Paul McCartney Band

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Paul McCartney Band
Paul McCartney - Out There Concert - 140420-5749-jikatu (13926418911).jpg
Background information
OriginNew York, United States
GenresRock, pop
Years active1982–present
LabelsCapitol Records
Websitepaulmccartney.com
MembersPaul McCartney
Rusty Anderson
Abe Laboriel Jr.
Brian Ray
Wix Wickens
Past membersBlair Cunningham
Linda McCartney
Robbie McIntosh
Hamish Stuart
Chris Whitten
Paul McCartney on lead vocals
Wix Wickens on keyboards
Rusty Anderson on guitar
Brian Ray on bass
Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums

The Paul McCartney Band is singer Paul McCartney's longtime band of studio and touring musicians.[1] The core lineup has been steady since 2002: In addition to McCartney, it includes Wix Wickens on keyboards and serving as musical director, Rusty Anderson on guitar, Brian Ray on bass, and Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums.[2]

History[]

McCartney has had only two significant incarnations of a backing band since the breakup of Paul McCartney and Wings in 1981.[3] The former band, active from 1989 to 1993 with occasional appearances thereafter, included his wife Linda McCartney on vocals and keyboards, Hamish Stuart on guitar and bass, Wickens on keyboards, and former Pretenders Robbie McIntosh and Blair Cunningham on guitar and drums respectively.[3] Wickens' former collaborator in Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, drummer Chris Whitten, also featured early in this lineup.[4] This lineup played on McCartney's studio albums Flowers in the Dirt[5] and Off the Ground[6] and the live albums Tripping the Live Fantastic,[7] Unplugged (The Official Bootleg),[8] and Paul Is Live.[9]

After Linda McCartney died in 1998, McCartney began to coalesce a new band on his next few albums. Driving Rain featured Anderson and Laboriel.[1] After being recruited one day before McCartney performed "Freedom" at Super Bowl XXXVI,[10] Ray joined the band on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.[11] Memory Almost Full returned Wickens to the lineup.[12] New and Egypt Station featured all four.[13] Anderson and Laboriel also appeared on one track of McCartney III, an album on which all instruments other than theirs were played by McCartney himself.[14]

McCartney credits the band's familiarity for their continued cohesiveness. He said in 2014, "I trust the guys. They know what I'm going to do, I know what they are going to do. We surprise each other — and even if it's like, 'I didn’t know you were going to do that,' we can all follow it. That's the great thing with a band. And all of us just come to play music. There’s no other thing on the agenda. We just love playing together."[15]

The quintet has also been the backbone of two decades of world tours.[16] They appear on the live albums and DVDs Back in the U.S.,[17] Back in the World Live,[18] Paul McCartney in Red Square,[18] The Space Within US,[19] Good Evening New York City,[20] and Live in Los Angeles, the latter with David Arch filling in for Wickens.[21] The lineup returned to the Super Bowl for McCartney's halftime show in 2005.[22] In 2010, they played together at the White House when McCartney received the Gershwin Prize from President Barack Obama.[23]

The current incarnation has been together longer than any of McCartney's other bands, including The Beatles and Wings.[3] McCartney noted in 2014, “A couple of years ago, I kind of looked at them and said: ‘You know what guys? We’re a band. We’re a real band. I think up until then we’d just been thinking: ‘We’re getting together, and playing some songs.’ But we’re a band now — and that elevated our performance, I think. When we realized that, we sort of felt so much better about what we were doing.”[15]

Members[]

Current lineup[]

Past lineup[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Albano, Ric (2016-11-12). "Driving Rain by Paul McCartney". Modern Rock Review. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  2. ^ Price, Karen (2010-06-12). "Backstage with Beatles legend Paul McCartney". Wales Online. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  3. ^ a b c Womack, Kenneth (2019-07-12). "Four new Paul McCartney reissues prove he's a master of the live show". Salon. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  4. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2016). Conversations with McCartney. Abrams. p. 255. ISBN 978-1468313406.
  5. ^ "Paul Is Live". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  6. ^ Sounes, Howard (2010). Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney. Da Capo Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0306817830.
  7. ^ "Tripping The Live Fantastic". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  8. ^ Hunter, James (1991-06-27). "Unplugged: The Official Bootleg". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  9. ^ "Paul Is Live". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  10. ^ Jordan, Oscar (2011-01-16). "Brian Ray: 10 Years (And Counting) On a Magical Mystery Tour". Premier Guitar. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  11. ^ Badgley, Aaron. "Spill Album Review: Paul McCartney – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard". Spill Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  12. ^ "Memory Almost Full". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  13. ^ DeRiso, Nick (2019-09-19). "How to Make the Perfect LP from Paul McCartney's Recent Albums". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ^ "Bonus Tracks for 'McCartney III' Revealed". Nights with Alice Cooper. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  15. ^ a b Lifton, Dave (2014-03-14). "Paul McCartney: We're A Real Band". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  16. ^ Bamberger, Cayla (2018-08-31). "Paul McCartney Unveils First U.S. Dates of New Freshen Up Tour". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  17. ^ "Paul Is Live". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  18. ^ a b Womack, Kenneth (2016). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. Greenwood. p. 64. ISBN 978-1440844263.
  19. ^ Franco, Michael (2006-12-17). "Paul McCartney: Paul McCartney: The Space Within US (DVD)". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  20. ^ "Good Evening New York City". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  21. ^ "Live in Los Angeles". PaulMcCartney.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  22. ^ McCollum, Brian (2015-10-15). "Paul McCartney gets by with a little help from his band". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  23. ^ Varga, George (2014-09-24). "Paul McCartney guitarist Brian Ray's dream gig". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
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