Paul McCartney : the life

Title:

Author:

Norman, Philip, 1943- author.

Summary:

"Since the age of twenty-one, Paul McCartney has lived one of the ultimate rock-n-roll lives played out on the most public of stages. Now, Paul's story is told by rock music's foremost biographer, with McCartney's consent and access to family members and close friends who have never spoken on the record before. Paul McCartney reveals the complex character behind the façade and sheds new light on his childhood--blighted by his mother's death but redeemed by the father who introduced him to music. This is the first definitive account of Paul's often troubled partnership with John Lennon, his personal trauma after the Beatles' breakup, and his subsequent struggle to get back to the top with Wings--which nearly got him murdered in Africa and brought him nine days in a Tokyo jail. Readers will learn about his marriage to Linda, including their much-criticized musical collaboration, and a moving account of her death. Packed with new information and critical insights, Paul McCartney will be the definitive biography of a musical legend." -- Publisher's description.

General Note:

Includes index.

Edition:

First North American edition.

Contents:

Prologue: All our yesterdays -- Stairway to Paradise. 'Hey, mister gimme a quid and I'll show you Paul McCartney's house' -- 'Apple sandwiches with sugar' -- 'I learned to put a shell around me' -- Puttin' on the style -- 'Chalkandcheese!' -- 'Paul seems to make John come alive when they were together' -- 'Just who do you want to be, Paul? Tommy Steele?' -- 'Everything's mad here. People never sleep' -- 'Sing "Searchin'", Paul! -- 'Oo, Vi, give me legs a comb' -- 'Just think--Little Richard's got on my shirt! I can't believe it!' -- The Barnum & Bailey Beatle. 'Did you know he sleeps with his eyes open?' -- 'Changing my life with a wave of her hand' -- 'Long life and happiness and lots of marzipan butties' -- This is what a Beatle does in the evenings' -- 'It's a big one, 'cos I like big houses' -- 'You might almost have said an alien had landed on the Mull' -- Return of the Jim Mac Jazz Band -- 'An irresponsible idiot' -- 'Everything was off the top of Paul's head' -- 'A beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things' -- 'It was the coup de foudre the French speak of in hushed tones' -- 'You have found her, now go and get her' -- Home, Family, Love. 'You've been playing on the roof again and your Mommy doesn't like it' -- 'Fuck you, money!' -- 'Go on, cry! You'll be in the paper' -- 'Paul is still with us' -- 'It was a barrelling, empty feeling that just rolled across my soul' -- 'It was almost as if I was committing an unholy act' -- 'Hell, we've really blown it here' -- 'Screw you, I'll make an album you'll wish you'd been on' -- 'An old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul' -- 'Man, if I was Paul McCartney, I'd buy the road' -- 'They'd saved themselves for him' -- 'Oi, Paul, you know that Mull of Kintyre? It's fakking great!' -- McCartneyesque whimsy on punk steroids' -- Japanese jailbird -- 'It put everyone in a daze for the rest of their life' -- Carrying That Weight. 'Give me back my babies, Lew' -- 'About as close as you can get to a non-movie' -- 'I bought your songs, Paul' -- 'You're such a lovely audience' -- 'I work my arse off, I do. I work my bloody arse off' -- 'Everyone wanted to the icing on the cake. No one wanted to be the cake' -- 'This letter comes with my love from your friend Paul' -- 'She radiated hope' -- 'Let me love you always' -- Back in the World. Lonesome town -- 'I've just got a leg missing. I've still got my heart' -- 'Hey, that's pretty good. Is it one of yours?' -- 'You don't say a lot, do you, Paul?' --'She could not afford to sue all the newspapers she would like to' -- Even by British tabloid standards, the nastiness has been extraordinary -- 'His wife, mother, lover, confidante, business partner, and psychologist' -- 'There's always that moment of "Can I do it?'" -- Epilogue: 'See ya, Phil.'

Physical Description:

853 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 25 cm

Genre:

Biographies.

Personal Subject:

McCartney, Paul.

Subject Term:

Rock musicians -- Biography.

Publisher:

Little, Brown and Company,

Publication Date:

2016

ISBN:

9780316327961

Publication Information:

New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2016.

Call Number:

927 MCCARTN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003155275	Adult Nonfiction	927 MCCARTN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The definitive Paul McCartney biography, written with his approval by bestselling biographer Philip Norman.

Since the age of twenty-one, Paul McCartney has lived one of the ultimate rock-n-roll lives played out on the most public of stages. Now, Paul's story is told by rock music's foremost biographer, with McCartney's consent and access to family members and close friends who have never spoken on the record before.

Paul McCartney reveals the complex character behind the favßade and sheds new light on his childhood -- blighted by his mother's death but redeemed by the father who introduced him to music. This is the first definitive account of Paul's often troubled partnership with John Lennon, his personal trauma after the Beatles' breakup, and his subsequent struggle to get back to the top with Wings -- which nearly got him murdered in Africa and brought him nine days in a Tokyo jail. Readers will learn about his marriage to Linda, including their much-criticized musical collaboration, and a moving account of her death. Packed with new information and critical insights, Paul McCartney will be the definitive biography of a musical legend.

Author Notes

Philip Norman was born on April 13, 1943 and grew up in Ryde, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. He is a novelist, biographer, journalist and playwright. His books include biographies of Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, Elton John and John Lennon Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation and Paul McCartney: The Life.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Norman, following up on his bestselling biography of John Lennon (John Lennon: A Life), interviews hundreds of Paul McCartney's family, friends, and associates to draw the most complete picture of the former Beatle; however, the book's thoroughness renders it a tiresome march through scores of facts and familiar details that will appeal primarily to ardent McCartney fans. Proceeding in a year-by-year fashion, Norman ranges over McCartney's childhood; the death of his mother, which he later used as the basis of "Let It Be"; his early days with his mates-John and George-as the Quarrymen; and the Beatles' squalid living conditions in Hamburg. No stone is left unturned as Norman proceeds to the infamous last days of the Beatles, the early days of Wings, McCartney's marriage to musician and photographer Linda Eastman and the effect her death had on him, his short-lived and controversial marriage to model Heather Mills, and his relationship with his father. As Norman happily points out, while many stories of musical superstars end tragically, McCartney has enjoyed a prolonged era of happiness, especially since his 2011 marriage to trucking executive Nancy Shevell. Norman succeeds in drawing a familiar picture of a restless musician who's always seeking to make himself over again, and who still gets a thrill when he hears someone whistling one of his songs. Thanks to Norman's access to McCartney and his associates, this will become the musician's definitive and authoritative biography. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

Seven years after his comprehensive John Lennon biography, veteran music journalist Norman offers a similarly well-balanced and richly detailed portrait of Lennon's songwriting partner and pop culture icon Paul McCartney (b. 1942). While this title is not technically an authorized biography, Norman was given access to a variety of -McCartney's friends, musical partners, and family members, resulting in new insight into topics ranging from the musician's marriages and many other romantic relationships to the financial and emotional fallout from the Beatles' split to the sometimes startling contrast between -McCartney's sunny public persona and personal strife. The volume's first half follows his life up to the Beatles' 1970 breakup, mostly rehashing ground covered equally well in other works. Yet the second, more interesting section features an abundance of new and little-known content focusing on McCartney's post-Beatles music career and family life up through his 2011 third wedding and recent founding of a Liverpool music school. There is much to savor in this well-written, wide-ranging chronicle; unfortunately, the author skims over -McCartney's post-Beatles relationships with Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr and devotes far too many pages to the Heather Mills divorce scandal. -VERDICT Casual readers may find this too long and detailed, but serious fans interested in a fresh retelling of the story of the "cute Beatle" will appreciate Norman's thorough approach.-Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Prologue: All Our Yesterdays	p. 1
Part 1 Stairway to Paradise
1 'Hey, mister, gimme a quid and I'll show you Paul McCartney's house'	p. 17
2 'Apple sandwiches with sugar'	p. 25
3 'I learned to put a shell around me'	p. 41
4 Puttin' On the Style	p. 49
5 'Chalkandcheese!'	p. 64
6 'Paul seemed to make John come alive when they were together'	p. 81
7 'Just who do you want to be, Paul? Tommy Steele?'	p. 95
8 'Everything's mad here. People never sleep'	p. 111
9 'Sing "Searchin"', Paul!'	p. 124
10 'Oo, Vi, give me legs a comb'	p. 140
11 Just think - Little Richard's got on my shirt! I can't believe it!'	p. 152
Part 2 The Barnum & Bailey Beatle
12 'Did you know he sleeps with his eyes open?'	p. 169
13 'Changing my life with a wave of her hand'	p. 187
14 'Long life and happiness and lots of marzipan butties'	p. 201
15 'This is what a Beatle does in the evenings'	p. 216
16 'It's a big one, 'cos I like big houses'	p. 231
17 'You might almost have said an alien had landed on the Mull'	p. 249
18 Return of the Jim Mac Jazz Band	p. 260
19 'An irresponsible idiot'	p. 274
20 'Everything was off the top of Paul's head'	p. 285
21 'A beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things'	p. 299
22 'It was the coup de foudre the French speak of in hushed tones'	p. 308
23 'You have found her, now go and get her'	p. 325
Part 3 Home, Family, Love
24 'You've been playing on the roof again and your Mommy doesn't like it'	p. 345
25 'Fuck you, money!'	p. 363
26 'Go on, cry! You'll be in the paper'	p. 378
27 'Paul is still with us'	p. 391
28 'It was a barrelling, empty feeling that just rolled across my soul'	p. 408
29 'It was almost as if I was committing an unholy act'	p. 426
30 'Hell, we've really blown it here'	p. 444
31 'Screw you, I'll make an album you'll wish you'd been on	p. 462
32 'An old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul'	p. 478
33 'Man, if I was Paul McCartney, I'd buy the road'	p. 494
34 'They'd saved themselves for him'	p. 507
35 'Oi, Paul, you know that Mull of Kintyre? It's fakking great!'	p. 519
36 'McCartneyesque whimsy on punk steroids'	p. 534
37 Japanese Jailbird	p. 547
38 'It put everyone in a daze for the rest of their life'	p. 560
Part 4 Carrying that Weight
39 'Give me back my babies, Lew'	p. 573
40 'About as close as you can get to a non-movie'	p. 584
41 'I bought your songs, Paul'	p. 599
42 'You're such a lovely audience'	p. 614
43 'I work my arse off, I do. I work my bloody arse off'	p. 630
44 'Everyone wanted to be the icing on the cake. No one wanted to be the cake'	p. 643
45 'This letter comes with love from your friend Paul'	p. 656
46 'She radiated hope'	p. 671
47 'Let me love you always'	p. 684
Part 5 Back in the World
48 Lonesome Town	p. 697
49 'I've just got a leg missing. I've still got my heart'	p. 711
50 'Hey, that's pretty good. Is it one of yours?'	p. 726
51 'You don't say a lot, do you, Paul?'	p. 741
52 'She could not afford to sue all the newspapers she would like to'	p. 755
53 'Even by British tabloid standards, the nastiness has been extraordinary'	p. 773
54 'His wife, mother, lover, confidante, business partner and psychologist'	p. 786
55 'There's always that moment of "Can I do it?"'	p. 799
Epilogue: 'See ya, Phil'	p. 808
Acknowledgements	p. 817
Picture Credits	p. 819
Index	p. 821

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

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