{"id":505507,"date":"2026-02-28T15:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/505507\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T15:39:12","slug":"the-risky-reinvention-of-paul-mccartney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/505507\/","title":{"rendered":"The risky reinvention of Paul McCartney"},"content":{"rendered":"

With thrilling stories about ordinary blokes willing some of history\u2019s most beloved music into being, the tapestry of The Beatles<\/a> is rife with drama and wonder. In his new documentary \u201cMan on the Run<\/a>,\u201d director Morgan Neville<\/a> addresses one of Beatledom\u2019s \u2014 or, more accurately, post-Beatledom\u2019s \u2014 most remarkable, even inspirational tales.<\/p>\n

In April 1970, Paul McCartney<\/a> announced The Beatles\u2019 disbandment to a stunned world. But as Neville\u2019s documentary makes abundantly clear: while music lovers across the globe certainly mourned The Beatles\u2019 breakup, few suffered its heartbreaking aftershocks to McCartney\u2019s extent. His saving grace proved to be his wife Linda<\/a>, whom he married in March 1969. Linda had not merely been there to stave off the post-Beatles doldrums. She had helped him to conquer the significant depression that he experienced in the wake of the disbandment, a period in which he increasingly relied on alcohol to sate his aching soul. He also admitted in a 1974 Rolling Stone interview that he leaned more on Linda, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t think I have that many [friends]. No one went against me or anything, I think I isolated myself a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMan on the Run\u201d is chock-full of unseen archival footage \u2014 the kind that McCartney aficionados will relish as Neville paints a revealing picture of the musician\u2019s post-Beatles challenges. And to his documentary\u2019s great credit, Neville doesn\u2019t deal obliquely with Linda\u2019s role in Paul\u2019s post-Beatles life. Neville takes the matter head-on, addressing Linda\u2019s 1970s-era critics \u2014 and there were many. As for Linda\u2019s prominence in his music and in Wings<\/a>, Paul admitted that while \u201cshe did just kind of appear out of nowhere\u201d as part of his musical image, \u201cshe was the main help for me on the albums around that time. She was there every day . . . So I think all this business about getting Linda in the billing was just a way of saying, \u2018Listen, I don\u2019t care what you think, this is what I think. I\u2019m putting her right up there with me.\u2019\u201d For her part, Linda understood her place without reservation. \u201cI\u2019m not here because I\u2019m the greatest keyboard player,\u201d she explains in \u201cMan on the Run.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m here because we love each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the filmmaker behind the acclaimed \u201cWon\u2019t You Be My Neighbor<\/a>?\u201d and \u201c20 Feet from Stardom<\/a>,\u201d Neville has a well-honed knack for getting to the heart of our most cherished stories. In its finest moments, \u201cMan on the Run\u201d does precisely that, shedding new light on the ways in which McCartney staged his remarkable 1970s comeback. And what a strange renaissance it was. As Neville explained during my recent interview with him, \u201cPaul\u2019s solution [after The Beatles] was the unlikeliest of solutions \u2014 moving to a farm and removing himself from rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and having kids. He had to begin at square one and get to square 100. But The Beatles also started that way. There were some great things that came out of that period, and there were some missteps, too \u2014 but the missteps were as important as the hits.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Focusing on McCartney\u2019s first decade in the wake of The Beatles\u2019 disbandment, Neville allots significant attention to the musician\u2019s grit and determination during the formation of Wings, which underwent several lineup changes in the 1970s. As the documentary makes clear, the tide began to shift for McCartney when he came to recognize his role as Wings\u2019 band leader. In many ways, \u201cMan on the Run\u201d is the narrative that unites us all \u2014 our personal tales of growing up. \u201cAnd I thought,\u201d Neville explained to me, \u201cthat that\u2019s an interesting story to tell, you know, because if you\u2019ve been a famous Beatle since you were 16 or famous since you were 20, it freezes you in a kind of adolescent state. You see this with lots of rock bands.\u201d With The Beatles juggernaut out of the picture, Paul was suddenly forced to figure it out: \u201cWhat kind of person am I? What kind of husband, what kind of dad, what kind of artist?\u201d said Neville, \u201cand I thought those were interesting questions that Paul was trying to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a powerful story, to say the least, and Neville handles it in \u201cMan on the Run\u201d with great aplomb. In many ways, rebuilding his life and finding himself in the wake of The Beatles\u2019 disbandment may be McCartney\u2019s finest moment. And no less than John Lennon<\/a> would agree with the filmmaker\u2019s position. In one of his last interviews, Lennon admitted, \u201dI kind of admire the way Paul started back from scratch, forming a new band and playing in small dance halls, because that\u2019s what he wanted to do with The Beatles \u2014 he wanted us to go back to the dance halls and experience that again. He did what he wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as McCartney\u2019s post-Beatles renaissance reveals, harnessing his ambitions has made all the difference.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

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