Claptonism

The greatest revelation, to a casual like me, is young Paul McCartney. My perception of him coming in was almost certainly a product of not studying the subject deeply enough, but I thought of McCartney as a sort of happy puppy dog figure, a la Mr. Peanut Butter in Bojack Horseman, a poppy contrast to the brooding, poetic/psychedelic genius of John Lennon. (…) In Get Back, I realized within minutes exactly how wrong I’ve always been. Above all, the two things that struck me most were McCartney’s sheer intensity and his ridiculous, irrepressible talent. The latter might sound awfully obvious — this is Paul McCartney, idiot, of course he’s an otherworldly talent — but watching him rehearse, riff off his fellow Beatles, and invent melody from thin air makes it clear that I never came close to understanding the scope of it. (…)

But McCartney’s intensity is something else entirely, and totally unexpected. Far from an innocent, he’s infused with pure energy; in ways subtle and overt, he can’t help imposing himself on everyone around him. Even when he’s in his “unfailingly polite” mode (…) he’s brimming with hidden force, the biggest person in the room. (…)  

What’s so compelling about Paul McCartney is that more than any of the others, he seemed to want to break free. If you’re into metaphors, “Get Back” can be read as his desperate subconscious plea for a return to a state of tolerable coexistence with the band that had long passed them by. He’s a one-man army, a force of nature, pick any term you want — they’re all true.

Rory Gallagher performing live on stage in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1974. Photos by Gijsbert Hanekroot

Jimmy Page, performing with Led Zeppelin at Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík, Iceland, 1970.

Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton on board a private jet, USA, 1978