Single by Single review Of Paul McCartney’s The 7″Singles Box Reviewed

I went to the “Music Of Paul McCartney” at Carnegie Hall the other day and have been listening to his recent box set -or should I say streaming? It stands up okay but what is surprising is the distance between the best and the worse. Paul is a master of melody and less so a master of genre, but he can handle both. Anyway, here we go…

1970, Sweden
1A: Another Day – a weaker “Lady Madonna” and as an ode to women’s work is never done it figures, but a lousy start and a bad idea – C
1B: Oh Woman, Oh Why – the B side (and not on “Ram” either) even if Paulie’s vocal sounds like Prince a decade before Prince arrived- B+

1971, US Mono
Promotional Release
2A: Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey [Mono] – it still doesn’t quite stand up, all the “Butter pie” stuff is silly Paulie one oh one even if the song is a missed beauty – B
2B: Too Many People [Mono] – his answer to “How Do You Sleep” is a hard swing and a hit, a catchy put down of people preaching practises – A

1971, UK
3A: The Back Seat of My Car – I may have misunderstood the song, though I prefer my interpretation (that they were just being father and daughter in the backseat of his car in the garage) – A+
3B: Heart of the Country – minor but catchy suburban Mr. McCartney – B

Previously unreleased on 7”
4A: Love Is Strange [Single Edit] – a terrific take on a first rate Mickey & Sylvia song -I bet this is one Lennon loved – A
4B: I Am Your Singer – ugh, with “Tomorrow” in his back pocket he sticks this on the B Side – C+

1972, UK
5A: Give Ireland Back to the Irish – much better than I remember, I wish McCartney had done more of this sort of thing even if the BBC ban it; a beautiful piece of political pop with a killer hook – A
5B: Give Ireland Back to the Irish [Version] – the thing about both the pieces is that they aren’t aggressive, they step back and entice you in. Remember, Paul was Irish on both sides of his parents (Lennon only his father): at the height of the war, he did have a set agenda. This instrumental version doesn’t add much except a nice bass hook – B

1972, UK
6A: Mary Had a Little Lamb – a response to “Ireland” getting banned this is a ridiculously good lullaby take on a classic – A
6B: Little Woman Love – another “Ram” outtake with Paulie in full Fats Domino mode on a nice little Paul loves Linda period, a fun and slight track – B

1972, Belgium
7A: Hi, Hi, Hi – Well done, Paulie, banned by the BBC and that makes two songs banned in two years, “Hi Hi Hi” might be the most Wingsish song Paul ever wrote, a swirl of melody from the opening slide guitar to the most melodic soloing you’ve ever heard – A
7AA: C Moon – Paul’s take on rock steady leaves a lot to be desired- C+

1973, Israel
8A: My Love – there are those that love this Red Rose Speedway lead off single, the arrangement is a classic study of the pop ballad, it simplifies the lyric till it dissipates while you are listening to it but it sounds such a stirring blueprint of a ballad you can’t help but admire it – B-
8B: The Mess [Live at The Hague] – extended version of the “Red Rose Speedway” that is a sublime guitar rocker – B+

1973, Sweden
9A: Live and Let Die – along with “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball” this may well be the best 007 theme song to date, a, literally, explosive, jolt of explosions is the actual hook (it shakes you up on stage), and the cleverness of the title twist is excellent: everything charges and subsides like violence itself. As an aside, this is the one Moore 007 movie that is unequivocally excellent – A
9B: I Lie Around – an outtake from “Red Rose Speedway” and Denny Laine takes the lead vocal for the first two verses – C

1973, Spain
10A: Helen Wheels – this is McCartney as chart topper, an ode to his family Landrover it is rural and fun and speeds forward – A-
10B: Country Dreamer – a lame country take but may we take a second to say farewell to the classic Wings lineup (Grade: C+):

Paul McCartney – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, percussion
Denny Laine – bass, backing vocals
Henry McCullough – slide guitar
Denny Seiwell – brushes, drums
Linda McCartney – backing vocals

1974, Germany
11A: Jet – and on to Band On The Run with the worst rhyme for Jet (surfragette) but an addictive song and the background vocals are lovely – A
11B: Let Me Roll It – why is McCartney never better than when he is sticking the knife in Lennon, “Let Me Roll It’ is a quiet vivisection of platonic love between two men and the last word on the Lennon-McCartney partnership, light years ahead of the abysmal “Here Today” with one of the great push ups: “I can’t tell you how I feel, my heart is like a wheel” – A+

1974, Germany
12A: Band on the Run – the title track for Paul, Linda (and Denny’s!) misbegotten trip to Lagos and the huge hit that brought him back on top – B+
12B: Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five – a definitive early 70s Paul, stripped bare and rebuilt as an ode to fidelity – A

1974, The Netherlands
13A: Mrs. Vandebilt – Paulie knew what he had on his hands and meted out the singles off it, here he falls into his epitaph (Grade: A):

What’s the use of worrying?
What’s the use of hurrying? (No use!)
What’s the use of anything?

13B: Bluebird – it sure ain’t “Blackbird” -just a real straightforward metaphor for sexual deliverance with a sax solo inviting him into your bed – B

1974, Belgium
14A: Junior’s Farm – this always hits me as part two of “Helen Wheels”, the joys of living on your own land – A-
14B: Sally G – this was recorded in Nashville (as was “Junior’s Farm”), however this is country -not particularly good country – C

1975, Australia
15A: Listen to What the Man Said – wait, maybe this is the most Wings song ever – A+
15B: Love in Song – a song off Venus And Mars, one of the weaker ones – C

1975, Germany
16A: Letting Go – still on “Venus And Mars”, this is a sexy and bluesy pue pop – B
16B: You Gave Me the Answer – Mac doing his vaudeville take in alignment with “When I’m 64” and “Your Mother Should Know” – A-

1975, Belgium
17A: Venus and Mars / Rock Show – the album opener sounds like McCartney listening to ELO, I didn’t see the tour Over America in person but this is definitely the introduction
17B: Magneto and Titanium Man – in which McCartney writes an Avengers sequel! – A-

1976, France
18A: Silly Love Songs – perhaps the most controversial of PM’s career, I will admit that the arrangement is astonishing but the song itself can’t carry the weight – D
18B: Cook of the House – no – D

1976, Germany
19A: Let ‘Em In – an astonishingly horrible song, the metaphor of Paulie letting in friends and celebrities is fair enough but it doesn’t work – D
19B: Beware My Love – the best song on Speed Of Sound is also the one time he takes the gloves of and hits hard (I mean hard for Paul) – B+

1977, Japan
20A: Maybe I’m Amazed (Live) – the masterpiece from his first solo album as a place setter for Over America – A
20B: Soily (Live) – almost experimental in its virulence, it still manages to be catchy in a downlow way – B-

1977, UK
21A: Mull of Kintyre – a huge hit, his biggest as a solo artist?- is another ode to his farm and a terrible would be classic English folk sound – C-
21AA: Girls’ School1978,Germany – straight forward rock song B Side
22A: With a Little Luck (DJ Edit) – an aural thumbs up from the brimming with optimism Paulie who has lived through a few tragedies (his Mom, Lennon, Harrison, Linda) and the lovely, acoustic soundings and harmonies are filled with hope – A-
22B: Backwards Traveller/Cuff Link – off London Town, two snippets, one instrumental – C

1978, UK
23A: I’ve Had Enough – he disses the tax man, he disses everyone, on a rocker
23B: Deliver Your Children – Denny Laine wrote it for the “Venus And Mars” sessions, Paulie tightened it up and it has finger picking hook underneath it – B

1978, The Netherlands
24A: London Town – you would think that Macca would do better with his hometown but the observational (like the excavation of “Penny Lane”) is wise and while it feels like he has tried too hard (the instrumental break doesn’t help) some of the magic remains- B-
24B: I’m Carrying – nope not about getting arrested in Japan, instead a gentle loop of melody for an ex – C+

1978, France
25A: Goodnight Tonight – a disco synth is added but don’t mind, this is an addictive pop maneuver, it says nothing and still is a thriller – A-
25B: Daytime Nightime Suffering – a fabulous “B Side only” and one of the best of the sort, recorded during the Back To The Eggs session, it is a song tailored for the worst times of your life – A-

1979, UK
26A: Old Siam, Sir – a song that always left me cold, in retrospect it is a new wave steal with a GoF even angularity – B
26B: Spin It On – so let’s get closer to new wave Macca on a pleasant little punk rocker (I know) which is so effortless it is bizarre – B-

1979, UK
27A: Getting Closer – if you can judge an album by its single, Back To The Egg was alright but that’s it – B-
27AA: Baby’s Request – getting ready for Kisses On The Bottom still 30 years odd into the future, Macca wrote his own American songbook even if it sounds like a Simpson parody – B-

1979, Japan
28A: Arrow Through Me – I have no idea why Paulie likes it quite so much, he stuck it on a greatest hits, the bass part is strong – C+
28B: Old Siam, Sir – see above

1979, UK
29A: Wonderful Christmastime – the one time when the differences between Lennon and McCartney can’t be clearer, Lennon wrote the perfect Christmas wish “Happy Christmas (War Is Over If You Want It)” and Macca answered with this sloppy disappointment though, oddly, it has survived the years relatively intact – C+
29B: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reggae – put it this way, a lot more fun than the A Side but an instrumental?? – B

1980, UK
30A: Coming Up -circa McCartney II, this disco work is a falsetto winner and a huge hit and Macca doing what optimism does best – B+
30B: Coming Up (Live at Glasgow) a much better version, faster, harder and yet still ear candy of the first degree, a terrific take and the horns just blast it – A

30BB: Lunch Box/Odd Sox – Macca was really on a roll, and Mac II remains an indifferent album with some great songs – B+

1980, UK
31A: Waterfalls – moody and brilliant, this should be covered from time to time – B+
31B: Check My Machine – with Mel Blanc doing the voiceover and Macca holding the beat for EIGHT MINUTES STRAIGHT – B

Previously unreleased on 7”
32A: Temporary Secretary- an electronic novelty number which works, and is wryly amusing to boot – A-
32B: Secret Friend – another electronic moody experimental piece – C+
[7” Single Edit]

1982, UK
33A: Ebony and Ivory – Stevie Wonder and Paulie lying about music – D+
33B: Rainclouds – a bluesy country workout recorded two days after Lennon’s assassination, not much to it – C-

1982, UK
34A: Take It Away – here we go, the Lennon is dead album Tug Of War which kinda sucks, except this is very catchy table setter – B+
34B: I’ll Give You a Ring – perhaps the blandest song McCartney, who knows a thing or two about bland, ever recorded. It isn’t much at all – C

1982, UK
35A: Tug of War – That huffing at the beginning ruins it before the song even kicks in, but at least it’s not “Pipes Of Peace” – C
35B: Get It – old school rock and roll with an airy breeze and featuring Carl Perkins – B

1983, UK
36A: Say Say Say – very odd that McCartney didn’t put “The Girl Is Mine” on the box set, a better song than “Say Say Say” but not very good, this song is an exercise in pop crafting hit but soulless – D+
36B: Ode to a Koala Bear – from the Tug Of War sessions and here the slightness works to his advantage and a soft swinger nd melodic track – B

1983, UK
37A: Pipes of Peace – is this the low point of his career? – D
37B: So Bad – off that crappy album and doing nothing – C-

1984, UK
38A: No More Lonely Nights (Ballad) – sure, the movie sucked but the song is a dilly and you wanna know who handled the guitar solo? David Gilmour – B+
38B: No More Lonely Nights (Playout Version) – this is a better take as well – A-

1984, UK
39A: We All Stand Together – the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song soundtrack, very pleasant kids songs – B
39B: We All Stand Together (Humming Version) – fabulous version but it misses the piccolo (?) – B-

1985, US
40A: Spies Like Us – from that fucking awful movie with Chevy and Dan, director John Landis hated it for the movie and I hate it period – D
40B: My Carnival – an outtake from Venus And Mars and it isn’t bad at all, much better than “Spies Like Us” – B+

1986, US
41A: Press [Video Edit] – the first single off the disappointing Press To Play, and a steadily engrossing pop rocker, the hook is ok – B
41B: It’s Not True – just awful sax filled drag – C

1986, Art reformatted from US 12” promotional vinyl
42A: Pretty Little Head (Remix) – a non LP B Side (Eric stewart got co-composer credit) and the remix is a thrilling add of electronic to brittle and stinging guitar – B-
42B: Write Away – – nice drum pattern moves it and Macca is fine by the end but not much off Press To Play – C+

1986, US
43A: Stranglehold- a fine little blues riff and a pounding drums – B-
43B: Angry (Remix) – the best track in a coupla years, a headstrong falsetto and horns and drums crashing like post-modernism as pop music – B+

1986, UK
44A: Only Love Remains – a simply horrible track, the fourth off Press and it is as bad as he gets – D+
44B: Tough on a Tightrope – another nothing B Side – C

1987, UK
45A: Once Upon a Long Ago – this is an interesting story, Macca wrote it with Mercury in mind but Mercury -just post-Live Aid, was too busy, so he rewrote it and gave it to the upcoming mo0vie “The Princess Bride” and it is an exceptionally clever mix of orchestra and electric guitar (Paul’s solos are invigorating!) though the song itself is a series of dramatic sketches leading nowhere and the harmonies are horrid but it has a touch of the necessary fairy tale – C+
45B: Back on My Feet – the B-Side and an outtake from the upcoming Mac-Costello collaboration – C

1989, US
46A: My Brave Face – this and “You Want Her Too” is certainly the highlight of the collab with Elvis, this is a simple pop song but just perfection, melodic, thrilling, funny, sad. His best since 1984’s “No More Lonely Nights” and maybe even better than that. As a footnote, I hadn’t realized the two didn’t get along at all.
46B: Flying to My Home – like so many of the B Sides compiled here, it isn’t first rate. Though kudos to Hamish Stuart for his magnificent solo – B-

1989, UK
47A: This One – actually, it was a great idea to pull this lovely song off Flower In The Dirt so it wasn’t overwhelmed by “That Day Is Done” – A-
47B: The First Stone – a classic rock product, the first song AWB Hamish wrote with him but no r&b – C

1989, Australia
48A: Figure of Eight [7” Bob Clearmountain Mix] – can you believe Paulie was opening his sets with this? Why? – C-
48B: Où Est le Soleil – le soleil est la bas – D+

1989, UK
49A: Party Party – still mining flowers on this funky workout – B
49B: Artwork etching – take it literally… it is odd how the greatest popstars (two more: Lennon and Dylan) also paint

1990, UK
50A: Put It There – a beautiful song for his son James (or his father James -depends on who you believe) when James was just ten years old, apparently they weren’t getting on and if what I’ve read is accurate they have never been that close but this is a perfect song – A
50B: Mama’s Little Girl – co-written with Linda, it is a gorgeous track and not simply hanging round – B+

1990, Europe
51A: The Long and Winding Road – and so we reach Tripping the Live Fantastic, probably his best solo tour and album (the first since Wings Over America) and head and shoulders above the market saturation he would end up with. I am not a fan of this though I was when I saw him at MSG and I do now, the vocal is really excellent. Just Because we are all here, together, here is the setlist for December 8th, 1989- B+

Figure of Eight
Jet
Rough Ride
Got to Get You Into My Life
Band on the Run
Ebony and Ivory
We Got Married
Maybe I’m Amazed
The Long and Winding Road
The Fool on the Hill
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Good Day Sunshine
Can’t Buy Me Love
Put It There
Things We Said Today
Eleanor Rigby
This One
My Brave Face
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I Saw Her Standing There
Twenty Flight Rock
Coming Up
Let It Be
Ain’t That a Shame
Live and Let Die
Someone Else I’d Like to Be
Hey Jude

Encore:
Yesterday
Get Back
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End

51B: C Moon – live of course, it is inoffensive – C+

1990, UK
52A: Birthday – while Harrison occasionally did his own songs from his Beatles days, Macca a little less so and this is the first time the rollicking jam has appeared live (it would change of course) – A-
52B: Good Day Sunshine -sorry, it didn’t lend itself (unless you were there of course) – B-

1990, UK
53A: All My Trials – it was actually written by Bob Gibson (in an enormous act of empathy) and I know Joan Baez’s version from 1964. McCartney does it justice – B+
53B: C Moon – again??? – C+

Previously unreleased on 7”
54A: The World You’re Coming Into – Liverpool Oratorio, his first classical album (recorded live), comes to the singles – C-
54AA: Tres Conejos – the good thing about this is that it is a climax and so the music is hard selling you instead of putting tyou to sleep – C+
54B: Save the Child – kudos to Sally Burgess (as the McCartney stand in’s mother) gives the best soprano of the piece – A-
54BB: The Drinking Song (Let’s Find Ourselves a Little Hostelry) – i can’t say any of this is particularly impressive or really for a King Of Melodic, that pretty – C

1992, Europe
55A: Hope of Deliverance – onto Off The Ground, a goodie (my review here), this is as positive as an ode to optimism always rising can ever be – B+
55B: Long Leather Coat – I believe this is a vegan protest recorded circa Red Rose Speedway – B-

1993, Germany
56A: C’Mon People – a plodder off Off The Ground – C
56B: I Can’t Imagine – pushing the sucker for all its worth, another much rock popper – C

1997, Reformatted from 7” picture disc
57A: Young Boy – over to Flaming Pie, a very overestimated album, the only thing that saves him is a strong bridge by Steve Miller no less – – C+
57B: Looking for You – with Ringo and Jeff Lynne and so what? – C

1997, Reformatted from 7” picture disc
58A: The World Tonight – the best song on Flaming Pie doesn’t have the stamina it needs despite Macca using a huge cast to make it so – B+
58B: Used to Be Bad – more Steve Miller blues, Costello was a better fit! – B

1997, Reformatted from 7” picture disc
59A: Beautiful Night – the third and final single, did McCartney really think the pretty but anemic track would be a hit? – B-
59B: Love Come Tumbling Down – bye bye Flaming Pie – C

1999, UK
60A: No Other Baby – onto my fave (maybe second fave) McCartney, Run Devil Run, with Linda gone and a rock band covering (mostly), the acoustic intro seems a little out of place but this is clearly a Linda tribute and a great one – A
60B: Brown Eyed Handsome Man -nothing personal but the zydeco fueled cover of Berry’s masterpiece (certainly among his top 10 songs) (Grade: A-) and just because we are all here:

1 – Come On

2 – Down The Road Apiece

3 – Tulane

4 – Roll Over Beethoven

5 – Maybelline

6 – 30 Days

7 – You Never Can tell

8 – Back In The USA

9 – Sweet Little Sixteen

10 – Round And Round

60BB: Fabulous – a cover of Charlie Gracie’s 1957 hit and it initially didn’t make the album at all but listening to it it is as good as anything on it at all – A

2001, Europe
61A: From a Lover to a Friend – odd that he followed his best album with his worst, there is no excuse at all for Driving Rain (or Heather Mills) and this is pretty much nothing ballad – C-
61B: Riding into Jaipur – a lovely finger picked opening but yet again it fails to cash in and while I don’t admire it, the Indian instrumental takes us back to 1967 on the album – B-

2004, Europe
62A: Tropic Island Hum – recorded back in 1987 and it is a catchy kids track from his children’s TV show – B
62B: We All Stand Together – also Froggy kid’s song but more straight forward… – B

2005, Europe
63A: Fine Line –

Macca’s top five solo albums:

1 – McCartney

2 – Run Devil Run

3 – Ram

4 – Wild Life

5 – Chaos And Creation In The Backyard

The moral being that the album is as great as MOR ever gets, and a beautiful track – A

63B: Growing Up Falling Down – off the album and quietly disturbing as McCartney gets – A

2005, Europe
64A: Jenny Wren – for all intents and purposes, a rethink of “Eleanor Rigby” but not thematically, it is just so overwhelmingly helpless; the character was named after a character in Dickens’ “Our Mutual Friend” and it tells the story of a woman with her heartbroken, but unlike Eleanor, she becomes an emblem to perseverance – A
64B: Summer of ’59 – I can’t understand why on earth this one didn’t make Chaos, yes, Chaos is a great album but this is a magnificent thing with a killer punchline “and it’s all in the name of good taste” as the 50s become the 60s – A

Previously unreleased on 7”
65A: Dance Tonight -only three songs off Chaos, we didn’t even get “English Tea” and Memory Almost Full… is a weak album about a great subject: going old… is that a mandolin? – B-
65B: Dance Tonight [Demo] -it’s not a good enough song to share the demo – C

Previously unreleased on 7”
66A: Nod Your Head – outtake from Memory and a strong rocker – B
66B: 222 – the same as above only a lo fi, cool on rocker – B

2007, Europe
67A: Ever Present Past – the second off Memory, and one of his best of the 21st century, a catchy song about the inescapability of growing old and a hooK? What a hook! “The things I think I did, I did I, did I, did, The things I think I did, When I was a kid – A
67B: House of Wax (Live) – recorded live at Alyson Camus hangout, Amoeba Records, a dreary bad news song – C-

Previously unreleased on 7”
68A: Sing the Changes – The Fireman arrives – B+
68B: Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight [Radio Edit] – I reviewed it a coupla years ago and it might just be the side of jam, that doesn’t make it terrible, great vocal workout – B

Previously unreleased on 7”
69A: (I Want To) Come Home – off his 2007 movie “Everybody’s Fine” (a straight to video disaster) and it is a low key guitar and piano thing – C
69B: (I Want To) Come Home [Demo]- quite nice when it keeps to the piano which it fails to do – C+

Previously unreleased on 7”
70A: My Valentine – written for wife number three, he still sings the Great American Songbook style disappointment in concert – C-
70B: Get Yourself Another Fool – a masterful cover off Kisses On The Bottom – A-

2012, US
Christmas Kisses
71A: The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – somewhere Kat King Cole is scratching his head and shrugging – C+
71B: Wonderful Christmastime – AGAIN??? I guess it was halfway to being a perennial – C+

Previously unreleased on 7”
72A: New – from his indifferently alright album of the same name, it suffers from a nostalgia it seems trapped instead of capturing – B
72B: Early Days – we got it, he played bass with the Beatles – C

Previously unreleased on 7”
73A: Queenie Eye – second best song on the album relives a childhood game – B
73B: Save Us – both as dramatic as Macca ever gets but also it can’t sell itself, it is too gentle – C+

Previously unreleased on 7”
74A: Hope for the Future – from the video game “Destiny”, Paulie overdoes it though you kinda know why, right? – C
74B: Hope for the Future [Thrash Mix] – just what we need -I wonder where Grohl is? – C-

Previously unreleased on 7”
75A: In the Blink of an Eye – from a BBC2 1920s inspired TV movie – C-
75B: Walking in the Park with Eloise – instrumental not written by Paulie but by Carl Davis about the swing era instrumental – B-

2018, Global
76A: I Don’t Know – Egypt Station is one of Paulie’s worst albums and this song will make you sleepy – D+
76AA: Come on to Me – easily the best song on the album, it took me awhile to hook in (what did for me was when Paulie did Car Karoake with James Corden and it sounded really great with am addictive chorus – A-

Previously unreleased on 7”
77A: Who Cares – a terrible little rocker going nowhere – C
77B: Fuh You -right back at you – C

2019, Global
78A: Home Tonight – the sort of song he composes in his sleep, all interlocking parts and burnished melodicism – C+
78AA: In a Hurry – then move faster, what a slow dodge until he speeds up in the middle and yet still: so melodic – C+

Previously unreleased on 7”
79A: Find My Way – from McCartney III -which isn’t terrible but look at this:

McCartney – A

McCartney II – B-

McCartney III – C

79AA: Winter Bird / When Winter Comes – a typical fuse of melody but no lazy dynamite here – C

Previously unreleased on 7”
80A: Women and Wives – well, better than you’d expect right? – B-
80B: Women and Wives (St. Vincent Remix) – the vocal production is mammoth and St. Vincent gives a welcome turn – B