Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013). A Journey Through Paul McCartney's Songs After The Beatles.

This is a thoroughly researched book which has taken more than a decade to compile. It has been translated from the original in Italian (which makes for some amusing mistakes occasionally) and is a very readable journey through the original recordings of one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation. The book is set out in the order in which songs were recorded, generally, which means that while they are generally grouped together from their album, some songs appear years earlier than their official release. The author notes that this is a peculiar area in which little research has been done - does it show that McCartney has been too prolific for his own good and struggles to keep up with releasing new material (and his vault seems packed with half-finished ideas) or that he is more careful than credited at times in the timing of his releases. The book follows a year by year method and describes briefly why a song was written, how it was recorded and produced and if relevant, how it fared commercially upon its release. Albums are given a brief description as to how they were received critically and how well they fared on the UK/USA charts, as are singles. While it is a well crafted work, researched and detailed, it lacks in a couple of aspects. Firstly, it does tend to become a little monotonous over time, which may reflect as much the subject-matter being so voluminous as it does the unchanging style of writing. Secondly, the author is clearly a massive fan of McCartney and I suppose so will be the vast majority of readers who buy this type of book. However, even as a fan, to approach the work of someone who has been so prolific but not always proficient runs the risk of seeming to be uncritical at times. Some of McCartney's less successful works are not really analysed much at all as to why he continued to pump out material at times that only appeals to fans and even diminished his artistic standing. There is lacking a sense of objectivity in assessing why McCartney has undertaken certain projects when he has and getting inside the head of the composer - again, the vastness of the subject probably forbids this from an editorial perspective since the book could end up unworkably longer than it already is. None of which is to take away from the appeal of this book to fans of McCartney who will find it interesting and captivating from start to finish, but perhaps a little like the music itself at times, it may be less than exciting for non-fans to pick up. What reading the book inspires is a desire to re-listen to some of McCartney's vast collection of work and appreciate otherwise forgotten songs because something more has been explained about them. So well recommended.

Blame Mark Lewisohn (and Chip Madinger, too). With the Live, Recording Sessions, and Chronicle books, Lewisohn set the bar very high for these chronology-type books. And, while I certainly want to support the work of people like Luca Perasi, I was disappointed with this book. The title itself suggestions that it's going to be something akin to Lewisohn's Recording Sessions book, but - lacking the kind of access that Lewisohn had, along with his remarkable skill as a researcher - what we have here is a very thorough compilation of information from the various public sources, along with a bit of new information gleaned from author interviews with session participants. It also turns out that Perasi's stated focus - and this isn't at all clear until you're reading it - is McCartney as a writer. You'll find no information about cover versions or songs written by the other members of Wings. Not a huge deal, but a bit strange as, with each listing, Perasi seems unsure whether to talk about the song or the session. It really seems as though he never really figured it out.In terms of the content itself, I won't spent too much time talking about the very awkward translation (as others here have already done), but I will mention that, from what I've read, Perasi seems a bit out of his depth when talking about the technical aspects of McCartney's writing. The listings seemly oddly unbalanced, with a song like Mumbo - to take one example, and one that's fairly universally thought of as being substandard - getting quite a detailed entry, while later (and, dare I say, better) songs get barely a paragraph. And, while I haven't read the whole thing yet, there don't seem to be any major bombshells from the many subjects of his author interviews. This was perhaps what I was most excited about, the thought the we'd get a lot of new information as a result of the people he was able to make contact with, and what I'm seeing are a lot of one sentence anecdotes.All that said, it is pleasant to flip through. I just wish he'd taken a bit more care with the whole thing. For $30, I expected more

He is probably the single most talked and written about musician of at least the last 50 years if not the last 100. With this book, we get to see everything he ha has recorded since just before leaving the Beatles until now('New'). And quite a diverse and rich catalog it is. The initial solo years of 'McCartney', 'Ram', then the 'Wings' years', back to solo Paul w/ McCartney II, the experimental music(which was always part of his musical adventures, even with the Beatles) and on until and through his current band. I can think of no one, besides John Lennon, who had a bigger impact on me and my own musical journey than Paul. And it's not as much about what he has done, although that is considerable and definitely a huge part of the equation, but, more importunely, it is as much about his attitude. His willingness to seek out ares of musical expression that just wouldn't occur to others from his background to do. The 'Liverpool Oratorio', the symphonic explorations, the retro- early Rock n' Roll, the 'Fireman' sessions with Youth, all the solo albums, the guy just does not rest and is constantly seeking ways to express himself musically.This book allows you the opportunity to follow, evaluate absorb, critique, and learn everything Paul has had his hands on musically for the last 44 years. If your a fan of this mans music, there is no way you cannot have this book.