For every great band, there is usually one weak link in the chain. Even though they all make brilliant music together, there’s always that one person who doesn’t seem to be pulling the same weight as the rest of the group when they’re sitting down to write a song or taking to the road. While Paul McCartney could hardly be called the weak link in The Beatles, he admitted that his wife Linda might be one of the most undervalued musicians he has ever worked with.
This premise arises from the fact that many Beatles fans disliked Linda McCartney on principle when Paul began his solo career. The world had already turned against Yoko Ono, blaming her for breaking up the band, and now Linda, a photographer, was seen as suddenly assuming she could play keyboards alongside her husband once Wings was formed.
But if it weren’t for Linda, McCartney may not have had a solo career at all. Towards the end of The Beatles, McCartney was an absolute wreck and could hardly even get out of bed, much less play guitar, and it was Linda who eventually convinced him to put together the makings of what became the first proper solo album, McCartney.
And it’s not like she wasn’t aware of her reputation, either. Linda even admitted that she was pretty out of tune on the first few Wings albums at times, but the focus was never about making the perfect vocal harmony that matched The Beatles. That was never going to happen no matter which member struck out on their own, and despite her lack of musical technique, McCartney thought there was no one else who helped him more than Linda.
When speaking to Rolling Stone, McCartney said that while Linda might not have been the most talented musician, no one could have truly replaced her, saying, “I know there is this feeling that Linda might not be able to do it. That’s not my feeling but the critics say that. I brought in some other people to sing background harmonies, but it was so bloody perfect. It was boring. I’ve always maintained that she has the Shangri-La’s kind of appeal.”
It’s sometimes hard to sidestep the more out-of-tune moments on some of those early Wings records, but it’s easy to see Linda grow as a singer throughout her time with her husband. The zany solo in ‘Long Haired Lady’ is strangely offbeat and quirky for what it is, but when she got to sing songs like ‘I Am Your Singer’ or delivering background vocals on ‘Helen Wheels’, she works as the glue keeping the sound together.
If anything, one of Linda’s best roles was being Macca’s anchor and serving as the inspiration behind some of his greatest love songs. From the moment they got married until her tragic passing from breast cancer in the 1990s, McCartney turned in some of his best love songs for her, like ‘My Love’, and was even still thinking about her after her death on songs like ‘Magic’, which is about the first night that they back in the 1960s.
So, while naysayers can say all they want about what Linda did to push McCartney out of The Beatles, her role is half the reason why he is still here today. Those pitchy vocals can get grating for some, but if you were to take those out of the equation, you’d lose half of the music’s character.
