We watched the Paul McCartney Man on the Run documentary last night. It seems that The Beatles - and post-Beatles - industry has changed from offering up something new each year, to almost every three or four months now. But it’s a decent watch.
Man on the Run zooms in on the Wings period, and in particular, the early days of the band since The Beatles split. Everything in the Beatles Industry needs to have a strong Fab Four anchor in there.
Home movies are relied upon for much of the storytelling. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the family life of the McCartney’s at the start of the 1970’s. You sense that there’s an awful lot more footage that was left out, in order to tell the narrative than Man on the Run then follows.
It’s fascinating to hear how McCartney genuinely thought that he would fail with his music after The Beatles split. He kinda did with Wings, with a shaky start and a rather lacklustre drifting of the band as the 1980’s approached. But the middle period is packed with some absolute bangers. He never lost the touch to write a half decent melody.
It’s still there to be heard in his latest release, Days We Left Behind. The voice is struggling. There’s not too many Beatles' Ooooh! in there. But I think that we can forgive that from a man now in his ninth decade.
Man on the Run is very watchable. The Beatles industry shows no sign of slowing down.