Simply love you (Mike McGear) (LP 3184)

Mike McGear  McGear (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1974) ****  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: What Do We Really Know?

Gear costume: Givin' Grease A Ride

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Mike McCartney (real name Peter Michael McCartney) wanted to make it on his own terms away from his older brother, so he adopted the professional stage name McGear when he started in The Scaffold in the early sixties.  

By 1974 he'd made one album with Roger McGough (Woman) and after ending his association with Scaffold/GRIMMS he put out this album with help from Paul and Linda McGear and members of Wings.

I have a soft spot for brotherly efforts (The Kinks, The Finn Brothers, Oasis et al). There's something special about the sparks that brothers generate when they collude/collide.

Paul contributes to most of the songs, produces, and plays on the album, but Mike does all the lead vocals and it certainly feels like a Mike McGear album, rather than a Wings album.

Leave It was an excellent single from the album.

Where do they all belong? I used to own a copy of Woman but sold it... may grab it again. I do love Mike's photographs and I have a copy of his book - Thank U Very Much (which has plenty of fab gear pictures of The Fabs and extended family).

Mr Freers, had sticky out ears (The Scaffold) #336

The Scaffold Lily The Pink/ Buttons Of Your Mind (Parlophone, NZP 3303, 1968)

Poor old Mike McCartney? No way!!

Many people would struggle being Paul McCartney's kid brother but not our Mike.

A talented and bright guy - Mike adopted McGear as his pseudonym early on to avoid cashing in on Beatle fame by association. He became a band member (with The Scaffold), solo artist (McGear is a terrific album) and famed photographer - all on his lonesome (okay - with a bit of help from Roger McGough/John Gorman in The Scaffold and his big brother thereafter).

Having said all that, I urge the blogosphere not to judge him based on Lily The Pink - a nonsense song. Although it was wildly successful in 1968- it doesn't stand up to rigorous reappraisal in 2014.

Hidden gem: Sadly - no. The B side is a McGear/McGough creation and the boys play it straight(ish). Significantly, it pales considerably next to, say, Flight Of The Conchords in the 21st Century.

Such a human being, so divine (Paul McCartney) #260 - 265

Mike McGear Leave It/ Sweet Baby (Warner Brothers, K 16446, 1974)

Paul McCartney and Wings Junior Farm (sic)/ Sally G (Apple, NZP 3487, 1974)

The Country Hams Walking In The Park With Eloise/ Bridge On The River Suite (EMI, EMI 2220, 1974)

Wings Listen To What The Man Said/ Love In Song (Capitol, NZP 3511, 1975)

Wings Letting Go/ You Gave Me The Answer (Capitol, NZP 3521, 1975)

Wings Magneto And Titanium Man/ Rock Show (Capitol, NZP 3524, 1975)

In the mid seventies Paul and Linda started flexing their collective muscles a little bit to share the golden touch with the rest of the McCartney family.

First up is an A side by Paul's kid brother Michael, recording as Mike McGear. Paul and Linda and other Wings members appear to great effect on the song (and the parent album McGear).

It's a damn good song (it charted at the time) and Mike is not overshadowed by his more famous brother. His vocals over the top of Wings' musicianship is a winning combination.

Next up with the family connection is Paul, Linda et al as The Country Hams doing an old song, an instrumental, of his dad's (Jim McCartney). It's a pleasant enough vanity project.

The other A sides come from Macca's band Wings and they are a catchy bunch. I love the bounciness of Listen To What The Man Said and the bravado of Magneto. Letting Go has a wonderful heavy vibe and Junior's Farm (another casualty of NZ sloppy labeling) is a beefy rock track.

Did I say 'catchy'? Not 'alf! Macca can't half spin a toon.


Hidden gems: Sweet Baby by McGear is a gem and it didn't make the album cut (until the bonus track reissue that is) but the most wonderful throwaway B side is Sally G. It's an country shaggy dog story as only our Paulie can do. There was a time when these songs appeared effortless. Now he struggles to come up with a memorable melody. No? Don't agree? Can you sing anything off New for me? Thought not.