"The Lovely Linda" is a song by English musician

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, released as the opening track of his debut solo album, ''

McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

'', in April 1970. McCartney wrote the song to his first wife,

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

History

wrote "The Lovely Linda" in Scotland during 1969, when he and wife

were living at their farm, High Park, in

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; gd, Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing ...

. The song is dedicated to McCartney's first wife and was a reply-of-sorts to

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

bandmate

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's public declarations of love for his wife,

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

. "The Lovely Linda" was released as the opening track on McCartney's eponymous debut solo album, and was the first song taped for the album. McCartney recorded the composition shortly before Christmas in December 1969, in order to test his then-new

4-track recorder Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...

, which he had installed in his home studio in London. At 42 seconds, it is the shortest song in McCartney's solo catalogue. The recording features him on all instruments, including what authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter term "percussive handslaps on a book", and ends with the sound of laughter. On release in April 1970, McCartney stated that "The Lovely Linda" was a "trailer to the full song which will be recorded in the future",Madinger & Easter, p. 155. but he has yet to release a more complete version.Spizer, p. 117. The song appeared on the 2001 compilation '' Wingspan: Hits and History''.

Reception

In a review for the ''McCartney'' album, Langdon Winner of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' described "The Lovely Linda", along with "

That Would Be Something "That Would Be Something" is a song written by Paul McCartney which was first released on his '' McCartney'' album on 17 April 1970. Recording McCartney sings and plays acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, tom tom and a cymbal. This song and " ...

", as having "virtually no verbal or melodic content whatsoever."

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

disregarded the song during an interview in 1970, stating: "'That Would Be Something' and 'Maybe I'm Amazed' I think are great and everything else I think is fair, you know. It's quite good, but a little disappointing, but maybe I shouldn't be disappointed, it's best not to expect anything, then everything's a bonus. I think those two tracks are very good and the others just don't do anything for me."

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, hand percussion Personnel per ''The Beatles Bible''.

References

Sources

* * * * * Paul McCartney songs Songs written by Paul McCartney Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney 1970 songs Music published by MPL Music Publishing Linda McCartney {{beatles-song-stub