She's My Baby | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I lived in real time the Age of Disappointment, though I can’t pinpoint exactly when it transpired.  The Disappointment was that in my eyes (& ears), McCartney had lost his magic mojo — effectively from the point of Venus And Mars forward.  From McCartney to Ram to Wild Life to Red Rose Speedway to Band On The Run , I was totally on board.  After that last one, I couldn’t wait for the next one.  When my friend bought Venus And Mars first, I went over to his place to listen, and I felt disappointed.  Part of the problem is that I initially (for some crazy reason) didn’t care for the title track + Rock Show.  That was the one error I’d made.  Other than that, I only liked Magneto and Titanium Man and Listen to What the Man Said — the latter of which I loved as truly inspired and pitch perfect.  But to me, two strong songs do not a good album make, so I never bought the album.  Then along came Speed of Sound — same problem.  I only liked two songs — Silly Love Songs, and especially Let ‘Em In (which I consider on a par with Listen to What the Man Said). But again: two songs does not an album make.  By now I thought, is this a trend? Is McCartney finally losing his moxie? 

By the time London Town came out, I had almost lost hope. As with the last two, I didn’t buy it, but listened to the whole thing just to make sure, and this time it was even worse: I only liked one song, With a Little Luck (I didn’t know until years later about a “bonus” track Girls School, which at least would have made two I liked).

So at that point, late 70s, I was officially done with McCartney, and his subsequent albums only confirmed my dismay — his second solo effort, McCartney II , only had two songs I liked, Temporary Secretary and Coming Up .  From then on, through the 80s, 90s, 2000s, I didn’t even bother and only accidentally bumped into songs that I’d say, “well that’s pretty good” (Take It Away, Ballroom Dancing) — and the odd single (Junior’s Farm) — and later the truly inspired Dance Tonight (an exception that proved the rule) and the not bad That Was Me — but not enough to energize me to rekindle my fanship.

It’s only been through Beatles Bible where occasionally people post one of the many McCartney songs I never got around to where I listen and think, “hm, not bad” but not powerful enough, not with the McCartney magic of yore — to change my mind.  So far, only one song discovered this way (just a few days ago, in fact) really remarkably impressed me — I’m Carrying.

But of course Paul will always remain in my heart as one of my favorite musicians of all time — certainly the best singer, possibly best songwriter, and in my top 5 best bassists.