…Belated…to Sir Paul McCartney who turned 72 this week.  Happy Birthday to you!

It would be nearly impossible to overstate the success that Paul McCartney has had in music.  Whether his music is defined as art or business, or whether  the artist himself is defined as a composer or performer, Paul McCartney is one of the most prolific, popular and influential musicians of all time.  However, one can’t think of McCartney without also thinking of The Beatles – a band that is a rock icon in it’s own right.  In the light of history, the Beatles episode would only turn out to be McCartney’s overture.  It seemed like The Beatles served merely as a showcase for Lennon’s and McCartney’s talent, often to the consternation of Ringo and George.  Perhaps their breakup after all was a blessing since afterward we were able to fully experience the offerings of all four bandmates.

Not intending this to be a complete McCartney biography, I do intend to focus on his “birth” as a solo artist with some of his first solo works released post-Beatles. Per my usual format I have selected three songs that may be slightly obscure,  since I’d like to show you something you may not have heard before, or at least something you haven’t heard in a while or very often.

First up is a song from Pauls’ first solo album McCartney, sometimes known as the “cherries” album because of the cover art.  This is the album that produced the mega-hit Maybe I’m Amazed;  perhaps you’ve heard it a time or two over the past 40 years – unless you’ve been in a cave.

Anyhoo…this song is titled “Teddy Boy”.  Enjoy:

Next up area a couple songs from his second album, Ram.  This album was quite successful and several songs from this album made the charts, notably Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey and Another Day.  The first track is Too Many People:

Now that I think about it, that track may have also reached the charts – I seem to recall it getting some radio play.  though I could be mis-remembering because I listend to the crap out of this ablbum when it came out.  The final birthday offering is Ram On:

Doesn’t he make it seem effortless?  He had no formal music training, was (is?) largely self-taught, plays guitars, bass, keyboards and drums.  So, again, Happy Birthday!  And THANKS!

PS – You may wish to click on the Admiral Halsey link – the YouTube video contains what looks like some PM home video that I hadn’t seen before.  Interesting! -MS