Writer: Paul McCartney
Producer: Paul McCartney
Recorded: Late 1969 in Campbelltown, Argyllshire, Scotland
Released: April 17, 1970
| Players: | Paul McCartney–all instruments |
| Album: | McCartney (Apple, 1970) |
The Beatles had in reality broken up in September 1969 when John Lennon announced he was quitting, but the news was hushed up while business manager Allen Klein negotiated with Capitol for a new royalty rate. The split went public, however, when Paul McCartney's solo debut (not counting his 1967 soundtrack for The Family Way) came out, a month before the Beatles' final album, Let It Be, was released.
The British version of McCartney contained a printed “self-interview” McCartney had written which in effect announced he would no longer work with the Beatles: “Q. Are you planning a new album or single with the Beatles? A. No.”
McCartney recorded most of the album on a four-track tape recorder on his Scottish estate. Since no other musicians were involved (except for wife Linda adding a few harmony vocals), the album was a well-kept secret until its release, considering the attention given in those days to every move the members of the Beatles made.
McCartney later referred to the McCartney album as “nothing much.”
“Maybe I'm Amazed” is by general consensus the album's best song by far, and clearly the one McCartney put the most work into.
The song was not released as a single until February 12, 1977, when a live version was released to promote the three-LP concert set Wings Over America. It entered the top 40 a week later, where it spent 11 weeks and peaked at Number 10.
In 1970, McCartney sued the other three Beatles to dissolve their partnership and get him out of his financial ties to the group, Apple Records, and Allen Klein. He eventually won the lawsuit.