My second 2023 inductee, 14th overall, is Sir Paul McCartney. He is the first to be in my hall twice, once for The Beatles and now for his post-Beatle career.
The Beatles’ bassist, vocalist, and songwriter would continue solo beginning in 1970 at the sign of the break-up of the band. He would release his first LP, McCartney, a month before the release of The Beatles’ swansong Let It Be. The album, rich with experimentation, has McCartney performing all instruments and vocals himself, aside from some backing vocals performed by Linda McCartney. It also contained the song, “Maybe I’m Amazed”.
“I wear black for the poor and the beaten down
Living in the hopeless, hungry side of town
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime…
I’d love to wear a rainbow every day
And tell the world that everything’s OK
But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back
Till things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black.”
Inductee number 10 and my second in the country genre is Johnny Cash. He was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, and died September 12, 2003, at age 71 just four months after the death of his wife, June Carter Cash. His mother wanted to name him John and his daddy wanted Ray so at birth they named him J. R. Cash.
