McCartney by Paul McCartney

McCartney, Paul McCartney's first solo album, came out on Apple on 17 April 1970, and it's a deliberately scruffy thing, made mostly in secret at his house in St John's Wood on basic home gear, with the mixing and a few overdubs finished in London studios. He plays everything himself, stacking parts on four-track tape, with his wife Linda chipping in the odd vocal, and the Beatles' studio sheen is nowhere in sight.

He made it in a fog of depression after John Lennon had quietly walked out on the band, and the release turned ugly: Paul wouldn't budge his date to make room for Let It Be, and the self-interview tucked into British promo copies helped bring the Beatles down. Critics mostly carped about half-finished songs, but everyone heard "Maybe I'm Amazed", a heart-on-sleeve ballad that towers over the rest. Time has been kinder, and the lo-fi, do-it-yourself crowd have claimed it as an ancestor.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.