On 9-11-2001, Paul McCartney was taxing for take off in a plane at JFK when he noticed smoke on the horizon. The flight was canceled and Macca spent the next six weeks in Manhattan. When Harvey Weinstein approached McCartney with the idea of a concert to life the spirits of the firemen and policemen reeling from the disaster, and raise money, Macca ran with the idea. The movie is the story of the setting up of "The Concert For New York City". Currently showing on Showtime and directed by legendary documentarian Albert Maysles (he did "Gimme Shelter" and "Grey Gardens") follows McCartney around nyc in the days leading up to the concert and to the concert itself.
Shot in black and white, it is about as terrific a rock and roll movie as you could want to see. I've just finished reading "Fire And Rain" where the 1970 McCartney doesn't come off so well, in 2001 he came off so well.
Ever the media maven, McCartney walked the streets of Manhattan, shaking hands, talking to Manhattanites., essentially bringing his immense good will to the process of healing. McCartney told Howard Stern during an interview around this time that he could speak to anybody from any walk of life. Watching him prove it is amazing.
But McCartney knows his effect on people and when the crowd begins to get unruly, he jumps into the Limo idling nearby and tells the driver to bolt.
Through all this Sir Paul comes across as an extremely likable guy. Extremely. Really, he is kind, polite, interested, involved. Imagine being Paul McCartney for a moment: the entire world, everybody, adores you, wants a part of you, just wants to hold your hand. It is as if the great man has to parcel himself off to the world, give enough so people know he has listened and liked them but not so much that he can't function. When one man tries to hit him up for money, McCartney replies, "I can't help you" and moves away quickly. When an autograph hound approaches his limo, Paul turns up the window. But for the citizens of this city, for the average person, he gives of himself.
Soon we turn to the rehearsals for the concert at MSG. And here we have a problem. McCartney is flogging a dog album, perhaps his worse, Driving Rain. And a scene with him rehearsing the dreadful "From A Lover To A Friend' is heartbreaking in its complete misguidedness. Macca invests the dog with fleas with everything he has and it can't save the horrible song.
Much worse, Macca is trying to get the musicians who are performing with him at the Concert to join him in a singalong for… "Let It Be"? People are down for that. "Freedom"? Not so fast. I loathed "Freedom" when I heard it at the time and it hasn't improved one iota since. He never plays any of the songs on Driving Rain in concert. Macca tells Eric Clapton, he tried to get Mick Jagger on board to sing the song. "I felt like I was auditioning", McCartney says. A facile, asinine song "I will fight for my right to freedom" goes the chorus.
Except for David Bowie's lovely take on Paul Simon's "America", the music is a drag of classic rock singalongs. I guess it did the job and I watched it at the time and didn't think that much of it then and don't know. The Who, the Stones, Bon Jovi, Elton John -they all sucked.
But McCartney, whether reminiscing with James Taylor ( misguidedly, Taylor is not telling the truth when he claims to have sent Apple an acetate of his songs,Taylor was a friend of a friend of Peter Asher's as Asher mentioned in his solo performance earlier this year), teasing Ozzy Osbourne, or showing paternal affection with daughter Stella, the man is real and I liked him.