"An already set up affair" revisited

[65if2007]

"So I suddenly realized that I didn't actually know how to set up a band. When you think about it, I'd never actually done it before. I'd joined the Beatles as an already set-up affair..."




abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Fentertainment&id=8394871&rss=rss-wpvi-article-8394871

Early Paul McCartney letter offers drummer tryout

"A newly discovered letter found folded in a book at a Liverpool yard sale has shed new light on the Beatles' early days, revealing that Paul McCartney offered an audition to a mystery drummer in 1960, just a few days before the band left for a formative two-month gig in Hamburg, Germany."

[B]

I don't see the connection; or else I'm just missing the point. What are you getting at, 65if2007?

[65if2007]

Oct 27, 2011 0:06:43 GMT -5 B said:

I don't see the connection; or else I'm just missing the point. What are you getting at, 65if2007?

Really?

Iamaphoney's Rotten Apple 38 shows Paul McCartney of Wings saying that this was his first experience in setting up a band -- he'd never actually done it before. He'd joined the Beatles as an "already set up affair".

The point is that this October 17, 2011 story about the recent discovery of a letter from 1960 in which the historical Paul McCartney invited someone to try out as drummer for the Beatles ...

...underscores how actively he -- the historical Paul McCartney -- was involved in organizing the Beatles and makes all the more puzzling the statement made by Wings Paul McCartney in RA 38.

[B]

Oh, OK. Now I see what you're saying. Yes, that's a bit odd.

[65if2007]

I doubt that you find it "odd " at all, Letter B, since I assume that you decided long ago that there was a substitution.

I am far from certain that there was ever a substitution because extraordinary claims deserve extraordinary proof, and that still hasn't been offered. I am on the fence, as I have always been.

But it IS a puzzling statement -- just the sort of thing that keeps me interested.

The obvious PIA/PWNR explanation that McCartney's absent-mindedness about his own significant role in "setting up" the Beatles would be due to a failing memory brought about by the onset of time, by the huge number of events that he witnessed over the course of his lifetime, and by the use of drugs isn't satisfying -- not in this case, anyway.

[beacon]

I have a different take on this, I think McCartney is referring to the fact that when he joined the Quarrymen in 57 it was "an already set up affair" as he was joining Lennons band.
Not sure where the clip comes from, anthology presumably, but I can't see the Apple press guys allowing that clip into the public domain if they thought he was referring to anything else.

[JoJo]

Taken at face value where one assumes he is the same Paul now as he was in 1957, then he would be referring to scenario where he joined back then. "Already set up affair" though.. Well yes, if a bunch of high school age guys who hang together and play mostly because they own the necessary instruments, then yes.

"Set up affair" in the sense of what at least the early years were like when the Beatles started to really work it, The Quarrymen were hardly that.

The clip is from one of Macca's own documentaries, can't remember the name or date offhand, but sometime in the 90's.

[65if2007]

And in any event -- even if you want to argue that Beatles = Quarrymen = already set-up affair -- the fact is that he says in this clip that he didn't know how to set up a band and had never done it before.

That's still puzzling in light of the fact that the historical Paul McCartney was instrumental in getting George Harrison to join and in the making and breaking of Pete Best and his substitution by Ringo Starr. He had certainly "done it before".

[beacon]

Ok, I accept both of your points.
I would like to know what documentary this is from? Maybe it is another example of him re-writing history? It seems an odd comment to make. As pointed out Paul was responsible for recruiting George Harrison, the auctioned letter proves he was actively trying to recruit a replacement for Pete Best long before Ringo joined and he was also responsible for getting Stuart Sutcliffe fired. Paul knew how to hire and fire, so if this is Faul really saying 'when I joined the Beatles it was an already set up affair because Paul had died' it is still a weird comment to make.
When it came to putting Wings together he had the cachet of saying to any musician in the world, 'I'm Paul McCartney, do you wanna join my band?' Who would turn that down? How hard can forming a band be?
Hence I would like to find the complete documentary to see the full context as it seems like a monumental admission to make.
Hope this makes sense?

[iameye]

Nov 9, 2011 6:19:12 GMT -5 beacon said:

Ok, I accept both of your points.
I would like to know what documentary this is from? Maybe it is another example of him re-writing history? It seems an odd comment to make. As pointed out Paul was responsible for recruiting George Harrison, the auctioned letter proves he was actively trying to recruit a replacement for Pete Best long before Ringo joined and he was also responsible for getting Stuart Sutcliffe fired. Paul knew how to hire and fire, so if this is Faul really saying 'when I joined the Beatles it was an already set up affair because Paul had died' it is still a weird comment to make.
When it came to putting Wings together he had the cachet of saying to any musician in the world, 'I'm Paul McCartney, do you wanna join my band?' Who would turn that down? How hard can forming a band be?
Hence I would like to find the complete documentary to see the full context as it seems like a monumental admission to make.
Hope this makes sense?

He says he was answering the drummer's ad.


gulfnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/sir-paul-mccartney-can-t-read-or-write-music-1.926159

[JoJo]

The comment was from "Wingspan - An Intimate Portrait". Amazon link:

www.amazon.com/Paul-McCartney-Wingspan-Intimate-Portrait/dp/B00005QJHL/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1320879558&sr=8-4