No Longer a Man on the Run (1976)

 Paul:  No Longer a Man on the Run

By Gordon Blair

The Daily Record

October 22, 1976

    Today, The Record gives you an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney, but what a task it was for Gordon Blair to get that chat with an ex-Beatle star. Why? Because of his wife Linda. 

    She made it quite clear that interviewing Paul is no easy job if she is around; she sat chewing gum and butted in almost every time a question was asked. First, she put on a Scottish accent; then it was a Liverpool accent, at least they were supposed to be. 

    The other members of the band sat quietly while Paul answered most of the questions, but not Linda. There was no way he was going to take the spotlight away from her.

    Paul McCartney, legend, hero, and surely the most loved musician in the world, has stopped running from the Beatles. At a time when he is desperately trying to establish Wings, he has at last realized it -- he will never escape from his Beatles image; all the talk this year of McCartney threatening to punch people in the nose if they asked when the Beatles would reform is over. 

    "I was a mug," he told me. "I thought I could get away from that image. I was proud being a part of the group, but it ended, and I didn't want to die. I wanted to go on in a different direction with Wings, but people kept bringing me back to the Beatles. 

    "It got to such an extent that I used to disguise myself until one day I actually dressed up as an old man, and two girls in the street said, 'Hello, Paul.' I felt daft, and I stopped dressing up."

     The large question mark, which hangs over a possible Beatles reunion, remains unanswered. McCartney has been eager to put together a one-off concert, but he has found the other three less than helpful. He is the most talented and courageous of the Fab Four, and it is worthwhile considering the fact that they know it. Paul told me he has tried to get some reaction from the other three, and they just don't want to know. 

    "Sure, I get bored answering the big question," he said. "But what can I tell people? I told John we had to make a decision, and he said, 'What do you want? A written refusal from all of us?'"

     McCartney has grown in stature from being a scrawny, frightened little Liverpool Beatle in the 60s. He has become internationally important. People like Henry Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Diana Ross, Liz Taylor, Elton John, and Roman Polanski have joined his adoration club, and people listen to what he has to say when his wife Linda allows him to talk, that is.

     Mrs. McCartney is not content to remain in the shadows like Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Joe English, the other members of the group. She wants her piece of the action, and throughout my meeting with Wings, I couldn't help thinking, "Whose band is this? His or hers?"

     We were talking backstage at the Wembley Empire Pool, London, where Wings played three sold-out concerts this week. It signaled the end of a mammoth 13-month world tour, which brought their music to 2 million people in 10 countries. 

    The other members of the band looked tired and drawn, but not Paul. Not even the new mustache took away his cherub-faced good looks. He had been on stage for more than two hours without an interval and walked into that drab, bare room looking younger than ever. McCartney is as eager to tell the world he hasn't changed. He went to great lengths to explain how he and Linda enjoyed the pure and simple things in life," fresh air, and children"

     "In America," he said, "when we had a night off, Linda and I used to go out for a night out like normal people." Normal for the McCartneys means taking their private jet for the night out to some city of their choice. "Yeah," he says "The plane just waited for us, and took us home."

     During the summer, the McCartneys and their children spent a lot of time at their farmhouse in Cambletown, where he has a sophisticated recording studio, but there is little time for relaxation, for a man who has reached more crossroads in his life than most men.

     Last night he finished up the Wembley concerts. Today the band is back in the studio working on a three-record set for Christmas. The next hurdle is Russia. The album Band on the Run is to be released there this year, and a concert visit could follow. If that concert is as spectacular as Wembley, the Russians can expect to be roasted. It felt, dare I say it, as though I was listening to a Beatles concert again.