Mike McGear
Band members Related acts
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- Mike McGear (aka Peter Mike McCartney) -- vocals
backing musicians: (1972) - Brian Auger -- keyboards. - Roger Bunn -- bass - Roger Ball -- horns - Centipede --
strings - Gerry Conway -- drums, percussion - Malcolm Duncan -- horns. - Steve Gould --
backing vocals - Ginger Johnson -- percussion - Paul Korda --
backing vocals - John Megginson -- organ - Zoot Money -- keyboards - Cecil Moss -- horns - Chris Pyne --
horns - Andy Roberts --
guitar - Norman Yardley
-- harmonica - Tony Coe -- sax - Gerry Conway -- drums, percussion - Brian Jones -- sax - Denny Laine -- guitar, backing vocals - Linda McCartney -- Moog, piano, backing vocals - Paul McCartney -- vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards - Jimmy McCullough -- lead guitar - Paddy Moloney -- Aeolian pipes. - Denny Seiwell --
drums, percussion |
- Grimms - McGough & McGear - Scaffold
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Genre: rock Rating: 3 stars *** Title: McGear Company: Warner Brothers Catalog: BS-2825 Country/State: Liverpool, UK Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: cut top right corner; gatefold sleeve Available: 1 Catalog ID: 6251 Price: $25.00
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Given the massive successes Paul McCartney's enjoyed, I have of admire Mike McGear for going out of his way to try to stake out a career on his own. Sure, McGear never made a secret out of the relationship, but had he billed himself as Mike McCartney, virtually no door would have remained unopened to the man.
With the collapse of the band Grimms, in 1974 McGear decided to resume a solo career. McGear and McCartney got together to record a single:
UK pressing - 'Leave It' b/w ''Sweet Baby' (Warner Bros catalog number K 16446) US pressing - 'Leave It' b/w ''Sweet Baby' (Warner Bros catalog number WBS 8037)
The single led to a full scale collaboration between the pair with McCartney stepping in as an uncredited producer (the liner notes referred to 'Paul and Linda McGear'), as well as handling most of the songwriting chores. McCartney also brought in his band Wings (with newly hired guitarist Jimmy McCulloch) to provide support. Released under the title "McGear", it probably shouldn't come as a shock to discover much of the album sounded like a mid-1970s Wings album, albeit with McGear's occasionally shaky voice handling lead vocals. The fact it wasn't billed as a Wings effort gave McCartney some latitude to experiment with material he probably wouldn't have released under his name - nothing here was too drastic, but its hard to imagine the goofy 'Norton' or The Casket having made it on a Wings album. That also meant your outlook on Wings had a big impact on what you probably thought about this album. A Wings fan was probably going to cut McGear and company some slack. Otherwise, with the possible exceptions of the poppy 'Leave It', 'Have You Got Problems?', and the rocker 'Givin' Grease a Ride' you probably weren't going to find too many standout performances.
"McGear" track listing: 1.) Sea Breezes (Bryan Ferry) - 4:52 rating: ** stars The one non-McCartney composition, Bryan Ferry's 'Sea Breezes' (the liner notes mis-spelled Ferry's first name), was subjected to a patented McCartney arrangement that ended up giving the track the sound and feel of a second-rate Wings tune. The arrangement included a strange mid-song reggae section and 'Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey'-styled orchestration. For his part McGear sounded tentative and uncomfortable with the tune. Kind of an odd way to start the album though Warner Brothers tapped it as a UK single:
- 1975's 'Sea Breezes' b/w 'Giving Grease a Ride' (Warner Brothers catalog number K 16520) 2.) What Do We Really Know? (Paul McCartney) - 3:28 rating: *** stars Opening with some tasty Jimmy McCulloch guitar, the jumpy 'What Do We Really Know?' found McGear trying out his best McCartney impersonation. While it wasn't bad, Mike wasn't Paul ... With a series of melodic twists and turns, the song had a throwaway feel until the very end when it unexpectedly erupted into a full fledge rocker that could have been really good (it sounded like Paul handled the song's closing chant section). 3.) Norton (Paul McCartney - Mike McGear) - 2:25 rating: ** stars Co-written by McGear and McCartney 'Norton' seemingly tried to meld Grimms-styled English humor with a Wings-styled rock. To be honest the lyrics were simply too quirky (read too English), to make much of an impression on the American audience. McCulloch's solos stole the show on this one. 4.) Leave It (Paul McCartney) - 3:44 rating: **** stars Previously released as a single, 'Leave It' was full of strumming guitars, shrieking sax, and on of those melodies that crawled in your head and wouldn't leave. Creatively he song finally revealed McCartney's magic touch with pop melodies. With the brothers sharing the lead vocals, this one actually sounded like a first-rate Emitt Rhodes or Badfinger tune which probably went a long way to explaining why it was tapped as the lead-off single. One of my favorite tracks on the album, my only complaint was the somewhat abrupt fade out. Warner Brothers clearly had big hopes pinned on the single, releasing a then-rare promotional video for the tune: Mike McGear with Paul McCartney & Wings - Leave It (Promotional Film, 1974) - YouTube There's also an amazingly cheesy video clip filmed by Spanish radio and television (RTV ES): 1974 Mike McGear "Leave It" HD !!! UNSEEN !!! 1974 - YouTube 5.) Have You Got Problems? (Paul McCartney - Mike McGear) - 6:16 rating: **** stars Another collaboration between the brothers, 'Have You Got Problems? ' continued in the Wings pop vein (with a touch of Chuck Berry thrown in). Not quite as good as the previous track, this one had a slightly more rock feel, though the Beach Boys-styled harmonies were sweet.
(side
2) Co-written with former Scaffold compatriot, 'The Casket' was a pretty acoustic folk ballad, though McGear's thick accent left me clueless with respect to what the song was about. It certainly seemed maudlin. 2.) Rainbow Lady (Paul McCartney - Mike McGear) - 3:26 rating: ** stars 'Rainbow Lady' returned to prime Wings-styled pop, complete with Linda McCartney's somewhat clumsy synthesizers and backing vocals. Another one that was clearly meant for radio airplay, but came off as cursory rather than cute.. 3.) Simply Love You (Paul McCartney - Mike McGear) - 2:47 rating: *** stars McCartney always had a way with crafting simple, but attractive melodies and that was seldom displayed as well as 'Simply Love You'. Like many of his other mid-1970s efforts, it sounded like a nursery rhyme set to a pleasant, but forgettable melody. Paul and Linda McCartney's voices were quite prominent on this one. Another 45:
- 1975's 'Simply Love You' b/w 'What Do We Really Know' (Warner Brothers catalog number K 16658)
4.) Givin' Grease a Ride (Paul McCartney - Mike McGear) - 5:35 rating: **** stars The album's best rocker and another one that sported a distinctive Wings feel (complete with blazing McCulloch guitar and plodding Linda synthesizers), 'Givin' Grease a Ride' was cut from the same cloth as 'Jet' and "Band On the Run' which put it in very good company. Even McGear sounded good on this one. 5.) The Man Who Found God On the Moon (Paul McCartney - Mike McGear) - 6:26 rating: **** stars On the epic 'The Man Who Found God On the Moon' you couldn't be blamed for thinking McGear sounded like his brother. The song's elaborate structure which somehow managed to blend images of Hare Krishnas with astronaut Buzz Aldrin's religious awakening (along with some prominent Paul and Linda harmony vocals), has always reminded me of something that might have been recorded for McCartney's "Ram" album. Not necessarily one of McCartney's best compositions, but it was interesting and even a little thought provoking ...
In the UK and a couple of European markets a third non-LP single was issued:
- 1975's 'Dance the Do' b/w 'Norton' (Warner Brothers catalog number K16573)
Curiously, Warner Brothers didn't do a great deal to market the collection in the States. I remember reading a review of it in some magazine and then being unable to locate a copy anywhere in town. I actually didn't stumble across a copy for another five years.
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