There aren’t many rock singers left that can still match the tone of Paul McCartney. Both as a member of The Beatles and in his solo outfits, McCartney has been able to warp his voice into different sonic shapes depending on what the song calls for, going from a balladeer croon to a piercing scream at a moment’s notice. Although he may be known as a virtuoso behind the mic, McCartney thought one Beatles classic didn’t feature his best singing.
Before The Beatles even got a proper record in stores, though, McCartney was already a bit wary about his voice. When talking about recording their first-ever single, ‘Love Me Do’, McCartney remembered being mortified about singing the song title alone, admitting that his voice was pretty shaky on the final take they used.
It didn’t take long for McCartney to start branching out with his voice, though. Compared to the Little Richard screams that he could hit whenever the band played live, McCartney was looking to expand his horizons whenever he walked into the studio, admitting that he first impressed himself the minute he wrote the song ‘And I Love Her’.
While most of the group’s early career was dictated by John Lennon, McCartney wanted to take his music into more extravagant territories. Although he may have been the first band member to get in touch with the avant-garde scene, McCartney also found ways to add sophisticated touches to the band’s sound, including the first use of strings on a Beatles release with the song ‘Yesterday’.
Despite being embarrassed by the song’s soft approach, Macca would spend the rest of the band’s career honing his craft as a ballad writer. Although he would end up playing the guitar to provide an anchor for ‘Yesterday’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ from Revolver was the first time none of The Beatles played any instruments on the track, driven by McCartney’s lead vocal and the rest of the band adding harmonies beneath him.
Compared to what he would get up to in his solo career, though, McCartney thought that the final take they used didn’t showcase his best singing. When hearing the playback, Macca claimed to be mortified by his performance, saying, “I remember not liking the vocal on ‘Eleanor Rigby’, thinking, I hadn’t nailed. I listen to it now, and it’s… very good. It’s a bit annoying when you do ‘Eleanor Rigby’, and you’re not happy with it”.
When put up against the thousands of McCartney vocal performances, though, his voice on this ballad is dramatically understated, serving as an onlooker on this woman’s life as she picks up rice in the church. Even though this kind of vocal delivery could come off as plodding in the wrong hands, McCartney plays the song exactly how it should be.
Instead of making impressive vocal runs or making dramatic breaks in the music, McCartney has a subtle mournfulness in his delivery, adding a great deal of sympathy to all of the lonely people of the world who live their lives with no one by their side. McCartney may not have been happy hearing the song playback, but when talking about loneliness and emotional suffering, it’s better to treat the subject with reverence than a platform for vocal acrobatics.
