"Little Rock 'n Roll"--- concert review of Paul's show in Little Rock

Seeing one of the Beatles in person has to be one of the most exciting things that we as Beatle fans are able to do.     We spend so much of our personal time focused on the four guys from Liverpool, listening to their music and studying their lives that when the opportunity arises to actually see one of them in the flesh, it is a time full of joy.   There is an electric feeling in the air and you have a big adrenaline rush.

That is exactly what it felt like for me on April 30, 2016 when I saw Paul McCartney in concert in Little Rock, Arkansas.     Of course as a fan, going to a Paul concert isn't simply just going to a concert---it is an event and a chance to be around like-minded fans.    I had a wonderful time at the meet-up before the Paul concert.   I talked to a lot of Beatle friends old and new and it was great.


After the meet up, we went to the Limo Watch.    Paul drove by with the window down and gave a wave and a thumbs up and it was the most exciting 8 seconds ever.   If you have time on the day of a Paul concert to do a limo watch, I highly recommend it.    It is just a lot of fun and a great time with other fans.

The concert started with the slideshow.   This was a different slideshow than what was shown during the "Out There" tour,   Instead of scrolling up and down, this one moved side to side.   Honestly, I didn't like this one very much.    The slideshows are always a highlight for me because they often show rare photographs.   This one was difficult to see all the photos and I didn't notice anything new or different.  

Paul came out and the first song he sang was "A Hard Day's Night."   That is an interesting choice, but I didn't care of it.    As I have mentioned many times before, I do not like Paul singing songs that are thought of as "John" songs.     "A Hard Day's Night" is not in Paul's register and he was struggling to sing the high notes.  

All of the songs that Paul sang that were in his upper register did not sound great, especially "Maybe I'm Amazed."   I know that this is the song he sings in memory of Linda, but I really wish he would drop it from his setlist and pick another song he wrote for her.    At this point, it is getting painful to hear and I am concerned that he is damaging his voice chords singing it so often.     However, the songs Paul sang in a lower register sounded really great.     "Lady Madonna" "We Can Work it out,"  etc all sounded spot on and were extremely enjoyable to hear.

Songs I could have done without were "Letting Go,"  "Temporary Secretary" and "(Being for the Benefit of) Mr. Kite."   My favorite part of the show was the acoustic set where Paul and the band came down front and played "In Spite of all the Danger,"  "You won't see me" and "Love me Do".   The entire band sounded great on these songs and I had never heard any of them in concert before.  

The most emotional song of the night was "Here Today."    I was amazed by the huge standing ovation John got when Paul said, "Let's hear it for John."    It was well over a minute of people whistling and applauding for John and you could see that Paul was touched by this.    While Paul was singing the song in memory of his friend and he sang the line, "I love you..."  the whole place erupted in applause again.    I am not sure if this is common during this song, but it was very touching to me and put a lump in my throat.    Paul's voice sounded a bit emotional as well as he continued on with the song.  

Paul called up two groups of fans in Little Rock.   The first group was four ladies that had a sign that lit up, asking Paul to have them come up on stage.    They seemed nervous and they were cute as could be.    Paul actually signed autograph photos (not tatoos) for them, which I didn't think he did.

The next group was a guy and a girl who had traveled from Japan to see Paul.    The guy wanted to ask the girl to marry him and Paul made him get down on one knee and propose.    The timid girl said "yes" and automatically turned and hugged Paul!   It was so funny!      What a great engagement story for them!

Overall---the experience of the concert and the excitement of it all made it well worth the money spent to go.    Paul always puts on an amazing 3 hour show without any breaks (except for one short encore).    Paul's voice might not be as strong as it once was, but he still sounds like "Paul" on the majority of songs.      I hope you get a chance to see Paul One on One in the near future!  


*All photos taken and belong to Sara Schmidt.   Please ask before sharing.

Why did Paul write "Blackbird?"

I spent this past Saturday night with Paul McCartney.   Alright---myself and an arena full of others in Little Rock, Arkansas, spent three hours with him while he performed.    And, of course, one of the songs he sang was the always beautiful "Blackbird."  

Before he performed the number, he told the crowd that the "Little Rock Nine"  introduced him to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.  He went on to state, "It's a really important place for us because this is, to me, where civil rights started.  We would see what was going on and sympathize with the people going through those struggles, and it made me want to write a song that, if it ever got back to the people going through those struggles, it might just help them a little."

Paul also met backstage with the two living members of the "Little Rock Nine" either before or after the concert.    He tweeted, ""Incredible to meet two of the Little Rock Nine — pioneers of the civil rights movement and inspiration for 'Blackbird,"

Paul with two ladies from the Little Rock Nine

All of this is nice and very emotion-filled, but while he was talking, I couldn't help but think, "what---this can't be right..."   That afternoon, before the concert, I went to the museum for the Little Rock Nine.     I learned that on September 4, 1957, nine African-American children between the age of 14-17 attempted to go to what had been an all-white school, Central High.   They were stopped by the Arkansas National Guard, who had been called in by the state's governor to stop the children from attending school.   Three weeks later, in the middle of hate and death threats, the U.S. President called for the army to escort these brave students to school so that they could get an education that was equal to white students their own age.  Not only does the city of Little Rock honor them with a museum but also with a bronze statue on the grounds of the Capitol building. 

Little Rock Nine Statue.  Photo by Sara Schmidt 

So what was Paul McCartney doing in September of 1957?    The 15-year-old McCartney was a student in Liverpool.    Two months prior, he met John Lennon and agreed to join the Quarrymen.   He was learning more about playing the guitar and starting to write a few tunes of his own.   He was NOT writing the song "Blackbird" at that time.   While there is no doubt that he saw the news about what was happening in Little Rock on the telly in England, as it was spread Internationally, he did not write a song to encourage those nine students during the time it was going on. 

When did Paul write "Blackbird?"    He might have written it during his time in India between February-March 1968.   One story states that he was sitting with his acoustic guitar while in India and heard a blackbird singing, and he began to write the song.   This is the story Paul told in the early days.     Another story states that he wrote it during the Spring of 1968 while on his farm in Scotland after hearing about all of the racial strife in the United States that Spring.  This makes sense because Martin Luther King was murdered on April 4, 1968, and racial riots and turmoil were happening in the following weeks.   This is the story Paul started to tell in 2002 after his book, Blackbird Singing, was released.    Of course, it isn't too far-fetched to believe that Paul started the song in India and it was simply about a blackbird and came back to it a few weeks later in Scotland after seeing the news from America and adding more lyrics. 

To throw a wrench into things, Angie McCartney, Paul's stepmother, says he wrote the song for her mother, Edie.    Paul had gone to Angie and Jim's home, where Angie's mother had been staying, and she was elderly and not doing well.   She had told Paul that she couldn't sleep and was listening to the birds singing in "the dead of night."   Paul recorded "Blackbird" and said on one of the takes (that Angie claims to own), 'This is for Edie.'    Again---this doesn't seem to contradict things too much for me.   Maybe Edie told Paul about her sleeping problems and the birds singing while he was working on the song and made a recording for her.   

So if Paul wrote the song partially about a literal blackbird and partially about racial tension in the United States in 1968, then why did he tell us at the concert that it was about Little Rock?    I found a quote from Barry Mile's authorized biography on Paul, "Many Years From Now," that might clear that up:  

Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a black woman experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.’ As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place so, rather than say, ‘Black woman living in Little Rock and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem.

So as you see, he specifically recalls thinking of the town of Little Rock as the place where a fictitious Black woman lives.  Most likely, he recalls this particular town because it was one of the first news stories of Civil Rights that he personally remembered because of the story of the Little Rock Nine.  

However---I think it is a bit of a stretch to say that Blackbird was "inspired by the Little Rock nine."  Maybe indirectly inspired.   But nonetheless---I think with most Beatles songs, it is difficult to pinpoint just one reason why it was written.    Their songs are complex and weren't always written in one sitting.

By the way, do you know the first time Paul performed "Blackbird" to an audience?   It was the day Linda moved into Cavendish.    Paul opened the window to his house and called out to the girls waiting outside the gate, asking if they were still there.    They were, and he played to them, in the darkness "Blackbird" to see what they thought of it.