Mull of Kintyre

[snopes]

Comment: I've heard the song Mull of Kintyre was written after someone bet
Paul McCartney he couldn't write a number 1 hit which was a waltz with
bagpipes - in under a week.

He did exactly that and won the bet. Is this true?

[snopes]

That song fostered one of my personal mondregreens:

"Mull of kintyre, oh men strolling in from the sea ..."

I always wondered how those men happened to be out walking around in the ocean without a boat.

- snopes

[jw]

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: I've heard the song Mull of Kintyre was written after someone bet
Paul McCartney he couldn't write a number 1 hit which was a waltz with
bagpipes - in under a week.

He did exactly that and won the bet. Is this true?

I don't know how long it took him to write the song, but they did make the video in a hurry, because Paul did not have a left handed guitar and played a right-handed one on the video.
It was also the UK's 4th biggest selling single of all time; only behind Elton's Diana tribute, Band Aid's Do they know it's Christmas, and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which needed a second release to beat it into 3rd place.

Originally Posted by J2U

I don't know how long it took him to write the song, but they did make the video in a hurry, because Paul did not have a left handed guitar and played a right-handed one on the video.
It was also the UK's 4th biggest selling single of all time; only behind Elton's Diana tribute, Band Aid's Do they know it's Christmas, and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which needed a second release to beat it into 3rd place.

All that and still a steaming pile of Nessie dung.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by J2U

I don't know how long it took him to write the song, but they did make the video in a hurry, because Paul did not have a left handed guitar and played a right-handed one on the video.

That doesn't mean anything. Left-handed guitars just weren't that easy to find (one usually had to get them custom-made), so Paul often played restrung right-handed guitars. He can be seen playing one while singing "Yesterday" during the Beatles' 1965 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (and that certainly wasn't something done in a hurry).

Left-handed guitars still aren't all that easy to find. If you look carefully, you'll notice that the singing dude in all those recent Snickers commercials is a lefty playing a restrung guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIOE0MR99oM

- snopes

[jw]

Originally Posted by snopes

That doesn't mean anything. Left-handed guitars just weren't that easy to find (one usually had to get them custom-made), so Paul often played restrung right-handed guitars. He can be seen playing one while singing "Yesterday" during the Beatles' 1965 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (and that certainly wasn't something done in a hurry).
- snopes

My info on the Mull video, is that Paul did not even have the strings turned round to accomodate 'lefties', but I can't find a cite, so maybe I'm wrong.
But I've heard this before on a music site, so I'll ask around tomorrow.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by J2U

My info on the Mull video, is that Paul did not even have the strings turned round to accomodate 'lefties'

But since he's miming to the recording (not actually playing), what difference would it make? It would be kind of silly to go to the bother of restringing a guitar (or hunting around to find an already-restrung one) just to fake playing it for a video, no matter how much time they had.

- snopes

[Eddylizard]

Originally Posted by snopes

But since he's miming to the recording (not actually playing), what difference would it make? It would be kind of silly to go to the bother of restringing a guitar (or hunting around to find an already-restrung one) just to fake playing it for a video, no matter how much time they had.

- snopes

I would think though that Paul McCartney would have owned at least one left handed or left strung guitar. With a little forethought, wouldn't he have used his own?

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by J2U

My info on the Mull video, is that Paul did not even have the strings turned round to accomodate 'lefties', but I can't find a cite, so maybe I'm wrong.

Looks like it's restrung to me. I'm looking at the reflection at about 1:33 on the youtube clip.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

I would think though that Paul McCartney would have owned at least one left handed or left strung guitar. With a little forethought, wouldn't he have used his own?

Since it made no difference whatsoever, I'd expect him to just go grab the closest guitar. If, say, Denny Laine had one on hand when they started filming down by the shore, but Paul's was up in the house, why bother going to retrieve the latter?

- snopes

[ganzfeld]

I think they did get those pipers together quickly though. The third one from the left in the second row has his kilt on backwards.

[Ramblin' Dave]

Macca has often said in interviews that he wrote most of his songs in about as much time as it takes to play them - if he doesn't get it right in five minutes, he figures it's not ever going to fly. I've never heard him say that specifically about "Mull of Kintyre," though. What I have heard him say is that he wasn't sure it would be a hit (which it wasn't in the US, although it was huge everywhere else). That's why the B-side, "Girls' School," is a straightforward radio friendly rocker. Since the man himself wasn't convinced it would sell at all, I have a hard time believing he wrote it on a bet that it would go to #1.

I'm pretty certain that co-writer Denny Laine had to file for bankruptcy about 10 years after 'Mull Of Kintyre' was released and it was revealed that, rather being able to rely on royalties from the song for his pension, he had swapped his writer's credit for a bungalow.

It might not be true, but I've heard it to be.


Terrible song though...

[Mosherette]

Who has an earworm extraction device please?

[Zachary Fizz]

Originally Posted by Mosherette

Who has an earworm extraction device please?

Drive it out by thinking of the Birdy Song.

No, honestly, there's no need to thank me

[TrishDaDish]

Earworm warning downgraded: you can't watch the video on YouTube, it's been taken off. Which stinks, as now I'm gonna go crazy wondering what this tune sounds like.

[TwoGuyswithaHat]

Originally Posted by TrishDaDish

Earworm warning downgraded: you can't watch the video on YouTube, it's been taken off. Which stinks, as now I'm gonna go crazy wondering what this tune sounds like.

Save your sanity, and have a listen

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by Zachary Fizz

Drive it out by thinking of the Birdy Song.

No, honestly, there's no need to thank me

That's bad to worse...

Aww Trish, doncha worry. Mull of Kyntire was an horror. Some kind of lullabye. Yes, you indeed are lucky not to know it. Thankfully it kinda went out as punk rock started and innocent little me chosed the right path. The Sex Pistols, yay !

[BamaRainbow]

Originally Posted by Alistaira_Scarlett

Aww Trish, doncha worry. Mull of Kyntire was an horror. Some kind of lullabye. Yes, you indeed are lucky not to know it. Thankfully it kinda went out as punk rock started and innocent little me chosed the right path. The Sex Pistols, yay !

Eh, I think between anything by the Sex Pistols and "Mull of Kintyre", I'd have to choose "Mull". (Actually, between the Sex Pistols and a root canal, I think I'd choose the root canal.) Sorry, but I just never understood punk's popularity, much less the Sex Pistols'.