Two Of Us

Not that he hasn’t worked damned hard to overcome it, but Paul McCartney is forever destined to be remembered as John Lennon’s partner.  A little unfair maybe.  After all, he only spent 13 years with John.  And he’s given us a lot of great music and memories over the last 45 years as a solo artist.

Then again, maybe he’s never given up trying to replace John.  Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Elvis Costello, David Gilmour, Dave Grohl, Kanye West …  it’s a pretty impressive list of collaborations.

Or maybe Paul just digs music, is a fan like the rest of us, and understands that at bottom music is a shared experience.

I Stand Alone

Gibson’s 10 Great One-Man-Band Albums reminds us just how freakin’ talented some cats are.  Write the tunes, play all the instruments, produce it, mix it … sheesh!

Prince (we’ll call him Prince today), Dave Grohl, Steve Winwood, John Fogerty, Todd Rundgren – oh, and this English knight called Paul McCartney.  These guys stand as giants, even when performing as members of their respective bands.

Then they go and demonstrate that they might not actually need the help.  Hats off to ‘em, I say.

Rock is full of huge talents whose creative force drove not just the songwriting but the studio production – guys like Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend, for example.  But they don’t stand on their own.  They need the presence of – not to mention the chemistry with – other musicians.

By the way, where is Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions?