Paul McCartney The Boys of Dungeon Lane
Being a half-century-long Paul McCartney fan since my mid-1970s childhood days, I have been there through a good portion of Paul’s post-Beatles career, through the hits and successes, as well as the misses and missteps. As an album listener, I am not one to want to put something on to only hear one song, and move on to the next record. After reading a few critical comments on social media posts regarding his latest work, I was somewhat skeptical, yet anxious to hear what he had produced, and after having the album in constant rotation on my daily commute all week, I have come to a conclusion: Paul McCartney’s new 14-track album The Boys of Dungeon Lane (which takes its name from a road in the Speke district of Liverpool where Paul grew up, and a lyric in the first single “Days We Left Behind”) certainly lives up to the hype and delivers a full-album listening experience (much like his late 90s Flaming Pie and 2000s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard and Memory Almost Full).
After all these years, Sir Paul is still full of surprises – with his prolific musical output, uncanny knack for creating memorable melodies, and impressive word play, not to mention that he plays over 20 different instruments(!) on these latest recordings. The interesting musical and lyrical choices he makes on this new album gives each track something special, with notable nuances from his Beatles, Wings, and solo years. It is a concept album with themes of time, memories, nostalgic yearning, and (of course) lasting love. We may never get a McCartney memoir, but Sir Paul has given us this tome of autobiographically inspired song vignettes, based on various memories of his early life in post-war Liverpool with references and nods to personal places, family members, and his future (famous) bandmates. Listening through this collection of songs is like sitting down with a venerable and valued aged relative flipping through an old photo album, while they tell stories and memories evoked by the pictures of the times “back then.”
From the intriguing opening complex chords of the start-off track “As You Lie There,” you know you are in for something special. With the initial spoken vocal, one might think this was going to be another “silly love song,” but that is not the case, as the song suddenly segues back and forth into an all-out rocker with overtones of Wings, McCartney providing a stellar screaming backing vocal he was once known for many decades ago. The chugging “Lost Horizon” follows with McCartney sharing a sensory memory from the sound of a distant train.
The lead single “Days We Left Behind” is an acoustic ballad so sublimely sung with a gentle nostalgic longing and fragility, sans any drums or percussion. “Ripples in a Pond” is another catchy and cleverly written love song, while “Mountain Top,” a melodic psychedelic song with beginning chords sounding strikingly like Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” is augmented by Beatles Sgt. Pepper era instrumentation with its mid-sixties Lesley organ vocals, high key staccato piano accents, and trippy lyrics (“Magic mushrooms seem to talk and say hello”). With half-a-minute left, the track spontaneously breaks into a Bond movie style jam after McCartney asks, “Or do you want to stay?” which slows to an end with a tape snippet (of McCartney’s wife Nancy).
“Down South” could have easily been a full band track, but Paul opts for an intimate acoustic strumming number as if he and the boys are sitting around playing guitars together waiting for a ride. It comes from the stories Paul has often told about how he, John (Lennon), and George (Harrison) used to go hitchhiking, sometimes to be taught new guitar chords, which was “a good way to get to know” each other before they became the famous rock band that played “Twist and Shout.” The “Oh yeah, oh yeah” he utters is either a nod to Buddy Holly or possibly a reference to the Beatle deep cut “I’ll Get You” (the B-side to “She Loves You”), which opens with a repeating, harmonized “Oh yeah, oh yeah” in the intro. The end guitar harkens to a Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” tone [NOTE: the Kinks classic was originally titled “Liverpool Sunset”].
“We Two” is a typical McCartney serenade to a loved one, yet could also allude to his close relationship with songwriting partner John Lennon with some of the lyrics (“My thoughts return to you,” “You give me what I want, you show me how it’s done,” “always my friend,” “Last night I dreamed of you,” “together standing side by side”). McCartney has admitted to dreaming of Lennon, and often relying on the memory of their writing together to help him compose songs. This is a simple, sparse three-minute love song, yet contains some tasty bass playing and an unexpected tape rewind at the end. “Come Inside” with its cool driving groove, new wave vibe, and screaming vocals could have easily been a missing track or outtake from a late 70s Wings album. On this one, Paul explains, “My life’s an open book” and invites listeners to “come inside my mind” (at least for just over three minutes). “Never Know” has overtones of McCartney’s Beatles Magical Mystery Tour era with its mellotron keyboard sounds, acapella backing vocals, and recorder (used as eloquently here as he did on “Fool on the Hill”). A pause break for a lone recorder leads into a trippy orchestrated Beatlesque outro on this song.
“Home To Us,” is a stand-out track for many reasons. Most notably, we get the surviving half of the Beatles in a duet together for the first time, as Ringo Starr not only provides his telltale drum playing, but shares the vocals with Paul in this joyful, bouncy, energetic number with a descending bassline (with the familiar verse melody similar to “Carolina in the Morning”) that is one of the highpoints for any Beatles fan. The ELO-tinged backing vocals adds a seventies feel as well, yet this song would bring the joy if released at any point over the past five decades. As a bonus, Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders also guests on backing vocals on this track.
“Life Can Be Hard” starts with a playful piano, which leads into a swirling orchestral dancehall number with a bit of New Orleans swing, like McCartney dabbled in for his mid-seventies Venus and Mars album (I also hear some post-Kinks Ray Davies flourishes on this one as well). “First Star of the Night,” which starts with the thrum of rain and McCartney stating: “It’s raining in Costa Rica,” is a gentle acoustic three-minute ditty accentuated by soothing “Oooo” backing vocals and some dexterous bass playing.
The final two-song movement of the album is a cinematic treatise of life in post-war Liverpool: “Salesman Saint” is somewhat a Liverpool seascape with its waltzy brushed drum beat and narrative lyrics (“War was nearly over/The peace would soon begin, Living on the edge of the city / when the roads were going in”). The old-timey horn section brings listeners back in time, giving them a glimpse into the vibe and sounds of the time period. The Lesley organ effect on the backing vocals is a nice added gramophone touch. The album’s final track “Momma Gets By” is a melancholic piano ode to the typical mothers who had to make due during these times of struggle and strife that defined the era.
One thing this album proves is that even as an octogenarian, the 83-year-old McCartney is still full of surprises, and has not lost his talent to produce a remarkable album chock-full of cleverly crafted and catchy songs. Like Penny Lane, Strawberry Field, and Abbey Road, Dungeon Lane will undoubtedly become yet another Beatle locale (immortalized in song) for fans to visit, and The Boys of Dungeon Lane will be yet another musical journey fans will be able to return to time and time again. In “Ripples in a Pond,” McCartney asserts, “I must be blessed.” He is indeed, yet so are we. Sir Paul McCartney remains a national – and global – treasure, and one of our greatest songwriters, wordsmiths, and music artists of our time. I wouldn’t be surprised if this latest work adds further awards and accolades to his already impressive and illustrious legacy.
Find more details here: https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/album/the-boys-of-dungeon-lane-6/
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: McCartney 3,2,1
Musicians on the album are Paul McCartney on vocals (all tracks); acoustic guitar (tracks 1–13), bass guitar (1–5, 7–14), electric guitar (1, 2, 4–7, 9, 10, 12, 13), drums (1, 2, 4, 5, 7–9, 11–13), piano (1, 3, 5, 8-11, 14), synthesizer (1, 5, 11), percussion (1, 5, 12), harpsichord (1, 5), shaker (1, 11), Rhodes (1), pump organ (3), maracas (4, 5, 11), Wurlitzer electronic piano (5, 8, 9), magnetic tape treatments (5, 9), tambourine (5, 11–13); bongos, Moog bass (5); Mellotron (7, 9, 11, 13), hand claps (8, 13); organ, recorder (9); spinet (13), nylon-string guitar (14); Andrew Watt on electric guitar (1, 7, 9), synthesizer (1, 4, 10, 11), Wurlitzer electronic piano (1), Mellotron (4), tambourine (4, 8, 9), acoustic guitar (8, 10, 11), maracas (8), drums (9), magnetic tape treatments (9); Ringo Starr on tambourine (1, 10) vocals, and drums (10); Mike Davis on trumpet (4, 13); Nancy McCartney on spoken word (5); Chrissie Hynde on background vocals (10); Sharleen Spiteri on background vocals (10); Ben Foster as conductor, co-arrangement (11, 13, 14); and Giles Martin on co-arrangement (11, 13, 14).
The album was produced by Paul McCartney and co-produced by Andrew Watt; engineered and mixed by Paul Lamalfa and Steve Orchard; with engineering assistance by Keith Smith and Neil Dawes engineering assistance and technician Marc VanGool. It was mastered by Randy Merrill and Ryan Smith.