Vol. 2 of Perasi’s McCartney trilogy
Published on 18 November 2024, Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 2) 1990-2012 (L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 422 pages), written by Italian author Luca Perasi and with a third volume planned for 2026, deals with the next twenty-three years of Paul McCartney’s solo career.
– Keeping in with the structure of the previous volume, this is the second part of the “musical biography” of one of the most important song composers ever, says the author, who in 2021 was appointed as one of the two official Italian translators of Paul McCartney’s “The Lyrics” and in 2022 collaborated with MPL on the label copy for The 7” Singles Box.
With a cover design featuring a striking photograph by Clive Arrowsmith, the man who shot the famous Band on the Run sleeve picture, and with the inner layout curated by Steve Lambley, Volume 2 tells the stories behind Paul McCartney’s songs released between 1990 and 2012. The book consists of 250 song entries – including songs written by other composers as well as 26 unreleased tracks – each providing detailed information of musicians and recording dates, anecdotes and contemporary interviews, together with many exclusive interviews with key personnel by the author. It’s enriched with almost 1,000 footnotes, with illustrations and QR codes for a multimedia experience. Albums, tours and other events provide a background to the stories behind the songs.
“During the period under investigation, McCartney began to conceive his artistic career in a broader and more multifaceted way than before,” explains Perasi. “Paul juggles his live activity, his forays into classical and experimental music, his passion for covers and his pop albums, demonstrating an incredible versatility and ability to express himself successfully in all of these areas. An unparalleled achievement.”
These different musical genres affect each other. “If we explore McCartney’s production of the Nineties, the Noughties and on, we can see their cross-pollination, how they influence each other. There are bits of classical language in his pop songs, and there’s a pop touch in his ‘cultured’ ventures,” the author adds. “Paul’s forays into the avant-garde also find their way into his albums, and his penchant for catchy melodies can be detected even in records such as those by the Fireman.”
There are some surprising facts and new information in the volume. “The way McCartney decides how to work on an album often goes through different stages,” Perasi reveals. “For example, Off the Ground was initially conceived in the opposite way to the ‘live in the studio’ approach we were told. There was a lot of back and forth between the songs of Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full, the two projects coexisted for a while before Paul made a decision. When it comes to Kisses on the Bottom, for the first time we have the complete timeline of the recording sessions, which will make us see the record in a different light.” Paul’s classical works are also explored in detail. “I am very proud of the interview I did with Maestro Carl Davis a long time ago, there are some incredible insights into the process of the Liverpool Oratorio,” adds the author.
A real guide to take the reader on a journey into the astonishing creativity of Paul McCartney, an artist who elevated the pop song to an art form. The “Music Is Ideas” series is building the most comprehensive catalogue of McCartney’s solo work.
This blog post was based on the press release for the book.
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