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 James Paul McCartney, born on June 18, 1942, Liverpool,
England. Although commitments to the Beatles not unnaturally took
precedence, bass player/vocalist McCartney nonetheless pursued
several outside projects during this tenure. Many reflected
friendships or personal preferences, ranging from production work
for Cliff Bennett, Paddy, Klaus And Gibson and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah
Band to appearances on sessions by Donovan, Paul Jones and Steve
Miller (on Brave New World). He also wrote "Woman" for Peter And
Gordon under the pseudonym Bernard Webb, but such contributions
flourished more freely with the founding of Apple Records, where
McCartney guided the early careers of Mary Hopkin and Badfinger and
enjoyed cameos on releases by Jackie Lomax and James Taylor.
However, despite this well-documented independence, the artist
ensured a critical backlash by timing the release of McCartney to
coincide with that of the Beatles' Let It Be and his announced
departure from the band. His low-key debut was labeled
self-indulgent, yet its intimacy was a welcome respite from
prevailing heavy rock, and in "Maybe I'm Amazed", offered one of
McCartney's finest songs.
 Ram, credited to McCartney and his
wife Linda (born Linda Eastman, 24 September 1942, Scarsdale, New
York, USA, died 17 April 1998), was also maligned as commentators
opined that the singer lacked an acidic riposte to his often
sentimental approach. The album nonetheless spawned a US number 1 in
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", while an attendant single, "Another
Day", reached number 2 in the UK. Drummer Denny Seiwell, who had
assisted on these sessions, was invited to join a projected band,
later enhanced by former Moody Blues' member Denny Laine. The
quartet, dubbed Wings, then completed Wild Life, another informal
set marked by an indifference to dexterity and the absorption of
reggae and classic rock 'n' roll rhythms. Having expanded the lineup
to include Henry McCullough (ex- Grease Band ; guitar), McCartney
took the band on an impromptu tour of UK colleges, before releasing
three wildly contrasting singles, "Give Ireland Back To The Irish"
(banned by the BBC), "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Hi,Hi,Hi"/"C
Moon" (all 1972). The following year, Wings completed "My Love", a
sculpted ballad in the accepted McCartney tradition, and Red Rose
Speedway, to that date his most formal set. Plans for the unit's
fourth album were undermined by the defection of McCullough and
Seiwell, but the remaining trio emerged triumphant from a series of
productive sessions undertaken in a Lagos studio.
 Band On The Run was undeniably a
major achievement, and did much to restore McCartney's faltering
reputation. Buoyed by adversity, the artist offered a passion and
commitment missing from earlier albums and, in turn, reaped due
commercial plaudits when the title song and "Jet" reached both US
and UK Top 10 positions. The lightweight, but catchy, "Junior's
Farm" provided another hit single before a reconstituted Wings,
which now included guitarist Jimmy McCulloch (born 4 June 1953, died
27 September 1979; ex- Thunderclap Newman and Stone The Crows) and
Joe English (drums), completed Venus And Mars, Wings At The Speed Of
Sound and the expansive on-tour collection, Wings Over America.
Although failing to scale the artistic heights of Band On The Run,
such sets reestablished McCartney as a major figure and included
best-selling singles such as "Listen To What The Man Said" (1975),
"Silly Love Songs" and "Let 'Em In" (both 1976). Although progress
was momentarily undermined by the departures of McCulloch and
English, Wings enjoyed its most spectacular success with "Mull Of
Kintyre" (1977), a saccharine paean to Paul and Linda's Scottish
retreat which topped the UK charts for nine consecutive weeks and
sold over 2.5 million copies in Britain alone.
 Although regarded as disappointing,
London Town nevertheless included "With A Little Luck", a US number
1, but although Wings' newcomers Laurence Juber (guitar) and Steve
Holly (drums) added weight to Back To The Egg, it, too, was regarded
as inferior. Whereas the band was not officially disbanded until
April 1981, McCartney's solo recordings, "Wonderful Christmastime"
(1979), "Coming Up" (1980) and McCartney II, already heralded a new
phase in the artist's career. However, if international success was
maintained through duets with Stevie Wonder ("Ebony And Ivory"),
Michael Jackson ("The Girl Is Mine") as well as "Say Say Say" and
"Pipes Of Peace", attendant albums were marred by inconsistency.
McCartney's 1984 feature film, Give My Regards To Broad Street, was
maligned by critics, a fate befalling its soundtrack album, although
the optimistic ballad, "No More Lonely Nights", reached number 2 in
the UK. The artist's once-prolific output then noticeably waned, but
although his partnership with 10cc guitarist Eric Stewart gave Press
To Play a sense of direction, it failed to halt a significant
commercial decline. Choba B CCCP, a collection of favoured "oldies"
solely intended for release in the USSR, provided an artistic
respite and publicity, before a much-heralded collaboration with
Elvis Costello produced material for the latter's Spike and
McCartney's own Flowers In The Dirt, arguably his strongest set
since Venus And Mars.
 Paradoxically, singles culled from
the album failed in the charts, but a world tour, on which the
McCartneys were joined by Robbie McIntosh (ex- Pretenders ; guitar),
Wix (keyboards), Hamish Stuart (ex- Average White Band ;
bass/vocals) and Chris Whitten (drums), showed that his power to
entertain was still intact. By drawing on material from the Beatles,
Wings and solo recordings, McCartney demonstrated a prowess which
has spanned a quarter of a century. The extent of his diversity was
emphasized by his collaboration with Carl Davis on the classical
"Liverpool Oratorio", which featured opera singer Dame Kiri Te
Kanawa. Off The Ground received lukewarm reviews and soon dropped
out of the charts after a brief run. The accompanying tour, however,
was a different story. The ambitious stage show and effects
undertook a world tour in 1993, and was one of the highest grossing
tours in the USA during the year.
 Various rumors circulated in 1994
about a reunion with the surviving members of his most famous band.
Both he and Yoko Ono appeared to have settled their long-standing
differences, as had George Harrison and McCartney. The success in
1994-95 of the Beatles At The BBC indicated a ripe time for some
kind of musical reunion. This was partly achieved with the
overdubbing of "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" for the magnificent
Anthology series in 1996. The profile of the Beatles had rarely been
higher and this was celebrated in the new year honors list by a
knighthood for services to music to McCartney. Presumably this was
in recognition for his outstanding work with Lennon.
 No doubt spurred on by the Anthology,
Flaming Pie sounded like McCartney meant it again. The addition of
Steve Miller on three tracks added some gutsy rock guitar
credibility. Mostly however, it was a magnificent return to form.
Jeff Lynne 's production was tempered to sound cooked to perfection,
unlike some of his previous overbaked concoctions. This was most
definitely for lovers of the Beatles' The Beatles. The varied
contents included "Heaven On A Sunday", with its descending acoustic
guitar dueling with the ascending lead guitar of son James, and
"Used To Be Bad", an excellent simple up-tempo blues featuring
Miller, both singers trading lines as their voices blended
beautifully. Further tracks included the Memphis soul of "Souvenir",
and "In It For The Money", which never loses pace for one moment.
The folk simplicity of "Calico Skys" was topped by the exquisite
"Somedays", a heart-tugging love song to Linda, and one of his
finest songs in many decades. His love for his wife shone through
the whole record. (Sadly, Linda lost her battle with cancer the
following year, but was honored with a memorial service on 9 June in
London's Trafalgar Square.) Flaming Pie should ideally be listened
to as one piece, since, in that context, it sounds like a minor
masterpiece.
 In March 1999, McCartney was inducted
into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a solo artist. Later in the
year he recorded another back-to-basics collection of 50s rock 'n'
roll cover versions, including three new tracks. Run Devil Run was
an excellent collection and included versions of "All Shook Up" and
"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" in addition to lesser known material,
notably "No Other Baby". This little known track, a smoldering slow
blues, was recorded by the UK skiffle group, the Vipers in the late
50s. On 14 December 1999, McCartney took himself back to the famous
Cavern club with his studio band, comprising guitarists Mick Green
(ex-Pirates) and David Gilmour, keyboardist Pete Wingfield, and
drummer Ian Paice. In reality, it was a rebuilt Cavern, next door to
the original cellar. Musically however McCartney seemed fired up,
singing and playing with an energy not seen for many years. In other
areas McCartney might be seen as an overachiever, with his original
paintings getting media coverage in 2000, and his book of poetry the
following year.
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