While driving and listening to the amazing “Paperback Writer” b/w “Rain” single over the weekend, and a frequent thought entered my mind: If Paul McCartney never wrote a song and never opened his mouth to sing, he’d still go down in rock history as one of the genre’s greatest bass players.
I didn’t stop there. “God spared nothing when he put together Paul McCartney,” I blurted out to my wife, who did not object but who braced herself for the nerdy pontificating to follow. Wisely I kept my next set of thoughts to myself, especially as my mind raced toward dreaded (for her and surely some of you) sports analogies.
Paul McCartney is one of rock’s 5-tool musicians! I silently declared to myself, adapting the baseball term for players who can hit for average, hit for power, and who possess speed, fielding ability, and a strong throwing arm. It was really wise of me to keep these thoughts to myself during our pleasant Sunday drive. As you sit in the passenger seat of Rock Town Hall, I will not grant you a reprieve from my latest venture into sports-rock thinking.
In musical terms, a 5-tool musician like McCartney possesses well above-average skills in the following areas:
- Singing
- Writing songs
- Writing hit songs
- Playing an instrument at a high level
- Looking good.
I doubt many musicians possess all 5 of these tools. Being honest (ie, not bringing my personal tastes into this), Sting is the only other musician who comes to mind as fulfilling these criteria. I’m sure I’m missing some other obvious 5-tool musicians. I guess Prince is another musician who fits this bill, despite my not personally digging his music or his Look.
Despite the musical riches that McCartney was granted, while watching a Philadelphia 76ers-Brooklyn Nets game on TV the other night, it was clear that the Lord left Paul wanting in some areas. I wish I could find a clip of him dancing and pointing to himself on the big screen at Brooklyn’s arena, but this “can’t always get what you want” moment will have to do:
