McCartney Backstage Full of Enthusiasm (Toronto 1976)

 

McCartney Backstage Full of Enthusiasm

By Peter Goddard

Toronto Star

May 10, 1976

    "I recognize this place", said Paul McCartney, looking at his dressing room ceiling in Maple Leaf Gardens last night. "I remember its shape."

     He looked at his wife, Linda, and smiled. He was last in the hall 10 years ago when he was a Beatle and hadn't performed live anywhere in North America before starting his current tour last Monday in Fort Worth, Texas. 

    But as tired as he looked after his two-hour appearance, he seemed pleased at being backstage once again on the road. Yet only he and Linda were enthusiastic. Ignoring a table full of pastries in front of them and a roast that was quickly carted out the door, they talked about how much they loved the tour. Everyone else in the tiny room, from friends to tour helpers, seemed slightly in awe.

     How did he find the Toronto audience last night? Wasn't it a bit subdued? "Well, perhaps we could have played a little louder," he said, "but it was all right. We've always heard that audiences here had good taste."

     When he said that, you felt, just for a moment, that his Beatle days weren't all that far behind. There was something sly, mocking in everything he said, as if none of it was to be taken all that seriously, as if rock and roll was still a bit of a giggle. 

    He certainly wasn't worried that his band Wings might not be met with a strong reception. "We knew that our record sales had been good," he went on, "and we knew that if our records sold well, that there were several million people who bought them, and they'd be there to see us."

     McCartney merely shrugged when asked if he had heard that other ex-Beatles may be in his audience. He seemed more interested in talking about things that mattered, like songwriting. "I don't know how songs come about," he said. "They come out of the blue. You might just be sitting down plunking some chords when an idea comes. Once you got the first line, it's easy."

     And what were his influences in the days when he was growing up in Liverpool, when he met John Lennon at the Liverpool Art Institute, and the pair won a contest as the British Everly Brothers?

     "Oh, he said, Buddy Holly and...."

     "Wayne Cochran," added Linda.

     "and Gene Vincent."

     Suddenly, a road manager let it be known that they all had to get in their limousines to head for the airport and back to New York. Otherwise, McCartney might have gone through the entire history of rock and roll.