Working with Paul McCartney would be a dream for many musicians. He proved himself to be a talented musician and songwriter with The Beatles. Some of their most notable songs feature only Paul by himself. Collaborating with the bassist wasn’t a bucket list item for guitarist Chris Spedding, but he said Paul’s whining proved how different he was from other musicians.
Chris Spedding worked with Paul McCartney on ‘Give My Regards to Broad Street’
The closest you could get to a Beatles reunion in the mid-1980s was getting two of the remaining three members in the same studio.
Since George Harrison paused his solo career after 1982’s Gone Troppo, that meant Paul and Ringo Starr. And Paul was the only option since Ringo spent most of the decade on the sidelines, too.
Chris Spedding got that chance when Paul tapped him to perform on Give My Regards to Broad Street. The movie/soundtrack project needed help from Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour to avoid being a total disaster, but that didn’t matter to Spedding. He’d played on records by Art Garfunkel, Billy Idol, Harry Nilsson, and Elton John, but working with Paul and his friends was a unique opportunity.
“I wouldn’t say it was an ambition of mine to work with McCartney, but I thought it was a cool thing to do. Especially with Ringo on drums, George Martin producing, and [Beatles engineer] Geoff Emerick. I’d look around, and everyone in the room had been part of the Beatles years, apart from me,” Spedding told Louder. “So I could fantasize that I was George Harrison for the day and that this was a Beatles session at Abbey Road.”
The guitarist also got a first-hand view of Paul complaining, and it proved to Spedding how different Macca was from every other musician.
Spedding said Paul’s whining about ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ proved he was different
For those who’ve seen the Give My Regards to Broad Street (and judging by the pitiful Rotten Tomatoes scores, there aren’t many who would admit it), you see Spedding sling a red guitar as he plays alongside Paul on the song “Not Such a Bad Boy.”
Spedding spent plenty of time with Macca while working on the project. Spedding witnessed Paul whining about No. 1 hits to George Martin, and it made him realize how different he was from other musicians (per Louder):
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“I remember Paul McCartney going over to George Martin and saying, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ was a No. 1, wasn’t it? It says in this book that we only got to No. 2! I thought we had 20 number ones, not 19!’ Or whatever it was. I thought it was cool that he was whining about something at that level. I think that brought it home to me that he was on a completely different planet to the rest of us, in terms of levels of success.”
Chris Spedding
Paul complaining about the amount of Beatles’ No. 1 hits proved two things. First, he and the Fab Four had unprecedented success on the charts. And the second was that he was fiercely proud of the band’s accomplishments.
Paul whining about where “Strawberry Fields Forever” landed on the charts gave Spedding a glimpse of Macca’s attitude. The bass player happened to be barking up the wrong tree.
Macca was wrong to complain about the song’s chart placement
We’re not sure which book pegged The Beatles for 19 No. 1 hits. They reached the top of the Billboard charts 20 times between 1964 and 1970, but not with “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
The Magical Mystery Tour song peaked at No. 8 in the U.S. in April 1967. It performed better in England but still didn’t reach the apex. The Official Charts Company reports the dual single, with “Penny Lane” on the flip side, topped out at No. 2.
Paul McCartney’s whining about “Strawberry Fields Forever” was a little misplaced. It never reached No. 1 in England or the U.S. Still, his complaining proved to Chris Spedding that Macca’s pride in his work and his expectations for success were completely different from any he worked with.
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