Throughout his career, Paul McCartney has shown himself to be a bit of a chameleon, with his musical style bouncing all over the place from the mid-60s to the present.
While with the Beatles, you can point to the absurd differences between a song like ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Honey Pie,’ both of which appear on The Beatles (The White Album).
During his solo career, McCartney has gone from light to heavy to experimental (‘Temporary Secretary,’ etc) to classical and circled all the way back to his roots while putting a ‘NEW’ spin on things.
One of the best early examples of McCartney’s versatility can be found on three songs he recorded during the ‘Help’ sessions.
‘I’m Down,’ ‘I’ve Just Seen A Face,’ and ‘Yesterday’ were all recorded on the same day in June of 1965.
‘I’m Down’ is a classic McCartney rocker, which the Beatles began using to wrap up most of their live shows.
‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’ is a bluesy/country/folk-pop song that features a tempo unlike anything the group had done prior.
‘Yesterday,’ now viewed as an absolute classic, featured two contrasting sections and a string quartet.
Below, listen to alternate/live versions of each song >>
Great observation Danny. The HELP! LP also shows the emergence of McCartney the multi instrumentalist. He plays lead guitar for the first time on Ticket To Ride and Another Girl as well as acoustic on Yesterday and I’ve Just Seen A Face. Lennon still dominates the lead vocals by 6 to 4, with them sharing the lead on Tell Me What You See, but by less of a degree. It wouldn’t be until Revolver that the shift from Lennon to McCartney as leader would occur, but HELP! is definitely the beginning.