M is for McCartney – a talent wasted?

Wednesday 19th June

There is no doubting that Paul McCartney is incredibly talented, he was one of the Beatles, a brilliant songwriter, a wonderful entertainer, but I cannot help thinking he could have been more. In many ways he was more talented than John Lennon, and yet even before John’s untimely death John was held in far greater veneration than Paul.  And this has always annoyed Paul, even to the point of him changing the songwriting credits from Lennon-McCartney to McCartney Lennon on some re-releases.  But after he left the Beatles he seemed to lack something.  It wasn’t talent, it wasn’t ability, it certainly wasn’t ambition; maybe it was soul.

He has written classical pieces, he has made a film, he has released good, bad and indifferent albums, he has made millions and yet, and yet, somehow he fails to satisfy us.  Ringo, we know was just a drummer, (and the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine) but even he sounds more genuine than Paul.  George hardly seemed to be trying but some of his albums knock spots off those of Paul.  And John was just getting back into his stride with the brilliant Double Fantasy when he was shot.

So what is it about Paul McCartney that gives me the sense that he is somehow a wasted talent.   Maybe because we just expected so much from him, after all he was a Beatle, and apart from that brief few years before and during Wings he hasn’t written many really memorable songs.  Albums come and albums go, but when they are finished I don’t really want to press repeat.   So it goes.

McCartney,_Paul