Maybe I'm Amazed
{{short description|1970 song by Paul McCartney}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Maybe I'm Amazed
| cover = 160px
| caption = Cover of the song's sheet music
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Paul McCartney
| album = McCartney
| EP =
| written =
| published = Northern Songs
| released = 17 April 1970
| recorded = 15 February 1970
| studio = Abbey Road, London
| venue =
| genre = *Soft rock{{cite news|first=Jesse Jr.|last=Sendejas |title=The '70s' Seven Sexiest Soft-Rock Songs |date=7 August 2014 |newspaper=Houston Press |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-70s-seven-sexiest-soft-rock-songs-6499487}}
- blue-eyed soul{{cite book|chapter=Paul McCartney|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/527 527–28]|chapter-url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/paul-mccartney/albumguide|access-date=22 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704174106/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/paul-mccartney/albumguide|archive-date=4 July 2014|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide}}
| length = 3:49
| label = Apple
| writer = Paul McCartney
| composer =
| lyricist =
| producer = Paul McCartney
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| title =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| tracks = {{McCartney tracks}}
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = song
| file = Paul McCartney-Maybe I'm Amazed.ogg
| description = "Maybe I'm Amazed"
}}{{External music video|{{YouTube|cdDPR8GzXy8|"Maybe I'm Amazed"}}
| type = song
}}
}}
"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by the English musician Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1970 debut solo album McCartney.
Although the original recording has never been released as a single, a live performance by McCartney's later band Wings, from the live album Wings over America, was released in 1977; this version became a top-ten hit in the United States and reached number 28 in the United Kingdom.{{cite web|title=Paul McCartney Charts and Awards|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-mccartney-p4865/charts-awards/billboard-singles|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=13 October 2011}}{{cite web|title=Official Charts: Paul McCartney|url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/paul%20mccartney/|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=13 October 2011}}
In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Maybe I'm Amazed" number 347 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.{{cite magazine|title=Maybe I'm Amazed in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/paul-mccartney-maybe-im-amazed-20110526|magazine=Rolling Stone |date=11 December 2003|access-date=7 April 2011}}
{{toclimit|3}}
History
McCartney wrote the song in 1969, just before the break-up of the Beatles. He credited his wife Linda with helping him get through the difficult time.{{cite web |title=Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney Songfacts |url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=55 |publisher=songfacts.com |access-date=25 April 2012}} Although most of his debut solo album was recorded at his home in London, McCartney recorded "Maybe I'm Amazed" entirely in EMI's Number Two studio in Abbey Road, on 15 February 1970.{{Cite book |last=Kozinn |first=Allan |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1350352121 |title=The McCartney Legacy. Volume 1, 1969-73 |date=2022 |publisher=Dey Street Books |others=Adrian Sinclair |isbn=978-006-300070-4 |edition=1st |location=New York, NY |page=82 |language=English |oclc=1350352121}}
McCartney played all the instruments: guitars, bass, piano, organ and drums. At 0:44 into the track, "you can hear the noise of the drumsticks hitting one another, a detail cleaned up in the 2011 McCartney
reissue".{{Cite book |last=Perasi |first=Luca |title=Paul McCartney Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 |date=2023 |publisher=L.I.L.Y. Publishing |isbn=978-88-909-122-9-0 |edition=1st |location=Milan, Italy |page=35}} Although McCartney declined to release the song as a single in 1970, it nonetheless received a great deal of radio airplay worldwide.{{cite web |date=7 November 2010 |title=Paul McCartney: Maybe I'm Amazed {{!}} The Beatles Bible |url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/maybe-im-amazed/ |access-date=25 April 2012 |publisher=beatlesbible.com}} A promotional film was made, comprising still photographs of McCartney, his wife Linda, and daughters Heather and Mary; it aired in the UK on 19 April 1970 on ITV in its own slot, and later as a part of an episode of CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show.{{cite book |editor1=Miles, Barry |editor2=Badman, Keith |title=The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970–2001 |year=2001 |publisher=Music Sales Group |location=London |isbn=978-0-7119-8307-6 |edition=reprint}}
Reception
Regarded as one of McCartney's finest love songs, it achieved the number 347 position in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2004,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4 |title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120033613/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4 |archive-date=20 November 2007 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url-status=dead |date=November 2004}} and is the only solo McCartney song to make the list. In a late 2009 Q&A with journalists held in London to promote his live album Good Evening New York City, McCartney said "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "the song [he] would like to be remembered for in the future".{{cite web |url=http://colunas.epoca.globo.com/pelomundo/2009/11/25/a-musica-pela-qual-paul-mccartney-gostaria-de-ser-lembrado-no-futuro |title=The song Paul McCartney would like to be remembered for |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129145701/http://colunas.epoca.globo.com/pelomundo/2009/11/25/a-musica-pela-qual-paul-mccartney-gostaria-de-ser-lembrado-no-futuro |archive-date=29 November 2009 |work=Época |language=pt}}
In a review for the McCartney album on release, Langdon Winner of Rolling Stone described "Maybe I'm Amazed", as "a very powerful song", that states "one of the main sub-themes of the record, that the terrible burden of loneliness can be dispelled by love."{{cite magazine|last1=Winner|first1=Langdon|title=McCartney|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/mccartney-19700514|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=21 July 2017|date=14 May 1970}} Winner continued to describe the track as "the only song on the album that even comes close to McCartney's best efforts of the past. It succeeds marvelously." In a retrospective review for McCartney, Record Collector has highlighted "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Every Night" and "Junk", as songs that "still sound absolutely effortless and demonstrate the man's natural genius with a melody".{{cite magazine |title=Paul McCartney: McCartney |magazine=Record Collector |date=July 2011 |page=95 |quote=The likes of 'Every Night,' 'Junk,' and 'Maybe I'm Amazed' still sound absolutely effortless and demonstrate the man's natural genius with a melody.}} Joe Tangari of Pitchfork similarly evaluated "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Junk" and "Singalong Junk", as the "peaks" of McCartney.{{cite web |last1=Tangari |first1=Joe |title=Paul McCartney: McCartney / McCartney II Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15536-mccartney-mccartney-ii/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=5 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919121314/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15536-mccartney-mccartney-ii/ |archive-date=19 September 2018 |date=15 June 2011}} While McCartney's former bandmate George Harrison admitted that he did not care for the album, he conceded in an interview that he thought "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "great".{{cite book|last=Badman|first=Keith|title=The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001|publisher= Omnibus Press|location=London|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7119-8307-6}}
Live version
{{Infobox song
| name = Maybe I'm Amazed
| cover = Maybe I'm Amazed.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Wings
| album = Wings over America
| B-side = Soily
| released = 4 February 1977
| recorded = 29 May 1976
| studio =
| venue = Kemper Arena, Kansas City
| genre = Soft rock
| length = 5:11
| label = Capitol
| writer = Paul McCartney
| producer = Paul McCartney
| prev_title = Let 'Em In
| prev_year = 1976
| next_title = Seaside Woman
| next_year = 1977
}}
A live recording from the 1976 album Wings over America was released as a single by McCartney's band Wings on 4 February 1977; it reached number 10 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100,{{cite web|title=Paul McCartney singles|url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4865/charts-awards/billboard-singles|pure_url=yes}}|publisher=allmusic|access-date=12 August 2010}} and number 28 in the UK.{{cite web|last=Calkin|first=Graham|title=Paul McCartney – Maybe I'm Amazed|url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/r6017.html|publisher=jpgr.com|access-date=25 April 2012|year=200}} This live version is longer than the original and has a slower tempo.
Record World said, "Already a classic and familiar track, this version comes without the false ending. You'll be amazed, too."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=12 February 1977|accessdate=16 February 2023|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/77/RW-1977-02-12.pdf}}
Versions of the song can be heard on several other live McCartney albums, including Back in the U.S. and Back in the World. "Maybe I'm Amazed" has become a centrepiece of McCartney's concerts, along with "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die". Live versions of the song are available on the 2011 reissue of McCartney.
=Track listing=
==7"==
- "Maybe I'm Amazed" – 5:11
- "Soily" – 5:10
==12" US Promo, Record Store Day 2013 EP==
Side A
- "Maybe I'm Amazed – Short Version (Mono)" – 3:43
- "Maybe I'm Amazed – Album Version (Mono)" – 5:11
Side B
- "Maybe I'm Amazed – Short Version (Stereo)" – 3:43
- "Maybe I'm Amazed – Album Version (Stereo)" – 5:11
Chart performance
{{col-begin|width=67%}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1977)
!Peak |
|---|
| Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5283a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=8emo2bidskn8ecug07ua5aerj1 |title=Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |access-date=27 July 2016}}
|style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| UK Singles Chart
|style="text-align:center;"|28 |
| US Billboard Hot 100
|style="text-align:center;"|10 |
| US Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19770402.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 2, 1977 |access-date=17 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020124044/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19770402.html |archive-date=20 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}
|align="center"|10 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
Personnel
According to author John C. Winn:{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=374}}
McCartney studio version:
- Paul McCartney{{snd}}lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass, piano, organ, drums
- Linda McCartney{{snd}}backing vocals
Wings Over America live version:{{cn|date=July 2022}}
- Paul McCartney{{snd}}lead vocals, piano
- Linda McCartney{{snd}}backing vocals, organ
- Denny Laine{{snd}}backing vocals, bass guitar
- Jimmy McCulloch{{snd}}lead guitar
- Joe English – drums
Certifications
{{certification Table Top|caption=Certification for "Maybe I'm Amazed"}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|award=Gold|artist=Paul McCartney|title=Maybe I'm Amazed|relyear=1970|certyear=2023|access-date=January 20, 2025|source=radioscope}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|noshipments=true | nosales=true}}
Cover versions
Faces recorded a studio version of the song in 1970 and released it as a US-only single, while a live version appeared on their 1971 album Long Player.{{cite book |last1=Egan |first1=Sean |title=Rod Stewart: The Classic Years |date=1 August 2023 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4930-7348-1 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OE2zEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |access-date=19 November 2023 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Bogdanov |first1=Vladimir |last2=Woodstra |first2=Chris |last3=Erlewine |first3=Stephen Thomas |title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul |date=2002 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-87930-653-3 |page=385 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-pH4i3jXvAC&pg=PA385 |access-date=19 November 2023 |language=en}}
Billy Joel covered the song for the 2014 tribute album The Art of McCartney.{{cite magazine |last1=Raymer |first1=Miles |title=Hear Billy Joel's cover of 'Maybe I'm Amazed' from an all-star Paul McCartney tribute album |url=https://ew.com/article/2014/11/06/billy-joel-maybe-im-amazed-paul-mccartney-tribute/ |access-date=19 November 2023 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=6 November 2014 |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
= Sources =
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last1=Winn |first1=John C. |title=That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966–1970 |date=2009 |publisher=Three Rivers Press |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-307-45239-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcdvDwAAQBAJ}}
{{Refend}}
{{Wings}}
{{Paul McCartney}}
{{Paul McCartney songs}}
{{Faces}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Paul McCartney and Wings songs
Category:Songs written by Paul McCartney
Category:Apple Records singles
Category:Capitol Records singles
Category:Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney