Paul McCartney: The Stories Behind 50 Classic Songs, 1970-2020

Description

Paul McCartney's songwriting output as a member of the Beatles, mainly with his co-writer John Lennon, has been exhaustively documented over the years. Now, taking 50 key songs from his five-decade career since the break-up of the Fab Four, Paul McCartney: The Stories Behind 50 Classic Songs takes an in-depth look at the post-Sixties work of one of popular music's most versatile and prolific composers and performers. Paul McCartney has been a genuine pop idol, a cutting-edge experimenter, and in later years recognized as an international musical treasure. The 50 selections from his vast songwriting catalogue highlighted in Paul McCartney: The Stories Behind 50 Classic Songs mark half a century of musical creativity by a true icon of popular music. Each song includes full session details, personnel lists and chart data and is described in detail, from original inspiration to the final release. Quotes from session musicians and studio personnel - and star guests such as Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello and Kanye West - bring the making of every song to life, alongside a wealth of related photographs in and out of the studio.

A musician on the Sixties rock scene, Mike Evans began writing about popular music in the 1970s as a broadcaster in local radio and freelance writer, his work appearing in a variety of publications including Sounds, Cream, the Guardian, Elle and as a regular contributor to the UK's top music weekly newspaper Melody Maker. Since the late 1980s he has worked in book publishing (from 1989 to 2000 with Hamlyn/Octopus), commissioning and editing titles on rock 'n' roll, jazz, and popular culture. He wrote the much-acclaimed The Art of the Beatles (Muller Blond & White)in 1984, and the bestselling Elvis: A Celebration (DK) which he researched and wrote in collaboration with the Elvis Presley Estate in Memphis, and The Art of British Rock (Frances Lincoln) in 2010. Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History (Sterling) was published in 2011, and in 2012 Neil Young (Sterling) and Ukulele Crazy (Anova). He lives and works in London, dividing his time between writing and a freelance editorial consultancy.