The Clarinet in McCartney’s Songs After 1970

Posted On April 11, 2020

The clarinet is hardly the first instrument that springs to mind in the context of rock and roll. However, McCartney’s music has never been straightjacketed into a single genre. But a lot of what he does can be defined by diversity, and an open-minded desire to try-out new instrumental textures.

The clarinet can be heard in two of McCartney’s “old-time” songs in The Beatles – When I’m Sixty Four and Honey Pie. In When I’m Sixty-Four George Martin made use of a clarnet trio of two Bb clarinets and a bass clarinet. In Honey Pie, five saxophones and two clarinets were used to evoke a period feel.

Long Haired Lady (1971)

McCartney drew on the services of George Martin to add orchestral arrangements on his Ram album, released in May 1971. Careful listening reveals Martin’s detailed scoring for woodwind, such as the clarinets in Long Haired Lady that alternate between two notes at 1:10 over the dreamy chord of Eb major7.

You Gave Me the Answer (1975)

The 1975 album Venus and Mars features a song in the style of the 1930s -1940s. You Gave Me the Answer is dedicated to Fred Astaire and is arranged by Tony Dorsey, who later toured with McCartney’s band in 1976. The clarinet can be heard here at 1:20, followed by a bassoon solo – an even rarer instrument in pop songs (although the bassoon does feature prominently in the 1970 Smokey Robinson track Tears of a Clown).

Pipes of Peace (1983)

George Martin’s was used again as the arranger and producer on the 1983 track Pipes of Peace, which became McCartney’s only UK number one solo hit in Christmas 1983. A sotto voce clarinet counter-melody can be heard during the song’s coda around 2:52:

Distractions (1989)

The clarinet plays quite a prominent role on the 1989 track Distractions from the Flowers In the Dirt album. On this occasion, the arrangement is provided by the American Clare Fischer. The song begins with a sultry passage scored for clarinet, strings and light Latin-style percussion. A pair of clarinets can then be heard playing at the end of vocal phrases, such the rising passage in thirds at 0:53.

Do It Now (2018)

More recently, the Egypt Station track Do It Now features both the clarinet and the contrabass clarinet. You can clearly hear the clarinet on this track at 2:10:

Did We Meet Somewhere Before?(1978)

Finally, the one track where the clarinet plays a starring role is undoubtedly the unreleased 1978 track Did We Meet Somewhere Before?

It was written for the film Heaven Can Wait, in which the main protagonist is a clarinet player. Sadly, another theme by the composer Dave Grusin was chosen to replace McCartney’s song.

The clarinet can be heard throughout McCartney’s track, right from the introduction. But the most captivating moment is at 4:18, where the clarinet’s opening melody and McCartney’s vocal gloriously cohere: