It’s 1976.
"This is a chord, this is another, and this is a third. Now form a band." With such a mission statement a thousand punk bands were born. Don’t worry if you can’t play, or in the case of Sid Vicious you can’t even hold the instrument properly, never mind play it. It’s the spirit of the age that matters. It’s the message.
In Devon, Tim Smith, in the best of punk spirit, wanted his girlfriend in his band. Gaye Advert knew one chord. It was enough.
Paul Simonon found learning the guitar was too difficult so Mick Jones gave him bass duties in the embryonic Clash. Simonon looked good, and the others wanted their mate in the band.
So far, so good. We’re changing the world through music and that ‘three chord’ mantra.
Whoa! Let’s roll back just five years to 1971, and through our magic hindsight machine, let’s join Paul McCartney as he considers life after being Fab through the previous decade.
Paul had found, and married, his soul mate, Linda. He asserted that he wanted her to be involved in his musical activities and particularly didn’t want to apart from her when he toured his new band ‘Wings’. So Linda learned a few rudimentary chords, and began adding a bit to the keyboards, and chipped in with backing vocals.
The music press went mad. Linda wasn’t a ‘proper muso’. It was a travesty that the legendary Paul McCartney should be dragged down to this low common denominator by the amateur presence of his wife. Beatles fans fired off incandescent letters to the papers. Paul has sold out!
Now reach for your Macca Greatest Hits, or turn to Spotify, or Rhapsody, and
listen to ‘Back Seat Of My Car’, ‘Listen To What The Man Said’ & ‘Uncle Albert/
Admiral Halsey’ from Paul’s golden age. There’s Linda contributing gorgeous
backing vocals, and clearly giving Paul the impetus, and the sheer happiness
and confidence, to produce some of the finest songs of the twentieth century.
Paul & Linda McCartney were the first punks. They should be adored for it.
Terence Dackombe 2009
