Paul McCartney: A Life

by Peter Ames Carlin

The best-selling author of Catch a The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson now presents an in-depth biography of the legendary musician and icon Paul McCartney, exploring his impact on music and culture, his personal triumphs and defeats, and his post-Beatles relationships with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The book explores McCartney through the perspective of his lyrics, spanning his career from his years with the Beatles to his solo albums today.The composer of "Yesterday", "Hey Jude", "Eleanor Rigby", and "Let It Be", Paul McCartney is one of the most famous men in the world, yet one of the most elusive. An international superstar for more than 40 years, he has not only sold hundreds of millions of records but has also altered the course of popular culture. He has been worshiped and ridiculed, his work revered and reviled. Governments have celebrated him, persecuted him, thrown him in prison, and knighted him.

More than a rock star, more than a celebrity, McCartney is a cultural touchstone. Yet no book has revealed the headwaters of his genius or, for that matter, explained why the Beatles' talented and adventurous musician seemed to abandon his position as an innovator, trading the daring of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for an endless procession of what even he has called silly love songs. But McCartney never lost the spark of genius. And at any given moment, McCartney can reach into himself and pull out something phenomenal.

Drawing on years of research, Paul A Life spans McCartney's roots in England's working class to his life in the present day, performing around the world and working for causes he believes in. Informed by new, exclusive interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators, the book describes McCartney's many triumphs as well as his failures, from the Beatles era through his decade with Wings and his subsequent solo career.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, History, British Literature

Audible Audio

First published October 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get Back To Where I've Never Gone.
I've read about the Beatles and I've read about Lennon, but I'd never read about McCartney, and I supposed it was about time. You see, because of bios and whatnot that I've read about Lennon, my boyhood idolization of him lost its shine. As a consequence, Paul's star rose subconsciously in my mind, and I knew that wasn't fair. It was time to level the playing field and Peter Ames Carlin's book steamrolled it.

I Should've Let It Be.
Paul McCartney has the reputation of an attention-grabbing, soulless popstar. Sure, the people say, he's written some catchy tunes, but Lennon's the one who pumped heart and soul into the lyrics. I knew the reputations (and I also knew to take some of that with a grain of salt), but what I didn't expect was the level of Paul's desire for fame: Paul to manager Brian Epstein, "If we all make it, that's fine. But if we don't, I'm going to be a star, aren't I Brian?" That sort of bare selfishness coming from a boy talking about his best mates makes it hard to stomach McCartney's attempts to portray the Beatles as all-for-one, four musketeers, blood-brothers for life. Everything's cool! Everything's groovy! We're all in this together! It wasn't and they weren't.

Take A Sad Song And Make It Sadder.
Death, tragedy, yes yes, the man's had it all and it's quite sad, but what really saddened me was Wings-errorera McCartney's attachment to the Beatles and Lennon. On the one hand it feels like puppy-dog, younger brother devotion to big dog/older brother figure John. On the other hand it stinks like a desperate man grasping to put it all back together, like a drunkard who's just realized his damaged marriage is all he's got.

I'm Happy Just To Read Of You
Icky, yes, this book makes me feel icky about Paul McCartney, but Carlin takes his digs at all four members as well as many in their entourage. But no, it's not all bad. I doubt I would've finished the book if it had been a cover to cover slam-fest of the man and all around him. The book just shows him worts and all. It's even-handed, almost journalistic. I hesitate to say it's completely unbiased, because Carlin clearly loves the music. He spends a great deal of time going over almost each song, especially during the Beatle years. Readers will find many pages worth of in-studio stories, as well as what they were thinking and going through while writing chart-toppers and life-alterers, those many three minute moments that have gone straight to the hearts of so many listeners. This isn't "my" music, I was born in '72, but The Beatles and post-Beatles songs were played heavily on the radio in my youth. I remember being about 4 years old sitting on an old area rug in the living room picking at the rubber matting underneath it through the foot-worn holes and thinking the lyrics to the song playing in the background, Band On The Run were actually "band on the rug," as in rubberband, the stuff I was plucking at. Oddly specific song, I thought. Regardless of my confusion (I've got it sorted now, thank you), the Beatles have played a major role in the soundtrack of my life, and I love them for it, even after reading this.

Come Together Ratings: 4.3
I'm struggling with the rating on this one. It was just about 5-star-enjoyable and it gave me everything I'd want out of a Paul McCartney bio, but still, I came away from the reading with a bad taste in my mouth. It's no fault of the author. Blame it on the doe-eyed manchild on the cover.

[Carol Storm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really hated Paul McCartney as a kid. I thought he was the lame Beatle, the wimpy Beatle, the one hiding behind a smile and a smirk while John Lennon changed the world with his bold ideas and George Harrison defied the wealthy in favor of spiritual quests and Ringo Starr just took in and healed all of the loneliness and pain of teenage life on earth with his big, sad eyes.

Having grown up a lot in the past thirty five years, I was really impressed by this book and all it reveals about Paul's real achievements as a Beatle and a man. I never knew that Paul, like John, lost a mother at an early age. But while John was running around punching out little old ladies and bullying helpless cripples in order to "forget" Paul was actually trying to make something of himself musically. This book provides a fascinating analysis of how differently the two of them operated -- Paul was an effortless mimic who could pick up any instrument, or singing style, and duplicate it perfectly within weeks. Whereas John tended to just sound like himself and to hell with anyone who didn't like it!

The best passage about their songwriting was something like, "but while Paul wanted to woo the audience with melody, John wanted to jar them. His goal was to get in their faces and tell them exactly how he felt -- and to force them to feel something too." How these two opposite approaches resulted in the greatest rock and roll music ever made is an amazing story. And the author really breaks things down, going into the nuts and bolts work in the studio. He outlines how "Come Together" began as just a few lines of surrealistic poetry John made up while stoned out of his mind, but later became an elaborate musical tapestry of whining guitars and shivering drums which was largely orchestrated by Paul. (Though it's also interesting to note the extent to which John, George and even Ringo ultimately came to resent Paul's tendency to "direct" them in the studio.)

Altogether a fascinating book -- one of the best rock biographies I have read!

[Vicente Ambou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuando los jóvenes Beatles regresaron de su estancia en Hamburgo, la primera y menos productiva de las dos, en Liverpool nuevamente, el dieciochoañero Paul McCartney, hastiado, decidió que estaba bueno ya de chillar y rocanrolear las madrugadas en nightclubs de mala muerte, que había que tomarse la vida en serio, madurar y buscarse un empleo de verdad. Y se buscó uno de aprendiz de oficial en una central eléctrica en Liverpool. A la semana, sus dos más cercanos compañeros, Lennon y Harrison (que insistían en no madurar) se colaron en el patio de la fábrica, y le pidieron que volviera al grupo, que aún tenían que probar suerte en un club llamado la Casbah, a ver qué tal. Paul aceptó, dejó atrás su empleo… Y el resto, hasta nuestros días (y más) es historia. Llámese Destino o Efecto Mariposa, o como se quiera, pero, como es sabido, la suerte del mundo y de la gente pende de un hilo. Al doblar de la esquina está nuestro futuro. Sólo que depende de cuál esquina.
De ésta y de cientos de otras anécdotas vivenciales está lleno este libro, esta biografía minuciosa que su autor, Peter Ames Carlin, tras una ardua labor de seguimiento y sabia compilación, ha logrado estructurar para, con una prosa atractiva y un hilo narrativo fluido, darnos la vida del superdotado beatle (Lennon era el genio), de esta leyenda viva que tanto aportara con su sello propio. Desde la hora misma de su venida al mundo un día de 1942, hasta nuestros días (hace 10 años), en un recorrido por su adolescencia, juventud-y-juventud, dentro de The Beatles, revolucionando la música popular del mundo y su posterior larga carrera en solitario. Un libro en donde el autor airea las altas y las bajas en la vida de McCartney, prevaleciendo, con distancia, las primeras sobre las segundas, tanto en los eventos profesionales de su singular creatividad (Ames Carlin lo sigue con lupa de musicólogo), como en los personales o familiares, en donde su condición como padre, esposo y ser humano, se va por encima de algunos pequeños pecados, como su afición a las drogas (menor que en muchos otros artistas), o su corta prisión en Japón por intentar pasar al país un alijo de mariguana de la mejor para su consumo personal y de su grupo, con la que se canceló la gira por ese país.
Paul McCartney, desde su mero título, es la biografía completa de Paul McCartney, un libro muy ameno, de páginas ágiles, apto lo mismo para chismógrafos que para investigadores serios. Y un libro que, sin la menor intención de ser una hagiografía, realza de manera notable la vida de un notable, uno de esos rostros del siglo XX que tanto ayudaron a cambiarlo y que, para suerte nuestra, aún sigue en movimiento. Let it be.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read close to 400 books on the Beatles, solo and together, and this is one of the worse. It is a complete rewrite of other books, very little original, and quite frankly, the author is not a fan. Also, he spends very little time on his solo career, Red Rose Speedway is given all of half a page, Chaos and Creation even less! I urge fans to not read this book but search Many Years from Now.
A big disappointment and complete waste of time. Also, the grammer is about a grade one level.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I like the Beatles but I love Paul.

Comments: Normally, I steer away from biographies, trying to read memoirs instead unless the person in question is dead and never wrote their own auto-biography. Well, Paul is neither, but given his extremely private nature I find it doubtful he'll ever write a memoir and if he did it would not be in-depth but more like musings of good memories. So I jumped on this book when it came out.

Again, I find when reading these types of biographies one has to be wary as the authors are often out to dig up every piece of dirt they can on the celebrity or they don't particularly like said person and simply enjoy writing a book that trashes them. This is not what I want. I want to read a respectful, true account of the celebrity's life and author Peter Ames Carlin delivers on all accounts.

Right from the start one can tell that the author respects his subject and throughout the book when the controversies arise he shows the reader a 'pro-Paul' position. But this does not mean that he paints a fake rosy picture. Paul McCartney is exposed here warts and all. He was egocentric during the Beatles days, always being the leader, creating rifts among the other members and yet not realizing it until years much later. The intensely close relationship between him and John Lennon is examined from all sides even during the years they publicly shunned each other and Yoko Ono's influence over John. George and Ringo are given very little space in the book. The book is about Paul and his relationships with these two do not stand out much more than 'mates'. Though we do get at inside look at Paul's brotherly affection to George, which was not always appreciated.

Past the Beatles, the rocky years with Wings are covered in detail, Paul's true love, once in a lifetime relationship with his beloved Linda, his semi-success in the 80s as a solo singer, his disaster of a marriage with the vengeful Heather Mills and his eventual settlement into simply being Paul McCartney, the last of the Fab Four (as nobody really counts Ringo). We also see Paul's reactions to nthe deaths of both John and George. A very interesting, funny, informative look inside the life of a brilliant, sensitive, egocentric, perfectionist, caring, simple-life loving man who is one of the 20th century's most recognizable and influential musicians.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul McCartney is an interesting figure and this book does a good job at looking at his life in such a way that the reader who has an interest in the history of the Beatles as individuals can find a lot here to enjoy and reflect on. As a reader, this particular author's approach strikes me as a balanced one, in that it addresses his life history and personality and approach in a way that points out some of his flaws as well as his talent and seriousness. Those who want to see Paul McCartney as more than simply the songwriter of pop tunes but as someone who had serious artistic ambitions and a somewhat ambivalent attitude when it came to money, there is a lot here to digest. There are certain consistent character flaws that the author points out, including an inability to successfully handle conflict and the moral courage to communicate unpleasant matters, and certain proclivities like saying the wrong thing in moments of stress and difficulty. All that aside, though, the author does a good job t bringing out enough of McCartney's character that the reader is able to appreciate it for what it is, even if they might think more highly of McCartney's pop-oriented songs than is the case by the author.

This book is almost 350 pages long and it is a bit on the short side at the beginning and end, focusing most of its attention on the time when McCartney was mot in the public eye. So, for example, we get some information on McCartney's family and their ancestry as well as the loss that McCartney faced of his mother at the age of fourteen and how his response to this loss mirrored his response to the death of Lennon in 1980. There is a lot of discussion about how Lennon and McCartney started out, the early drama about finding a consistent drummer and to a lesser extent a bass player, their time in Hamburg and Liverpool, and then how they dealt with fame. The author, throughout, does his best to be fair to McCartney even as he points out McCartney's dictatorial tendencies, his struggle to be faithful in his early relationships, and his miserly tendencies when it came to paying his stepmother or his bandmates in Wings, where it became a serious issue, even to the point of his divorce with Heather Mills and the financial dustup that it caused. The book ends in 2009 with the author more or less ending the biography in media res, not knowing how thing will end but assuming they will go on more or less as they have been for the last couple of decades.

If you are going to appreciate this book and enjoy it, you are likely going to care something about the subject. If you are a fan of the Beatles or of Wings or of Paul's solo work, or of more than one of the above, it is likely that this book will provide something of interest. As someone who has read a fair amount of the Beatles and their history as a group, there is not a huge amount in this book that is entirely new, but most of it simply reinforced or at least provided a different perspective on what I had heard from others. One of the more interesting aspects of McCartney's career, for example, is the way that he seemed to be a bit complacent in his solo career unless he had some kind of producer or some kind of external circumstances that pushed him to excel, but this is a common issue where members of groups strike out in solo work and realize that they don't have as many people holding them accountable to do their best work all the time, as was certainly the case with the Beatles, for example. That aside, one gets the sense that McCartney's generally stable adult life, by rock & roll standards, was at least partially dependent on a work ethic that was not harmed (thankfully) by his fondness for marijuana.

[Suzanne Manners · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first musical purchase, while in junior high, was a 45 of “Got to Get You Into My Life” and “Helter Skelter” on the flip side. As I graduated to high school, Paul McCartney and Wings were reaching their peak. I remember listening to a favorite 8-track in my car of the James Bond soundtrack for “Live and Let Die.” Of course I grew up hearing the Beatles music as a group … their music is timeless. But Lennon's solo work soon became my favorite of the ex-Beatles. John's death is still shocking.

In Paul's biography, I felt my connection to his songs in a new way. Knowing intimate details of his relationship with band members, with Linda, and other turning points in his life gives me a better sense of feeling the emotion in his music. The past may hold sadness and regrets but there are also joyful memories. Paul continues to remain optimistic about each new day. Now when I hear a Beatle song or a classic rock Wings hit, I will remember Paul's dedication to his music and his love for sharing it with us all.

[Benjamin Seashore Hobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this journey into the Beatles. I learned some facts. Also I got a bigger idea of what artistry means to Paul and meant to John and George and Linda and all the other side characters of his life story. It set me off on a journey to listen to every Beatles album, and perhaps I’ll go review all of them somewhere else, I think that could be interesting. But here I get to see Paul and the others being humans, and not always great ones, which makes it easier to view their music as something I can evaluate for myself as what I want from it as opposed to just cultural icons that my preschool teachers and elementary school teachers and parents of the cool kids from my high school dictated to me were good. And they are still good. It’s similar to what The Force Awakens did for me with Star Wars, and what I might need something to do for me to be able to enjoy Harry Potter. I just wish it was updated after FourFiveSeconds, because I’d love to know about Paul with Rhianna and Kanye.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive biography of the man, from birth up to his third marriage, warts and all. McCartney is a great performer, song-writer and composer, and his work with John Lennon produced some of the greatest songs of the 20th century. Paul fell into depression when the Beatles finally broke apart, but got Wings started and experienced great popularity and success again, this time as an adult and without the screaming mania, and with Linda by his side giving him stability and support. After Linda's death Paul floundered for a time but the music helped him recover from the pain. I liked to hear about his home life with four kids who grew up as normally as possible. The book gives details of songs from later albums, how the lyrics describe his life at the time. Still love his music and hope he keeps on writing and performing for some time yet.

[Donal Keady · Rating 3 out of 5]

We'll never really know, will we? But just try to tell some people that. Beatle books are a plentiful species, and they should all be read to get an overall picture. I'm not sure if this book needed to be written, but it should be read all the same. It's entertaining enough in its own way. The writing style sometimes gets on my nerves, and Carlin does have great affection for his subject.
People get so polarised when it comes to the Beatles. They have rigid ideas about who they were, what they said, what they did and what they played at any given moment between 1957 and 2010. But even people who were actually there can contradict themselves; and don't we all! No matted how many more books get written about the Fabs (and there will be many!) I think we'll never really know the whole truth. Let's just enjoy the music!

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saw him live last night at AT&T Park with 40,000 other fans. Oh, what a night --
Two years later, I finally realized I was never going to finish this book. I much prefer listening to the Beatles to reading about them Even Paul.

[Tom Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it extremely difficult to rate this book for two reasons: (1) I've have been a Paul McCartney fan since I was about 15 years old and (2) so much has been written about McCartney from different perspectives through the years that it is hard to know what is and is not the truth.

Ultimately, I gave Carlin 5 stars and here's why:
-Carlin is clearly a fan of Paul's music and appreciates his achievements, but as far as I could tell, he stayed very balanced in reporting the facts about McCartney's life.
-He provides very interesting commentary on many of Paul's songs and albums, both in terms of the music and the lyrics. He also does a good job of giving you the context in Paul's life for the music he was creating at a given time.
-The book had a very emotional impact on me and I cannot imagine that a poorly written book would have affected me in that way.

A couple of comments about Paul McCartney: When I first starting learning about Paul's life all those years ago, I was very disappointed in some of the things I learned about him. This book caused me to relive that. Paul McCartney has lived a very unusual life and one of the results (well, I suppose--there's a bit of nature vs. nurture to consider here) is that he's never been very humble and has at times treated people around him rather poorly. Nonetheless, the book did not take away my appreciation for how Sir Paul's music has added a great deal of enjoyment to my life. The book is called "A Life" and although it was written in 2009, it still gave me a feeling of completeness about Paul's life, which certainly accounts for my (unexpected) emotional response.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having a brother who was a huge Beatles fan, I felt I knew a fair amount about the group already. This book certainly shed light on many things I never knew! Lots of interesting details particularly when it came to the progression in their music over the years.

To me some of the most intriguing bits are the love/hate relations he has with John Lennon. Frankly, I've become less and less of a fan of Lennon's over the years the more I hear about him. This book gave me much more reason to think of him as a selfish hypocritical jerk.

And although it showed some of Paul's words, I came away having even more respect for this man. He seemed much more grounded then John. Even though both of them had tragedies and loss early in their life paul clearly came out of it a more balanced person. His relationship with his father was very touching and I'm sure that was a big part of why he turned out a stable as he was.


The book seemed to focus more on The Beatles years, which is fine with me because that was the part I was most intrested in. As the book went on, less pages were given to various events but I was OK with that. I would have liked to have heard a little bit more about his 2nd marriage to help balance all the tabloid reports I had seen. It did confirm that it was a very bad match but I would have liked to have heard more of the real story.

The one real deficit in the book is the little mention of either George or Ringo. I realize that Paul is most closely associated with John, but I know he had more interactions with the other two than is included here!

All in all a very enjoyable read, especially for someone who's enjoyed all phases of Paul's career.

[Patricia Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first Beatles biography I've read. Or in this case, listened to. It's fascinating, especially for me, as I grew up listening to the Beatles. For all I thought I knew, there was so much I didn't and now I'm interested to read more.

I actually stopped this at the 68% mark when the Beatles were breaking up. I didn't follow any of them that much afterward as individual artists with a few exceptions. [I bought "Tug of War" and listened to it until I wore the needle out.]

It's due back at the library and I'm letting it go. But I'm also making sure I record here where I stopped so if I decide to pick up the rest of it, I'll know where I left off!

[Matthew]

It feels more like a really long Wikipedia entry than a proper bio, but it's fun to imagine Paul McCartney slapping tables and yelling at people.

It's usually presented as a series of events of which Paul McCartney was one participant -- I don't think it has a very strong POV. About 2/3rds of the book is about his time as a Beatle, which is fair I suppose, but it also feels like the author would have much rather written a book about John Lennon. Which is funny, since one of the recurring ideas of the book is that Paul has had a lifelong struggle with John's long shadow.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand this book tells you everything you need to know about Paul, but on the other it manages to say so very little, and it's not because the subject is boring. It's just the way this book is written. It's hard to explain. The part where people he cares about start dying around him was really gut-wrenching.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like being a fly on the wall watching music history be born, growing, changing, evolving. The relationship between the Beatles is like a family- you love each other, you hate each other, you fight, you love. In the end though you are always family and through strive and tragedy the magic will always be there no matter what.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's the summary (aka, I read this so you don't have to): Oh, that darn Paul! Sure, he acts like a jerk, but how can you stay mad at him? John, on the other hand, is a sociopath who abuses everyone he comes into contact with. And there were a couple other guys in the band, too.

[Emily Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of details I never knew. It was so interesting and I really enjoyed it.

[Steven Kaminski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE the Beatles and I love the music from both the Wings and Paul McCartney's solo career. This book gets into a lot of McCartney's personality and the events that helped him develop his gut instincts and music and as this book shows also his mistakes...

- One of the most powerful events in McCartney's life was the death of his mother of breast cancer when he was 14. It crystallized how and where he grew up, the references are everywhere in his songs from both the Beatles and his solo career. He also felt a lot of guilt over that event as when she died he actually did something that he was ashamed of: he laughed for some reason.

- McCartney met John Lennon at a party of a mutual friend where John was leading a band called the Quarrymen. Paul would go on to later join that band and that was when his songwriting with John really started.

- Paul left school at age 17 to go to Hamburg with John and the renamed Beatles. Playing for several months sometimes two or three shows a night tightened up their playing and made John and Paul almost telepathic.

- John was really into drugs though (uppers) far more than I ever read or heard reported. This gave him horrific mood swings where he would often lash out at people just for shock value and attention.

- Paul eventually came back and entered into a long time relationship with an actress named Jane Asher whose mother was connected to royalty. This opened him up to a whole new world of British society. What Paul's real gift was though in public was presenting his persona. He cared ruthlessly about his image, how he was received, if he was liked. This helped him image and hid some of his rougher edges like his oversized ego and controlling behavior.

- When Paul finished with the Beatles he went on to create the band Wings with Linda McCartney...but she had never played an instrument before. HE taught her how to play keyboards and how to sing. When the band Wings started to fall apart for their greatest album 'Band on the Run'. Paul actually did every instrument on the CD.

This book gets into a lot of little detail and it is really eye opening if anything I think it gave me a more diverse opinion of who McCartney is and lets me respect his music more...

[Paul Spence · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were several things I enjoyed about Peter Carlin's biography of Paul McCartney. He spent as much time focusing on the McCartney that has existed since the Beatles broke up as on the band itself. He also spent a great deal of time focusing on the post breakup relationships of the various Beatles with one another. Still the book was lacking in more areas I believed.

For one thing, I believed that the book was far too praiseworthy in its treatment of Paul. Any negative side to Paul's personality is designed to show he is human like the rest of us and is not seen as any aspect of contributing to bad relationships with the rest of the world. McCartney is seen as a nice fellow who made it good but never forgot what his dad taught him. Yet he has terrible relationships with everyone outside his immediate circle. The ability of Paul McCartney to put up this image is compounded by this book and there are really no great examinations of the real Paul.

All in all a good read if nothing new under the sun is revealed.

[Scott Vout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did the audiobook on this one. I have experienced the reader on other books and he is good, in my opinion.

Let me say that i was never a big Beatles fan. My support went to Elvis so i couldn't really support the Fab Four. That is not to say they didn't have one or two songs i liked.
I was a huge fan of Paul as a solo artist. I think Band on the Run is one of the best albums ever created. It was in fact the first CD i ever purchased back in the day.

This book only covers his life up till 2009ish. I didn't realize that when i started to listen to it but you take what you can get I guess. There is soooooo much information in this that I had no idea about. If you are a Beatles fan you will really appreciate the behind the scenes reveals.

Paul had/has his flaws like all of us. His are just magnified by his celebraty. He has also done much good with that celebraty.

All in all an enjoyable read/listen. It has also gotten me checking out some of the music I did not know he created. Very interesting.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starry-eyed fans of Paul McCartney might want to skip this book, as Paul comes off more like a control freak than a nice guy. And yet, who among us hasn’t known a creative genius who insisted on doing things his way and achieved results well beyond most humans? I particularly enjoyed the audiobook reading by John Lee, who delivers the material in a blunt and straightforward manner, without humor or irony, as intended by the author.

One could make the case that his mother’s early death caused Paul to want to control everything else in his life. But it does seem like the control issue escalated throughout his career until recently. One example is insisting Wings musicians be available 24/7, actually living on his farm, but paying them only a small stipend. Although he promised to share the profits as they accumulated, he didn’t make good on this promise.

Still, the musical story is fascinating. McCartney’s iconic collaborations with John Lennon are the best that a musician can hope for: writing with a partner who fills in what you can’t, and vice versa. The growth of the partners in different directions, both bursting with different creative ideas and love for different types of women made a split inevitable. Hollywood couldn’t have written a more logical and engaging plot.

While author Carlin doesn’t seem to care much for McCartney’s solo work, he gives good insight into the production of the solo albums, particularly the ones leading up to super-stardom. I was a fan of these albums way back when and enjoyed reading about them, acknowledging that the author doesn’t share my enthusiasm.

Read the book if you’re a McCartney fan and interested in his human imperfections. Feel free to disagree with the author’s assessment of any album. Musical taste is personal, and the reader is not obligated to be swayed by the author’s opinion.

[Katherine Basto · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded to a 5. I really enjoyed this book and learned a great deal about Paul McCartney's life. I loved the way the author seemed to find the right quote, in the right context, that helped round out the story. And yes, it was a bit gossipy, but ever so interesting.
And unlike many other biographies that focus on some minutae in the individual's life and go on and on about a specific aspect, this book is well-rounded and a page turner. You get little pieces of Paul...here, there and everywhere...keeping a reader like me satisfied.
I think the author could have spent a bit more time on Paul's early life, but overall, a great introduction to the life of Paul from his earliest beginnings, to the demise of his marriage with Heather Mills. It had me wanting to read more about this creative genius, whose muse was everything to him, and he made certain no one could get in the way of that relationship!
Well done!

[Armin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leider nur eine halbe Sache, von daher gibt es auch nicht mehr Sterne als für Goldmans Lennon-Pamphlet, obwohl sich Peter Ames Carlin deutlich mehr Mühe gibt, seinem Gegenstand gerecht zu werden. Und hätte er sich für die 40 Jahre nach den Beatles dieselbe Mühe gemacht wie mit dem bezeichnenden Kindheitstrauma und Jahren mit John, George und Ringo, dann wären ihm bei mir zumindest vier Sterne vergönnt gewesen, vermutlich sogar zeitweilige fünf, aber im Vergleich zu Doggetts „You never give me your money“ fällt diese Darstellung doch zu sehr ab.
Ames Carlin wählt so eine Art Kurvenmodell mit dem Sergeant-Pepper-Album als Kulminationspunkt in der Mitte des Buches und der Reaktion auf Magical-Mystery-Tour als Beginn der Peripetie. Der versoffene Drecks-Paul, der nur noch in seiner Hütte in Schottland herum liegt, nachdem das Ende der Beatles fest steht, markiert den Tiefstpunkt. »Here I am living on a stone floor, carrying water in buckets, and I am marrying with a drunk, who won't take a bath«, klagt Linda auf Seite 198 ihr Leid. »As winter came, Linda lost her patience. She was yelling at him to get his ass off and be a man, already.«
Schön gesetzter Wendepunkt, aber es bleiben nur noch 142 Textseiten, in denen noch Lindas Ende und das unselige Kapitel Heather Mills untergebracht werden muss. Ganz zu schweigen von den Folgen der Lennonmania der frühen Achtziger, die bei Paul einen massiven Minderwertigkeitskomplex auslöste. Von daher ist absehbar, dass die Musik auf der Strecke bleiben muss. Über die Vorgeschichte oder Rezeption der jeweiligen Alben erfährt man immerhin etwas, insofern es die Schwächen McCartneys beleuchtet, der sich nicht mal sicher ist, ob »Mull of Kintyre«, die A-Seite der Single sein soll. Im Absatz darauf folgt das nächste Beispiel für Maccas mangelhafte Kritikfähigkeit, als ein alter Bekannter aus Liverpooler Tagen, der inzwischen bei Polydor was zu sagen hat, vom Album London Town nicht rundweg begeistert ist: »I dunno», Bramwell said, and shrugged. »Does n't sound finished to me.«
Paule wirft Bramwell Undankbarkeit vor und spricht die nächsten zehn Jahre kein Wort mehr mit ihm. Dergleichen Anekdoten bestimmen die unstrukturiert vor sich hin dümpelnde zweite Hälfte, bei der nicht nur die musikalische Analyse einzelner Alben zu kurz kommt, auch wenn einige Entstehungsmythen wie die Vorgeschichte zum in Lagos eingespielten Band on the Run als fromme Legenden entlarvt werden. Das Album war bereits komplett in der Red-Rose-Speedway-Quintett-Besetzung geprobt, allerdings hatte Paul erst den Blues-Gitarristen Henry McCullough, dessen Handschrift bei „Let me roll it“ unüberhörbar ist, verschreckt und dann sah Drummer Denny Seiwell auch nicht ein, warum er sich für seine nie erhöhte 70-Pfund-Gage das Abenteuer Afrika antun sollte.
McCartneys Geiz, bzw. seine mangelnde Einsicht, die anfänglichen Notgagen seiner Musiker auf das neue Erfolgsniveau anzuheben, ist das bestimmende Thema der Wings-Kapitel. Aber auch hier gibt es bezeichnende Lücken: so beschreibt Ames Carlin detailliert wie Paul den Zugabenunwilligen Jimmy Mculloch zurück auf die Bühne prügelt, verschweigt aber, dass der Gitarrist während der Aufnahmen zu London Town für immer von Bord gehen musste, weil er Paul mit einer Schusswaffe bedroht hatte. Die Szene mit der heraus geprügelten Zugabe ist bezeichnend genug: »Paul sprinted after McCulloch, grabbed the little man by his laspels, and threw him against the dressing-room wall. |Get on the fucking stage, you cunt! he snarled.«
»And he did«, Paul recalled cheerfully. »And played great.«
Ist die von zahlreichen Besetzungswechseln geprägte Wings-Geschichte noch als Einheit erfahrbar, so gerät die Darstellung der wechselvollen Achtziger vollkommen bruchstückhaft. Die musikalische Analyse bleibt vollkommen auf der Strecke statt dessen erzählt Ames Carlin den Flopfilm »Take my regards to broad street« nach. Die Schilderung der von Paule gegen die Wand gefahrenen Partnerschaften mit Eric Stewart (Footprints ist für mich mindestens das beste Post-Beatles-Stück) und Elvis Costello gehören zu den gelungenen Momenten des letzten Drittels, gerade mal fünf Seiten, die musikalischen Qualitäten der beiden besten Alben der Achtziger (Press to Play, Flowers in the dirt) bleiben unberücksichtigt, das vergleichsweise schwache »Off the ground« bekommt mehr Aufmerksamkeit, da es sich um ein Zeichen von Pauls Einfallslosigkeit analysieren lässt.
Die aufgewärmten Rock'n'Roll-Klassiker von »Run, devil run«, haben als Weg aus dem Linda-Loch sicher ein wenig Aufmerksamkeit verdient, sind aber vollkommen überrepräsentiert im Vergleich zu den gelungenen Spätstil-Alben »Driving Rain« und »Chaos and Creation in the Backyard«,»Memory almost full«, die u.a. erstes Glück und frühen Frust der Beziehung zu Heather Mills beleuchten.
Fazit: Ich habe mir dieses Buch definitiv nicht wegen einer weiteren Darstellung von Kindheit und Jugend und der Beatles gekauft, auch wenn man dafür vier Sterne vergeben könnte, die Jahre 1970 bis 2009 bleiben weit unter den Anforderungen zurück, auch wenn die Tragödie von Paul McCartney klar erkennbar wird: für den Ex-Beatle gab es danach nur noch Schultern, auf die man sich stützen konnte, aber keine als ebenbürtig anerkannten Partner mehr. Gleichbedeutend mit einer gewissen Abwechslung von Album zu Album und auch sehr ungleichwertigen Platten für die auch mangelnde Kritikfähigkeit als Ursache herhalten muss.
Für die drei überaus konsistenten und ziemlich schmalzfreien Spätalben mit einer neuen Tonsprache bleibt Ames Carlin jede Erklärung schuldig.
Die Paul-Biographie, die mich zufrieden stellt, muss noch geschrieben werden. Aber im Moment habe ich keine Lust mehr, noch einmal was über das Gemeinde-Fest zu lesen, auf dem sich Paule und John kennen gelernt haben und wie es mit den Beatles weiter ging.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll begin by saying that I listen to the audiobook. The audiobook is read by John Lee and is wonderfully done!

I read biographies to get an idea of what made the subject of the biography tick. I like to get a deep sense of who they are. You will not find that information in this book. You will find a detailed anthology of the music that he has written and the stories that went into those songs. You will learn a little bit about his mother, father and brother. You will learn that he loved his wife Linda. You will learn that he had children that he loved. You will learn that the Beatles were filled with trouble and drugs. But, you will learn that they loved each other. Past this, it’s hard to get an idea of who Paul McCartney really is. Should’ve expected as much about a popstar. This comes across as a Facebook biography. It’s what you want people to know about yourself.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carlin does a good job in this full-life biography of McCartney. He neither shirks Macca's overly poppish sensibilities or questionable business practices with former bandmates... not does he dwell on these things unduly. The portrait that emerges of McCartney is a very real, very talented, occasionally aloof man who lives his life in the shadow of his youthful glory. Many would stumble under the weight, but Paul's found a way to keep his life and his music fresh, even if the new songs rarely reach the heights of 1964 or 1967. This is of similar quality to Carlin's Bruce Springsteen biography, and makes me plan to track down his Paul Simon one.

[Nick D · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite humans of all time so obviously I enjoyed the book. I learned more about his early life and mother's death, his introduction to the other Beatles, the days in Germany, and Beatlemania. I also got some insight into his first 2 marriages and later relationships with the other Beatles.

The author thankfully isn't too biased in favor of Paul and highlights faults as well as quirks of his personality.

I appreciated that the author also commented on the music itself in addition to life events.

[Mike Balsom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good, quite thorough bio of my favourite Beatle. Ames Carlin definitely has some affection for his subject, and often points out the flaws in the character of Paul’s famous songwriting partner. But he does point out some of the many inconsistencies in Paul’s behaviour and the questionable decisions he made in his post-Beatles career. The book is almost equally split in length between pre-and post-Beatles break-up, giving much insight into Lennon-McCartney partnership as well as Paul’s solo and Wings career.

[Mark M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a used copy for a buck.

Carlin has a knack for seeming to get into McCartney's mind.

Many interesting details, and I've read countless Beatles-related books.

One thing that I haven't discovered in all my reading: since Paul griped that he got stuck playing bass when Stu Sutcliffe bowed out, why, post-Beatles, when Paul is indisputably the boss of his, er, Wings, does he still play bass? He could have switched to guitar (I realize sometimes he did) and hired a bassist, but hired two guitarists instead.