Because he’s limited to where his voice will take him. Clearly, McCartney can’t SING a song like ‘Wanderlust’, (from the Tug of War album) anymore, but moreover, he surely can’t WRITE a song like ‘Wanderlust’ anymore, either. One of the issues, which I think isn’t often considered, is that if you don’t have the vocal chops, it’s not just about singing the old songs well (or not) on stage, it’s about what it means in terms of composing new songs. The voice was silky smooth, had massive range and could seemingly do anything go anywhere.
When I think of Paul McCartney, I tend to think of “I can wait another day…” (the acapella opening of 1984’s ‘No More Lonely Nights’) or the “It’s a tug of war…” intro from the title track of his 1982 album (one of his very best vocals, for me). My favourite McCartney ‘voice’ is probably the early 1980’s one, prevalent on the three George Martin produced albums ( Tug of War, Pipes of Peace and Give My Regards To Broad Street), probably because that’s around the time I actively started buying Paul’s records. But it’s also selfish in a way, because just how much can one man give? McCartney had three solid decades of commercial success and an abundance of great pop hits and after that still enjoyed another 30 years being a mature ‘heritage’ type artist, touring and releasing largely good-to-excellent albums. It’s sad to contemplate what we are being denied and what he can no longer deliver. What was a sprightly Matt Smith is now a craggy Peter Capaldi. “His voice is shot” is the blunt, but common, refrain when music fans tend to discuss McCartney these days and while I would hesitate to offer such an uncharitably harsh appraisal, there’s no denying that over time it has transformed, matured, regenerated, if you will.
ON WHICH ALBUM DID PAUL MACARTNEY PLAYALL INSTRUMENTS FULL
This is a problem in 2020, because while Paul’s gifts as a musician and a creative in-the-studio remain intact, his wonderful singing voice – an instrument that has been in full swing for well over 60 years – unsurprisingly is no longer operating anywhere near full capacity. It’s so deceptively simple, but had massive appeal and it’s all in the melody. ‘Mull of Kintyre’ is another case in point. They just take up residence in your brain and require a court order and bailiffs to get them out. If the lyric is a bit on the silly side (‘Jet’), or perhaps a tad twee (‘Ebony and Ivory’), McCartney largely gets away with it because the tunes are so often very good.
Paul McCartney has always had what you might call a ‘get out of jail free’ card when it comes to his songs and compositions, in the form of his ability to construct and sing wonderful melodies.
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