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Who Is Paul McCartney?!

snberk103 said:
Several years ago one of my young nieces wanted me to listen to this cool song she (and her friends) had just discovered. It was, of course, a cover of a classic rock song (I wish I could remember which group and which song now) by a modern band.

I think the intent was show me how "out-of-touch" I was with "modern" music. She was a bit taken aback when I started singing along, more-or-less in tune. And then horrified when I started to reminisce about hearing that song for the 1st time.... a couple of decades before she was born.

Kids now-a-days... think they invented everything.... :D
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Classic:cool:
 
I'm fairly certain we can blame this on "bad parenting," along with a host of other problems. :D

Seriously - kids learn only what's in front of them, and if parents leave the radio tuned to the gawdawful ClearChannel pop selection in town, the chances of them hearing something good go waaaaay down. :eek:
 
Alaerian said:
I did exactly this. In middle school and high school, I listened to The Beatles without shame! When I was 14, my mother took me to see a Beatles tribute band for my birthday.


Paul McCartney was never just "a voice." Not even close. Just take a look at the vast majority of The Beatles' works; whose name(s) appear as the writers?
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Correct. I never indicated he was just a voice.
 
Shine Down did a remake of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" a few years back and everyone thought it was their song.

Then again, most people thing "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston was her song first.




snberk103 said:
Several years ago one of my young nieces wanted me to listen to this cool song she (and her friends) had just discovered. It was, of course, a cover of a classic rock song (I wish I could remember which group and which song now) by a modern band.

I think the intent was show me how "out-of-touch" I was with "modern" music. She was a bit taken aback when I started singing along, more-or-less in tune. And then horrified when I started to reminisce about hearing that song for the 1st time.... a couple of decades before she was born.

Kids now-a-days... think they invented everything.... :D
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ericrwalker said:
Shine Down did a remake of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" a few years back and everyone thought it was their song.

Then again, most people thing "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston was her song first.
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This is not uncommon, a lot of songs were made generations earlier but not made famous until covered years later.

Unchained Melody comes to mind, the song was released in 1955 but not made famous until The Righteous Brothers released their version in 1965.
 
This reminds me when I was 16yrs old and Dinah Washington died in 1963, I did not know who she was, my father was very surprised.:confused:

Each generation only really knows it's own celebrities.

Paul had not really made a mark on the music scene for more than 30yrs.
 
Who is he????? I didn't enjoy or understand the performance last night on the Grammys.... Who is that guy?
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Around ten years ago, I had a class of Modern European History students (not first years) in my country's best university to whom I was teaching an elective course in Modern Russian and Central & Eastern European History (so, one assumes an interest in the subject matter and a slight intellectual curiosity concerning the topic) confess that they had never, ever heard of Lech Walesa. I was stunned. And shocked. The assumptions I had made concerning 'assumed' knowledge had to be radically revised.......
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While I know who Lech Walesa is (and Paul McCartney, etc.), I am currently reading Rebecca West's late 30's book "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, and I had taken European History in college and knew nothing of what she wrote about. So, you can say it's the students, but my vote is their teachers (and the people who write the textbooks).

As for music, my daughter is friends with a lot of young musicians, she was doing photography and promotion for a bit, and she is always teaching them about music history. If your parents weren't into music, then as a young musician, the only way to find out is from old folks, who don't exactly travel in the same circles. Hey, they're just young.
 
Smileyboy said:
Who is he????? I didn't enjoy or understand the performance last night on the Grammys.... Who is that guy?
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-NOT-SURE-IF-SERIOUS.jpg
 
LorenK said:
While I know who Lech Walesa is (and Paul McCartney, etc.), I am currently reading Rebecca West's late 30's book "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, and I had taken European History in college and knew nothing of what she wrote about. So, you can say it's the students, but my vote is their teachers (and the people who write the textbooks).

As for music, my daughter is friends with a lot of young musicians, she was doing photography and promotion for a bit, and she is always teaching them about music history. If your parents weren't into music, then as a young musician, the only way to find out is from old folks, who don't exactly travel in the same circles. Hey, they're just young.
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Rebecca West's book is a classic, and beautifully written, too; I agree that most of the names - especially from the 20s and 30s would only be known to those with an especial interest in the field, and that the Balkans had become a bit esoteric until Yugoslavia imploded in the early 1990s, when it became necessary to learn it all over again in order to some some idea of the context. Nevertheless, the story about Lech Walesa did shock me; this guy was - or had been - famous; he had won the Nobel Peace Prize - in the early 1980s he was never off the TV news and in the 1990s he was elected President of Poland.....

However, not knowing Lech Walesa, (or Paul McCartney) pales into insignificance beside Eric Hobsbawn's story; he has told of how, when teaching a bright class of US kids in a good university, he had referred to the Second World War, which drew the question "Does that mean there was a First World War?"

I suppose re History - recent and less recent - it is important to try to inform yourself of what happened (the old template still works: who, what, where, when)- and, above all, why, and how they happened.

However, I can now recall with a smile when reading (some years ago) about the shock and outrage which greeted John Lennon's (who he, I hear them saying) throwaway remark in the mid 1960s that "the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ" - a remark which predictably raised hackles, especially in the US, above all in the 'Bible Belt' and gave rise to public burnings of Beatles' singles and LPs.

Cheers
 
Do not worry old people! I am 21 and I regard Paul McCartney as being the greatest Artist out there!
 
Hylekmi said:
Do not worry old people! I am 21 and I regard Paul McCartney as being the greatest Artist out there!
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I'm 19 and while I don't see him as the greatest artist of all time, I do recognize his significant contribution to the world of music.

(I mean, The Beatles were a great band, and they influenced almost all subsequent artists, but composers such as Mozart, Bach, Haydn and others have had an even greater role.)
 
I'm 59, and the Beatles meant and still do mean the world to me (music wise) I understand young people not feeling the same way I do. I didn't like my parents music, so who am I to judge?
 
Virtually every day Justin Bieber and One direction frequently trend, only to see this trend today. Sad, very sad.
 
Mr. McMac said:
I'm 59, and the Beatles meant and still do mean the world to me (music wise) I understand young people not feeling the same way I do. I didn't like my parents music, so who am I to judge?
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I think there is a difference between liking music and being aware of who an artist is and his significance. I don't like or listen to most of the people who won awards last night, but I am still aware of them and can see *some* artistic ability.
 
SuperCachetes said:
I think there is a difference between liking music and being aware of who an artist is and his significance. I don't like or listen to most of the people who won awards last night, but I am still aware of them and can see *some* artistic ability.
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Exactly, very well put. ;)

There is a difference between liking (or not) Sir Paul's music (and I don't care for some of his more saccharine stuff, even while he was a member of the Beatles) and knowing who he is and acknowledging the importance of his contribution to the world of music in the modern era.
 
John once told him he was only good for writing sappy love songs (which is obviously true). Each of the Beatles brough some of their greatness to band Which was what made them so huge, besides great timing.
 
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