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On This Day in Rock History: February 8

Jun 18

1942 – Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, Englan…

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1942 – Paul McCartney is born in Liverpool, England. The Beatles have 20 No. 1 songs, more than any other recording act, and McCartney by himself or in duets has another nine. His biggest post-Beatles hits are “Ebony and Ivory,” a duet with Stevie Wonder that stays at No. 1 for seven weeks, and “Say Say Say,” a duet with Michael Jackson that tops the pop chart for six weeks.
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English rock singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer and animal-rights activist. He gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles, with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best had previously played with the group, before Starr was asked to join. McCartney and Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and “wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history”. After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman McCartney, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine. He has worked on film scores, classical music, and ambient/electronic music; released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist; and taken part in projects to help international charities.

McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history, with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles. His song “Yesterday” is listed as the most covered song in history and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings’ 1977 single “Mull of Kintyre” became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK’s top selling non-charity single. (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so—in 1984—was Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, whose participants included McCartney.)

His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. McCartney is also an advocate for animal rights, vegetarianism, and music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt.
Early years: 1942–1957

Jim & Mary McCartney

Paul McCartney was born in Walton Hospital in Liverpool, England, where his mother, Mary, had worked as a nurse in the maternity ward. He has one brother, Michael, born January 7, 1944. McCartney was baptised Roman Catholic but was raised non-denominationally: his mother was Roman Catholic, and his father, James “Jim” McCartney, was a Protestant turned agnostic.

In 1947, he began attending Stockton Wood Road Primary school. He then attended the Joseph Williams Junior School, and passed the 11-plus exam in 1953 with three others out of the 90 examinees and thus gained admission to the Liverpool Institute. In 1954, while riding on the bus to the Institute, he met George Harrison, who lived nearby. Passing the exam meant that McCartney and Harrison did not have to go to a secondary modern school, which most pupils attended until they were eligible to work. It also meant that Grammar school pupils had to find new friends.

20 Forthlin Road now attracts large numbers of tourists

In 1955 the McCartney family moved to 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton. Mary McCartney rode a bicycle to houses where she was needed as a midwife, and an early McCartney memory is of her leaving when it was snowing heavily. On 31 October 1956, Mary McCartney (who was a heavy smoker) died of an embolism after a mastectomy operation to stop the spread of her breast cancer. The early loss of his mother later connected McCartney with John Lennon, whose mother, Julia, died when Lennon was 17.

McCartney’s father was a trumpet player and pianist who had led Jim Mac’s Jazz Band in the 1920s. He encouraged his two sons to be musical. Jim had an upright piano in the front room that he had bought from Harry Epstein’s store, and McCartney’s grandfather, Joe McCartney, played an E-flat tuba. Jim McCartney used to point out the different instruments in songs on the radio, and often took McCartney to local brass band concerts. After the death of his wife, Mary, Jim McCartney gave McCartney a nickel-plated trumpet, but when skiffle music became popular, McCartney swapped the trumpet for a £15 Framus Zenith (model 17) acoustic guitar.

McCartney, being left-handed, found the Zenith difficult to play. He then saw a poster advertising a Slim Whitman concert, and realised that Whitman played left-handed, with his guitar strung the opposite way to a right-handed player. McCartney wrote his first song (“I Lost My Little Girl”) on the Zenith, and also played his father’s Framus Spanish guitar when writing early songs with Lennon. He later started playing piano and wrote “When I’m Sixty-Four”. Per his father’s advice, he took music lessons, but since he preferred to learn ‘by ear’ he never paid attention in them.

1957–1960: The Quarrymen and the Silver Beetles

Main articles: The Quarrymen and Lennon/McCartney

Fifteen-year-old McCartney met Lennon and The Quarrymen at the Woolton (St. Peter’s church hall) fête on July 6, 1957. At the start of their friendship Lennon’s Aunt Mimi disapproved of McCartney because he was, she said, “working class”, and called him “John’s little friend”. McCartney’s father told his son that Lennon would get him “into trouble”, although he later allowed The Quarrymen to rehearse in the front room at 20 Forthlin Road.

McCartney formed a close working relationship with Lennon and they collaborated on many songs. He convinced Lennon to allow Harrison to join The Quarrymen (Lennon thought Harrison was too young) after Lennon heard Harrison play at a rehearsal in March 1958. Harrison joined the group as lead guitarist, followed by Lennon’s art school friend, Stuart Sutcliffe, on bass, although McCartney was later dismissive about Sutcliffe’s musical ability. By May 1960, they had tried several new names, including The Silver Beetles; playing a tour of Scotland under that name with Johnny Gentle. They finally changed the name of the group to The Beatles for their performances in Hamburg.

1960–1970: The Beatles

Main article: The Beatles

Starting in May 1960, The Beatles were managed by Allan Williams, who booked them into Bruno Koschmider’s Indra club in Hamburg. McCartney’s father was reluctant to let the teenage McCartney go to Hamburg until McCartney pointed out that he would earn ₤2/10s per day. As this was more than he earned himself, Jim finally agreed.
The Indra Club,Hamburg where the Beatles first played
The Indra Club,Hamburg where the Beatles first played

The Beatles first played at the Indra club, sleeping in small, “dirty” rooms in the Bambi Kino, and then moved (after the closure of the Indra) to the larger Kaiserkeller. In October 1960, they left Koschmider’s club and worked at the “Top Ten Club”, which was run by Peter Eckhorn. When McCartney and Pete Best went back to the Bambi Kino to get their belongings they found it in almost total darkness. As a snub to Koschmider, they found a condom, attached it to a nail on the concrete wall of their room, and set fire to it. There was no real damage, but Koschmider reported them for attempted arson. McCartney and Best spent three hours in a local jail and were deported, as was Harrison, for working under the legal age limit. Lennon’s work permit was revoked a few days later and he went home by train, but Sutcliffe had a cold and stayed in Hamburg, and then flew home.

The group reunited in December 1960, and on 21 March 1961, played their first of many concerts at Liverpool’s Cavern club. McCartney realised that other Liverpool bands were playing the same cover songs, which prompted him and Lennon to write more original material. The Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1961, and recorded “My Bonnie” with Tony Sheridan. Sutcliffe left the band after the end of their contract, so McCartney reluctantly took over bass. After borrowing Sutcliffe’s Hõfner 500/5 model for a short time, he bought a left-handed 1962 500/1 model Höfner bass. On 1 October 1961, McCartney went with Lennon (who paid for the trip) to Paris for two weeks.

The Beatles were first seen by Brian Epstein at the Cavern club on 9 November 1961, and he later signed them to a management contract. The Beatles’ road manager, Neil Aspinall, drove them to London on 31 December 1961, where they auditioned the next day, but were rejected by Decca Records. In April 1962, they went back to Hamburg to play at the Star-Club, and learned of Stuart Sutcliffe’s death a few hours before they arrived. The Beatles were ready to sign a record contract on 9 May 1962, with Parlophone Records—after having been rejected by many record companies—but Epstein sacked Pete Best (at the behest of McCartney, Lennon and Harrison) before they signed the contract. “Love Me Do” was released on 5 October 1962, featuring McCartney singing solo on the chorus line. Over the course of the next two years, McCartney and his band mates would rise from relative obscurity to international stardom, an unprecedented feat at that time for a rock-music combo.

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Yesterday (1965)
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Hey Jude (1968)
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All Lennon-McCartney songs on the first pressing of Please Please Me album (recorded in one day on 11 February 1963) as well as the “Please Please Me” single, “From Me to You”, and its B-side, “Thank You Girl”, are credited to “McCartney-Lennon”, but this was later changed to “Lennon-McCartney”. They usually needed an hour or two to finish a song, which were written in hotel rooms after a concert, at Wimpole Street, at Cavendish Avenue, or at Kenwood (Lennon’s house). McCartney also wrote songs for other artists, such as Billy J. Kramer, Cilla Black, Badfinger, and Mary Hopkin -and most notably he wrote two hit songs for the group Peter & Gordon-launching their career. One song, “World Without Love”, became a #1 hit in the U.K. & U.S. (Peter was the brother of Jane Asher, McCartney’s girlfriend at the time)
Epiphone Texan modeled after the one often used by McCartney.
Epiphone Texan modeled after the one often used by McCartney.

Lennon, Harrison, and Starr lived in large houses in the ‘stockbroker belt’ of southern England,] but McCartney continued to live in central London: in Jane Asher’s parents’ house, and then at 7 Cavendish Avenue, St John’s Wood, near the Abbey Road Studios.] It was at Cavendish Avenue that McCartney bought his first Old English Sheepdog, Martha, which inspired the song “Martha My Dear”.

McCartney often went to nightclubs alone, which offered ‘dining and dancing until 4:00 a.m.’ and featured cabaret acts. McCartney would get preferential treatment everywhere he went, which he readily accepted. He even once accepted an offer from a policeman to be allowed to park McCartney’s car. He later visited gambling clubs after 4:00am, such as ‘The Curzon House’, and often saw Brian Epstein there. The Ad Lib club (above the Prince Charles Theatre at 7 Leicester Place) was later opened for the emerging ‘Rock and Roll’ crowd of musicians, and tolerated their unusual lifestyle. After the Ad Lib fell out of favour, McCartney moved on to the Scotch of St James, at 13 Masons Yard. He also frequented The Bag O’Nails club at 8 Kingly Street in Soho, London, where he met Linda Eastman.

On 12 June 1965, The Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE); they received their insignia from Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 26 October 1965. They stopped touring after their last concert at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, on 29 August 1966. The other three Beatles had often talked about stopping touring, but after the Candlestick Park concert, and after having played so many concerts where they could not be heard, McCartney finally agreed that they should stop playing live concerts.
Beatles Houston sculpture
Beatles Houston sculpture

McCartney was the first to be involved in a project outside of the group, when he composed the score for the film The Family Way in 1966. The soundtrack was later released as an album (also called The Family Way), and won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Instrumental Theme, ahead of acclaimed jazz musician Mike Turner. McCartney wrote songs for and produced other artists, including Mary Hopkin, Badfinger, and the Bonzo Dog Band, and in 1966, he was asked by Kenneth Tynan to write the songs for the National Theatre’s production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare (starring Laurence Olivier) but declined. In 1968 he co-produced the song “I’m the Urban Spaceman” by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and was credited as “Apollo C. Vermouth” because of contractual restrictions.

McCartney later attempted to persuade Lennon and Harrison to return to the stage, and when they had a meeting to sign a new contract with Capitol Records, McCartney suggested “going back to our roots,” to which Lennon replied, “I think you’re mad!” Although Lennon had quit the group in September 1969, and Harrison and Starr had temporarily left the group at various times, McCartney was the one who publicly announced The Beatles’ breakup on 10 April 1970—one week before releasing his first solo album, McCartney. The album included a press release inside with a self-written interview stating McCartney’s hopes about the future. The Beatles’ partnership was legally dissolved after McCartney filed a lawsuit on 31 December 1970.]

1970s: Paul McCartney (solo) and Wings

Wings (band)

Paul and Linda McCartney at the 1974 Academy Awards.
Paul and Linda McCartney at the 1974 Academy Awards.

McCartney released his debut solo album, McCartney, in April 1970. He insisted that his wife should be involved in his musical career so that they would not be apart when he was on tour. McCartney’s second solo album, Ram (1971) was credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney. In August of that year McCartney formed Wings with guitarist Denny Laine and drummer Denny Seiwell (although membership in Wings would change several times during its existence) and released their debut album, Wild Life. In 1972, Wings started an unplanned tour of British universities and small European venues. In February of that year, they released a single called “Give Ireland Back to the Irish”, which was banned by the BBC. Wings then embarked on the 26-date Wings Over Europe Tour.

The first of Wings’ two 1973 albums Red Rose Speedway spawned the band’s first #1 in the United States, “My Love”. On 16 April, McCartney starred in a TV variety show called James Paul McCartney. Wings then released the theme song for the James Bond film Live and Let Die. It reunited McCartney with George Martin, who both produced the song and arranged the orchestral break. Their second 1973 album Band on the Run, which won two Grammy Awards is Wings’ most lauded work. From it were released the singles “Jet”, and, in 1974, “Band on the Run” (the song) as well as the non-album single “Junior’s Farm”. A jam session — with Lennon and McCartney — was recorded in California, in 1974, and released on the bootleg A Toot and a Snore in ’74. The same year, he recorded an instrumental, “Walking in the Park with Eloise”, which had been written by his father. The song featured Wings, Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins. Venus and Mars was released in 1975, which featured “Listen to What the Man Said” and “Rock Show.” Till 1976, Wings embarked on the Wings Over the World tour.

In 1977, McCartney released Thrillington under the name “Percy ‘Thrills’ Thrillington”. Wings also released “Mull of Kintyre”. It stayed at #1 in the UK for nine weeks, and was the highest-selling single in the UK until 1984, when Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas beat its record. Wings toured again in 1979, and McCartney organised the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. McCartney’s “Rockestra” theme won a Grammy award. At Christmas 1979, McCartney released his (solo) “Wonderful Christmastime”.

Although McCartney’s relationship with Lennon was troubled, they reconciled during the 1970s. McCartney would often call Lennon, but was never sure of what sort of reception he would get, such as when McCartney once called Lennon and was told, “You’re all pizza and fairytales!” McCartney understood that he could not just phone Lennon and only talk about business, so they often talked about cats, baking bread, or babies.

1980s-1990s: Solo career

Paul McCartney (solo)

McCartney played every instrument on the 1980 release McCartney II (as he had on McCartney before it), this time with an emphasis on synthesisers instead of guitars. The single “Coming Up” reached #2 in Britain and #1 in the US. “Waterfalls” was another UK Top 10 hit. McCartney’s next album, 1982′s Tug of War, reunited him with Ringo Starr and Beatles producer George Martin, and the album hit No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time as it’s lead single, a duet with Stevie Wonder, “Ebony and Ivory”, did likewise. Two further hit duets followed, both with Michael Jackson: “The Girl Is Mine”, from Jackson’s Thriller album, and “Say Say Say”, a single from McCartney’s 1983 album, Pipes of Peace.

McCartney wrote and starred in the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street. The film and soundtrack featured the US and UK Top 10 hit “No More Lonely Nights”, and the album reached #1 in the UK, but the film did not do well commercially or critically. Roger Ebert awarded the film a single star and wrote, “You can safely skip the movie and proceed directly to the sound track”. Later that year, McCartney released “We All Stand Together”, the title song from the animated film Rupert and the Frog Song, which was the supporting feature to “Broad Street” in cinemas and which, when released on video cassette would become the year’s top-seller. The following year, McCartney released Spies Like Us the title song to the Dan Ackroyd/Chevy Chase comedy which hit #7 on the Billboard chart (making it his last US Top 20 hit to date).

In the second half of the decade McCartney would find new collaborators. Eric Stewart had appeared on McCartney’s Pipes of Peace album, and he co-wrote most of McCartney’s 1986 album Press to Play. The album and its lead single, “Press”, became minor hits. McCartney returned the favour by co-writing two songs for Stewart’s band, 10cc: “Don’t Break the Promises” (…Meanwhile, 1992), and “Yvonne’s the One” (Mirror Mirror, 1995). In 1987, EMI released All the Best! which was the first compilation of McCartney’s own songs.

In 1988, he released, initially in the Soviet Union only, Снова в СССР a collection of McCartney cover-versions of his favourite vintage Rock and roll classics which later had a general release in 1991. Around this time, McCartney also began a songwriting partnership with Elvis Costello (Declan MacManus) from which songs would appear on singles and albums by both artists, notably “Veronica”on Costello’s album Spike and “My Brave Face” from McCartney’s Flowers in the Dirt, (which reached #1 in the UK on releas in 1989). Further McCartney/MacManus compositions for surfaced on Costello’s 1991 album Mighty Like a Rose and McCartney’s 1993 album Off the Ground. In late 1989, McCartney started his first concert tour since Lennon’s murder, also his first tour of the US in thirteen years.

In a 1980 interview, Lennon said that the last time he had seen McCartney was when they had watched the episode of Saturday Night Live (May 1976) in which Lorne Michaels had made his $3,000 cash offer to get Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr to reunite on the show. McCartney and Lennon had seriously considered going to the studio, but were too tired. This event was fictionalised in the 2000 television film Two of Us.

Reaction to John Lennon’s murder

On the morning of December 9, 1980, McCartney awoke to the news that Lennon had been murdered outside his home in the Dakota building in New York. Lennon’s death created a media frenzy around the surviving members of The Beatles. On the evening of 9 December, as McCartney was leaving an Oxford Street recording studio, he was surrounded by reporters and asked for his reaction to Lennon’s death. He replied, “I was very shocked, you know—this is terrible news,” and said that he had spent the day in the studio listening to some material because he “just didn’t want to sit at home.” When asked why, he replied, “I didn’t feel like it,” he was then asked when he first heard the news McCartney replied “This morning sometime” and one of the reporters asked “very early?” and said “yeah” and then asked the reporters if they all knew, they added “yeah” McCartney then added, “drag, isn’t it?” When published, his “drag” remark was criticised, and McCartney later regretted it. He furthermore stated that he had intended no disrespect but had just been at a loss for words, after the shock and sadness he felt over his friend’s murder. He was also to recall:
“ I talked to Yoko the day after he was killed and the first thing she said was, “John was really fond of you.” The last telephone conversation I had with him we were still the best of mates. He was always a very warm guy, John. His bluff was all on the surface. He used to take his glasses down, those granny glasses, and say, “It’s only me.” They were like a wall, you know? A shield. Those are the moments I treasure. ”

In 1983 Paul said:
“ I would not have been as typically human and standoffish as I was if I knew John was going to die. I would have made more of an effort to try and get behind his “mask” and have a better relationship with him.’ ”

In a Playboy interview in 1984, McCartney said that he went home that night and watched the news on television—while sitting with all his children—and cried all evening. His last telephone call to Lennon, which was just before Lennon and Yoko released Double Fantasy, was friendly. During the call, Lennon said (laughing) to McCartney, “This housewife wants a career!” which referred to Lennon’s “house-husband” years, while looking after Sean Lennon.

McCartney carried on recording after the death of Lennon but did not play any live concerts for some time. He explained that this was because he was nervous that he would be “the next” to be murdered. This led to a disagreement with Denny Laine, who wanted to continue touring and subsequently left Wings, which McCartney disbanded in 1981. Also in 1981, six months after Lennon’s death, McCartney sang backup on George Harrison’s tribute to Lennon, “All Those Years Ago,” which also featured Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney would go on to record “Here Today”, a tribute song to Lennon.

1990s: Classical music
McCartney at the Grammy Awards, February 1990.
McCartney at the Grammy Awards, February 1990.

The 1990s saw McCartney venture into classical music. In 1991 the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned a musical piece by McCartney to celebrate its sesquicentennial. McCartney collaborated with Carl Davis to release Liverpool Oratorio. The Oratorio was premiered in Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, and had its North American premiere in Carnegie Hall in New York on 18 November 1991, with Davis conducting. McCartney’s singers and musicians included the opera singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Jerry Hadley and Willard White, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of Liverpool Cathedral. EMI Classics recorded the premiere of the oratorio and released it on a 2-CD album which topped the classical charts. His next classical project to be released (in 1995) was A Leaf, a solo-piano piece played by Royal College of Music gold-medal winner Anya Alexeyev. The Prince of Wales later honoured McCartney as a Fellow of The Royal College of Music. Other forays into classical music included Standing Stone (1997), Working Classical (1999), and “Ecce Cor Meum” (2006).

In the early 1990s (after another world tour), McCartney reunited with Harrison and Starr to work on Apple’s The Beatles Anthology documentary series. It included three double albums of alternative takes, live recordings, and previously unreleased Beatles songs, as well as a ten-hour video boxed set. Anthology 1 was released in 1995, and featured “Free as a Bird”, which was the first Beatles reunion track, while Anthology 2, released in 1996, included “Real Love” (1996), the second and final in the reunion series. Both reunion tracks were co produced by Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne, who had worked with Harrison in The Traveling Wilburys. Both reunion tracks were completed by adding new music and vocal tracks to Lennon’s demos from the late 1970s.

In 1997, McCartney released Flaming Pie which was produced by Lynne and Martin. It debuted at #2 in the UK and the US, and was nominated in the Grammy Awards category Album of the Year. The same year, McCartney made his second venture into classical music with Standing Stone, which was commissioned by EMI Records to mark their 100th anniversary in autumn. On 11 March 1997, he was knighted as “Sir Paul McCartney” for his “services to music”. He dedicated his knighthood to fellow Beatles Lennon, Harrison, and Starr, and to the people of Liverpool. In 1999, McCartney released another album of rock ‘n’ roll songs, titled Run Devil Run. That same year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. (Bitter that he had not been inducted sooner, McCartney brought his daughter to the stage with him and smiled as he pointed to her shirt, which read: “About Fucking Time.”) In 1999, he released Working Classical.

2000s
McCartney on Live8.
McCartney on Live8.

In 2000, McCartney released A Garland for Linda; a choral tribute album with compositions from eight other contemporary composers. The music was performed by “The Joyful Company of Singers” to raise funds for The Garland Appeal, a fund to aid cancer patients. In May 2001, he released Wingspan: An Intimate Portrait, a retrospective documentary that features behind-the-scenes films and photographs that he and Linda McCartney (who had died in 1998) took of their family and bands. Interspersed throughout the 88 minute film is an interview by Mary McCartney with her father. Mary was the baby photographed inside McCartney’s jacket on the back cover of McCartney, and was one of the producers of the documentary.

Earlier in the year, McCartney worked on what would become his new album, Driving Rain, released on November 12. Driving Rain featured uplifting songs inspired by and written for his soon-to-be wife Heather. Clearly determined to follow the example of Run Devil Run’s brisk recording pace, most of the album was recorded in two weeks, starting in February 2001. McCartney also composed and recorded the title track for the film Vanilla Sky, released later that year. The track was nominated for—but did not win—an Oscar for Best Original Song.

McCartney took a lead role in organising The Concert for New York City in response to the events of September 11. The concert took place on 20 October 2001.

In late 2001, McCartney was informed that George Harrison was losing his battle with cancer. Upon Harrison’s death on 29 November, McCartney told Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, Good Morning America, The Early Show, MTV, VH-1 and Today that Harrison was like his “baby brother”. Harrison spent his last days in a Hollywood Hills mansion that was once leased by McCartney. On 29 November 2002—on the first anniversary of George Harrison’s death—McCartney played Harrison’s “Something” on a ukulele at the Concert for George.

In 2002, McCartney began a two-year world tour. He contributed to an album titled Good Rockin’ Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records, which included a version of Elvis Presley’s song “That’s All Right (Mama)”. He performed during the pre-game ceremonies at the NFL’s Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 and starred in the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. In 2003, McCartney played a concert in Red Square, Russia. Vladimir Putin gave him a tour of the Square.

In what would be his first British music festival appearance, McCartney headlined the Glastonbury Festival in June 2004. McCartney and festival organiser Michael Eavis won the NME Award on behalf of the festival, which won ‘Best Live Event’ in the 2005 awards. McCartney performed at the main Live 8 concert on 2 July 2005, playing “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with U2 to open the Hyde Park event, although Ringo Starr criticised McCartney for not asking him to play.

On November 13th, 2005, McCartney played a live concert at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA. Towards the end of the concert, a satellite link-up was made to the International Space Station so McCartney and those at the concert could see NASA Astronaut Bill McArthur and Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev as they were awakening for the 44th day of their six month mission in space. McCartney proceeded to play the traditional wakeup song played on each space mission, a tradition that began during the moon missions. McCartney also performed “Good Day Sunshine”, and “English Tea”. Afterwards he and the concert goers talked with McArthur and Tokarev via a projection screen. This was the first time a live concert had been linked to a U.S. spacecraft.
McCartney gives a speech at the US premier of Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall..
McCartney gives a speech at the US premier of Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall..

In March 2006, McCartney finished composing a ‘modern classical’ musical work named Ecce Cor Meum [Behold My Heart]. It was recorded with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the boys of King’s College Choir, Cambridge, Magdalen College School, Oxford, and was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 3 November 2006..[141] It was voted Classical Album of the Year in 2007 in the Classical Brit Awards.[142]

On 18 June 2006, McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, as in “When I’m Sixty-Four.” Paul Vallely noted it in The Independent as “a cultural milestone for a generation. Such is the nature of celebrity, McCartney is one of those people who have represented the hopes and aspirations of those born in the baby-boom era, which had its awakening in the Sixties.”[143]

McCartney joined Jay-Z and Linkin Park onstage at the 2006 Grammy Awards in a performance of “Numb/Encore” & “Yesterday” to commemorate the recent passing of Coretta Scott King. McCartney later noted that it was the first time he had performed at the Grammys and quipped, “I finally passed the audition,” which was a reference to the Lennon comment at the end of the Let It Be film: “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition.”[144] McCartney was nominated for another Grammy Award in 2007 for “Jenny Wren”—a song from his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, which itself had been nominated as Album of the Year in 2006.[145]

On 21 March 2007, McCartney left EMI to become the first artist signed to Starbucks’s new record label, Los Angeles-based Hear Music, to be distributed by Concord Music Group. He made an appearance via a video-feed from London at the company’s annual meeting.[146] “For me, the great thing is the commitment and the passion and the love of music, which as an artist is good to see. It’s a new world now and people are thinking of new ways to reach the people, and that’s always been my aim”.[147]

On 2 April 2007, a fan drove through the security fence on McCartney’s Peasmarsh county estate shouting that he had to “get at” the ex-Beatle. The incident echoed the murder of Lennon and the attempted murder of George Harrison. The assailant was arrested after a chase through Sussex country lanes.[148][149][150]

McCartney played “secret gigs” in London, New York, and Los Angeles to promote his album. Several live recordings from these shows have been released as B-sides to singles from Memory Almost Full. In New York, the crowd included only a few hundred contest winners and celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg, Elijah Wood, Kate Moss, Aidan Quinn, and Steve Buscemi.[151]
McCartney’s BBC Electric Proms performance in Camden, London.
McCartney’s BBC Electric Proms performance in Camden, London.

McCartney played at the BBC Electric Proms on October 25, 2007, at The Roundhouse in Camden, which is run by a music festival run by the British Broadcasting Corporation. On 13 November 2007, The McCartney Years, a 3-DVD set was released. It contains a commentary, behind the scenes footage, over 40 music videos, Wings’ live performances, interviews with Melvyn Bragg and Michael Parkinson, LIVE AID, the Super Bowl XXXIX Halftime Show and the 2005 documentary Creating Chaos at Abbey Road.[152]

In February 2008, McCartney was awarded a BRIT award for outstanding contribution, the same as a Lifetime Achievement Award.[153] The minor planet 4148, discovered in 1983 was named ‘McCartney’ in his honour.[154] Yale University conferred an honorary Doctor of Music degree on Paul McCartney on 26 May 2008.[155] On 1 June 2008 McCartney celebrated Liverpool’s year as European capital of culture by playing a concert there. It featured special guest Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters. Grohl played guitar and sang backing vocals on “Band on the Run” and played drums on Back in the U.S.S.R. and I Saw Her Standing There.

In April 2008 it has been revealed that McCartney was invited by Ukrainian tycoon Victor Pinchuk to play a free concert in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 14 June, 2008. He played in the city’s main square Maidan Nezalezhnosti at a show dubbed the Independence Concert.[156] Over 350,000 concert goers braved adverse weather conditions as Paul McCartney played the biggest concert in the Ukraine’s history. Furthermore, McCartney will open a personal exhibition of his artistic works at the PinchukArtCentre[157].

Creative outlets

During the ’60s, McCartney was often seen at major cultural events, such as the launch party for The International Times, and at The Roundhouse (28 January and 4 February 1967).[158] He also delved into the visual arts, becoming a close friend of leading art dealers and gallery owners, explored experimental film, and regularly attended movie, theatrical and classical music performances. His first contact with the London avant-garde scene was through John Dunbar, who introduced him to the art dealer Robert Fraser, who in turn introduced McCartney to an array of writers and artists. McCartney later became involved in the renovation and publicising of the Indica Gallery in Mason’s Yard, London—John Lennon first met Yoko Ono at the Indica.[159][160] The Indica Gallery brought McCartney into contact with Barry Miles, whose underground newspaper, The International Times, McCartney helped to start.[161] Miles would become de facto manager of the Apple’s short-lived Zapple Records label, and wrote McCartney’s official biography, Many Years From Now (1998).

While living at the Asher house, McCartney took piano lessons at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which The Beatles’ producer Martin had previously attended. McCartney studied composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio.[162] McCartney later wrote and released several pieces of modern classical music and ambient electronica, besides writing poetry and painting. McCartney is lead patron of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, an arts school in the building formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute for Boys.[163] The 1837 building, which McCartney attended during his schooldays, had become derelict by the mid-1980s.[163] On 7 June 1996, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the redeveloped building.[163]

Electronica

After the recording of “Yesterday” in 1965, McCartney contacted the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale, London, to see if they could record an electronic version of the song, but never followed it up. When visiting John Dunbar’s flat in London, McCartney would take along tapes he had compiled at Jane Asher’s house. The tapes were mixes of various songs, musical pieces and comments made by McCartney that he had Dick James make into a demo record for him.[166] He later made tape loops by recording voices, guitars and bongos on a Brenell tape machine, and splicing the various loops together. He reversed the tapes, sped them up, and slowed them down to create the effects he wanted (which were later used on Beatles’ recordings, such as “Tomorrow Never Knows”). McCartney referred to them as electronic symphonies and was heavily influenced by John Cage at the time.[167]

In the spring of 1966, while McCartney was part of a small group which included figureheads John Dunbar and (Barry) Miles, involved with giving birth to the Indica Gallery and the newspaper International Times, he rented a ground floor and basement flat from Ringo Starr at 34 Montagu Square, to be used as a small demo studio for spoken-word recordings by poets, writers (including William Burroughs) and avant-garde musicians.[168] The Beatles’ Apple Records then launched a sub-label, Zapple with (Barry) Miles as its manager, ostensibly to release recordings of a similar aesthetic, (although few releases would ultimately result as Apple and The Beatles slid into subsequent business and personal difficulties.)[168]

In 1995, McCartney recorded a radio series called “Oobu Joobu” for the American network Westwood One, which McCartney described as being “wide-screen radio”

During the 1990s, McCartney collaborated with Youth of Killing Joke under the name of the Fireman, and have released two ambient albums; Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (in 1993) and Rushes, in 1998. In 2000, he released an album, Liverpool Sound Collage, with Super Furry Animals and Youth, utilising collage and musique concrete techniques which fascinated him in the mid-1960s. Most recently, in 2005, he worked on a project with bootleg producer and remixer Freelance Hellraiser, consisting of remixed versions of songs from throughout his solo career and released under the name Twin Freaks.

Film

McCartney was interested in animated films as a child, and later had the financial resources to ask Geoff Dunbar to direct a short animated film called the Rupert and the Frog Song in 1981. McCartney wrote the music and the script, was the producer, and added some of the characters voices.Dunbar worked again with McCartney on an animated film about the work of French artist Honore Daumier, in 1992, which won both of them a Bafta award. They also worked on Tropic Island Hum, in 1997.In 1995, McCartney directed a short documentary about The Grateful Dead.[

Painting

In 1966, McCartney met art gallery-owner Robert Fraser, whose flat was visited by many well-known artists.[181] McCartney met Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Peter Blake, and Richard Hamilton there, and learned about art appreciation.[181] McCartney later started buying paintings by Magritte, and used Magritte’s painting of an apple for the Apple Records logo.[182] He now owns Magritte’s easel and spectacles.[183]

McCartney’s love of painting surfaced after watching artist Willem de Kooning paint, in Kooning’s Long Island barn.[184] McCartney took up painting in 1983.[185] In 1999, he exhibited his paintings (featuring McCartney’s portraits of John Lennon, Andy Warhol, and David Bowie) for the first time in Siegen, Germany, and included photographs by Linda. He chose the gallery because Wolfgang Suttner (local events organiser) was genuinely interested in his art, and the positive reaction led to McCartney showing his work in UK galleries.[186] The first UK exhibition of McCartney’s work was opened in Bristol, England with more than 500 paintings on display. McCartney had previously believed that “only people that had been to art school were allowed to paint” – as Lennon had.[186]

In October 2000, Yoko Ono and McCartney presented art exhibitions in New York and London. McCartney said,
“ I’ve been offered an exhibition of my paintings at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool where John and I used to spend many a pleasant afternoon. So I’m really excited about it. I didn’t tell anybody I painted for 15 years but now I’m out of the closet.[187][188] ”

Writing and poetry
McCartney’s English teacher, Alan Durband, in 1946.
McCartney’s English teacher, Alan Durband, in 1946.

When McCartney was young, his mother read him poems and encouraged him to read books. McCartney’s father was interested in crosswords and invited the two young McCartneys (Paul and his brother Michael) to solve them with him, so as to increase their “word power”.[189] McCartney was later inspired – in his school years – by Alan Durband, who was McCartney’s English literature teacher at the Liverpool Institute.[190] Durband was a co-founder and fund-raiser at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Willy Russell also worked, and introduced McCartney to Geoffrey Chaucer’s works.[191] McCartney later took his A-level exams, but passed only one subject – Art.[192][193]

In 2001 McCartney published ‘Blackbird Singing’, a volume of poems, some of which were lyrics to his songs, and gave readings in Liverpool and New York.[194] Some of them were serious: “Here Today” (about Lennon) and some humorous (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”).[195] In the foreword of the book, McCartney explained that when he was a teenager, he had “an overwhelming desire” to have a poem of his published in the school magazine. He wrote something “deep and meaningful”, but it was rejected, and he feels that he has been trying to get some kind of revenge ever since. His first “real poem” was about the death of his childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan.[196]

In October 2005, McCartney released a children’s book called High In The Clouds: An Urban Furry Tail. In a press release publicizing the book, McCartney said, “I have loved reading for as long as I can remember,” singling out Treasure Island as a childhood favourite.[197] McCartney collaborated with author Philip Ardagh and animator Geoff Dunbar to write the book.[198]

Relationships and marriages

McCartney had a three-year relationship with Dot Rhone in Liverpool, and they were due to get married until Rhone lost the baby she was expecting. In London McCartney had a five-year relationship with actress Jane Asher. They were engaged to be married until they broke up in 1968. McCartney married American photographer Linda Eastman in 1969 (McCartney was the last Beatle to get married). They had four children (Linda’s daughter Heather who was adopted by Paul, followed by three more children) and remained married until Linda’s death from breast cancer in 1998. In 2002, McCartney married former model Heather Mills and they had a child in 2003. They separated in May 2006 and they were divorced in May 2008.[199]

Widespread animosity towards McCartney’s wives was reported in 2004. “They [the British public] didn’t like me giving up on Jane Asher,” McCartney said. “I married a New York divorcee with a child, and at the time they didn’t like that.”[200]

Relationship with Dot Rhone
McCartney and Dot Rhone on 17 March 1962, in Liverpool.
McCartney and Dot Rhone on 17 March 1962, in Liverpool.

One of McCartney’s first girlfriends was called Layla, whom McCartney remembered as having an unusual name in Liverpool at the time. Layla was slightly older than McCartney and used to ask him to baby-sit with her, which was a code word for sex. Julie Arthur, another girlfriend, was Ted Ray’s niece.[201]

McCartney’s first serious girlfriend in Liverpool was Dot Rhone, whom he met at the Casbah club in 1959.[202] McCartney picked out the clothes he wanted Rhone to wear and told her which make-up to use. He also paid for Rhone to have her blonde hair done in the style of Brigitte Bardot, whom Lennon and McCartney idolised.[203][204] When McCartney went to Hamburg with The Beatles he wrote regular letters to Rhone, and she accompanied Cynthia Lennon to Hamburg when The Beatles played there again in 1962.[205] According to Rhone, McCartney bought her a gold ring, took her sightseeing around Hamburg and was very attentive and caring.[206] Rhone later rented a room in the same house as Cynthia Lennon was living as McCartney helped with the rent.[207] McCartney admitted that he had other girlfriends in Hamburg during his time with Rhone, and that they were usually “strippers”, who knew a lot more about sex than Liverpool girls.[208]

Shortly after McCartney returned from Hamburg in May 1962, Rhone told him that she was pregnant. They told Jim McCartney—whom they expected to be shocked at the news—but found him delighted at the prospect of becoming a grandfather. McCartney took out a marriage licence and set the wedding date for November; shortly before the baby was due.[209] Rhone had a miscarriage in July 1962, and after a few weeks, McCartney’s feelings towards Rhone “cooled off” and he finished their relationship.[210]

Rhone later emigrated to Toronto, Canada, and McCartney met her again when The Beatles played there, and then again with Wings. Rhone said that “Love of the Loved” and “P.S. I Love You” were written about her. Years later, Cynthia Lennon gave back Rhone the gold ring that McCartney had bought in Hamburg, as Cynthia had once tried it on when Rhone was washing dishes, and had forgotten to take it off. Rhone is now a grandmother and lives in Mississauga, Ontario.[211]

Relationship with Jane Asher

Jane Asher

The Beatles were performing at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, when McCartney first met British actress Jane Asher on 18 April 1963, and a photographer asked them to pose with Asher.[212] The Beatles were interviewed by Asher for the BBC, and Asher was then photographed screaming at them like a fan. McCartney later persuaded her to become his girlfriend.[213]

McCartney soon met Jane’s family: Margaret, Jane’s mother, who combined her life as the mother of three children with a full-time career as a music teacher, and Jane’s father, Richard, who was a physician. Jane’s brother, Peter, was a member of Peter and Gordon, and Jane’s younger sister, Clare, was also an actress.[214] McCartney later gave “A World Without Love” to Peter and Gordon-as well as the song “Nobody I Know”. Both songs became hits for the group.[215] McCartney took up residence at the Ashers’ house at 57 Wimpole Street, London, and lived there for nearly three years.[216] During his time there McCartney met writers such as Bertrand Russell, Harold Pinter and Len Deighton.[217] He wrote several songs at the Ashers’, including “Yesterday”, and worked on songs with Lennon in the basement music room. Jane inspired many songs, such as “And I Love Her”, “You Won’t See Me”, and “I’m Looking Through You”.[218] On 13 April 1965, McCartney bought a £40,000 three-storey Regency house, at 7 Cavendish Avenue, London, and spent a further £20,000 renovating it. McCartney created a music room on the top floor of his house, where he worked with Lennon. He thanked the Ashers by paying for the decoration of the front of their house.[219]

On 15 May 1967, McCartney met American photographer Linda Eastman at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O’Nails club in London.[220] Eastman was in the UK on an assignment to take photographs of “Swinging sixties” musicians in London. McCartney and Linda later went to The Speakeasy club on Margaret Street.[221] They met again four days later at the launch party for the Sgt. Pepper album at Brian Epstein’s house in Belgravia, but when her assignment was completed, Linda flew back to New York City.[222]

On 25 December 1967, McCartney and Asher announced their engagement, and she accompanied McCartney to India in February and March of 1968. Asher broke off the engagement in early 1968, after coming back from Bristol to find McCartney in bed with another woman.[223] They attempted to mend the relationship, but finally broke it off in July 1968. Jane Asher has consistently refused to publicly discuss that part of her life.[224]

Marriage to Linda Eastman

Main articles: Linda McCartney, Heather McCartney, Mary McCartney, Stella McCartney, and James McCartney

In May 1968, McCartney met Eastman again in New York, when Lennon and McCartney were there to announce the formation of Apple Corps.[225] In September, McCartney phoned Eastman and asked her to fly over to London. Six months later, McCartney and Eastman were married at a small civil ceremony (when Linda was four months pregnant with McCartney’s child) at Marylebone Registry Office on 12 March 1969. He later said that Eastman was the woman who “gave me the strength and courage to work again” (after the break-up of The Beatles).[226] McCartney adopted Linda’s daughter from her first marriage, Heather Louise (now a potter), and the couple had three more children together: photographer Mary Anna, fashion designer Stella Nina,[227] and musician James Louis. McCartney has claimed that he and Linda spent less than a week apart during their entire marriage, interrupted only by Paul’s incarceration in Tokyo on drug charges in January 1980.

Linda McCartney died of breast cancer in Tucson, Arizona, on 17 April 1998.[228] McCartney denied rumours that her death was an assisted suicide.[228][229]

McCartney now has five grandchildren: Mary’s two sons Arthur Alistair Donald (born 3 April 1999) and Elliot Donald (born 1 August 2002) and Stella’s children, Miller Alasdhair James Willis (born 25 February 2005),[230] daughter Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis (born 8 December 2006).[231], and Beckett Robert Lee (born 8 January 2008).

Marriage to Heather Mills

Main article: Heather Mills

After having sparked the interest of the tabloids about his appearances with Heather Mills at events, McCartney appeared publicly beside Mills at a party in January 2000, to celebrate her 32nd birthday.[232][233] On 11 June 2002, McCartney married Mills, a former model and anti-landmines campaigner, in an elaborate ceremony at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, County Monaghan, Ireland, where more than 300 guests were invited and the reception included a vegetarian banquet.[234] In October 2003, Mills gave birth to a daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney.[235] The baby was reportedly named after Heather’s late mother Beatrice and Paul’s Aunt Milly.[236]

On 29 July 2006, British newspapers announced that McCartney had petitioned for divorce, which sparked a press furor.[237][238][239] A settlement was announced on 21 January 2007, but Mills’ lawyers denied this.[240] On March 17, 2008, the financial terms of the divorce were finalised[241] with a settlement awarding Heather Mills £24.3 million ($48.6 million).[242] The settlement will also see the former Beatle pay their four-year-old daughter Beatrice’s nanny and school fees and will pay Beatrice £35,000 ($70,000) a year until she is 18, or ends secondary education.[242][243][244][245] After the divorce ruling, Justice Bennett said that throughout the case Mills was “inconsistent, inaccurate and less than candid” while McCartney was “honest.”[246][247] On May 12, 2008, Justice Hugh Bennett issued only a preliminary divorce decree to be finalized in 6 months: “On the petition for divorce presented by Miss Heather Mills, I pronounce the decree nisi of divorce on the grounds of two years’ separation.”[248][249]

Lifestyle

McCartney’s lifestyle was greatly altered by his success and the income he earned. In the 1960s, the new availability of the first oral contraceptive and illegal drugs changed many people’s opinions—including McCartney’s—about life, marriage, and sexual relationships.[250]

Recreational drug use

McCartney’s introduction to drugs started in Hamburg, Germany.[251] The Beatles had to play for hours, and they were often given “Prellies” (Preludin) by German customers or by Astrid Kirchherr (whose mother bought them). McCartney would usually take one, but Lennon would often take four or five.[252]

After having been introduced to cannabis, by Bob Dylan in New York, in 1964, McCartney remembered getting “very high” and giggling.[253] McCartney’s use of cannabis became regular, and he was quoted in the Barry Miles book as saying that any future Beatles’ lyrics containing the words “high”, or “grass” were written specifically as a reference to cannabis—as was “Got to Get You into My Life”.[254] John Dunbar’s flat at 29 Lennox Gardens, in London, became a regular hang-out for McCartney, where he talked to musicians, writers and artists, and smoked cannabis.[166] In 1965, Miles introduced McCartney to hash brownies by using a recipe for hash fudge he found in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.[255] During the filming of Help!, he and the other Beatles occasionally smoked a spliff in the car on the way to the studio during filming, which often made them forget their lines.[256] Help! director Dick Lester said that he overheard “two beautiful women” trying to cajole McCartney into taking heroin, but he refused.[256]
McCartney called for the legalization of Cannabis in 1967.
McCartney called for the legalization of Cannabis in 1967.

McCartney’s attitude about cannabis was made public in the 1960s, when he added his name to an advertisement in The Times, on 24 July 1967, which asked for the legalisation of cannabis, the release of all prisoners imprisoned because of possession, and research into marijuana’s medical uses. The advertisement was sponsored by a group called Soma and was signed by 65 people, including The Beatles, Brian Epstein, Graham Greene, R.D. Laing, 15 doctors, and two MPs.[257]

McCartney was introduced to cocaine by Robert Fraser, and it was available during the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.[258][259] McCartney admitted sniffing heroin with Fraser, but did not feel any effect, and never took it again.[260]

In 1967, on a sailing trip to Greece—with the idea of buying an island for the whole group—McCartney said everybody sat around and took LSD, although McCartney first took it with Tara Browne, in 1966.[261][262][263] He took his second “acid trip” with Lennon on 21 March 1967 after a studio session.[264] McCartney was the first British pop star openly to admit to using LSD, in an interview in the now-defunct “Queen” magazine.[265] His admission was followed by a TV interview in the UK on Independent Television News on 19 June 1967, when McCartney was asked about his admission of LSD use, he said:
“ I was asked a question by a newspaper, and the decision was whether to tell a lie or tell him the truth. I decided to tell him the truth … but I really didn’t want to say anything, you know, because if I had my way I wouldn’t have told anyone. I’m not trying to spread the word about this. But the man from the newspaper is the man from the mass medium. I’ll keep it a personal thing if he does too, you know … if he keeps it quiet. But he wanted to spread it so it’s his responsibility, you know, for spreading it, not mine. ”

In another quote (cited and endorsed by The Byrds’ David Crosby at the Monterey Pop Festival), McCartney said,
“ [LSD] opened my eyes. We only use one-tenth of our brain. Just think of what we could accomplish if we could only tap that hidden part! It would mean a whole new world if the politicians would take LSD. There wouldn’t be any more war or poverty or famine. ”

In spite of his statements then, and his admission (in 2004) that he had used cocaine, McCartney was not arrested by Norman Pilcher’s Drug Squad, as had been Lennon, Harrison, Donovan, and several members of the Rolling Stones.[266] In 1972, however, police found cannabis plants growing on his Scottish farm.[267]

On 16 January 1980, Wings went to Tokyo for 11 concerts in Japan. As McCartney was going through customs, officials found 7.7 ounces (218.3 g) of cannabis in his luggage. He was arrested and taken to a Tokyo prison while the Japanese government decided what to do. McCartney had been previously denied a visa to Japan (in 1975) because he had been convicted twice in Europe for possession of cannabis.[266] Public figures called for McCartney to be tried by a jury for drug-smuggling. Had he been tried and convicted, he would have faced up to seven years in prison. The members of Wings cancelled the tour and left Japan. After ten days in jail, McCartney was released and deported. He was told that he would not be welcome in Japan again, although a decade later he played a concert in Tokyo. In 1984, Paul and Linda McCartney were both arrested for possession of cannabis.[268][269]

Meditation

On 24 August 1967, McCartney met the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the London Hilton, and later went to Bangor, in North Wales, to attend a weekend ‘initiation’ conference.[270] McCartney said that although he does not meditate daily, he still uses the mantra that the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi gave him in Bangor.[271] The time McCartney later spent in India at the Maharishi’s ashram was highly productive, as practically all of the songs that would later be recorded for The White Album and Abbey Road were composed there by McCartney, Lennon, or both together.[272] Although McCartney was told that he was never to repeat the mantra to anyone else, he did tell Linda McCartney,[273] and said he meditated a lot while he was in jail in Japan.[271]

Activism
McCartney’s campaign against landmines
McCartney’s campaign against landmines

The McCartneys became outspoken vegetarians and animal-rights activists. They said that their vegetarianism was realised when they happened to see lambs in a field as they ate a meal of lamb.[274] McCartney has also credited the 1942 Disney film Bambi – in which the young deer’s mother is shot by a hunter – as the original inspiration for him to take an interest in animal rights.[275] In his first interview after Linda’s death, he promised to continue working for animal rights.[276][277]

In 1999, McCartney spent £3,000,000 to make sure Linda McCartney’s food range remains free of GM ingredients.[278] In 2002, McCartney gave his support to a campaign against a proposed ban on the sale of certain vitamins, herbs and mineral products in the European Union.[279] Following his marriage to Heather Mills, McCartney joined with her to campaign against landmines;[280][281] both McCartney and Mills are patrons of Adopt-A-Minefield.[282] In 2003, he played a personal concert for the wife of a wealthy banker and donated his one million dollars to the charity.[283] He also wore an anti-landmines t-shirt on the Back in the World tour.[282]

In 2006, the McCartneys travelled to Prince Edward Island to bring international attention to the seal hunt (their final public appearance together). Their arrival sparked attention in Newfoundland and Labrador where the hunt is of economic significance.[284] The couple also debated with Newfoundland’s Premier Danny Williams on the CNN show Larry King Live. They further stated that the fishermen should quit hunting seals and begin a seal watching business.[285] McCartney has also criticised China’s fur trade,[286][287] and supports the Make Poverty History campaign.[288]

McCartney has been involved with a number of charity recordings and performances. In 2004, he donated a song to an album to aid the “US Campaign for Burma”, in support of Burmese Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,[289] and he had previously been involved in the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Live Aid, and the recording of “Ferry Cross the Mersey” (released 8 May 1989) following the Hillsborough disaster.[290][291]

Football

The Beatles made few comments about the football clubs they supported, in case they alienated fans of the group,[292] although McCartney is a supporter of Everton Football Club[293] (his father and relatives used to take him to matches) but his allegiance later encompassed Liverpool F.C. (both clubs being from the same city; Liverpool).[294] Linda McCartney said: “We spent last night listening to Liverpool football team on the radio, wanting them to win so badly. Paul supports Liverpool. He was Everton for a while because of his family – but it’s all Liverpool now”.[295][296]

Both Lennon and McCartney watched the 1966 FA Cup Final between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday, and McCartney attended the 1968 FA Cup Final (18 May 1968) which was played between West Bromwich Albion and Everton.[297] After the final whistle, McCartney shared cigarettes and whisky with other fans.[296] Liverpool player, Albert Stubbins, was the only footballer shown on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band cover.[292] On 28 July 1968, The Beatles were photographed in a photographer’s studio at 192-212 Gray’s Inn Road, with McCartney wearing a Liverpool F.C. Rosette on two photos.[298]

McCartney tried to listen to the Liverpool v Manchester United 1977 FA Cup Final on a radio, while sailing in the Caribbean.[292] The video for McCartney’s Pipes of Peace (1983) recreated the football game played between German and British troops during WWI.[299][300] McCartney was seen at the 1986 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Everton,[296] and in 1989, McCartney contributed to the “Ferry Cross the Mersey” charity single that was recorded to aid victims of the Hillsborough Disaster, which happened during a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.[301]

Business

Main articles: Apple Corps, Northern Songs, and MPL Communications

McCartney is today one of Britain’s wealthiest men, with an estimated fortune of £824 million,[302] although Justice Bennett, in his judgment on McCartney’s divorce case found no evidence that McCartney was worth more than £400 million.[303] In addition to his interest in Apple Corps, McCartney’s MPL Communications owns a significant music publishing catalogue, with access to over 25,000 copyrights.[304][305] McCartney earned £40 million in 2003, making him Britain’s highest media earner.[306] This rose to £48.5 million by 2005.[307] In the same year he joined the top American talent agency Grabow Associates, who arrange private performances for their richest clients.[308] Northern Songs was established in 1963, by Dick James, to publish the songs of Lennon/McCartney.[309] The Beatles’ partnership was replaced in 1968 by a jointly-held company, Apple Corps, which continues to control Apple’s commercial interests. Northern Songs was purchased by Associated TeleVision (ATV) in 1969, and was sold in 1985 to Michael Jackson. For many years McCartney was unhappy about Jackson’s purchase and handling of Northern Songs.[310]

MPL Communications is an umbrella company for McCartney’s business interests, which owns a wide range of copyrights,[311] as well as the publishing rights to musicals,[312] and controls 25 subsidiary companies.[313] In 2006, the Trademarks Registry reported that MPL had started a process to secure the protections associated with registering the name “Paul McCartney” as a trademark.[314] The 2005 films, Brokeback Mountain[315] and Good Night and Good Luck, feature MPL copyrights.[316]

Critique and achievements

McCartney is listed in The Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history,[317][318] with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs.[319][320] McCartney has achieved twenty-nine number-one singles in the U.S., twenty of them with The Beatles, the rest with Wings and as a solo artist.[317] McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles in the United Kingdom than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artist. McCartney has achieved 24 number-ones in the U.K.: solo (1), Wings (1), with Stevie Wonder (1), Ferry Aid (1), Band Aid (1), Band Aid 20 (1) and The Beatles (17).[321] McCartney is the only artist to reach the U.K. number one as a soloist (“Pipes of Peace”), duo (“Ebony and Ivory” with Stevie Wonder), trio (“Mull of Kintyre”, Wings), quartet (“She Loves You”, The Beatles), quintet (“Get Back”, The Beatles with Billy Preston) and sextet (“Let It Be” with Ferry Aid). McCartney’s song “Yesterday” is the most covered song in history with more than 3,500 recorded versions[322] and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American TV and radio, for which McCartney was given an award.[323] After its 1977 release the Wings single “Mull of Kintyre” became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984.

On 2 July 2005, he was involved with the fastest-released single in history. His performance of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with U2 at Live 8 was released only 45 minutes after it was performed, before the end of the concert.[324] The single reached number six on the Billboard charts, just hours after the single’s release, and hit number one on numerous online download charts across the world.[325] McCartney played for the largest stadium audience in history when 184,000 people paid to see him perform at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on 21 April, 1990,[326] and he played his 3,000th concert in front of 60,000 fans in St Petersburg, Russia, on 20 June 2004.[327] Over his career, McCartney has played 2,523 gigs with The Beatles, 140 with Wings, and 325 as a solo artist.[328]

In the concert programme for his 1989 world tour, McCartney wrote that Lennon received all the credit for being the avant-garde Beatle,[161] and McCartney was known as ‘baby-faced’, which he disagreed with.[329] People also assumed that Lennon was the ‘hard-edged one’, and McCartney was the ‘soft-edged’ Beatle, although McCartney admitted to ‘bossing Lennon around.’[330] Linda McCartney said that McCartney had a ‘hard-edge’—and not just on the surface—which she knew about after all the years she had spent living with him.[331] McCartney seemed to confirm this edge when he commented that he sometimes meditates, which he said is better than “sleeping, eating, or shouting at someone”.[273] In June 1983, McCartney released “We All Stand Together” from the animated film Rupert And The Frog Song, which was commercially successful, but was widely ridiculed as being “one of the worst songs in recent years”.[332]

Paul is dead rumours

Main article: Paul is dead

“Paul is Dead” is an urban legend alleging that McCartney died in 1966 and was replaced by a look-alike and sound-alike. The rumour is the subject of several books, including American journalist Andru J. Reeve’s 1994 book Turn Me On, Dead Man (ISBN 1-4184-8294-3) and English author Benjamin Fitzpatrick’s 1997 book, ‘Rumours from John, George, Ringo and Me’.”Paul is dead” analyst Joel Glazier hypothesized in a 1978 treatise that Lennon’s love of wordplay and studio editing may have been responsible for clues in later Beatles albums.[333]

2005 – Jay-Z, No Doubt, Jurassic 5, Story of the Yea…

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2005 – Jay-Z, No Doubt, Jurassic 5, Story of the Year, and Camp Freddy with Dave Navarro play Linkin Park’s Music for Relief: Rebuilding South Asia concert at Anaheim, Calif. Proceeds go to benefit tsunami relief.

Tags: Anaheim, California, Camp Freddy, Dave Navarro, Linkin Park, tsunami

Aug 22

1998 – Actor Jim Carrey launches an unexpected musical direction

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1998 – Actor Jim Carrey launches an unexpected musical direction when he joins Elton John onstage in Anaheim, Calif., to sing “Rocket Man.”

Tags: Anaheim, elton, Jim, John, launch, man, Music, onstage, sing

Jul 02

1976 – Brian Wilson rejoins the Beach Boys for the first time on stage…

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1976 – Brian Wilson rejoins the Beach Boys for the first time on stage since deciding he’d rather spend his life in bed. Aside from singing “In My Room” at the Anaheim, Calif., performance, he mostly sits staring at his keyboard.

Tags: Anaheim, Beach, bed, first, life, perform, sing, stage, Time

Jul 14

1973 – The Everly Brothers break up during mid-per…

1973 – The Everly Brothers break up during mid-performance at a show at Knott’s Berry Farm in Anaheim, Calif. Phil smashes his guitar during the Knotts Berry Farm gig after Don appeares to be drinking margaritas on an empty stomach.

Tags: Anaheim, Break, Everly, farm

Jul 15

1967 – Jefferson Airplane and the Doors perform at the Anaheim…

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1967 – Jefferson Airplane and the Doors perform at the Anaheim Civic Center in California. Jim Morrison behaves himself.

Tags: airplane, Anaheim, California, doors, Jim, Morrison, perform

Jul 15

1956 – Joseph “Satch” Satriani (born July 15, 1956 in Westbury, New York, U.S.) is

Posted in 1950s, Agents & Lawyers, Albums/Singles that Rock, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Bio, Birthdays, Blues, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, Concerts, Gigs & Tours, Copyrights & Trademarks, General, Gold, Guitarists, Industry, Off the Hook, Platinum, Producers, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers, TV, Movies, Radio, Internet, & itunes | No Comments »

1956 – Joseph “Satch” Satriani (born July 15, 1956 in Westbury, New York, U.S.) is an American guitarist and former guitar instructor. He is heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. He also has a signature series amplifier, the Peavey JSX.

In 1988, Satriani was recruited by the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for Jagger’s first solo tour.

Biography and playing history
Satriani during a recent concert at the Rijnhal, Arnhem (June 12. 2008)
Satriani during a recent concert at the Rijnhal, Arnhem (June 12. 2008)

Satriani was inspired to play guitar at age 14 after learning of the death of Jimi Hendrix. He reportedly heard the news during an American football training session, where he immediately confronted his coach and announced that he was quitting to become a guitarist.

In 1974, Satriani studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and with reclusive jazz pianist Lennie Tristano. The technically demanding Tristano greatly influenced Satriani’s playing. Satriani also began teaching guitar, with his most notable student at the time being fellow Long Island native Steve Vai. while he was Vai’s teacher, he was attending Five Towns College for studying in music.

In 1978 Satriani moved to Berkeley, California to pursue a music career. Not long after his arrival he resumed teaching. His students included Kirk Hammett (Metallica), David Bryson (Counting Crows), Kevin Cadogan (Third Eye Blind), Larry LaLonde (Primus, Possessed), Alex Skolnick (Testament), Rick Hunolt (Exodus), Phil Kettner (Lääz Rockit), Geoff Tyson, and Charlie Hunter.

When his friend and former student Steve Vai gained fame playing with David Lee Roth in 1986, Vai raved about Satriani in several interviews with guitar magazines. In 1987, Satriani’s second album Surfing with the Alien produced popular radio hits and was the first all-instrumental release to chart so highly in many years. In 1988 Satriani helped produce the EP The Eyes of Horror for the death metal band Possessed.

In 1989, Satriani released the album Flying in a Blue Dream. The album sold well, particularly in Texas. “One Big Rush” was featured on the soundtrack to the Cameron Crowe movie Say Anything. “The Forgotten Part II” was featured on a Labatt Blue commercial in Canada in 1993. “Big Bad Moon”, one of Satriani’s few songs to feature his vocals, was a minor hit in late 1989.

In 1992, Satriani released The Extremist, his most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album to date. Radio stations across the country were quick to pick up on “Summer Song”, while “Cryin’”, “Friends” and the title track were regional hits.

In late 1993, Satriani joined Deep Purple as a short-term replacement for departed guitarist Ritchie Blackmore during the band’s Japanese tour. The concerts were such a success that Satriani was asked to join the band permanently, but he declined, having just signed a multi-album solo deal with Sony, so Steve Morse took the guitarist slot in Deep Purple.
Satriani live with G3 in Milan in 2004
Satriani live with G3 in Milan in 2004

In 1996, he formed G3, a concert tour featuring three instrumental rock guitarists – originally Satriani, Vai, and Eric Johnson. The G3 tour has continued periodically since its inaugural version, where Satriani is the only permanent member, featured with a floating second and third member, including among others Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Fripp, Andy Timmons, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Adrian Legg and Paul Gilbert.

In 1998 Satriani recorded and released Crystal Planet, which went back to a sound more reminiscent of his late ’80s work. Planet was followed up with Engines of Creation, one of his more experimental works featuring the ‘Electronica’ genre of music. During the subsequent tour, a pair of shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco were recorded in December 2000 and released as Live in San Francisco, a two-disc live album and DVD.

Over the next several years, Satriani regularly recorded and released new music, including Strange Beautiful Music in 2002 and Is There Love in Space? in 2004.

In 2006 Satriani recorded and released Super Colossal and Satriani Live!, another two-disc live album and DVD recorded May 3, 2006 at the Grove in Anaheim, CA.

On August 7, 2007 Epic/Legacy Recordings re-released Surfing with the Alien to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release. This was a two-disc set that includes a remastered album and a DVD of a previously never-before-seen live show filmed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1988.

Satriani’s newest album, titled Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock, was released on April 1, 2008.

It was revealed on May 29, 2008 that Satriani is involved in a new hard rock project with former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. The band, which will feature Hagar on vocals, Satriani on guitar, Anthony on bass and Smith on drums, is tentatively called “Chickenfoot”

On July 24, 2008 Satriani’s song ‘Surfing With the Alien’ was made available for download on Activision’s Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock over XBox Live or the Playstation Network, along with former student Steve Vai’s ‘For the Love of God’ and Buckethead’s ‘Soothsayer’.

Other work
Joe Satriani with Stu Hamm in concert, Rijnhal, Arnhem (June 12., 2008)
Joe Satriani with Stu Hamm in concert, Rijnhal, Arnhem (June 12., 2008)

Satriani is also credited on many other albums, including guitar duties on Alice Cooper’s 1991 album Hey Stoopid, Spinal Tap’s 1992 album Break Like the Wind, Blue Öyster Cult’s 1988 album Imaginos, band members Stu Hamm and Gregg Bissonette’s solo albums. Interestingly, he was credited with singing background vocals on the 1986 debut album by Crowded House. In 2003, he played lead guitar on The Yardbirds’s CD release Birdland. In 2006 he made appearances on several tracks for Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan’s solo CD/DVD dual disc Gillan’s Inn. On Dream Theater’s 2007 album, Systematic Chaos, Satriani contributed spoken lyrics to the song “Repentance”.

He is also featured in the Christopher Guest film, For Your Consideration, as the guitarist in the band that played for the late-night show.

Technique and influence

Satriani is widely recognized as a technically highly advanced rock guitarist, and has been described as a virtuoso During fast passages, Joe favors a technique known as legato (achieved primarily through hammer-ons and pull-offs) which yields smooth and flowing runs. He is also adept at other speed-related techniques such as speed picking (a rapid form of alternate picking) and sweep picking, but uses them relatively rarely.

His success is notable in a genre typically unfriendly to instrumental musicians. Satriani has received 14 Grammy nominations

An influential guitarist himself.

Gear

Satriani has endorsed Ibanez’s JS Series guitars, and Peavey’s JSX amplifier. Both lines were designed specifically as signature products for Satriani. However, Satriani uses a variety of gear. Many of his guitars are made by Ibanez, including the JS1000, and JS1200. These guitars typically feature the DiMarzio PAF Pro (which he used up until 1993 in both the neck and bridge positions), the DiMarzio Fred (which he used in the bridge position from 1993 to present day), and the Mo’ Joe and the Paf Joe (which he uses in the bridge and neck positions, respectively, from 2005 to present day). The JS line of guitars is his signature line, and they feature the Edge Pro, which is Ibanez’s exclusive vibrato system, although he’s always used the Original Edge unit on his guitars. The mirrored ‘chrome’ guitar he is primarily associated with and used on the Live in San Francisco DVD is called Chrome Boy. Satriani also uses a number of other JS models such as the JS double neck model, JS700 (primary axe on the self-titled CD and seen on the 1995 tour “Joe Satriani”, which features a fixed bridge, P-90 pickups, and a matching mahogany body and neck), JS600 (natural body) , JS1 (the original JS model), JS2000 (fixed bridge model), a variety of JS100s, JS1000s and JS1200s with custom paint work, and a large amount of prototype JSs. All double locking bridges have been the original Edge tremolo, not the newer models, which point to a more custom guitar than the “off the shelf” models. Joe has also played a red 7-string JS model, as seen in the “G3 Live in Tokyo” DVD from 2005.
Satriani and the band
Satriani and the band

Satriani has used a wide variety of guitar amps over the years, using Marshall Amplification for his main amplifier (notably the limited edition blue coloured 6100 LM model) up until 2001, and his Peavey signature series amps, the Peavey JSX, thereafter. The JSX began life as a prototype Peavey XXX and developed into the Joe Satriani signature Peavey model, now available for purchase in retail stores. Joe Satriani has used other amplifiers over the years in the studio, however. Those include the Peavey 5150 (used to record the song ‘Crystal Planet’), Cornford, and the Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ (used to record the song ‘Flying in a Blue Dream’), amongst others.

His effects pedals include the Vox wah, Dunlop Cry Baby wah, RMC Wizard Wah, Digitech Whammy, BOSS DS-1, BOSS CH-1, BOSS CE-2, BOSS DD-2 and a standard BOSS DD-3 (used together to emulate reverb effects), BOSS BF-3, BOSS OC-2, Barber Burn Drive Unit, Fulltone Deja Vibe, Fulltone Ultimate Octave, and Electro-Harmonix POG (Polyphonic Octave Generator), the latter being featured prominently on the title cut to his 2006 Super Colossal.

Satriani has also partnered recently with Planet Waves to create a signature line of guitar picks and guitar straps featuring his sketch art.

Although Satriani endorses the JSX, he has also used many different amps in the studio when recording, including the Peavey Classic. He is also known to have used Marshall heads and cabinets, including live, prior to his Peavey endorsement. Most recently Satriani used the JSX head through a Palmer Speaker Simulator. Joe Satriani has also released a Class-A 5-watt tube amp called the “Mini Colossal”.

He is currently working with Vox on his own line of signature effects pedals designed to deliver Satriani’s trademark tone plus a wide range of new sounds for guitarists of all playing styles and ability levels. The first being a signature distortion pedal titled the “Satchurator”, with more to follow in 2008.

Recurring themes

Satriani’s work frequently makes references to various science fiction stories and/or ideas. “Surfing with the Alien”, “Back to Shalla-Bal” and “The Power Cosmic 2000″ refer to the comic book character Silver Surfer, while “Ice 9″ refers to the secret government ice weapon in Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. “Borg Sex” is a reference to Star Trek, which features a homogeneous cybernetic race known as the Borg. Additionally, his albums and songs often have other-worldly titles, such as Not of this Earth, Crystal Planet, Is There Love in Space?, and Engines of Creation.

On the album Super Colossal the song titled “Crowd Chant” was originally called “Party on the Enterprise”. “Party on the Enterprise” featured sampled sounds from the Starship Enterprise from the Star Trek TV show. But as Satriani explained in a podcast, legal issues regarding the samples could not be resolved and he was unable to get permission to use them. Satriani then removed the sounds from the song and called it “Crowd Chant.” This song is also used as the Minnesota Wild’s goal horn.

“Redshift Riders”, another song on the Super Colossal album, is “…based on the idea that in the future, when people can travel throughout space, they will theoretically take advantage of the cosmological redshift effect so they can be swung around large planetary objects and get across

On the album Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock the song “I Just Wanna Rock”, is about a giant robot on the run who happens upon a rock concert.

Discography

Solo albums

* 1986 – Not of This Earth
* 1987 – Surfing with the Alien
* 1989 – Flying in a Blue Dream
* 1992 – The Extremist
* 1993 – Time Machine
* 1995 – Joe Satriani
* 1998 – Crystal Planet
* 2000 – Engines of Creation
* 2002 – Strange Beautiful Music
* 2004 – Is There Love in Space?
* 2006 – Super Colossal
* 2008 – Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock

EPs

* Dreaming #11
* The Satch Ep
* Additional Creations

Compilations

* The Beautiful Guitar
* The Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology
* Joe Satriani Original Album Classics
* One Big Rush

Live albums

* 1993 – Time Machine
* 2001 – Live in San Francisco
* 2006 – Satriani Live!

With other artists
Year     Artist     Album
1986     Greg Kihn     Love And Rock And Roll
1987     Danny Gottleib     Aquamarine
1988     Stuart Hamm     Radio Free Albemuth
1991     Alice Cooper     Hey Stoopid
1992     Spinal Tap     Break Like the Wind
1997     Steve Vai / Eric Johnson     G3: Live in Concert
1997     Steve Vai / Alex Lifeson / Joe Perry     Merry Axemas Volume 1
2003     Steve Vai / Yngwie Malmsteen     G3: Rockin’ in the Free World
2003     The Yardbirds     Birdland
2005     Steve Vai / John Petrucci     G3: Live in Tokyo
2006     Ian Gillan     Gillan’s Inn
2007     John 5     The Devil Knows My Name
2007     Dream Theater (spoken voice only)     Systematic Chaos
2009     Sammy Hagar, Chad Smith, Michael Anthony Tentatively titled “ChickenFoot”     Untitled

Satriani has also composed many songs that are featured in the series of NASCAR based video games including NASCAR 06: Total Team Control.

Satriani’s “Summer Song” is included in the soundtrack for the video game Gran Turismo 4. “Summer Song” is also included on the Formula 1 game for the Sony PlayStation, along with “Back to Shalla-Bal.” “Summer Song” had also been briefly used during a 30 second advertising spots for both Pepsi, and the Sony Walkman.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Satriani signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. Satriani has personally delivered instruments to children in the program through a charity raffle for the organization and, in common with Steve Vai, sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.

Awards and nominations

Nominations

Satriani now has the most Grammy Award nominations of anyone (14) without winning .
Nominations Year     Album     Category
1989     Surfing with the Alien     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1990     The Crush of Love     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1991     Flying in a Blue Dream     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1993     The Extremist     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1994     Speed of Light     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1995     All Alone     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1997     (You’re) My World     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1998     Summer Song (Live)     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
1999     A Train of Angels     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
2001     Until We Say Goodbye     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
2002     Always With Me, Always With You     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
2003     Starry Night     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
2006     Super Colossal     Best Rock Instrumental Performance
2008     Always with Me, Always with You (Live)     Best Rock Instrumental Performance

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Nov 20

1947 – Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh is born in New Y…

Posted in 1940s, Agents & Lawyers, Albums/Singles that Rock, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Bio, Birthdays, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Guitarists, Industry, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

1947 – Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh is born in New York. As a solo artist he has four top 20 albums, including “The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get,” which reaches No. 6 on Chart Toppers’s pop album chart.

Biography

Early life

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Walsh and his family lived in Columbus, Ohio for a number of years, and subsequently moved to New York City. Later, Walsh moved to Montclair, New Jersey and attended Montclair High School there. He spent time in various bands playing around the Cleveland area, including The Measles, while attending Kent State University.

In 1969, he replaced Glen Schwartz as lead guitarist for the James Gang, an American power trio. Walsh proved to be the band’s star attraction, noted for his innovative rhythm playing and creative guitar riffs. The James Gang had several minor hits and became an early album-oriented rock staple for the next two years. In November, 1971, Walsh left the group and formed the group Barnstorm, although their albums credited Walsh as a solo artist. Walsh and Barnstorm released their debut, the eponymous Barnstorm in 1972. The album was a critical success, but it only sold moderately. The follow-up The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get (1973) was a commercial breakthrough. The first single “Rocky Mountain Way”, received heavy airplay and reached #23 on the US top 40 charts. In 1974, Barnstorm disbanded and Walsh continued as a true solo artist.

Over the next two years, Walsh would release a studio album So What and a live set, You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind. These would be his last solo albums until 1978. In 1976, he joined the highly successful rock band the Eagles as Bernie Leadon’s replacement. His addition pushed the band toward a harder-edged sound and away from their early country-style work.

As the Eagles struggled to record the follow-up to their highly successful album Hotel California, Walsh re-ignited his solo career with the well-received discs But Seriously Folks (1978) (which featured his hit comic depiction of rock stardom, “Life’s Been Good”) and There Goes the Neighborhood. Joe also contributed “In the City” to The Warriors soundtrack (1979), a song penned and sung by Walsh that later appeared on The Eagles’ “The Long Run” album.

Following the Eagles breakup in 1980, Walsh continued to release albums throughout the 1980s, but sales were poor. Musical trends had passed him by and he maintained a low profile until the mid-1990s. He toured with Ringo Starr in 1989, alternating a handful of his best-known songs with Ringo’s tunes, as did all the members of the “All Starr” band. Walsh sang the US National Anthem at the beginning of game four of the 1995 World Series. In 1989, Walsh recorded a MTV Unplugged with the R&B musician Dr. John.

In 1994, Walsh reunited with the Eagles for a highly successful reunion tour and live album, Hell Freezes Over. Walsh has toured regularly with the Eagles since then and the group released their first new studio album in 28 years, Long Road Out of Eden, in 2007.

In June 2004, Walsh performed live before a huge crowd at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas, Texas. He was also featured in September 2004 at The Strat Pack, a concert held in London, England to mark the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar.

In 2006, Walsh reunited with Jim Fox and Dale Peters of James Gang for a 15-date summer reunion tour. The tour lasted into the fall. Some of his most recent compositions, such as “One Day At A Time”, deal with his struggles with substance abuse, particularly alcoholism. He is now a teetotaller and has been sober since 1995.

In 2008, Walsh appeared on the “Carvin 60th Anniversary Celebration DVD” as a Celebrity Endorser. In the recorded interview, he highly praises Carvin guitars and claims that the bridge design is “just like the first Les Paul models. I can’t even get Gibson to reissue it.”

Notable appearances

Walsh has produced albums for artists such as Dan Fogelberg and Ringo Starr. He was a background musician (1st guitar solo) on Eagles bandmate Don Henley’s 1982 hit “Dirty Laundry” (listed as such in the liner notes of I Can’t Stand Still and Actual Miles: Henley’s Greatest Hits).

Walsh played lead guitar on the song “Green Monkey” which appeared on America’s 1973 album Hat Trick

Walsh co-wrote and played lead guitar on the song “Split Decision” which appeared on Steve Winwood’s 1986 album Back in the High Life.

Walsh would reunite with former Eagles bandmates Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmit as background musicians on the 1987 Richard Marx hit “Don’t Mean Nothing”.

Walsh played a prisoner in The Blues Brothers. He is noticeable as he is the first prisoner to get on the cafeteria tables during the Jailhouse Rock song at the end. Joe was a close friend of John Belushi, who starred in the movie.

In the mid 1980s, Dallas/Ft. Worth DJ Redbeard (Doug Hill), KTXQ/Q102, went on vacation. Walsh sat in for him during that week. During this period, he would do guest DJ spots for a week or two annually where he dished inside information on the music industry, and entertained listeners with his antics and music at other stations including KLBJ in Austin, TX.

Walsh appeared as a mystery guest on the Howard Stern show on August 8, 1989, along with Pat Cooper. He has appeared numerous times on Stern’s show since, more recently with the James Gang to promote their summer 2006 tour.

Walsh played guitar alongside Laura Hall in a surprise appearance in Drew Carey’s pay-per-view presentation of “Drew Carey’s Improv All-Stars” in Las Vegas. He participated in one game in each show, the ending game “biography.” He sometimes made guest appearances on the Drew Carey Show as Ed, a laid-back guitarist in a bar band.

Walsh appeared as a featured performer at the 1992 Seville Expo Guitar Legends with on-stage featured guitarists Nuno Bettencourt, Brian May, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Walsh sang the National Anthem of Chile at a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball game in 2003.

Walsh appeared in the television series Duckman, as medical video actor in episode 315 – “They Craved Duckman’s Brain”. Walsh also plays a version of “Life’s Been Good” in a Duckman episode. He also appeared on Mad TV in 1995 as a customer at an air guitar shop, and on the comedy game show Street Smarts. Walsh appeared in the audience on the April 10, 2008 episode of the MTV show Rock the Cradle as a surprise for his daughter Lucy.

Walsh appeared with the James Gang in the motion picture Zachariah (1971).

Walsh commenced 2007 with an appearance at Dear Mr Fantasy – A Celebration For Jim Capaldi: a charity gig being held at London’s famous Roundhouse where he appeared alongside Steve Winwood, Jon Lord, Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman, Paul Weller and many others.

During 2007, Walsh has appeared at selected shows with country-rock star musician Kenny Chesney on his Flip Flop Summer Tour 2007. “I don’t think there’s anybody in the world who doesn’t know ‘Life’s Been Good’ or ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ if they’ve listened to any rock radio at all,” said Kenny. Walsh also played a number of solo dates during late summer. Walsh has collaborated with Chesney on several occasions, most notably producing the song “Wild Ride”.

Walsh performed the National Anthem on guitar at the Los Angeles Clippers vs. Los Angeles Lakers game on November 5th, 2008 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Personal life

Walsh holds an Extra Class Amateur Radio License. His station callsign is WB6ACU. In 2006 he donated an autographed guitar to the ARRL for its charity auction. He has also been involved with the group’s “Big Project,” which brings amateur radio into schools. Walsh has included Morse Code messages in his albums on two occasions: once on the album Barnstorm (“Register and Vote”), and later on Songs for a Dying Planet (“Register and Vote for Me”).

Walsh is known for his guitar and keyboard skills, but also plays/has played bass guitar, harmonica, bagpipes, oboe, and clarinet. His mother was a classically trained pianist.

Walsh’s daughter, Lucy Walsh, is also a musician; she has worked with Ashlee Simpson, among others, and is releasing her debut album, Lost in the Lights, in spring 2008.

Walsh’s oldest daughter, Emma Kristen, died as a result of injuries suffered in an automobile accident on her way to nursery school in 1974. Her story inspired the track “Song For Emma” on his album So What released later that year. In her memory, he had a fountain and memorial plaque placed in a park in which she played, North Boulder Park in Boulder, Colorado. While touring with singer Stevie Nicks in 1984, Walsh took Nicks to the park’s fountain; Nicks subsequently immortalized this story in her song “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You” on her 1985 album Rock A Little. Nicks stated in a 2007 interview with the UK Telegraph that Walsh had been “the great love of her life.”

Walsh ran a mock campaign for President in 1980, promising to make “Life’s Been Good” the new national anthem if he won, and running on a platform of “Free Gas For Everyone.” Though Walsh was not old enough to actually assume the office, he wanted to raise public awareness of the election. He then ran again for vice president in 1992 and was unsuccessful.

Walsh gave his main guitar, a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Sunburst, to Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

Kent State University awarded Walsh an honorary degree in music in December 2001.

Albums

James Gang

    * Yer’ Album (November 1969)
    * James Gang Rides Again (October 1970)
    * Thirds (July 1971)
    * James Gang Live in Concert (December 1971)

Eagles

    * Hotel California (December 1976)
    * The Long Run (September 1979)
    * Eagles Live (November 7 1980)
    * Hell Freezes Over (November 1994)
    * Long Road Out of Eden (October 30, 2007)

Barnstorm

* Barnstorm (September 1972)
* The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get (June 1973)

Solo

    * So What (December 1974)
    * You Can’t Argue with a Sick Mind (March 1976)
    * But Seriously Folks (May 1978)
    * There Goes the Neighborhood (March 1981)
    * You Bought It, You Name It (May 1983)
    * The Confessor (1985)
    * Got Any Gum? (July 1987)
    * Ordinary Average Guy (January 1991)
    * Songs for a Dying Planet (May 1992)

Compilations

    * The Best of Joe Walsh (November 1978)
    * Rocky Mountain Way (September 1985)
    * Look What I Did! (May 1995)
    * Joe Walsh’s Greatest Hits – Little Did He Know… (1997)

Other appearances

Albums with REO Speedwagon

* Ridin’ The Storm Out (1973) (Slide guitar)

Albums with Ringo Starr

    * Old Wave (June 1983) (Walsh both played on and produced this album)
    * Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band (October 1990)
    * Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Volume 2: Live from Montreux (September 1993)
    * Vertical Man (June 1998)
    * VH1 Storytellers (October 1998)

Other

    * Andy Gibb — (Love Is) Thicker Than Water (1977)
    * Manassas — Down the Road (1973) (slide guitar)
    * Frankie Miller– Long Way Home (2006)
    * Dan Fogelberg — Souvenirs (1974) (Walsh both played on and produced this album) and Face The Fire from Phoenix (1979)
    * Jay Ferguson — Thunder Island (1977) and Real Life Ain’t This Way (1979)
    * John Entwistle — “Too Late The Hero (1981) (Walsh both played on and produced this album)
    * Carl Palmer — “L.A. Nights (1977)
    * Michael Stanley — “Rosewood Bitters” (slide guitar)(1973)
    * Bob Seger — “The Mountain” (1991)
    * Joe Vitale — “Roller Coaster Weekend” (1974)
    * Joe Vitale — “Plantation Harbour” (1981)

Eagles songs

Eagles songs written by Joe Walsh

    * “Life in the Fast Lane” on Hotel California (co-written with Don Henley and Glenn Frey)
    * “Pretty Maids All in a Row” on Hotel California (co-written with Joe Vitale)
    * “The Sad Café” on The Long Run (co-written with J.D. Souther and Henley/Frey)
    * “In The City” on The Long Run (co-written with Barry De Vorzon)
    * “Last Good Time In Town” on Long Road Out of Eden

Eagles songs featuring Joe Walsh on lead vocal

    * “Pretty Maids All in a Row” on Hotel California
    * “In The City” on The Long Run
    * “Guilty Of The Crime” on Long Road Out Of Eden
    * “Last Good Time In Town” on Long Road Out Of Eden

Note: Other songs in the Eagles catalog that were sung and written by Walsh include “Life’s Been Good” and “All Night Long”, from Walsh’s solo career, which were included on Eagles Live and “Funk 49″, from Walsh’s days in the James Gang, was included on the fourth “Millennium Concert” disc of the Eagles box set Selected Works: 1972-1999. These are not Eagles songs however, since the studio cuts did not originate under the Eagles name

Singles
Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 MNSTR UK Singles
1970 ”Funk #49″ (w/ James Gang) 59 - - James Gang Rides Again
1971 ”Walk Away” (w/ James Gang) 51 - - Thirds
1971 ”Midnight Man” (w/ James Gang) 80 - - Thirds
1973 ”Rocky Mountain Way” 23 - - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
1974 ”Meadows” 89 - - The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
1975 ”Turn To Stone” 93 - - So What
1977 ”Rocky Mountain Way” - - 39 Rocky Mountain Way EP
1978 ”Life’s Been Good” 12 - 14 But Seriously Folks…
1980 ”All Night Long” 19 - - Urban Cowboy Soundtrack
1981 ”A Life of Illusion” 34 1 - There Goes The Neighborhood
1983 ”Space Age Whiz Kids” 52 21 - You Bought It, You Name It
1983 ”I Can Play That Rock & Roll” - 13 - You Bought It, You Name It
1985 ”The Confessor” - 8 - The Confessor
1987 ”The Radio Song” - 8 - Got Any Gum?
1987 ”In My Car” - 14 - Got Any Gum?
1991 ”Ordinary Average Guy” - 3 - Ordinary Average Guy
1991 ”All of a Sudden” - 13 - Ordinary Average Guy
1992 ”Vote for Me” - 10 - Songs for a Dying Planet
2007 ”Wild Ride” (w/ Kenny Chesney)A - - - Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (Kenny Chesney album)

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Aug 19

1945 – Ian Gillan, vocalist with the best-known incarnation

Posted in 1940s, Bands/Artists that Rock, Billboard charts, Bio, Birthdays, Chart Toppers, Classic, Composers & Songwriters, General, Gold, Platinum, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (honoured diety), Singers | No Comments »

1945 – Ian Gillan, vocalist with the best-known incarnation of Deep Purple, is born in Hounslow, England.
Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist best known as the lead singer for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath and sang the role of Jesus Christ in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. Gillan is considered to be one of the foremost rock vocalists, who introduced into rock music the vocal belting technique. In his prime he possessed a wide vocal range. His work with Deep Purple is particularly recognisable for its occasional high-pitched screams and falsettos.
Early life

Gillan was born at Chiswick Maternity Hospital, Hounslow, London, England in a family of Scottish descent (his father was from the Govan area of Glasgow) He sang in various constellations and appeared under a variety of different pseudonyms during the early years, eg. Garth Rockett, Jess Thunder, Jess Gillan, and probably others as well.

Deep Purple
Ian Gillan playing air guitar

He was the lead vocalist in the band Episode Six. After Deep Purple members Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore saw one of his performances with the band, he was later approached to replace Rod Evans in Deep Purple.

Gillan was a member of Deep Purple from 1969 through to 1973, appearing on such now-classic Deep Purple albums as In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Who Do We Think We Are. During these years, he also was the voice of Jesus on the original 1970 album recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. He was offered the lead role in the 1973 film adaptation. Ian demanded not only to be paid for his role in the movie but insisted, without the consent of his manager, that the entire band be paid because filming would conflict with a scheduled tour. The producers declined and Ian continued on in the band .

Gillan was room-mates with Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and in a 2006 interview Gillan said Blackmore “turned into a weird guy and the day he walked out of the tour was the day the clouds disappeared and the day the sunshine came out and we haven’t looked back since.”

Rejoining

He rejoined a reunited Deep Purple in early 1984, recording the highly-acclaimed comeback album Perfect Strangers. He was sacked in 1989, but rejoined in 1992 to record the album The Battle Rages On. During the 1993 tour for this album, Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple for good. The rest of Deep Purple carried on, eventually replacing Blackmore with Steve Morse, and Gillan remains in the band to the present day.

Away from Deep Purple

After his first departure from Deep Purple, Gillan retired from performing to pursue business ventures. However, encouraged by his reception at the Butterfly Ball in 1975, he decided to resume his singing career. He formed the Ian Gillan Band. The early band sound had a distinct jazz-rock aspect which proved unpopular and was replaced by a more high powered hard rock sound as Gillan reformed the lineup and shortened the group’s name to Gillan. Writing the bulk of new material with keyboardist Colin Towns, the release of Mr. Universe saw Ian Gillan back in the UK charts, although the independent record company the album came out on – Acrobat – folded soon after the album was released, prompting a contract with Richard Branson’s Virgin Records. Through several more lineup changes the band released a string of UK hit singles and successful albums including Glory Road, Future Shock, Double Trouble, and finally Magic.

In 1982 Ian Gillan announced the band would fold as he needed to rest his damaged vocal cords.

Black Sabbath

In 1983 he joined Black Sabbath (replacing Ronnie James Dio) for a year to record the Born Again album and tour (on which Black Sabbath played the Purple standard “Smoke On The Water” as an encore). He was largely dissatisfied with his stint in Sabbath, notably the final mix of the Born Again album (though he liked the songs and their original mixes) and its cover, which featured a demonic-looking baby. He was quoted in Kerrang! in 1984 as saying “I looked at the cover and puked.” The tour did not do well, as Gillan did not enjoy singing the early Ozzy Osbourne-era Sabbath material. In an interview on Part 2 of the VHS, The Black Sabbath Story (1992), he said, “I was the worst singer Black Sabbath ever had…” However, he stated in the same interview that he liked Sabbath personally: “I love Tony (Iommi), love Geezer (Butler).”

2000s solo activity

In June 2004 Gillan performed guest lead vocals on Smokescreen as part of Dean Howard – Volume One. Dean Howard (T’pau/Gillan/Repo Depo) co wrote some of the material that went towards Gillan’s Dreamcatcher album.

In April 2006 Gillan released a CD/multimedia project to document his 40-year career called Gillan’s Inn. Tony Iommi, Jeff Healey, Joe Satriani, Dean Howard, as well as current and former members of Deep Purple such as Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey and Steve Morse are featured on this 2006 CD and DVD. The project includes a re-recorded selection of his Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and solo tracks.It was produced by Nick Blagona. In a recent interview, Gillan announced that his solo albums from the 1970s and 1980s would be re-issued late in 2006 through the Demon record company. These albums began to be released in early 2007.

Also, on September 11th, 2006, Ian Gillan promoted the Gillan’s Inn tour by having local guitarists compete through local radio stations to play on stage with the band during the famous song “Smoke on the Water”. The promotion was titled “Smoke This!”. One of the notable contest winners was Gizzarelli who shared the stage with Ian Gillan and Lars Ulrich from Metallica on drums. http://www.1077thebone.com/contests/smokeThis/default.asp – http://www.gizzarelli.org – http://youtube.com/watch?v=QxcsIR81xzI

In 2006 a single called Eternity was released for the Japanese Xbox 360 game Blue Dragon, composed by Nobuo Uematsu and featuring the vocals of Gillan. That same song was reused in the fan-made, freeware RPG game Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden for battles against VinceBorg2050 (a combination of cyborg & Vince Carter). The Eternity file in the Barkley game music folder is labeled “jesus christ the guy from deep purple sang this”.

On 2 April 2007, Gillan released a DVD Highway Star: A Journey In Rock. The DVD has 6 hours of footage including documentaries and music clips.

In June 2007, he sang with the group Sed Nove and Ann Wilson in the Festival of Music in Paris.

In February 2008 Gillan released a double live album on Edel Records, “Live in Anaheim” that features Gillan and Deep Purple classic songs and several rarities. A companion DVD was released in May 2008.

Personal life
Ian and Bron, dressed in Georgian national wedding costumes during Gillan’s 1990 visit to Tbilisi, Georgia
Ian and Bron, dressed in Georgian national wedding costumes during Gillan’s 1990 visit to Tbilisi, Georgia

Family

In 1984, Gillan married Bron, his girlfriend, to whom Ian had dedicated the melancholic “Keep It Warm” from Black Sabbath’s 1983 album Born Again. They have twice since renewed their marriage vows. The couple have one daughter, Grace. He currently lives in the English coastal town of Lyme Regis in Dorset.

Gillan’s mother, Audrey Parkinson, often visits him while he is touring with Deep Purple in the United Kingdom. She can often be seen sitting to the side of the stage.

Other

He is a passionate football fan, supporting Queens Park Rangers F.C. He is also a big fan of cricket.

Gillan is well-known for his intolerance of aggressive crowd security personnel at concerts. On August 15, 1998, he was charged with assault after striking a security guard on the head with a microphone.

In 2004, he was banned from driving for being twice over the legal alcohol limit. He was banned from driving for 16 months and fined £500.

His surname is often misspelled as “Gillian”. Gillan himself made light of this in the lyrics to “MTV”, a track off of Deep Purple’s 2005 album Rapture of the Deep.

Discography

With Deep Purple

Studio albums

* In Rock #1 (1970)
* Fireball #1 (1971)
* Machine Head #1 (1972)
* Who Do We Think We Are #4 (1973)
* Perfect Strangers #5 (1984)
* The House of Blue Light #12 (1987)
* The Battle Rages On #29 (1993)
* Purpendicular #56 (1996)
* Abandon #75 (1998)
* Bananas #81 (2003)
* Rapture of the Deep #88 (2005)

Live albums

* Concerto for Group and Orchestra (1969)
* Made in Japan (1972)
* Deep Purple in Concert – BBC Radio sessions 1970/1972 (1980)
* Scandinavian Nights – Live in Stockholm 1970 (1988)
* Nobody’s Perfect (1988)
* In the Absence of Pink – Knebworth ’85 (1991)
* Gemini Suite Live ’70 (1993)
* Come Hell or High Water (1994)
* Live at the Olympia ’96 (1997)
* Total Abandon: Live in Australia (1999)
* Live at the Royal Albert Hall – Concerto’s 30th Anniversary (2000)
* Live at the Rotterdam Ahoy (2001)
* Live in Europe 1993 (2006)
* They All Came Down To Montreux (2007)

As Ian Gillan Band

* Child in Time (1976)
* Clear Air Turbulence (1977)
* Scarabus (1977)
* Live at the Budokan (1978)

As Gillan

* Gillan (aka The Japanese Album) (1978)
* Mr. Universe #11 (UK) (1979)
* Glory Road #3 (UK) (1980)
* Future Shock #2 (UK) (1980)
* Double Trouble (live) #12 (UK) (1981)
* Magic #17 (UK) (1982)

With Black Sabbath

* Born Again (1983)

As Gillan & Glover

* Accidentally on Purpose (1988)

As Garth Rockett & the Moonshiners

* Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners Live at the Ritz (1990)

Solo

* Naked Thunder (1990)
* Toolbox (1991)
* Cherkazoo and Other Stories (’73/’75 solo sessions) (1992)
* Dreamcatcher (1997)
* Gillan’s Inn (2006)
* Gillan’s Inn-Deluxe Tour Edition (2007)
* Live in Anaheim, live at the House Of Blues Club, California, 2006 (2008)
* Mercury High – The Story Of Ian Gillan

With The Javelins

* Sole Agency and Representation (1994)

Others

* Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
* Dean Howard – Volume One – Guest Lead Vocals On Smokescreen (2004)

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