Maybe I'm Amazed

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History

McCartney wrote the song in 1969, just before the break-up of the Beatles. He credited his wife Linda with helping him get through the difficult time. [6] Although most of his debut solo album was recorded at his home in London, McCartney recorded "Maybe I'm Amazed" entirely in EMI's Number Two studio in Abbey Road, on 15 February 1970. [7]

McCartney played all the instruments: guitars, bass, piano, organ and drums. At 0:44 into the track, "you can hear the noise of the drumsticks hitting one another, a detail cleaned up in the 2011 McCartney reissue". [8] Although McCartney declined to release the song as a single in 1970, it nonetheless received a great deal of radio airplay worldwide. [9] A promotional film was made, comprising still photographs of McCartney, his wife Linda, stepdaughter Heather, and daughter Mary; [9] it aired in the UK on 19 April 1970 on ITV in its own slot, and later as a part of an episode of CBS Television's The Ed Sullivan Show . [10]

Reception

Regarded as one of McCartney's finest love songs, it achieved the number 347 position in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2004, [11] and is the only solo McCartney song to make the list. In a late 2009 Q&A with journalists held in London to promote his live album Good Evening New York City , McCartney said "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "the song he would like to be remembered for in the future". [12]

In a review for the McCartney album on release, Langdon Winner of Rolling Stone described "Maybe I'm Amazed", as "a very powerful song", that states "one of the main sub-themes of the record, that the terrible burden of loneliness can be dispelled by love." [13] Winner continued to describe the track as "the only song on the album that even comes close to McCartney's best efforts of the past. It succeeds marvelously." [13] In a retrospective review for McCartney, Record Collector has highlighted "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Every Night" and "Junk", as songs that "still sound absolutely effortless and demonstrate the man's natural genius with a melody". [14] Joe Tangari of Pitchfork similarly evaluated "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Junk" and "Singalong Junk", as the "peaks" of McCartney. [15] While McCartney's former bandmate George Harrison admitted that he did not care for the album, he conceded in an interview that he thought "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "great". [16]

Live version

"Maybe I'm Amazed"
MaybeImamazed.png
Cover of the song's sheet music
Song by Paul McCartney
from the album McCartney
Published Northern Songs
Released17 April 1970
Recorded15 February 1970
Studio Abbey Road, London
Genre
Length3:49
Label Apple
Songwriter(s) Paul McCartney
Producer(s) Paul McCartney
McCartney track listing
13 tracks
Side one
  1. "The Lovely Linda"
  2. "That Would Be Something"
  3. "Valentine Day"
  4. "Every Night"
  5. "Hot as Sun/Glasses"
  6. "Junk"
  7. "Man We Was Lonely"
Side two
  1. "Oo You"
  2. "Momma Miss America"
  3. "Teddy Boy"
  4. "Singalong Junk"
  5. "Maybe I'm Amazed"
  6. "Kreen-Akrore"
Audio sample
"Maybe I'm Amazed"
"Maybe I'm Amazed"
Maybe I'm Amazed.jpg
Single by Wings
from the album Wings over America
B-side "Soily"
Released4 February 1977
Recorded29 May 1976
Venue Kemper Arena, Kansas City
Genre Soft rock
Length5:11
Label Capitol
Songwriter(s) Paul McCartney
Producer(s) Paul McCartney
Wings singles chronology
"Let 'Em In"
(1976)
"Maybe I'm Amazed"
(1977)
"Seaside Woman"
(1977)

A live recording from the 1976 album Wings over America was released as a single by McCartney's band Wings [6] on 4 February 1977; it reached number 10 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, [17] and number 28 in the UK. [18] This live version is longer than the original and has a slower tempo.

Record World said, "Already a classic and familiar track, this version comes without the false ending. You'll be amazed, too." [19]

Versions of the song can be heard on several other live McCartney albums including Back in the U.S. and Back in the World . "Maybe I'm Amazed" has become a centrepiece of McCartney's concerts, along with "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die". Live versions of the song are available on the 2011 reissue of McCartney .

Track listing

7"

  1. "Maybe I'm Amazed" – 5:11
  2. "Soily" – 5:10

12" US Promo, Record Store Day 2013 EP

Side A

  1. "Maybe I'm Amazed – Short Version (Mono)" – 3:43
  2. "Maybe I'm Amazed – Album Version (Mono)" – 5:11

Side B

  1. "Maybe I'm Amazed – Short Version (Stereo)" – 3:43
  2. "Maybe I'm Amazed – Album Version (Stereo)" – 5:11

Chart performance

Personnel

According to author John C. Winn: [24]

McCartney studio version:

Wings Over America live version:[ citation needed ]

Cover versions

Faces recorded a studio version of the song in 1970 and released it as a US-only single, while a live version appeared on their 1971 album Long Player . [25] [26]

Billy Joel covered the song for the 2014 tribute album The Art of McCartney . [27]

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References

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  6. 1 2 "Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney Songfacts". songfacts.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
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  14. "Paul McCartney: McCartney". Record Collector . July 2011. p. 95. The likes of 'Every Night,' 'Junk,' and 'Maybe I'm Amazed' still sound absolutely effortless and demonstrate the man's natural genius with a melody.
  15. Tangari, Joe (15 June 2011). "Paul McCartney: McCartney / McCartney II Album Review". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
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Sources