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The most prolific and commercially successful of the Beatles, Paul McCartney has made musical waves for more than three decades. In Blackbird, Beatles insider Geoffrey Giuliano unfolds the whole story of McCartney's life, contradictory character, and colossal talent. Includes more than 90 photos.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Giuliano ( Dark Horse: The Private Life of George Harrison ) offers a disparaging biography of former Beatle, Wings founder and solo musician McCartney. The book criticizes the star's inability to deal with grief in terms of his mother's untimely death and John Lennon's murder; rehashes the Beatles' evolution, sexual shenanigans, drug use and breakup; and chronicles the performer's romance with British actress Jane Asher. Disapproval creeps in as McCartney weds Linda Eastman: he becomes a ``sometimes annoying perfectionistic musician'' with an ``almost neurotic need to have Linda by his side,'' and she is a ``rather frumpy looking bride-to-be.'' The couple's heavy marijuana use is stressed and myriad injustices to collaborators compiled, rendering ex-Wings guitarist Laine's cheery introduction ironic. Despite the damning evidence against McCartney, fans will recoil from Giuliano's mean-spiritedness and, especially, his excessive sympathy and praise for Laine, on whose information the book is largely based. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)
Library Journal
This biography by Beatle insider Giuliano ( Dark Horse: The Private Life of George Harrison , Dutton, 1990) presents a complex and often disturbing image of McCartney and his milieu. Giuliano relies on extensive interviews with McCartney associates, and the resultant portrait of the most famous pop legend of our time is filled with contradictions. McCartney is revealed as a self-indulgent, penny-pinching entrepreneur, yet at the same time he's portrayed as a doting father, faithful husband, and committed friend of the Earth. Giuliano is refreshingly frank in assessing McCartney's creative output, particularly in the Wings and post-Wings era, though at other times his subjectivity intrudes. Overall, the book is a quick, entertaining read, and there is quite a bit of new material. However, those interested in detailed descriptions of the music itself will be disappointed.-- Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
