In Defense of McCartney
By David Cheit
The Independent
June 18, 1976
A Beatles reunion is a special fantasy. If it ever happens, its mere existence will transcend any of the more concrete details of a performance. The songs won't have to be good just so they could be. Period.
Until the dream comes true, we have to settle for what we can get. Wings is no match for the Beatles, but when you can get Paul McCartney on stage, and he sings " Yesterday " for you, it doesn't matter much who he's playing with.
That incredible thirst for a taste, a drop, anything to bring back the Beatles experience was in shouting, arm-waving, foot-stomping evidence last weekend when Paul McCartney brought his band of the '70s to the Cow Palace. The inadequacies have been adequately covered in local reviews. Yes, Paul's voice was unable to make the highest notes. Yes, the sound system was inappropriate, almost to the point of distraction, and yes, the new group is a far cry from the old group, but under the circumstances, everybody went home satisfied.
If a reunion is in the cards, this certainly was an encouraging preview. It showed that Paul is ready to return to the Beatles' music. He has said he couldn't face it for so long that he could only recently consider performing it again. It also showed his capability as a performer. True, the strenuous tour has taken its toll on his vocal cords, but the acoustic numbers, "Blackbird" and "Yesterday", were nothing short of entrancing.
The Wings tunes can't possibly be held in the same reverent light as the Beatles classics, simply because they're not Beatles songs, but they still stood up very well and were received with enthusiasm, with one or two dull exceptions.
Other criticisms of the tour have been aimed at Linda McCartney, whose vocal and instrumental contributions to the Wings are, to be sure, undistinguished, but that kind of pickiness doesn't do justice to the way McCartney has managed to preserve his image through the years, while John, George, and Ringo all went through various phases of what's sometimes perceived as weirdness.
Linda is part of that image. She has helped make Paul something of an all-American Beatle. The spirit and unpretentiousness of the '60s remain, but now Paul is in his 30s. He's a dedicated family man. He's married to a pretty American girl. It's an appealing image, and none of the other Beatles has it.
Paul hasn't changed much since the days when the Beatles represented a vaguely sinister presence with their funny long hair and odd slang vocabulary. It's everyone else who has changed.
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