Paul McCartney Rocks: His 10 Best

Though Paul McCartney is best known for ballads (“Yesterday”) and “Silly Love Songs,” the former Beatle could kick it out… when he wanted to. The following is a list of McCartney’s 10 best post-Beatles Rock songs (with Wings and solo).

#10. Letting Go

“Letting Go” is a credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and released by Wings on their 1975 album “Venus And Mars.”

The song was recorded late in 1974 at Abby Road, before the band went to New Orleans to record the majority of the “Venus And Mars” album. It was one of only three songs recorded for the album (“Love In Song” and “Medicine Jar” being the other two) with short-term Wings drummer Geoff Britton before he quit the band.

#9. Hi Hi Hi

In the U.K., the song was banned by the BBC for sexually suggestive lyrics.  The BBC also assumed that the title phrase, “We’re gonna get hi, hi, hi” was a drug reference. Also, the BBC objected to the phrase “get you ready for my body gun,” which were actually “get you ready for my polygon”, an abstract image, “The BBC got some of the words wrong,” McCartney concluded. }But I suppose it is a bit of a dirty song if sex is dirty and naughty. I was in a sensuous mood in Spain when I wrote it.{

#8. Beware My Love

The song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney first appeared on the 1976 album :Wings At The Speed Of Sound.” A live version recorded a short time later in Denver was included on “Wings Over America” and other version recoded days later in Seattle was shown in the concert film “Rockshow.”

#7. Let Me Roll It

The track has been called the “best John Lennon impersonation ever” though not originally intended to be. The guitar riff and the use of tape echo on the vocals are very reminiscent of Lennon. McCartney has said his vocals did “sound like John,” before adding, “I hadn’t realized I’d sung it like John.”

#6. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five

“With a lot of songs I do, the first line is it. It’s all in the first line, and then you have to go on and write the second line,” offered McCartney. “With this one it was ‘No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five.’ That’s all I had of that song for months. ‘No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty… six?’ It wouldn’t have worked!”

#5. Venus And Mars/Rock Show

McCartney has stated that “Venus And Mars” “is about an imaginary friend who’s got a girlfriend who’s the kind of person who asks what your sign is before they say hello.” The ballad segues into “Rock Show” which is an arena Rock song that name drops various venues, including the Hollywood Bowl. McCartney played the Hollywood Bowl with The Beatles in ’64 and ’65. He also performed a ’93 ‘Earth Day’ show along with two nights in ’10 as part of the ‘Up And Coming’ tour.

#4. Junior’s Farm

In ’66 McCartney bought 183-acre Scottish estate called High Park Farm, a place where he composed and recorded several songs. After The Beatles broke up McCartney would retreat to his estate.

“It was such a relief to get out of those business meetings with people in suits, who were so serious all the time, and go off to Scotland. I was very much in that mindset when I wrote this song. The basic message is, let’s get out of here. You might say it’s my post-Beatles getting-out-of-town song.””

#3. Helen Wheels

Recorded by Paul McCartney and Wings The song was named after Paul and Linda’s Land Rover, a pun on “Hell on wheels.”

#2. Jet

The McCartney’s had a Labrador Retriever who got pregnant.

So Jet was one of the puppies,” explained McCartney. “We give them all names. We’ve had some great names, there was one puppy called Golden Molasses. I rather like that. Then there was one called Brown Megs, named after a Capitol (Records) executive.”

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