The Beatles regularly paid tribute to the classic rock pioneers who paved the way for them. One of Paul McCartney’s songs is about a blues singer who helped create rock music. The “Silly Love Songs” singer said the tune in question had good lyrics that he should take as advice.
1 of Paul McCartney’s songs was inspired by a book about Lead Belly
During a 2020 interview with The New York Times, Paul was asked to name his favorite song from his album McCartney III. “I’m very happy with ‘Women and Wives,’” he replied. “I’ve been reading a book about Lead Belly.” Lead Belly was the stage name of blues icon Huddie William Ledbetter. He gave the world classic tunes such as “Cotton Fields,” “Boll Weevil,” “Midnight Special,” “Goodnight, Irene,” and “In the Pines.” His work laid the groundwork for much of rock ‘n’ roll music.
“I was looking at his life and thinking about the blues scene of that day,” Paul recalled. “I love that tone of voice and energy and style. So I was sitting at my piano, and I’m thinking about Huddie Ledbetter, and I started noodling around in the key of D minor, and this thing came to me.”
The ‘Live and Let Die’ singer said he still doesn’t now where good songs come from
Paul was proud of the lyrics of “Women and Wives.” “‘Hear me women and wives’ — in a vocal tone like what I imagine a blues singer might make,” he said. “I was taking clues from Lead Belly, from the universe, from blues. And why I’m pleased with it is because the lyrics are pretty good advice. It’s advice I wouldn’t mind getting myself.”
Paul was asked if he understood where good melodies came from after writing songs for so many decades. “No,” he responded. “There is something with my ability to write music that I don’t think I’m necessarily responsible for. It just seems to come easier to me — touch wood — than it does to some people. That’s it. I’m a fortunate man.”
How Paul McCartney’s ‘Women and Wives’ and its parent album performed on the pop charts
“Women and Wives” never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune’s parent album, McCartney III, was a hit. It climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for four weeks. While McCartney III wasn’t as popular as McCartney or McCartney II, it still proved Paul still knows how to make a hit album, even if he’s not as prolific as he was in the 1970s or the 1980s.
According to The Official Charts Company, “Women and Wives” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. On the other hand, McCartney III reached No. 1 for one of its three weeks on the U.K. chart. McCartney III also underperformed McCartney and McCartney II in the U.K.
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Lead Belly was one of the most important singers of his era and “Women and Wives” should get some of Paul’s fans interested in his work.
