Bookseller Reviews When an exhibition of paintings by ex-beatle Paul McCartney opened in Siegen, Germany, last year, it seemed designed for critics' sarcasm. After all, Siegen was the birth place of Peter paul Rubens: What could be more offensive to the memory of the great Flemish painter than to have the splatterings of a rock singer presented in his own home city? But, McCartney's intense paintings were greeted by accolades, not jeers. More than ninety percent of the reviews were positive, many of them alluding to the range and sophistication of McCarthy's artwork. This original coffee table-size pictorial collects seventy-five paintings, photographs of the artist at work, and an extended interview with Paul: "I think there's an urge in us to stop the terrible fleetingness of time. Music. Paintings. It's the same with Linda's photos. Try and capture one bloody moment please." Relax, Paul. You've captured a few.
Author
Sir James Paul McCartney MBE, known as Paul McCartney, is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, entrepreneur, painter, record producer, film producer, and animal-rights activist. He gained worldwide fame as one of the founders and members of The Beatles. McCartney and John Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and "wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history". After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman McCartney, and songwriter/singer Denny Laine. He has worked on film scores, classical music, and ambient/electronic music; released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist; and taken part in projects to help international charities. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history, with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles. His song "Yesterday" is listed as the most covered song in history and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so—in 1984—was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", whose participants included McCartney.) His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease. An iconic figure in contemporary culture, he is regarded internationally as an entertainer and humanitarian. Aside from his musical work, McCartney is an actor, a painter, a poet, and an advocate for animal rights, vegetarianism, and music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt.
