Paul McCartney is an amazing musician. He seems to be a musical savant who can play guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, and nearly any instrument he picks up. McCartney III is the third album in his 50 year solo career that he made with almost no help from anyone else…writing all the songs, playing all the instruments, and singing all the vocal parts.
The above album cover and the photos used in this article were taken by Mary McCartney. The photos are really good, and you can click to enlarge them. You may remember Mary from this photo her mom, Linda, took for the first McCartney album in 1970:
That’s Mary peeking out from Paul’s coat.
That first album featured the songs “Maybe I’m Amazed”, “Junk”, and “Every Night”, which were the tracks worthy of being on a Beatles album. McCartney II came out in 1980, and featured “Coming Up” (#1), “Waterfalls”, “Summer’s Day Song”, and the some-like-it-some-don’t “Temporary Secretary”. Now 30-years later, at the age of 78, Paul McCartney has done it again.
Paul says the pandemic forced him away from live performances and into his own studio. The result was released yesterday, December 18th, 2020. McCartney III has received almost all positive reviews.
I love so many of Paul McCartney’s songs that I own nearly everything he’s released. My collecting began when The Beatles first broke in America. So, the next sentence is hard to write. I have to be honest and say that on McCartney III his voice shows it’s age, and I don’t hear any songs that compare with the best tracks on his previous albums. “When Winter Comes” and “Seize The Day” probably come closest. But if you’re a fan, you’ll still want to stream the new album, and decide for yourself, maybe you’ll agree with all those positive reviews.
McCartney has made the album available on vinyl, and it comes in various colors, including red, green, and yellow.
It’s mostly just McCartney’s three one-man albums that cause people to talk about his multi-instrument musicianship, but his best album, Band On The Run, is nearly the same. Paul had basically lost his band, Wings, prior to the album. Only Linda McCartney and guitarist Denny Laine remained. Except for some of the guitar parts, Paul played all the instruments on the basic album. Later, orchestral overdubs were added. McCartney sometimes played multiple instruments on Beatles recordings too.
Paul McCartney long ago secured his position as one of the greatest songwriters, singers, and musicians of all time. Many of us have been fortunate to enjoy his music for six decades.
Update: The first week sales of McCartney III placed it at #1 on the Album Sales chart, and #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums. Paul McCartney is the only artist to place albums in the top two for six straight decades!