I wouldn’t say that Paul McCartney has seen everything. He may not have caught the Northern Lights on his whistle-stop tour of the world or stopped somewhere like Wishaw off the M6, but when it comes to music, he has surely been privy to most things. The star has dined at Elvis Presley’s gaff, smoked ganja with Bob Dylan, and been hoisted aloft by a prime Muhammad Ali.
So, when a live concert moves him so much he begins to weep, you better believe that he’s witnessing something rather special. The Beatles themselves unfortunately stopped touring in 1966 after the mania of the road threatened to derail them. Thus, the world was somewhat deprived of the magic that would have most certainly been offered if they had kept going as a live entity amid the advent of PA systems that could actually amplify above the screaming crowds that they were gathering.
Nevertheless, in order to fill the void on that front, the group would eventually set up Apple Records. While this label was a messy disaster in many ways, it did unearth a gem in James Taylor. Recalling Taylor’s audition, McCartney explained: “I just heard his voice and his guitar, and I thought he was great … and he came and played live, so it was just like, ‘Wow, he’s great.’”
While reminiscing with Guitar World, Taylor himself was equally awed by McCartney and George Harrison standing in front of him. “It was just otherworldly because I was a huge Beatles fan,“ he said. “And they were at the very height of their powers. They just kept going, kept growing. So, to be in London, the first person signed to their label in 1968, was really like catching the big wave. It was unbelievable.”
Thankfully, they were both wildly impressed, and Macca has been moved by him ever since. Speaking with the BBC recently, he explained how he is still moved by live music: “Of course, up on stage, I can’t really see people’s reactions, but I love to hear them because I’ve found myself doing that at concerts. I went to see James Taylor once and started blubbing because it was just so lovely! I was thinking, ‘Oh, I love this guy’ — I’m getting emotional even now!”
In fact, McCartney loves him so much that he even ranks his track ‘Mean Old Man’ among his all-time favourites. This is a feat that has humbled Taylor, with the folk star espousing: “This one was a big accomplishment because it’s a sophisticated song and a throwback. Paul McCartney called me up and said that when he’d first heard it, he assumed it was Frank Loesser or Cole Porter. I was, of course, absolutely thrilled.
At one point, Bob Dylan told me that he’d been listening to (Taylor’s song) ‘Frozen Man’ and really thought it was great, and that’s enough for me. Ten critics can savage me, but I’ll be fine as long as every once in a while, someone like Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney says, ‘Keep going, kid.’”
