"Maybe I'm Amazed" | |
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Song by Paul McCartney | |
from the album McCartney | |
Published | Northern Songs |
Released | 17 April 1970 |
Recorded | 15 February 1970 |
Studio | Abbey Road, London |
Genre | |
Length | 3:49 |
Label | Apple |
Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney |
Producer(s) | Paul McCartney |
McCartney track listing | |
13 tracks
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Audio sample | |
"Maybe I'm Amazed" | |
Music video | |
"Maybe I'm Amazed" on YouTube |
"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by the English musician Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1970 debut solo album McCartney .
Although the original recording has never been released as a single,a live performance by McCartney's later band Wings,from the live album Wings over America ,was released in 1977;this version became a top-ten hit in the United States and reached number 28 in the United Kingdom. [3] [4]
In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Maybe I'm Amazed" number 347 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. [5]
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]
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]
"Maybe I'm Amazed" | ||||
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Single by Wings | ||||
from the album Wings over America | ||||
B-side | "Soily" | |||
Released | 4 February 1977 | |||
Recorded | 29 May 1976 | |||
Venue | Kemper Arena, Kansas City | |||
Genre | Soft rock | |||
Length | 5:11 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Wings singles chronology | ||||
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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 .
Side A
Side B
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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According to author John C. Winn: [24]
McCartney studio version:
Wings Over America live version:[ citation needed ]
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]
Paul McCartney and Wings, often billed simply as Wings, were an English-American rock band formed in 1971 in London by former Beatle Paul McCartney; his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards; session drummer Denny Seiwell; and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. They were noted for their commercial successes, musical eclecticism, and frequent personnel changes. They went through three lead guitarists and four drummers. The core trio of the McCartneys and Laine, however, remained intact throughout the group's existence.
Band on the Run is the third studio album by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released on 30 November 1973. It was McCartney's fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970 and his final album on Apple Records. Although sales were modest initially, its commercial performance was aided by two hit singles – "Jet" and "Band on the Run" – such that it became the top-selling studio album of 1974 in the United Kingdom and Australia, in addition to revitalising McCartney's critical standing. It remains McCartney's most successful album and the most celebrated of his post-Beatles works.
"Too Many People" is a song by Paul McCartney and his wife Linda McCartney, from the 1971 album Ram. The song was issued as the B-side of the "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" single, and was also included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022.
Ram is the only studio album credited to the husband-and-wife music duo Paul and Linda McCartney, and the former's second album post-Beatles. Released on 17 May 1971 by Apple Records, it was recorded in New York with guitarists David Spinozza and Hugh McCracken, and future Wings drummer Denny Seiwell. Three singles were issued from the album: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "The Back Seat of My Car" and "Eat at Home". The recording sessions also yielded the non-album single "Another Day".
McCartney is the debut solo studio album by the English rock musician Paul McCartney, released on 17 April 1970 by Apple Records. McCartney recorded it in secrecy, mostly using basic home-recording equipment at his house in St John's Wood. Mixing and some recording took place at professional London studios. In its loosely arranged performances, McCartney eschewed the polish of the Beatles' past records in favour of a lo-fi style. Apart from occasional contributions by his wife, Linda, McCartney performed the entire album alone by overdubbing on four-track tape.
Wild Life is the debut studio album by the British-American rock band Wings and the third studio album by Paul McCartney after the breakup of the Beatles. The album was mainly recorded in seven sessions between 24 July and 4 September 1971, at EMI Studios by McCartney, his wife Linda, session drummer Denny Seiwell, whom they had worked with on the McCartneys' previous album Ram, and guitarist Denny Laine, formerly of the English rock band the Moody Blues. It was released by Apple Records on 7 December in the UK and US, to lukewarm critical and commercial reaction.
Red Rose Speedway is the second studio album by the English-American rock band Wings, although credited to "Paul McCartney and Wings". It was released through Apple Records on 4 May 1973, preceded by its lead single, the ballad "My Love". By including McCartney's name in the artist credit, the single and album broke with the tradition of Wings' previous records. The change was made in the belief that the public's unfamiliarity with the band had been responsible for the weak commercial performance of the group's 1971 debut album Wild Life.
Wings over America is a triple live album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in December 1976. The album was recorded during the American leg of the band's 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart and reached number 1 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.
Sentimental Journey is the debut solo album by the English rock musician Ringo Starr. It was released by Apple Records in March 1970 as the Beatles were breaking up. The album is a collection of pre-rock 'n' roll standards that Starr recalled from his childhood in Liverpool. As a departure from the experimental quality that had characterised solo LPs by George Harrison and John Lennon since 1968, it was the first studio album by an individual Beatle to embrace a popular music form.
"That Would Be Something" is a song written by Paul McCartney which was first released on his McCartney album on 17 April 1970.
"My Love" is a song by the British–American band Paul McCartney and Wings that was first released as the lead single from their 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. It was written by Paul McCartney as a love song to his wife and Wings bandmate Linda. The single marked the first time that McCartney's name appeared in the artist credit for a Wings record, after their previous releases had been credited to Wings alone. Released on 23 March 1973, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US for four weeks and peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was viewed as Wings' first significant success in the US and helped Red Rose Speedway achieve commercial success.
"Band on the Run" is a song by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, the title track to their 1973 album Band on the Run.
"Junk" is a song written by English musician Paul McCartney and released on his debut studio album McCartney (1970). He started writing the song in 1968 with the Beatles while the group were studying Transcendental Meditation in India. After the band's return from India, he recorded a demo of the song at Kinfauns, George Harrison's home, before sessions for The Beatles took place. It was ultimately passed over for inclusion on The Beatles and Abbey Road in 1969. After John Lennon privately announced his departure from the band, McCartney recorded the song for inclusion on McCartney. A slightly longer, instrumental version of the song, titled "Singalong Junk", also appears on the album.
Sir James Paul McCartney is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre-rock and roll pop to classical, ballads, and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon is the most successful in modern music history.
"Bluebird" is a song written by Paul and Linda McCartney and originally performed by the British rock band Wings, released on their 1973 album Band on the Run. According to author John Blaney, it was written during a vacation in Jamaica. However, author Vincent Benitez claims the song was written as early as 1970 or 1971, noting that Paul and Linda sang the song during a live interview in New York City in 1971. In Continental Europe it was also released as the B-side of the "Mrs. Vandebilt" single.
James Paul McCartney is the title of a 1973 television special produced by ATV, starring English musician Paul McCartney and his then-current rock group, Wings. It was first broadcast on 16 April 1973 in the United States on the ABC network, and later broadcast in the United Kingdom on 10 May 1973. It was issued on DVD for the first time as part of the super-deluxe Red Rose Speedway box set in December 2018.
"The Lovely Linda" is a song by English musician Paul McCartney, released as the opening track of his debut solo album, McCartney, in April 1970. McCartney wrote the song to his first wife, Linda McCartney.
"Beware My Love" is a rock song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was first released on the Wings 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was also used as the B-side of the single that included "Let 'Em In". A live version recorded on June 7, 1976, in Denver, Colorado, was included on the Wings' album Wings Over America and another live version from three days later in Seattle, Washington, was shown in the concert film Rockshow. An excerpt from the Rockshow performance was also included in the documentary Wings Over the World.
"Big Barn Bed" is a song by Paul McCartney and Wings from the band's 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. The songwriting credits are attributed to Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney.
McCartney I II III is a box set by English musician Paul McCartney. Released on August 5, 2022, it contains McCartney's three eponymous solo albums: McCartney (1970), McCartney II (1980), and McCartney III (2020). The release was made available on CD and both limited edition colored and standard black vinyl. All three albums feature McCartney on all instruments and vocals, with the exception of harmony vocals provided by Linda McCartney on McCartney, and the track "Slidin'" from McCartney III, which features drums and guitar performed by members of his backing band. Additionally, the three albums were primarily recorded at McCartney's home studios, with the first recorded in London, the second in Scotland and the third in Sussex.
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.