Post by erik on Feb 5, 2022 22:47:35 GMT -5
While he was never anywhere as close to being politically controversial as his former Beatle band mate John Lennon, on one occasion Paul McCartney did show a little bit of social awareness. That example is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
GIVE IRELAND BACK TO THE IRISH (Paul McCartney and Wings; Apple; 1972)—One of the main bones of contention that caused the dissolution of the Beatles in 1970 was that the two principal players of the band, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, had, by 1968, wildly different ways of expressing themselves in their songs. McCartney, rightly or wrongly, went for straightforward pop melodies, while Lennon, perhaps egged on by Yoko Ono, took on more countercultural political stances. For this and many other reasons, not only did the band break apart, never to reunite again, but also both Lennon and McCartney would occasionally snipe at each other on one another’s albums during 1970 and 1971. And while Lennon continued to advocate for peace and love wherever possible, and confrontation when necessary, on his records, McCartney refused to do the same, as that simply wasn’t him. But that changed a touch on January 30, 1972, when McCartney heard about British troops in the town of Derry in Northern Ireland shooting thirteen Irish civil rights protestors dead, an event that was known as Ireland’s “Bloody Sunday”, and which instigated what came to be known as “The Troubles”, leading to Britain’s war with the Irish Republican Army that was to continue in one form or another for the rest of the 20th century. McCartney had connections to Ireland on his mother’s side of the family, and that led him to write and record, with his post-Beatles band Wings, the pop protest anthem “Give Ireland Back To The Irish”. To no one’s surprise, it earned an instant ban on the BBC for its political content, though that may very well have increased its chart standing in England, where it peaked at #16. In America, it reached a very respectable #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending April 8, 1972. While McCartney’s stance was really only a one-time thing, it did shore up relations with his former partner, whom McCartney supported in his fight against the Nixon Administration to stay in the United States. But any hopes for a reunion of the two with their former Beatle band mates George Harrison and Ringo Starr were ended forever with Lennon’s assassination at the hands of Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980.
GIVE IRELAND BACK TO THE IRISH (Paul McCartney and Wings; Apple; 1972)—One of the main bones of contention that caused the dissolution of the Beatles in 1970 was that the two principal players of the band, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, had, by 1968, wildly different ways of expressing themselves in their songs. McCartney, rightly or wrongly, went for straightforward pop melodies, while Lennon, perhaps egged on by Yoko Ono, took on more countercultural political stances. For this and many other reasons, not only did the band break apart, never to reunite again, but also both Lennon and McCartney would occasionally snipe at each other on one another’s albums during 1970 and 1971. And while Lennon continued to advocate for peace and love wherever possible, and confrontation when necessary, on his records, McCartney refused to do the same, as that simply wasn’t him. But that changed a touch on January 30, 1972, when McCartney heard about British troops in the town of Derry in Northern Ireland shooting thirteen Irish civil rights protestors dead, an event that was known as Ireland’s “Bloody Sunday”, and which instigated what came to be known as “The Troubles”, leading to Britain’s war with the Irish Republican Army that was to continue in one form or another for the rest of the 20th century. McCartney had connections to Ireland on his mother’s side of the family, and that led him to write and record, with his post-Beatles band Wings, the pop protest anthem “Give Ireland Back To The Irish”. To no one’s surprise, it earned an instant ban on the BBC for its political content, though that may very well have increased its chart standing in England, where it peaked at #16. In America, it reached a very respectable #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending April 8, 1972. While McCartney’s stance was really only a one-time thing, it did shore up relations with his former partner, whom McCartney supported in his fight against the Nixon Administration to stay in the United States. But any hopes for a reunion of the two with their former Beatle band mates George Harrison and Ringo Starr were ended forever with Lennon’s assassination at the hands of Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980.