Paul McCartney Influenced by Country Rock

[Mike Bacciarini]

In a recent (5-27-22) interview with Richie Furay, the New Jersey Stage revealed the following:

NJS ….in a 2016 Paul McCartney biography, the author writes that while McCartney was working with Wings back in the ’70s, he was especially influenced by country music’s fusion with rock “through bands like The Eagles and Poco.” Were you aware of that?

RF …..Wow, I was not aware of that. What book is that?

NJS ……It’s called Paul McCartney: The Life, and it’s an extensive biography written by Philip Norman. With that in mind, do you think you might recognize that influence on his music on, say, songs like “Junior’s Farm” or “Listen to What the Man Says”?

RF …….Yeah, you can definitely hear it. It was a music that had an influence on all of us. You know, a lot of people seem to overlook Poco when it comes to actually starting a sound like that, and for him to make that acknowledgment is pretty cool, so I’ll just step back and say, “Thank you very much, Sir Paul!”

[Mark Eaton]

I’m sure a number of us here are familiar with story from the early ‘70s about McCartney doing some recording in Nashville where Lloyd Green was involved, and Paul offered Lloyd a slot on an upcoming tour which would feature a segment of country music.

Lloyd turned it down because he was booked to the max with studio sessions. He has stated in a couple of interviews that in hindsight he regretted that decision and wished he would have taken the gig.

Lloyd also said of McCartney that he and Ricky Skaggs were the two finest musicians with whom he had ever worked.