When the world attaches itself to a band or artist as strongly as it did to The Beatles in the 1960s, it can create a parasocial sense of ownership over what that musician does next. After the Fab Four broke up, rock ‘n’ roll lovers watched closely to see what Paul, John, George, and Ringo would do next. And unsurprisingly, opinions about those new ventures were strong.
Videos by American Songwriter
For Paul McCartney, his backlash was double-pronged, with one half jetting out toward his new wife, Linda McCartney. The newlyweds began playing together in Paul’s new project, Wings. Thanks to a blend of misogyny and entitlement, many people disliked this creative move. Some people didn’t think Linda was good enough. Others thought Paul forced her to do it.
And while the McCartneys were willing to concede that Linda was not first and foremost a musician (neither was Paul when he started playing with John Lennon), Macca refused to give one highly circulated criticism even an inch of consideration.
Paul McCartney Shot Down This Rumor About Linda in 1984 Interview
When Paul McCartney met his future wife, Linda Eastman, she was a photographer. Upon forming Wings post-Beatles breakup, he asked his spouse if she would be willing to play keyboard in his new band. Paul volunteered to teach Linda everything she would need to know, which was just a few chord shapes on the piano. Neither musician pretended that Linda was a virtuoso. For critics who expected Paul to maintain a high rock ‘n’ roll pedigree after The Beatles, this seemed alarmingly amateur.
However, other critics accused Paul of forcing Linda to be in his band. In a 1984 interview, Paul interrupted the journalist who described his wife joining the band “against her will.” He interjected, “It wasn’t against her will. It wasn’t. Women don’t do anything against their wills these days.” The journalist pushed back, telling Paul that he did “push her.” “No, I didn’t,” he replied.
Paul’s pushback was a bit more confrontational than he’s known to be in the press, which was indicative of how little tolerance he had for this rumor. In this interview and many others, Paul said he wanted Linda to be in his band because he loved her, wanted to spend time with her, and it seemed like fun. He asked Linda if she would do it, and she said yes. Nervous butterflies, Paul would argue, don’t constitute being forced into doing something.
The Ex-Beatle Argued He Needed to Do Wings This Way
“All it was,” Paul McCartney continued, “was I just said to her, ‘Do you fancy this? Being in a group? Being on stage?’ I was willing to go back to square one and just start the whole thing over again. In fact, I couldn’t think of any other way to do it after The Beatles. Such a hard thing. Like, ‘Follow that.’ I said to Linda, ‘Would you be up on stage with me, please, love?’ ‘Sure, what do you want me to do?’ ‘Oh, hit a couple chords here and there.’”
McCartney said the whole thing was “very casual,” which “annoyed” people. “Don’t be so casual. Be a bit more professional.” The ex-Beatle went on to say that the real issue wasn’t that Linda was new to being in a band. It’s that she was new to being in a band with someone who just left the most famous band in the world. She was under pressure, he said, but not by him.
Photo by Mirrorpix via Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.