Paul McCartney Revealed Why He Doesn’t Play His Deeper Cuts Live
Paul McCartney has a musical career that’s spanned more than 60 years, and he’s still producing new music. With that many years of songs to choose from, it’s understandable that he can’t play all of them at every performance. But some fans wish he would dig a little deeper and bring back some old favorites.
They told him so recently, and he explained what’s holding him back.
Six decades of songwriting
When you start your music career in an iconic band it’s a pretty tall order to establish a significant solo career later on. But according to NPR, McCartney was up to that challenge.
After spending the ’60s changing the world of music as a member of The Beatles, he didn’t let their breakup in 1970 slow him down. The same year, he released a solo album, McCartney.
He then went on to form a new band, Wings. After several successful years, Wings disbanded in 1980, and he released another self-titled solo album, McCartney II.
He continued to tour and produce new music, working with artists like Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, and Rihanna. Recently, McCartney has been using his time in COVID-19 quarantine to create yet more music. The result is the third in his self-titled album series, McCartney III.
In a recent discussion promoting the new album on Reddit, fans had something to say about McCartney’s music. As excited as they are to have new music from him, what about his many hits from decades ago?
Fans want to know about the older hits
McCartney joined Reddit users for an “Ask Me Anything” event to promote McCartney III. He started the conversation by introducing himself, “Hi, Paul McCartney here. I just released my new album McCartney III on Friday, recorded in Rockdown. I was also in a couple of bands.”
Fans were quick to respond with their questions and comments. One person wanted to know about some songs they’d love to hear performed, asking:
“My question is with all of the attention your career in The Beatles has earned, and how it influences your setlist, have you ever thought of digging more into your vastly underrated Wings and solo catalog for your setlist? Would love to hear more from Ram, Tug of War, and Red Rose Speedway and especially Back to the Egg at future shows!”
“I always love the idea of doing a deep dive into those songs,” McCartney replied, “but I feel like it’s difficult to do too much for the average audience unless I was to do a special show entitled: Deep Dive.”
Fans thought that sounded like a great idea.
“You’re one of the few artists who’s been around so long and done so much that many fans have an encyclopedic knowledge of everything you’ve done. So Deep Dive would be brilliant and probably have a larger audience than you’d think.”
“Gonna join the chorus of people saying you should do exactly that! I know your discography like the back of my hand, so I’d be willing to travel a decent distance to see a show of you doing deep cuts. Hearing ‘Arrow Through Me’ or ‘Down to the River’ live would be amazing.”
How deep would a “Deep Dive” be?
It’s no exaggeration to say that McCartney is a prolific songwriter. According to New Jersey 101.5, he has written 32 number one hits. Over 150 of his songs have earned a spot on the Billboard charts. In 1979, The Guinness Book of World Records even named him the most successful songwriter ever. He was even responsible for more of The Beatles’ number one hits than John Lennon.
With such a huge catalog of music to draw from, it’s almost impossible for McCartney to play all the songs his fans want to hear. But it seems like some of them are.
As one person put it, “I would go to Deep Dive so fast oh my god! You should totally do it, it would be awesome to hear those deeper cuts. Maybe more intimate venues than a big stadium? I’d be all over that, I mean lots of people would but you have my vote!”
