The Top Secret 1965 Solo Paul McCartney Beatles Album That Never Was
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2023
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In late 1965, in the wake of the success of the 'Yesterday' 45, Capitol Records had an idea to put together a solo McCartney album. In this video we uncover evidence about this intreguing proposal as well as put together a track-list and even some cover designs for the project. Could its release have meant the end of The Beatles?
Many thanks to Jeff Uleau for the fantasy cover art.
Links to CZcams videos of "Michelle" - which one if your favourite?:
The Overlanders: • Michelle
David & Jonathan: • Michelle
Check out our Beatles on Capitol Records playlist: • The Beatles on Capitol...
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It is mentioned during the Beatles Anthology documentary, but Paul said he did not remember such a suggestion and if so, he would've turn it down... which is consistent with the fact that Paul tried very hard to keep the Beatles together for the last few years of the band's existence. So a solo career is not something he ambitioned.
It would have been a bad idea to release a solo Paul McCartney Beatles album. The royalties would have gone to Lennon - McCartney as songwriters and George Harrison and Ringo Starr left out entirely. A release like this would have stirred the pot a little too much.
Pretty much the same bad idea that was keeping the band together until the end of their contract agreed thru 1976, splitting solo income, the reason Paul sued them. So in a way, that did (kind of) happen later on!
I thought the reason why Paul sued the rest of the Beatles was to get out of having Allen Klein handle Paul’s money along with everyone else’s… although I admit I could be wrong.
@@glenbourgeois5676 You're right too ! Multiple causes. Time proved Paul was right. Even though one of the reasons encouraging the other three to sign Klein in was Paul's "secret" company actions buy, they went a bit over the top outvoting him on what was ultimately a bad deal in the long run.
I think 1965 would have been too early for a solo album, but always thought they could have saved the group by doing solo albums after Let it Be. Each member could have gone off and completed their solo projects and then come back together once in a while to do a Beatles album. George implied this idea in a conversation with John in the Get Back film.
Andrew that period correct Sears Hi-Fi price tag in the thumbnail sold me on this video!😮
A double album compilation with 1 side consigned to each member of the band might have been quite interesting. Ringo's side with perhaps "Goodnight" at the end would have been surprisingly strong. No... I'm just looking forward to whatever gets released next. When you get to my age, you just hope they come around a bit quicker.
They tried that with kiss
I would add Another Girl...make it a 12 song lp...you do great work and thx for your vids!!!! Jerry
A double album, with one side for each band member, would have been a much better plan, than releasing four solo albums at once. @@michaelrochester48
@@michaelrochester48 They did something similar with KISS, though it was 4 separate solo records as opposed to a 4 sided group effort featuring each member per side. But each member of the Beatles was a massive talent where you can't really say that about KISS unless strictly judging them by their marketing savvy
This was 1965
I always dug "I'm down", one of Paul's finest rockerso
It's the story of him fantasizing about being goose feathers for pillows and comforters.
@@MarcoPolo-fy4qr Whereas as John did not want to be goose feathers in Don't Let Me Down.
@@braemtes23 And years later George reminisced about those wonderful times in "Cheer Down"...
Brian Wilson released Caroline No as a solo single, around the time of Pet Sounds, which also featured the song.
Caroline No is probably the saddest song I have ever heard. Teenage angst at highest form of art (the primary subject of most of Pet Sounds)
The B-side was the instrumental "Summer Means New Love," which had already appeared on the Beach Boys' "Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!") album. It was released shortly before "Sloop John B," a couple of months before the album.
The kinks had a similar situation where Dave Davies of the kinks where death of a clown was released as a solo track before it was released as a kinks album track on the album Something Else later that year
Nick DeCaro's cover (1968) is very striking as well, a good choice for Nick's soft voice and arranging skills.
@@Onthejazz247 Read your comment again to see where you went wrong. Sloppy work. Detention for you.
The history of things that didn't happen, like this proposed Paul record, is usually less interesting than the history of things that did happen. The gold nugget here, for me, is the fact that a group I had never heard of, the Overlanders, had a #1 hit in the UK with Michelle in 1966. (And it sounds good, unlike the David & Jonathan version which also charted.) No matter how long we spend on the Beatles' music and story, there is always more out there to discover!
It's kind of amazing that there are still things to discuss.
In the 70s, when I started searching for used Beatles records, the David and Jonathan Capitol single was all over Goodwill stores :) They sound like they wanted to be Peter and Gordon.
I think that "Michelle" is second only to "Yesterday' in the number of covers that have been made of it. "Michelle" won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1967. I am surprised by this. It is an ok song but no where near one of the Beatles' best, and this is two years after it was released.
The Overlanders Had a few Other hits! But of course,, The Overlanders had a few tracks on the Hit records label! in fact a lot of well known artists were on that label.
The Big Three(The early mamas and the Papas), the Dave Clark Five, the Beau Brummels, The Buckingham's, The tokens, Gerry and the pacemakers, gene Vincent, bobby fuller, bob kuban and the In-Men, the human beings(the Human Beingz), Bobby hart and Tommy Boyce, the tornado's and many other groups also were not listened to as much. you would think with such artists and bands such as the Dave Clark five, that their disk would have been played a lot. but, not every song was a top hit!
Good video. That cover you came up with give me a little Tom Jones vibes haha. Imagine Wings appearing in 1967. We would have missed all the real magic and fantasy.
Mccartney did eventually become the first Beatle to release a solo album with "The Family Way" soundtrack with music composed by Paul McCartney on January 6th, 1967.
Ringo was the first to come out with a first LP , a couple weeks after the Beatles break up , not much of a hit of course
Actually, Paul only composed the music for The Family Way. He didn’t produce or perform on it. George’s Wonderwall was the first solo LP by a Beatle the following year.
The first to have a hit, was George Harrison, who took 'My Sweet Lord' to #1 in both the US & UK in the late months of 1970 & the early weeks of 1971.
~Far Out Magazine
@@johnvizzi2553 Harrison put out Electronic Sound and Wonderwall Music before the breakup. True tho that Ringo did very well on the charts in the early 70s
I looked it up before I said anything , Ringo only got there because of the help of the Beatles
Brian Wilson also had a "solo" single in 1966, Caroline No/Let's Go Away For Awhile IIRC. The Stones released Bill Wyman's song "In Another Land" with him credited as a solo singer in 1967.
And Mick Jagger released a solo single "Memo From Turner" in 1969. Brilliant track.
I like your videos, and the hypothetical album is very imaginative. I especially like the front and back cover designs. For the rocking side of Paul, I certainly would have included "I'm Down," which is a great rocker. The Beatles themselves considered it good enough to play on their final live appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, one day before the Shea Stadium concert (where they also played "I'm Down").
I will be surprised if anybody scrolls down to this comment and reads it, but... Paul had a batch of recordings he could have used in 1965. There is a recording of "A Love For You" recorded back then, filled with that fantastic fuzz bass sound that is typical of 'Rubber Soul'. It differs from the version released on the latest edition of 'Ram' in that there is no electric keyboard in the '65 version, and Linda McCartney didn't sing back-up in that version. (BTW, this version was released with overdubs, in 2002 on the soundtrack, "The In-Laws")
There was also "That Means A Lot", as heard on Anthology 2. While the Beatles rejected this one, Paul could have collaborated with George Martin, made all of the decisions and created something delicious out of it. If Anthology is any indication, the other Beatles probably wouldn't have cared.
As others have already commented, "I'm Down" would have been a prime candidate for this LP.
For the record, when the Beatles (meaning, Paul as soloist) played Yesterday in Japan, Paul was given sole credit for the song, and was allowed to play solo as the rest of the band exited the stage. So the other Beatles already regarded this song as a Paul McCartney solo effort.
I don't think it would have hurt the band had a McCartney solo LP popped up in '65. Sure, they would have been miffed, maybe even Paul himself, but Capitol was used to doing things without the band's approval, so they probably could have gotten away with it.
Outstanding video, Andrew! Kudos to you for finding the Dexter memo. Wow!
Another great video Andrew! Every one of your videos is like taking a course in advanced "Beatleology". I always learn something new from them!
Andrew,you've done it again,Fab job as always
Yet again Andrew you’ve delivered more wonderful & insightful content. The effort you put into the creative styling is the best out there. I can’t wait for the next nugget!
Glad you enjoyed it, Barry!
In a similar vein, I know some countries (possibly Mexico) released EP's featuring individual Beatles, such as Ringo singing _Yellow Submarine, Octopus's Garden, With A Little Help From My Friends_ and maybe _Act Naturally_ or _Boys._ And of course, in 1967 or 1968 Paul toyed with the idea of a solo album of his experimental stuff, called _Paul McCartney Goes Too Far._ John loved that title and urged him to do it, but of course he didn't.
Nice comment.
There is a 1971 Mexican 45 EP with the Apple label (EPEM-10541) which featured 4 George songs: Within You Without You, The Inner Light, Love You To & I Want To Tell You. In a nice picture sleeve utilizing a portion of the Pepper cover.
Amazing video Andrew! 👍 You did a great research, I can't wait to see the next one. Nice topic and thanks again!
So as this was a Capitol idea, I think it would have been half originals, half covers. Had this gone ahead, I think Paul would have recorded a bunch of the songs he and John had given away along with a bunch of covers that he liked. John, George and Ringo would have recorded it with Paul and given themselves pseudonyms and the four would have had a laugh over it. I see the track list being something like this:
1. Yesterday (Lennon/McCartney)
2. That Means a Lot (Lennon/McCartney)
3. Besame Mucho
4. Like Dreamers Do (Lennon/McCartney)
5. She Said Yeah
6. It's For You (Lennon/McCartney)
7. All Shook Up
8. Woman (Lennon/McCartney)
9. Blue Moon of Kentucky
10. Love of the Loved (Lennon/McCartney)
11. Honey Hush
I think as they had "That Means a Lot" finished, that would have gone on the album. Most US audiences would not have been aware of the songs John and Paul wrote for Cilla Black and other Epstein managed acts, so I think those tracks would have been recorded with Paul singing lead and then the boys would have gone ahead with recording Rubber Soul.
I thought this was going to be about Unforgettable!
this channel never fails to deliver fresh, quality Beatles content. Seriously the best there is on YT!
Thank you!
Another fascinating video Andrew. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it, Simon!
Good track list! I also added "Thinks We Said Today," "Can't Buy Me Love," "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Long Tall Sally"to make a 14 song album and it's still only 32 minutes in total.
I can see see why Capitol wanted to push Paul as a solo star, his compositions clearly had massive appeal for US radio.
This sure brings back great memories for me. I was a teenager and I bought the "Yesterday/Act Naturally" single when it first came out. I loved both sides, and it was a brilliant decision by Capitol to add "Act Naturally", written by Buck Owens, who was also a hugely popular Capitol act at the time. Buck recalled many years later: "I had heard about the Beatles, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to them at the time. Then they recorded "Act Naturally". A few weeks later my first royalty cheque arrived in the mail. It was for $100,000. I paid a lot of attention to the Beatles after that!"
One of your most interesting videos so far, Andrew. Keep up the good job. And thank you!!
Thanks, will do!
One of your best Andrew. Thank You.
Thanks Ian. Glad you enjoyed it!
Another Brilliant video Andrew!!! Great song selection as well as the cover art👍👍
Thank you so much 👍
Paul’s songs might have been ‘muzak’ to John but they were and still are pure gold for the record companies.
He was also happy to receive the substantial royalties from Paul's songs too..... oops sorry, I meant "Lennon and McCartney" songs.....
I personally like videos such as this; it’s an entertaining way to learn about the bands history. Thanks as always, Andrew!
Glad you enjoyed it, Joel!
Love this channel, your attention to detail is amazing, thank you 👍🏻👍🏻
Glad you enjoy it!
Andrew! You are amazing!! Great job!! Thank you 🙏
Those covers are beautiful and amazing!
I learn from you every video you post! Thank you for your hard work!
My pleasure, Thomas. Thanks for watching!
The McCartney mock up covers are sensational. Well Done!
Awesome video Andrew! Probably a good thing that Paul didn't get a solo album though, as The Beatles would have more than likely broke up
When "Yesterday" was released, like you said, it was a hit around the world, whether it was released as a single or not. The Beatles had many, many songs that were like that. No doubt, Capitol wanted to get at the McCartney songbook in this way. I remember hearing about this concept a long time ago, but that you located the Capitol documents through a library collection, that's epic! Thanks Andrew.
I wonder if I'm the only one who went directly to my laptop and burned a CD-R of this fantasy album,to make it a reality that I'll be playing in my car all week on the way to work...?
This show hit all my triggers. Great viewing. That's why I'm watching- this is a perfect idea. To take an obscure fact and crack it wide open, to the point of even creating a "new product" that we already have!
The details on the fantasy album cover, great job. I inspected it all, closely. So perfect and imaginative.
I haven't played the new song sequence yet. That will happen tomorrow.
Thanks for another fine show. I feel so happy when I view these!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I think you’ve nailed the track listing 💯%! .. and I love the yellow cover 💕
What an incredible story, Andrew! I didn't know about this proposed Capitol album until now. I think though that McCartney produced an album around Christmas 1965 fearuring some of his favourite records. Apparently only a few copies were pressed with three given to the other Beatles. Apologies if I've got some of my facts mixed up here! Great video, Andrew!
You're correct. Only 4 copies pressed.
Great video Andrew. This album would have had an interesting outcome, had Paul McCartney had his Solo album
Should be noted that here in the US, David and Jonathan's version of Michelle was much bigger than the Overlanders.
So it should have been, it's the better version.
Brilliant documentary and well done you !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating Beatles history, both real and hypothetical!
If Paul were to have released a solo record at the time, then it might have taken the form of him performing all the songs he wrote for other people like Billy J Kramer or Peter & Gordon. Imagine properly recorded versions of Nobody I Know, World Without Love, From a Window etc. The other Beatles could have been placated by it being released under a pseudonym, like he did with Thrillington, and letting rumour do the marketing.
"Come and Get It" on there too.
This is a very interesting video. I was a lucky American kid in the 1960's whose father was an audiophile and who would bring home the Parlophone (UK) versions of Beatles albums for me and my brother. We had a different take on what constituted a "real" Beatles album than what our friends thought. I was a little too young to appreciate the earliest Beatles albums but by 1965, I had seen the movie "Help!" and was deeply affected by Beatlemania. (I got to see the Beatles penultimate concert performance on 8/28/66 at Dodger's Stadium in LA.) I was particularly aware of the differences between the UK and the US versions of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" and thought the UK versions were vastly superior. To this day, I think many Americans don't appreciate the song, "Drive My Car" because it was omitted from the American version of "Rubber Soul". Clearly, Capitol thought the American audience would like the country-tinged "I've Just Seen a Face" better than "Drive My Car" and opened the album with it instead of DMC. This was possible because they had left "I've Just Seen a Face" off "Help!", where it originally appeared in the UK. But unfortunately, by omitting "Drive My Car" from "Rubber Soul", Capitol changed the whole feel of the album for Americans. The Beatles were big fans of American R&B and Motown and successfully covered several of these songs, particularly "Twist and Shout", "Please Mr. Postman" and "Long Tall Sally". I've always held that by calling the album "Rubber Soul", the Beatles were making a play-on-words, implying that with their original songs on "Rubber Soul" like "Drive My Car", "You Won't See Me", "The Word" and "Think For Yourself", they had actually written some "R&B" songs on par with their American counterparts. What I find most strange with Capitol's "bastardization" of Beatles albums is what they did to "Revolver". The three songs they omitted from the UK version were all Lennon songs. ("I'm Only Sleeping", "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Dr. Robert"). This left Lennon singing lead on only 2 songs. ("She Said, She Said" and "Tomorrow Never Knows"). Harrison uncharacteristically sang lead on 3 songs, Ringo got one and McCartney sang lead on all the rest. I always wondered how Lennon felt about his greatly reduced presence on Revolver in the US or if he even cared. Surely he was aware of it and how this contributed to the erosion of his preeminent position as the "leader" of the early Beatles. Finally, starting with their next album, Sgt. Pepper, the UK and US versions of Beatles albums ceased to have different songs.
"Capitol's bastardisation of Beatles albums" 👍 so true. 'Butchering', the Beatles would say.
Wonderful video, your choices were superb. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thank you so much, Mike!
Amazing job on the cover art! Excellent, informative video too, cheers!
Cheers. Glad you liked it!
Interesting video Handsome. Yes in the US it would seem probable that Paul would be the spin off act from the group as he was the most popular in the teen magazines. He was the loveable one. John was scary, George was mystical and Ringo was the funny one. I would put I'm Down (Live) instead of Long Tall Sally
Ooh I like it. New playlist time! I like the Sears price tag on the album, nice touch!
I had no idea! I'm amazed I never heard about this before.
Great video as it always is with this channel! Now I can't wait to hear that tracklist you've created.
For me, the one obvious absence on side 2 ('For the Kids') is I'm Down (not appearing on any LP made it the low hangin fruit!) - unless you were looking for tracks with less prominent background vocals from John & George.
Great video as always. Are those covers (and the EP covers from the previous videos) available anywhere? Would love to make my own playlists using those. They’re great!!
What amazes and indeed impresses me about Yesterday (the song|) is that it comprises four SEVEN bar phrases. It sounds so natural one supposes they must be eight bar phrases but they are not. 💚
And that’s part of the tension. The thing that stops the song from descending into schmaltz.
If you're doing a "rocker" side, its impossible to end it with anything other than I'm Down, which could arguably be considered as one of the first punk tracks ever.
I’ve always wondered what would have been on “the next Beatles album?” It would most likely be tracks from the first solo releases, songs that were being worked on and were bonus tracks in the Get Back and Abbey Road deluxe releases.
This video is awesome! I had never heard of a Paul Solo album to be released back then. In hindsight, it was best that they kept a lid on that project as they were a phenomenon of four. Once they split up, all was fair game.
What a great video with details I wasn't aware of regarding the idea of a solo Paul album in the mid-60's. I never thought Michelle had the potential of becoming as big a hit as Yesterday. It seemed rather light and sing songy compared to the substance and emotional power of the other and I was actually surprised that it was received as well as it was.
"Michelle" by the Beatles won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1967. I never understood how that happened.
Fantastic video, Andrew! I love these little lost stories that crop up! Funnily enough, I remember Paul’s 1989 series of interviews with DJ Mike Read “McCartney on McCartney” where he said he was toying with the idea of putting a solo album out in about 1968. It was going to be called ‘Paul McCartney’s Gone Too Far”. Even John thought it was a great idea, but they settled on recording Hey Jude instead. I wonder if that would have been a more avant guarde album like what George and John were bringing out at the time.
Interesting as always. Thanks, Andrew! No alternative running order, but I would definitely include "Can't Buy Me Love" somewhere.
I wanted to mention this earlier, but I loved the artwork for the cover. The Sears sticker and the price were a very nice touch. I'm surprised that Dave Dexter, Jr spoke up and said this would be bad for the group "the other three would scream". I'm sure they would've. Great video. I had a thought the back cover would say "Other Solo albums by Paul McCartney include his third solo album, III, available in 72 different colors. Get yours right now 'cuz they'll all sell out by next week".
Ironically, McCartney II was both his 2nd post-Beatles solo LP - and his 11th post-Beatles LP.
This just confirms what I've always felt about the Beatles and Paul McCartney. That he was the major talent among the band. We all know that John and George could pen a good song too, but Paul just seems to have that natural gift as a song writer that stands out from the others. And that he had been even before the advent of the Beatles.
Exactly!
I've always seen Paul McCartney as the real entertainer of them.
While the other two had issues with agendas - Paul was happy to just go on entertaining.
I believe this was one reason why George Martin seemed to go along better with McCartney.
Can you imagine what Capitol’s 11-song-per Beatle album marketing strategy would have done to the White Album sessions had The Beatles not stopped Capitol from butchering their albums? Capitol no doubt would have taken the 30 songs scheduled for it and added 3 songs from their recent singles (Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, and Revolution) to make 33 songs, and split the bunch onto THREE 11 song LPs!
I guess it would have been a triple-album set :)
I love your channel. I thought I knew everything about the Beatles. Been a fan of them since the mid 70's when I heard Got To Get You Into My Life on the overhead speakers in Zares Department store. Plus my mom and dad had quite a collection of 45's and albums. It makes my weekend to learn more about my favorite band of all time. Keep up the good work 👍. Jeff
Zayre.
Thanks Jeff! Will do.
Smashing Idea. Just the photos of the Capital executives tell the tale that the creatives truly were at the hands of the public whims, no whims no album. At this point Paul has WINGS! ❤ 👑
On an imaginary Paul solo album I certainly wouldn't lift old Beatle tracks to fill it out. I think Sir Paul had the ability to supply plenty of his own material. For example he could have recorded solo versions of some songs he gave away like World Without Love. That would have been very interesting.
In Germany "Yesterday" was used as the B-side of "Act Naturally". A weird choice retrospectively.
Pretty cool idea !
I genuinely appreciate the work you’re doing, and the information you provided is simply remarkable. I’ve been a Beatles fan since 1963, when my mom brought home the Swan label picture sleeve of She Loves You/ I’ll Get You.
Some of the information you have provided is has been incredibly insightful and fun. There was a time when I thought I knew all there was to know about The Beatles…… you continue to prove me wrong. Thank you so much, and keep up the amazing job you’re doing.
You're very welcome, Dan. Thanks for watching!
I recall watching a Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show where they debuted the song "Yesterday". George introduced the song, and said that it would be featured in an upcoming album "featuring just Paul". The single came out soon after that appearance on the Sullivan show, but no such album ever materialized. I had forgotten about that until I saw this video. Thanks for shaking that memory loose!
He may have been making a cynical joke.
“And for Paul McCartney from Liverpool, opportunity knocks!”
Since I posted that comment, I watched a YT video of that Beatles appearance on the ES show. In introducing "Yesterday", George did say that it was from a new album that was already out in the UK, and would soon be released in the US, and that this song (not the entire album) features "just Paul". George was probably referring to the UK release of the "Help" soundtrack, on which "Yesterday" was included. Now that I watched that again, it caused me to remember that the "Help" soundtrack album didn't come out in the US until several weeks after the film itself had been released. I now recall watching the movie and realizing, in the moment, that the album hadn't come out yet.
Theres so many I could put on a Paul McCartney solo album of Beatles songs and it would be from 1960 and onwards to the days of Let It Be and beyond
Michelle did win a Grammy award for Song of the Year!
Liked the cue mark in the upper right hand corner before the commercial 8:26
WOW!! Those fantasy albums look SO COOL!! They would make GREAT bootlegs!!
Loved the 'Mother' touch. 'On tour, no one can hear you scream.'
Awesome artwork for a proposed album! However, I’m sure glad it didn’t happen! Ringo might not have cared much, but I believe John and George would have. The resentment towards Paul would have started before Brian passed away. - Roger
I thought exactly like you
I love the covers. Man….you should be working with Apple on stuff. They should make this album for real 👍🏼. You could do a themed album for each of them
Alan Livingstone seemed to have the typical record producer's idea of "Who is the star of the group we can market?" Even George Martin had that intention at first, based on the usual pattern of a group being one standout star with backup musicians. But Martin was smart to realize that this was a new concept - a group where every member played an important role. Even George and Ringo got to sing.
Good point. Once the suits get involved, it's always "divide and conquer." Give all the attention to one member.
Nice to see that you can play some Beatles tracks now.
I think capitol could have easily made this a reality after what they did to create 'additional' Beatle albums 1963-66 but what is a reality is the solo careers of all The Beatles and I think they all recorded some of their best work in the '70's-Paul and the 'Ram' Album,John and the 'Imagine' Album, and of course George and 'All Things Must Pass' and Ringo's big single 'It don't come easy'
Very enjoyable! One of the reasons I love your episodes is that sometimes you require us to think.
Quite interesting to think that there [may] have been a solo McCartney Lp. It most assuredly would have broken the group up in my opinion; that Lennon and Harrison, who quipped on live broadcasts when Paul performed the tune showed that there was some fragile egos going on in the group. But if there was such an LP I think there could have been some other tunes to augment, or replace, the tracklist you have lovingly provided.
Songs like ‘One And One is Two’, ‘World Without Love’, Woman, and maybe McCartney’s solo demo of ‘We can Work It Out’ …?
Great episode again. 👍👍…I did not know of a possible solo McCartney venture at all.
Glad you enjoyed it, Brian 👍
I think a standalone McCartney album would be a terrible idea if it was simply going to recycle already available material. However if it had tapped into the bag of unreleased McCartney material of the time - That Means a Lot, Woman, World Without Love, From a Window, One and One Is Two, Like Dreamers Do, Nobody I Know, I Don't Want to See You Again, It's For You, etc. - then it might make for an intriguing release. In fact, there really ought to be a collection of McCartney's early demos anyway, so maybe they should focus on this immediately in the time being.
I think FROM A WINDOW is a John Lennon comp as it was written for Billy J Kramer-- I heard an interview where Billy said JOhn first sang it as ♫
"Late yesterday night..I had a shite right out a window"♫
I came into the comments to make almost the same comment. My idea would have been to do side one - 6 McCartney Demos, and then 6 artists covering them on the other side. Gives promotion to other acts on the Capital or other featured acts, and less need for 11-12 complete songs. And if the other Beatles didn't perform on the demos, that makes it even more of a "solo" record. I know it was later than 1965, but it'd have been cool to have "Come and get It" by Paul AND Badfinger on the same LP.
Drop "Till There Was You" from side one and start the side with "I've Just Seen A Face" (recorded on the same day as "Yesterday"), then drop one of the two covers from side two, and put in "I'm Down", (rocking it and rolling it and also recorded on the same day as "Yesterday), it would be ALMOST all Macca. Keep "Long Tall Sally" as the token 'cover'.
1965 was not the height of the Beatles fame. They continued to become more famous right up tot he point they disbanded, maybe only taking a dip with their last record, 'Let It Be.'
If they were able to get a hold of the demos Paul had made of the songs he gave to others to record they could easily create a McCartney only album. There were also songs he sang solo which were recorded with the Beatles which were rejected. Some of these might be
Cilla Black's - ‘It’s For You’
Peter & Gordon's - ‘A World Without Love’
Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' - ‘I’ll Be On My Way’
Gerry and the Pacemakers' - ‘Hello Little Girl’
Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' - ‘Bad To Me’
Tommy Quickly's - ‘Tip Of My Tongue’
Cilla black's - ‘Love of the Loved’
Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' - I’m in Love’
Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' - ‘I’ll Keep You Satisfied’
The Fourmost's - ‘I’m In Love’
The Applejacks' - ‘Like Dreamers Do’
Peter and Gordon's - ‘Nobody I Know’
Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas' - ‘From A Window’
P.J. Proby's - ‘That Means A Lot’
Another gem Andrew! I personally would've thrown in Things We Said Today, Another Girl (since Paul does play guitar on that) and/or I've Just Seen A Face.
Btw your list does work not only with the 11 songs, but you kept it under a half hour in total length, like all the Capitol LPs. Clocks in at 25:01, less than a minute shorter than the Something New LP. (Not as bad as any DC5 album that's for sure!)😉
These Capitol albums were terrible. Best forgotten.
So many tracks oh Paul singing lead vocals, and in my opinion such a varied selection! Which I think would be the best way to promote Paul. I would include Here There and Everywhere, oh darling, blackbird, Michelle and so many more. You could probably still do it today! I believe it's worth two albums
Paul Would Of Had Enough New Songs To Record For A Solo LP, And That Would Not Have Been An Issue W The Others... Everyone Would Of Ended Up Doing One & That Would Be Fab! Fun That We Are All Able To Speculate And Fantasize... Great Show. 🍎🍏🍎🍏 🎹
I like the cover ideas they look like typical 60s capital artwork. But for my track listing, I would put
1. Yesterday.
2. I’ve just seen a face.
3. She’s a woman.
4. The Night before.
5. What you’re doing?
6. Another girl
Side 2
1. I’ll follow the Sun.
2. Long tall Sally.
3. Kansas City
4. And I love her
5. Things we said today.
6. I’m looking through you
Great content and production values. I'm also waiting for that red phone to ring.
I remember the Overlanders 'Michelle' from the 60s, I was 7 in 1966 - never heard the David and Jonathan version before. Ridiculously, I never realized it was a Beatles track till the 1980s, and never heard Rubber Soul till c1996. Then discovered for the first time that 'Girl' and 'Norwegian Wood' were also Beatles tracks!
Those last two are the makings of a great Lennon solo album! :)
I’ve never thought of P.S. I Love You as a “Paul” song, rather a 3-part harmony in which only one voice sings all of the words.
Side 2 is solid enough. I think Side 1 would drag a bit. Things We Said Today is the notable omission. (Edit: having said that, leaving off Things We Said Today is exactly the kind of stunt Capitol would have pulled.)
I love both songs immensely
Splendid job in perfectly (within a few seconds) matching the play time of the A and B sides!
That Dexter memo was CC'ed to Voyle Gilmore. Everyone should recognize his name from the credits on the At The Hollywood Bowl album as the original producer of the recording.
Solid video!
Thanks!
@Parlogram cheers, mate!
Another great video Andrew. Love your take on the make believe McCartney sings the Beatles album. I wonder what a Lennon sings the Beatles album would look and sound like 🤔
Fascinating video Andrew, if there's an alternative universe where the Beatles broke up, or Paul left, in the mid 60s - that album would have caused it!
Re the covers: I actually preferred David and Jonathan's 'Michelle'. It's a wonderful treatment of the song, the great harmonies on the French bits give it an extra mystique and apparently George Martin was at the helm!
The "what if" cover designs and tracklist are brilliant! After a bit of thought, I would replace The Night Before and Long Tall Sally with Can't Buy Me Love and I'm Down, since neither had yet been on a Capitol LP and both existed in the hypothetical timeframe.
While there was, at the time, a legal consideration re: Can't Buy Me Love, I could see Capitol slipping it onto a "Paul McCartney" vs. a "Beatles" release and taking advantage of the potential loophole!
This is fab 🎉
I like your selections for the McCartney solo album of 1965 that never was. The only change I would make is having "Things We Said Today" on the A side, and " I'm Down" on the B side.
The David and Johnathan version went #18 in the States but I like The Overlanders' version can definitely fit into a British movie.
Another fun video Andrew!! I would try & fit "Ive Just Seen A Face", "Michelle" & the unreleased "That Means A Lot" onto my disc.