Sir James Paul McCartney
James Paul McCartney, the "Cute Beatle" was born to James and Mary
McCartney on June 18, 1942 in Liverpool, England. Paul's father was
a part-time jazz musician (he was a salesman by day) and his mother was a
nurse and midwife who died of breast cancer when Paul was 14 years old. He
also has a brother, Michael, 18 months his junior. As a child, Paul was a
good student, friendly, eager to please, and VERY interested in girls.
Although Paul wanted a guitar as a child, he was given a trumpet instead as
a present...which he swiftly traded in for a guitar anyway! He was given
piano lessons but did not stay with them. He briefly resumed music lessons
in 1967 during the hiatus preceding the Sgt. Pepper recording sessions but
that is about all of the formal training he has had...Paul never did learn
how to read music. But from the moment he got his guitar, he was hooked. He
got into skiffle when the craze swept England, but that was nothing compared
to the life-changing effect that rock and roll from America had on Paul.
On July 6, 1957 Paul attended the Woolton Parish Village Fete at St. Peter's
church. The entertainment was provided by a group called the Quarrymen led
by a young man named John Lennon. Paul caught up with John later that day
and impressed him by performing Eddie Cochrane's "Twenty Flight Rock" to
which, amazingly, Paul knew all the words. John asked Paul to join the
Quarrymen...which he did. Later, Paul brought in another bandmember, a
younger schoolmate from the Liverpool Institute who also had quite a way
with the guitar: George Harrison. The Quarrymen after several name changes
became the Beatles. Ringo Starr joined in 1962, forming the Beatles that we
know today.
In the next eight years with the Beatles, Paul would be part of the greatest
phenomenon ever to happen in the history of rock and roll. The
Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership (which was largely a misnomer
throughout most of the Beatles years, since the two eventually wrote a good
deal of their songs separately), was an incredible success due to the sheer
talent of these two men. Paul became most noteworthy for his ability to
write and arrange music, and to invent instantly memorable melodies,
particularly for love ballads. However, Paul was also responsible for some
decidedly un-ballad-like Beatles songs (Back in the USSR, for example) and
was capable of remarkable lyrics...a skill some believed to be solely the
domain of John Lennon. As a bass player, Paul expanded the notion of the
role of the bass in a pop song, playing the most melodious bass that rock
and roll had ever known.
Throughout the sixties, Paul was involved with a young actress named
Jane Asher. Although they became engaged in 1967, a year later, the
wedding was off. Paul had met someone new...Linda Eastman, a photographer
who grew up in Westchester New York and who had a thing for nature, as well
as cooking. On March 12, 1969 Paul and Linda were married. Paul adopted
Linda's daughter from a previous marriage, Heather. Together they went on to
have three children of their own, Mary, Stella, and James.
A year later, in April 1970, Paul officially announced he was quitting the
Beatles...something the other three had privately done earlier, only to come
back. By the summer, he had released his first post-Beatles solo effort,
"McCartney." He enjoyed moderate success with this album but then went on to
produce three straight critically-panned albums: "Ram," "Wild Life" (the
first to be recorded with his new band, Wings, and "Red Rose Speedway"
(although whether or not they really deserved such poor reviews is open to
some discussion). 1n 1974, Wings released "Band on the Run" a brilliant
album which put Paul back in the good graces of the press, somewhat. Wings
would release five more LP's before disbanding in 1979. Throughout the 80's
and 90's, Paul has continued to enjoy a solid, solo career, most recently
capped off by the wonderful, "Flaming Pie." He has even written two
classical works: "Liverpool Oratorio" and "Standing Stone," and briefly ran
his own radio series called "Oobu-Joobu" (and what would YOU have called
it?) In March of 1997, Paul was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
In addition to music, Paul's life has taken on increasingly political and
spiritual overtones in recent years. Paul and Linda became strict
vegetarians in the mid 70's citing animal rights and concern for the
environment as their reasons. They have been vocal champions of these causes
for over 20 years.
On April 17, 1998, Linda Eastman McCartney died from complications related
to breast cancer. Paul and their children were with her until the very end.
As of this writing, Paul and his family have been attempting to mourn
without being hounded by the press. Paul is continuing the struggle for
animal rights, vegetarianism, and the environment that meant so much to
Linda and himself. He has also released a new album under the name "The
Firemen, " and has put out an album of Linda's solo works as well, called
"Wild Prarie".
