Just as Beatle fans professed amusement at the mythical young record buyer of the '70s who'd note in amazement, "Hey, did you know Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings?," Wings fans can now be amused by a new, even younger generation of CD buyers unaware that solo artist McCartney was once even in a band. An exaggeration, maybe, but still a possibility for the man whom in 1979 the Guiness Book of Records honored as the most successful popular music composer ever. Since that singular distinction, McCartney (b. James Paul McCartney, June 18, 1942, Liverpool, England) has released many more albums; the legendary Liverpudlian's career has continued at a more productive pace than ever into the '90s. Between the release of 1989's gold Flowers In The Dirt--which was highlighted by the singer's songwriting collaborations with Elvis Costello--through 1993's Paul Is Live, McCartney issued a total of seven albums, or roughly half the number of albums he recorded while a member of the Beatles.

Indeed, there's a good chance that the still-active McCartney will match the astounding number of top 40 hits he and John Lennon penned for the Beatles--a total of 40--since the group's famous split of 1970. Though that doesn't take into account the many hits he and Lennon wrote for the likes of Peter & Gordon, Billy J. Kramer and other '60s British Invasion stars--all of which is still another facet of his extraordinary success--it's a fact which may surprise diehard Beatle fans who assume McCartney's track record with the Beatles remains unapproachable.

In some ways, despite his monumental achievements, McCartney has fought an uphill battle since leaving the Beatles. Much of it has stemmed from the long-held critical perception that the Lennon & McCartney songwriting team offered a perfect balance of harshness and sweetness--that Lennon was the diehard rock 'n' roller of the pair, while McCartney was the softer, sweeter crooner. Early on, critics point out, McCartney preferred to cover the likes of "A Taste Of Honey" and "Till There Was You" while Lennon opted for Chuck Berry tunes like "Roll Over, Beethoven" and "Rock 'N' Roll Music." After the pair split, the dichotomy became a matter of public record: Lennon aimed his biting 1971 song "How Do You Sleep" directly at McCartney, declaring "the sound you make is muzak to my ears"; five years later, McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" indirectly responded with "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs/But I look around me and I see it isn't so." The bottom line, at least on the commercial level, is that by the time Lennon began his five-year leave from the music business in 1975, he had only nine top 40 hits to his credit compared to McCartney's 16.

Perhaps ironically, while a significant amount of Lennon's post-Beatles work has dated poorly--particularly 1972's Sometime In New York City--McCartney's early unpolished solo work such as 1970's McCartney and 1971's Ram still sounds remarkably fresh and current. Where Lennon at times seemed to strive to make massive statements, whether personal or political, McCartney's deliberately informal, lighthearted approach to music-making, perfectly illustrated by his new group Wings' 1971 near-primitive debut Wild Life, had an even more alluring, timeless charm. Though Wings quickly grew into an extremely polished, sometimes slick aggregation by the time of their second album Red Rose Speedway, which bore the No. 1 hit "My Love," they displayed an overall playfulness, and a sense of not taking themselves too seriously, that was all the more endearing.

Furthermore, while critics continued to maintain that McCartney gravitated toward the schmaltzy--and admittedly, ballads like "My Love" didn't help--the former Beatle recorded a significant number of outright rockers, whether on his albums or as single B-sides; among the best were the top 10 hits "Hi, Hi, Hi," "Helen Wheels," "Jet," and "Band On The Run." The latter was the title track of McCartney's best and most successful album ever, a 1973 set that drove home to many the fact that the former Beatle was making a full-fledged career on his own, and clearly no longer in need of his former bandmates to churn out hits regularly.

Before Wings officially disbanded in 1981, McCartney scored 24 top 40 hits with them, 14 of which made the top 10, six of which went to No. 1. With the exception of the 1978 platinum compilation Wings Greatest, all of the band's nine albums reached the top 10; additionally, each of the five consecutive albums between Red Rose Speedway and 1976's Wings Over America went to No. 1. After being part of the highest-charting group of the '60s, by the end of the '70s, McCartney was second only to Elton John as the highest-charting artist of that decade as well.

Starting the '80s with McCartney II, his first true solo album since 1970's McCartney, the ex-Beatle began a noticeable commercial slide that, considering his status during the previous two decades, was probably inevitable. He recorded only one No. 1 album--1982's Tug Of War---and had his biggest hits via duets with Stevie Wonder (1982's seven-week No. 1 smash "Ebony And Ivory") and Michael Jackson (1982's No. 2 single "The Girl Is Mine" and 1983's six-week No. 1 "Say, Say, Say"). The latter singles were particularly significant: Jackson, who was experiencing the greatest fame of his life with Thriller, was beginning to enjoy the same sort of superstar status McCartney himself had known for the previous 20 years; it's more likely the two duets' extended success came through his participation in the tracks rather than McCartney's.

The former Beatle finished out the '80s in a somewhat low-key fashion. He had two more top 10 hits with 1984's "No More Lonely Nights," from his lukewarmly-received film Give My Regards To Broad Street, and 1985's "Spies Like Us," from the film of the same name. For the first time in his career, he released albums that failed even to go gold (1986's Press To Play and 1987's hits compilation All The Best!).

McCartney's critical standing got a shot in the arm with 1989's Flowers In The Dirt. The accompanying Get Back world tour, the singer's first in 13 years, was a huge, high-grossing success featuring as its high point McCartney unexpectedly performing such Beatles songs as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "The Fool On The Hill," and "Hey Jude." Tripping The Live Fantastic was the live-double CD that documented the tour; a month after its release, Capitol Records released an abbreviated "highlights" version that featured 13 of McCartney's Beatle covers (as well as four of his solo songs) on a single disc. Revealingly, perhaps, only the second set was certified platinum.

In a very active 1991, McCartney released one of the first MTV-related Unplugged albums; Unplugged: The Official Bootleg featured the debut recording of "I Lost My Little Girl," the first song he'd ever written, and was surprisingly strong despite its informal origin. Five months later brought the worldwide issue of CHOBA B CCCP (Back In The USSR), an album of non-Beatle oldies he'd recorded in 1988 exclusively for distribution in the Soviet Union. The same week, he released Liverpool Oratorio, his first full-length work of classical music, which he'd composed with conductor Carl Davis and recorded at the Liverpool Cathedral with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. Not much of a pop smash, nor passionately embraced by music critics, the album nonetheless soared to the top of the classical charts.

McCartney continued in the productive mode with 1993's Off The Ground, which contained two more collaborations with Elvis Costello and the single "Hope Of Deliverance," which disappointingly peaked at No. 83. Having thoroughly enjoyed his 1989-90 touring experience, the singer embarked on yet another trek. The New World Tour, the biggest in McCartney's career, reached five continents and featured performances of long-unheard Beatle hits such as "All My Loving," "Here There And Everywhere," and "I Wanna Be Your Man." In late 1993, he again released a live album: Its cover was a parody of that of the Beatles' Abbey Road, depicting McCartney walking a dog while crossing the street in front of famed London studio; its title, Paul Is Live, a play on the "Paul is dead" rumors rampant at the time of Abbey Road's release. And in 1997, he released Flaming Pie *, which, significantly, entered the Billboard charts in the top 10.

McCartney also has been faced with his share of tragedy. In April 1998, Linda McCartney succumbed to breast cancer after a three-year battle. Devastated by the death of his soul mate, McCartney kept a low profile before returning to his roots with the 1999's Run Devil Run. The set of mostly early rock 'n' roll covers features McCartney jamming with a group of friends, including Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. That was followed by the Grammy-nominated Liverpool Sound Collage in 2000.

Seemingly on a roll, McCartney's profile rose dramatically in 2001 when he applied the same formula used for the Beatles Anthology to his career with Wingspan, a TV documentary and CD set focusing on his post-Beatles band.

Looking back didn't hamper McCartney's ability to move forward. In October 2001 he appeared at Concert For New York City at Madison Square Garden performing a new song titled "Freedom," his response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The song was a last minute addition to his 2001 album, Driving Rain, which also featured "From A Lover To A Friend," a tribute to his late wife Linda.

In late 2001, McCartney dealt with the death of another loved one, former Beatles mate George Harrison, who also died of cancer. Harrison and Linda McCartney were the subject of tributes performed during his 2002 highly successful Driving USA Tour. McCartney also scored an Oscar nomination for "Vanilla Sky" theme in 2002 and performed the track on the Academy Awards telecast. Days before his 60th birthday, McCartney married model Heather Mills.

Clearly at peace with himself and his illustrious past, Paul McCartney has, in the course of his lifetime, sold over one billion albums worldwide. He will very likely sell many more.

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