Pete Townshend revealed that he helped Paul McCartney understand the intricacies of home recording, which lead to his one-man-band solo debut, McCartney.
In the May issue of Uncut, the Who leader recalled how he hipped “Macca” into tracking full-on masters at home: “Do you know the story about Paul’s first solo album? I was working on my first solo album, Who Came First, at Olympic. He was in the studio doing something as well and came in to listen to the whole album. Paul said: ‘How did you do this?’ I said that I recorded it at home. I said, ‘I’ve got a little mixing desk and an eight-track tape machine.’ He went, ‘F***! And you did it yourself?’ I said, ‘Yeah, you should do it.'”
Townshend went on to recall, “We had a couple of phone calls subsequently and then he called up one day, really energized, and said, ‘The guys from Abbey Road have delivered an eight-track tape machine to my house in St. John’s Wood and I’ve started.’ So he made that first album with (McCartney). That’s how Paul started. Now he’s got this big SSL studio in his house in Sussex, he can do whatever the f*** he likes!”
On Friday (March 25th), the Who will front an acoustic band at London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of the 2022 Teenage Cancer Trust concert.
Paul McCartney kicks off his North American tour on April 28th at Spokane, Washington’s Spokane Arena.
FAST FACTS
- Paul McCartney‘s solo debut album, McCartney, was released on April 17th, 1970.
- The album featured such early classics as “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Every Night,” “Junk,” “Hot As Sun,” and “That Would Be Something.”
- McCartney sold two million copies upon its release and topped the album charts for three weeks, staying in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 charts for 13 weeks.
- Pete Townshend‘s solo debut, Who Came First, was originally released on October 1st, 1972 and is comprised of multi-track one-man band demos, nearly all of which were intended for the Who.
- Among the key tracks featured on the set are “Let’s See Action,” “The Seeker,” “Pure And Easy,” “Sheraton Gibson,” and “Time Is Passing,” among others.
CHECK IT OUT: Paul McCartney’s one-man-band McCartney track, “Momma Miss America”:
CHECK IT OUT: Pete Townshend’s one-man-band Who Came First track, “Let’s See Action”: