It’s hard to think of how Paul McCartney could have given his first solo album a bigger publicity hurdle to overcome, unless he’d been arrested for some vile crime on the week of its release in April 1970.
The newly ex-Beatle distributed a questionnaire that was treated by fans and the media as definitive word that the world’s most beloved rock band — true today as it was back then — had broken up. The music in “McCartney’’ was quickly overshadowed by anger and disappointment.
Forty-one years later, McCartney is asking for a second listen with a remastered disc that includes some alternative song versions, live cuts and film clips. “McCartney’’ is revealed for what it was: a warm, do-it-yourself project with one genuine classic (“Maybe I’m Amazed’’), a couple of Beatles outtakes and a good dose of filler from a newlywed who sounds ready to cut loose from his musical moorings.
Approaching his 69th birthday this month, McCartney is a busy man. He’s preparing for a concert tour that will take him to Yankee Stadium. He’s preparing for his third marriage, to longtime girlfriend Nancy Shevell, although he’s keeping the details of that impending wedding private.
“We’re just starting to make plans at the moment,’’ he said.
Back in 1970, things were less pleasant.
McCartney had completed the album at the London home he shared with his wife Linda and growing family. He didn’t feel like doing interviews when the release date approached, so he asked Apple Records’ Peter Brown to draw up a list of questions that he would provide answers to. It was included in review copies of the disc sent to journalists.
When McCartney answered “no’’ to Brown’s question of “are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles?’’ it was seized on by the media as proof that the Beatles were done.
The reaction distressed McCartney at the time because other statements he made in the questionnaire were actually less definitive about the group’s future, said Peter Ames Carlin, author of “McCartney: A Life.’’
Indeed, elsewhere in the questionnaire McCartney said that he didn’t know whether the break from the Beatles was temporary or permanent, and when asked if the solo album was a rest from the Beatles, he replied, “Time will tell.’’
“He didn’t intend it to be the breakup of the Beatles,’’ Carlin said. “He was the one guy, maybe aside from Ringo, who wanted to keep the group together.’’
In a private meeting a month earlier, John Lennon had informed his fellow Beatles he was leaving the group, McCartney recalled in a recent interview with The Associated Press. Skittish management had advised members to lie when asked if the group was still together, he said.
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