Paul McCartney's band explained

Paul McCartney's band
Landscape:yes
Years Active:1989–1993; 2001–present
Current Members:
Past Members:

Paul McCartney has been accompanied live and in the studio by various musicians since the breakup of Wings in 1981.[1] The core line-up of his band has been steady since 2002, and includes Wix Wickens on keyboards and serving as musical director, Rusty Anderson on guitar, Brian Ray on guitar and bass, and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums.[2]

History

McCartney has had only two significant incarnations of a backing band since the breakup of Paul McCartney and Wings in 1981.[3] The former band, active from 1989 to 1993 with occasional appearances thereafter, included his wife Linda McCartney on vocals and keyboards, Hamish Stuart on guitar and bass, Wickens on keyboards, and former Pretenders Robbie McIntosh and Blair Cunningham on guitar and drums respectively. Wickens' former collaborator in Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, drummer Chris Whitten, also featured early in this lineup.[4] This lineup played on McCartney's studio albums Flowers in the Dirt[5] and Off the Ground[6] and the live albums Tripping the Live Fantastic,[7] Unplugged (The Official Bootleg),[8] and Paul Is Live.[9]

McCartney began to coalesce a new band on his next few albums following Linda's death in 1998. Driving Rain featured Anderson and Laboriel; Ray was recruited one day before McCartney performed "Freedom" at Super Bowl XXXVI[10] and joined the band on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.[11] Memory Almost Full returned Wickens to the lineup.[12] New and Egypt Station featured all four.[13] Anderson and Laboriel also appeared on one track of McCartney III, an album on which all instruments other than theirs were played by McCartney himself.[14]

McCartney credits the band's familiarity for their continued cohesiveness. He said in 2014, "I trust the guys. They know what I'm going to do, I know what they are going to do. We surprise each other—and even if it's like, 'I didn't know you were going to do that,' we can all follow it. That's the great thing with a band. And all of us just come to play music. There's no other thing on the agenda. We just love playing together."[15]

The quintet has also been the backbone of two decades of world tours.[16] They appear on the live albums and DVDs Back in the U.S.,[17] Back in the World Live,[18] Paul McCartney in Red Square, The Space Within US,[19] Good Evening New York City,[20] and Live in Los Angeles, the latter with David Arch filling in for Wickens.[21] The lineup returned to the Super Bowl for McCartney's halftime show in 2005.[22] In 2010, they played together at the White House when McCartney received the Gershwin Prize from President Barack Obama.[23]

The current incarnation has been together longer than any of McCartney's other bands, including the Beatles and Wings. McCartney noted in 2014, "A couple of years ago, I kind of looked at them and said: 'You know what guys? We're a band. We're a real band. I think up until then we'd just been thinking: 'We're getting together, and playing some songs.' But we're a band now—and that elevated our performance, I think. When we realized that, we sort of felt so much better about what we were doing."

Members

See also: Paul McCartney and Wings.

Current lineup

Past lineup

Timeline

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Albano . Ric . 12 November 2016 . Driving Rain by Paul McCartney . 6 January 2022 . Modern Rock Review.
  2. Web site: Price . Karen . 12 June 2010 . Backstage with Beatles legend Paul McCartney . 31 December 2021 . Wales Online.
  3. Web site: Womack . Kenneth . 12 July 2019 . Four new Paul McCartney reissues prove he's a master of the live show . 5 January 2022 . Salon.
  4. Book: Du Noyer, Paul . Conversations with McCartney . Abrams . 2016 . 978-1468313406 . 255 . English.
  5. Web site: Paul Is Live . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  6. Book: Sounes, Howard . Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney . Da Capo Press . 2010 . 978-0306817830 . 437 . English.
  7. Web site: Tripping The Live Fantastic . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  8. Hunter . James . 27 June 1991 . Unplugged: The Official Bootleg . 6 January 2022 . Rolling Stone.
  9. Web site: Paul Is Live . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  10. Web site: Jordan . Oscar . 16 January 2011 . Brian Ray: 10 Years (And Counting) On a Magical Mystery Tour . 31 December 2021 . Premier Guitar.
  11. Web site: Badgley . Aaron . Aaron Badgley . Spill Album Review: Paul McCartney – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard . 6 January 2022 . The Spill Magazine.
  12. Web site: Memory Almost Full . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  13. Web site: DeRiso . Nick . 19 September 2019 . How to Make the Perfect LP from Paul McCartney's Recent Albums . 6 January 2022 . Ultimate Classic Rock.
  14. Web site: 16 December 2020 . Bonus Tracks for 'McCartney III' Revealed . 5 January 2022 . Nights with Alice Cooper.
  15. Web site: Lifton . Dave . 14 March 2014 . Paul McCartney: We're A Real Band . 31 December 2021 . Ultimate Classic Rock.
  16. Web site: Bamberger . Cayla . 31 August 2018 . Paul McCartney Unveils First U.S. Dates of New Freshen Up Tour . 1 January 2022 . Paste Magazine.
  17. Web site: Paul Is Live . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  18. Book: Womack, Kenneth . The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four . Greenwood . 2016 . 978-1440844263 . 64 . English.
  19. Web site: Franco . Michael . 17 December 2006 . Paul McCartney: Paul McCartney: The Space Within US (DVD) . 6 January 2022 . Pop Matters.
  20. Web site: Good Evening New York City . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  21. Web site: Live in Los Angeles . 6 January 2022 . PaulMcCartney.com.
  22. Web site: McCollum . Brian . 15 October 2015 . Paul McCartney gets by with a little help from his band . 6 January 2022 . Detroit Free Press.
  23. Web site: Varga . George . 24 September 2014 . Paul McCartney guitarist Brian Ray's dream gig . 1 January 2022 . Baltimore Sun.
  24. Web site: 7 October 2021 . Ain't No Sunshine . 22 December 2022 . The Beatles Bible . en-GB.
  25. Web site: Paul McCartney - Paul with his 1989/90 touring band. Left-to-Right: Paul 'Wix' Wickens, Chris Whitten, Linda McCartney, Paul, Robbie McIntosh, Hamish Stuart. Promotional shoot for the 'World Tour', 1989 #FlashbackFriday #FBF Facebook . 22 December 2022 . www.facebook.com . en.
  26. Web site: Nights with . Alice Cooper . FLASHBACK: PAUL McCARTNEY LAUNCHES 1989 COMEBACK TOUR . 22 December 2022 . Nights with Alice Cooper . en.
  27. Web site: Loncaric . Denis . 14 January 2022 . Paul McCartney drummer - Abraham Laboriel Jr . 22 December 2022 . DRUM! Magazine . en-US.

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