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Fly Away Paul

The definitive biography of Beatles legend Paul McCartney's time in Wings: a must-read for all McCartney fans

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Fly Away Paul

By: Lesley-Ann Jones
Narrated by: Imogen Church
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About this listen

 THE UNMISSABLE NEXT READ FOR FANS OF JOHN & PAUL: A LOVE STORY IN SONGS AND PAUL McCARTNEY'S WINGS.

'No other book has come close to capturing so well what Paul McCartney is about, nor described so vividly his mental breakdown when the Beatles separated, nor his need for Linda to nurse him back to good health . . . fascinating; an extraordinarily brilliant book.' SIMON NAPIER-BELL

'One of the BEST Macca books out there: well written and well researched.' - READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A really insightful portrait of someone we all think we 'know'. A beautiful portrait (not before time) of Linda and how she held her family together in Paul's wilderness years. Fascinating' - READER REVIEW ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

No comprehensive biography of the time Paul McCartney spent with Wings has ever been published. A period often dismissed as McCartney's 'missing' years, in fact the band lasted for a decade: two years longer than the Beatles, and wielded such impact and influence that they at one point achieved the status as the biggest live band in the world. Band on the Run sold over 6 million copies worldwide and became EMI's biggest selling album of the 1970s in the UK.

Music biographer Lesley-Ann Jones has met McCartney many times and knew his late wife Linda. Here she shows how crucial Linda was to the evolution of Wings - at great cost to herself given the ridicule she was to encounter. But Linda saw that McCartney needed the band in the wake of the break up of the Beatles.

Drawing on extensive interviews and her trademark meticulous research, the author shows how this period in Paul McCartney's career was to become crucial not only to his development as an artist, but to his very survival.©2023 Lesley-Ann Jones Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity

Critic reviews

Absorbing . . . Jones perceptively portrays how Wings were always overshadows by the Beatles' success
All stars
Most relevant
Entertaining, funny and sometimes sad, a truly great book. Many things about Paul that I’ve not heard before.

Once you get used to the style of narration it becomes thoroughly enjoyable.

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Written with feeling and emotion whilst a little light on fact and detail. A really good listen all the same.

Good.

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Dear oh dear oh dear!! Narration difficult to make out during quiet passages and repeated amplification to stress content quickly becomes a distraction. A straightforward even narration would enhance this greatly!

Insightful tale spoiled by poor narration

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A bit of a curate’s egg at times for me this one, but I enjoyed it nevertheless, and so glad I pushed through some of the other reviews.

It is a reminder of how much excellent music was produced by Paul McCartney in addition to you know who.

Much has been said about the narration but this wasn’t an issue once I upped to speed to 1:20 and went with the flow. Yes it might have sounded to some like BBC young children’s story telling TV programme but actually to be fair to the Narrator, this book is very much written in a tabloid/UK Channel 5 style, a bit corny and a bit cheesy. Perhaps padded out here and there (to set the scene, but might irritate Beatles fans) and with an author who is a keen fan, and acquaintance of Linda McCartney, treat it as this type of entertainment and some facts you may not have known will materialise.

(Note to Audible. Getting a narrator to read out footnote links that would be in the pdf, if they wanted them, broke the flow for me, and was extremely irritating).

I’m glad I read it. I know more about the McCartneys, Laine and McCulloch than I did before, and for a band that was much more important to me as a 1963 born person than I anticipated, overall I’m so glad a have it a listen. ,

Give it a go - it has wings

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A good book, with some insightful content.
However, Imogen Church’s delivery is so melodramatic and somewhat condescending, it makes listening very difficult.
Gives it the feel of a Radio 4 play… or Jackanory!

Good content, if you can get past the delivery.

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