As a composer of pop songs, Sir Paul McCartney has been at the top of his game for more than sixty years. Most of The Beatles’ tracks are credited to the Lennon-McCartney duo. Yet McCartney’s influence on the music of the most successful pop group of the 1960s is evident. McCartney was the creator of the subtle harmonic shifts that gave depth to seemingly simple melodies.
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The Beatles officially made their records as a collective. But anyone listening to ‘Yesterday’, written mainly by McCartney, will hear no other Beatles singing or playing alongside the composer’s voice and guitar. The recognisable melody is enriched with a string arrangement. With 2,200 different versions, ‘Yesterday’ is one of the most covered songs ever. In addition, there are countless improvised versions of this famous tune, which has also become a jazz standard.
On ‘Eleanor Rigby’, McCartney went even further: a choir and a classical string ensemble accompanied his solo voice. The Beatles were pioneers in many ways. With every record they made, they broke new ground musically. Most of their experiments took place in the studio. In the second half of the 1960s, the group preferred to retreat into that privacy.
Other Beatles songs in which McCartney played an important role include ‘Michelle’, ‘Let it Be’ and ‘And I Love Her’, among many others. McCartney’s music is not just about the lyrics, but his counter-melodies also have an independent function. Thanks to instrumental performances by Brad Mehldau and Robin Nolan, among others, ‘And I Love Her’ has been given a new lease of life.
In 1991, McCartney was commissioned to compose a work to mark the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. This ‘Liverpool Oratorio’ was performed by the orchestra, the Liverpool Cathedral Choir and soloist Kiri te Kanawa. Opinions about McCartney’s classical piece were divided: The Guardian was downright negative, while The New York Times heard some beautiful passages alongside many boring ones. The recording did reach number one in the classical top 10, however.
In 2000, McCartney recorded an album of electronic music: Liverpool Sound Collage, in which he incorporated the history of The Beatles. When then Prince Charles made him an honorary member of The Royal College of Music, McCartney responded: ‘Not bad for someone who can’t read music!’
In 2012, the album Kisses On The Bottom was released, featuring the unexpected gem ‘My Valentine’. Almost fifty years after ‘Yesterday’, McCartney proved once again capable of writing a beautiful, timeless song. ‘My Valentine’ is Paul McCartney at his best: a few sophisticated chord progressions, lyrics about love and a melody that sounds like it has always been there. A silly love song from the brilliant mind of a man who achieved everything, but who deep down has always remained a lad from Liverpool.
