Paul is Still Dead

Recently Paul McCartney, I mean Sir Paul McCartney, gathered a group of sycophants and false idol-worshippers to sit, clap and laugh as Paul crapped all over Abbey Road Studios as well as the memory of perhaps the most innovative band in rock history.

Among the musical atrocities committed by Paul in the name of "Chaos & Creativity":

A slowed-down, almost dirge-like version of Lady Madonna that miraculously refused to end; a new song in which Paul actually sings "Very twee...very me" (well, duh); a song that sounded like an off-key version of Blackbird, based on a Bach riff (or was that Mach); the actual Blackbird (because Sir Paul never met a crowd-pleaser he didn't milk); and, the anti-climatic "Look at me make up a song on the spot and play all the instruments because, as you know, I was the genius behind the Beatles" (although the made up song could easily pass for a dumbed-down version of either: a) Sgt. Pepper, b) Why Don't We Do It In the Road or c) Come and Get It).

This whole embarassment lasted about an hour on television (I don't know how I'll be able to wait for the expanded DVD release). Mercifully, for you, my loving blogger public, I've whittled the show down to an unbearable 6min 41sec. Click the pic above to watch & squirm.

Editor's Note: If you think I'm being unecessarily cruel, well, yes: I am. However, I believe that we Beatles fans have had to put up with Paul creating his own version of Beatles history ever since John died and we're due for a little payback.

How many times have we heard Paul say he was into the avant-garde scene before John was (there's a whole bleedin' book about it for chrissakes)? So what? All of the best avant-garde Beatles songs were written by John (She Said She Said, Tomorrow Never Knows, Strawberry Fields Forever, A Day in the Life -- okay, Paul wrote the wonderful, not very avant-garde, middle bridge on that one).

How about Paul changing the writing credits on his "live" album, Back in the U.S. Live 2002 from written by "Lennon/McCartney" to written by "Paul McCartney and John Lennon?" Pompous and wrong.

And finally, let's give credit where credit is due: If there really is one person responsible for The Beatles breaking up (which I don't really believe -- it was time for them to move away from each other), it is not Yoko Ono. It's Paul. Not only did Paul release his solo album, McCartney "with a self-interview in which he stated that he never wanted to work with the other Beatles again," but Paul was the one who sued The Beatles in 1970 "for a dissolution of the partnership." I also think that it was Paul's increasing insistence on being the group's leader and his drive for perfection that caused much of the friction between the band members. Here's John talking about the recording of Maxwell's Silver Hammer:

"He (Paul) did quite alot of work on it. I was ill after the (automobile) accident while they did most of the track, and I believe he really ground George and Ringo into the ground recording it. We spent more money on that song than any of them on the whole album, I think."

In fact, it took 27 takes to nail that epic.

Okay. I feel better now. Enjoy the little video...