Paul McCartney would already be a music legend for his work as one of the Beatles. But the musician had a long, prosperous career even after the Fab Four went their separate ways. Among his many accomplishments were his albums with Wings and The Fireman, an experimental band he formed with Youth. But McCartney also collaborated with his brother Mike.
Paul McCartney collaborated with his brother
Mike McCartney’s first major musical endeavor was as a member of the comedy music group, The Scaffold. But because it formed around the same time as the Beatles’ popularity exploded, McCartney chose to use the stage name Mike McGear for his music career. And McGear released his first album as a solo artist, Woman, in 1972.
With the Beatles having broken up by then, McGear recruited Paul McCartney and his band Wings for his sophomore solo effort, titled McGear. Four singles came out of these recording sessions, with “Leave It” making the most notable impact on the charts. The song reportedly hit the top 40 in the UK. The Scaffolds also recorded their final top 10 hit around the same time.
The McCartney brothers also worked on the ‘McGear’ album
Given McCartney’s wild success with the Beatles, some fans might assume McGear approached his brother to contribute to his album. After all, the presence of McCartney would only help McGear gain more attention and potentially boost sales. But as McGear told Super Deluxe Edition, that wasn’t the case at all.
“I’d finished with Scaffold and Grimms and our kid [Paul McCartney] said, ‘What are you doing?’ and I said, ‘bugger all.’ He said, ‘Well, shall we do something, get some money into the family coffers to feed your 5,000 children?’ And, I said, ‘Yes, smashing.’ So I came down here to London and we did a single called ‘Leave It,’ which he sent to New York. And Linda’s dad, Lee Eastman, and his son John said, ‘We’ve been playing to people and this is really very different, very original, it stands out. Why don’t you do an album?’ And so that’s where it started.”
McGear and McCartney – unsurprisingly – proved to be a winning combination.
Mike McCartney continues to work as a photographer
McGear retired from music in the 1980s. And when he did, he left his stage name behind. Now once again going by Mike McCartney, he has continued his photography business. But it isn’t one that the former musician started after he left show business. In fact, he never stopped being a photographer.
Among his accomplishments as a photographer, McCartney published photography books focused on the Beatles as well as a limited-edition photography book about the Live 8 benefit concerts. Into the 2000s, McCartney continued to showcase exhibition of his work and even took the cover photo for Paul McCartney’s 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.
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