the commuter belt. This enabled him to keep in contact with what was going on artistically. He had an interest in electronic music going back to 1965, creating the legendary lost track ‘Carnival of light’ which he recorded almost 18 months before John recorded ‘revolution’.

It is telling to compare the way John and Paul expressed their grief at their loss of their mother’s in their teenage years. John’s songs ‘Julia’ ‘Mother’ and ‘my Mummy’s dead’ are highly personal and particular to his experience of losing his mother Julia. They are also emotionally raw. Paul’s ‘Let it be’ imagines his dead mother Mary comforting him during the break-up of the Beatles. In doing so he wrote something which becomes a song which speaks more universally and become a song which has brought comfort to many.

It is also noticeable that McCartney compositions tend to be considerably more popular with Soul artists than Lennon’s. Among the tremendous soul versions of McCartney’s songs I particularly like are ‘Yesterday’ by Marvin Gaye and also the Impressions, ‘Hey Jude’ by Wilson Picket, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ by Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin (amongst hundreds of soul versions of his songs). (Indeed McCartney is much respected by the other members of the June42 club to the point that Brian Wilson and Gilberto Gil both covered different songs of his from Sgt. Pepper ‘She’s leaving home’ and ‘when I’m 64’ in their recent concerts)

McCartney also has also in the last few years been very consciously keeping up to date with what is going on in popular music. He appeared on Super Furry Animals track ‘Receptacle for the respectable’ crunching vegetables in a tribute to his doing the same thing for Brian Wilson in 1967. He also created a dance act ‘Fireman’.

McCartney took stewardship of the Beatles in the difficult period after Brian Epstein’s death. He was also generous in writing and producing other acts.

Kudos to McCartney  for releasing a genuinely politically contentious song ‘Give Ireland back to the Irish’ in 1972. This was banned by the BBC. Kudos also for releasing ‘Mary had a little lamb’ as a pointed response to the controversy surrounding this song.

I also have to say that ‘ let me roll it’ his generous response to John Lennon’s ‘How do you sleep’ stands enormously in his favour.

All in all Sir Macca we salute you. And you were right about the 'Let it be' album. Have to admire that you were so bothered, you got the original released 34 years on.