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Rating: What good can you still do when, before your thirties, you’ve already done the best you possibly could? I believe that the Beatles (at least three of them) were each trying to find their own answer to this kind of question in the few months between Abbey Road and Let It Be, when the breakup became official.
The path Paul chose was precisely this album, deliberately “simple & familiar” already in its title and then in its iconography, in the “homemade” recording and in the opening dedication to his newlywed wife (“The Lovely Linda”), on top of playing it entirely by himself.
Just under ten tracks – plus three or four instrumentals – none of which, however, would make it among Sir Paul’s great classics. And yet these songs – let’s say the light pop of “Junk” and that of “Man We Was Lonely,” the sweet and delicate “Every Night,” and the more energetic “Maybe I’m Amazed” (the album’s only almost-rock song) – exude a personal melodic charm that is, after all, McCartney’s trademark.
The rest I would call pleasantly light, with a low-profile approach that ends up making even the filler tracks (like “Singalong Junk” or “That Would Be Something”) acceptable and even appealing.
I must say that back then – it was 1970 – this album didn’t strike me very well: the ephemeral nature of much of the material was almost a shock (not only compared to the Beatles’ work, but also to the nearly simultaneous releases by John and George) and yet today – maybe it’s nostalgia or perhaps the relative mediocrity of Paul’s later solo career – this low-profile McCARTNEY has become a pleasantly enjoyable album for me, perhaps because, by not taking itself too seriously here, it seems to leave the door open for a future “important” album that, however, would never actually arrive.
One last interesting note, the graphics: divided between a somewhat refined, chilly look on the front (the scattered red cherries on a white background, as if just emptied from the bowl, remind me of those pretentious pseudo-metaphysical shots by amateur photographers) and, on the back, the warm, relaxed glow of Paul holding his daughter close in a fur coat, and then in the inner folder, a true collection of family snapshots.
In short, for anyone who truly wants to have a solo McCartney album, I would recommend this one in particular (and maybe add “Band On The Run” with the Wings at most).
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 The Lovely Linda (00:45)
La la la la la the lovely linda
with the lovely flowers in her hair
La la la la la the lovely linda
with the lovely flowers in her hair
06 Junk (01:57)
Motor Cars, Handle Bars
Bicycles for Two
Broken Hearted Jubilee
Parachutes, Army Boots
Sleeping Bags for Two
Sentimental Jamboree
Buy Buy
Says the Sign in the Shop Window
Why Why
Says the Junk in the Yard
Candlesticks, Building Bricks
Something Old and New
Memories for You and Me
Buy Buy
Says the Sign in the Shop Window
Why Why
Says the Junk in the Yard
08 Oo You (02:50)
Look like a woman
Dress like a lady
Talk like a baby
Love like a woman
Oo you
Oo you
Walk like a woman
Sing like a blackbird
Eat like a hunger
Cook like a woman
Oo you
Oo you
Look like a woman
Dress like a lady
Talk like a baby
Love like a woman
Oo you
Oo you
12 Maybe I'm Amazed (03:55)
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time.
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pull me out of time
You hung me on the line
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you
Maybe I'm a man
Maybe I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand.
Maybe I'm a man
And maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.
Baby, won't you help me to understand?
Maybe I'm a man
Maybe I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of something
That he doesn't really understand.
Maybe I'm a man
And maybe you're the only woman who could ever help me.
Baby, won't you help me to understand?
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time
Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you
Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song
Right me when I'm wrong
Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you
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Other reviews
By London
The album feels as if Paul is playing it right in front of you, together with you and just for you.
'Maybe I’m Amazed' is a poignant declaration of love for Linda that would have become a Beatles classic.
By nessuno
Many people are just discovering it now, certainly Paul’s most refined and personal album.
A record to listen to exclusively with headphones after a day’s work.
By panlio malmieri
The result is a small, cohesive gem, which quietly starts off modestly and, surprisingly, reveals some raw and hidden pearls.
It’s a small work that smells of wood, of small handcrafted work - almost without regard for the audience that is listening.
By Miki Page
Return to the beginnings, to simplicity, to the pleasure of playing just for the sake of it.
Unplugged - The Official Bootleg turns out to be a fresh, brilliant, fun, but also relaxed and pleasant record.
