25 McCartney Deep Cuts Every Fan Should Know

How We Picked These 25

Paul McCartney has released 27 solo and Wings studio albums of songs since McCartney in April 1970, and the hits from them, 'Band on the Run', 'Live and Let Die', 'Silly Love Songs', 'Mull of Kintyre', are known to everyone. This list is about the other songs: album tracks that were never A-side singles, have never become fixtures of his concerts, and that many casual listeners have never heard.

Our rules were simple. No A-side singles, although B-sides are allowed. No song that has become a regular part of Paul's live set; a few, such as 'Every Night', 'Calico Skies' and 'Early Days', have had runs on individual tours, and we note that where it applies. At least one pick from every decade he has been making records. Beyond that, the choice is opinion, and every reader will have a favourite we left out.

The songs are listed in release order so you can hear Paul's writing change over half a century. For the full context of each album, see our ranking of every McCartney solo album.

The singles rule cost us some favourites. 'The Back Seat of My Car' from Ram was released as a single in the UK in 1971, so it is out. 'Waterfalls' from McCartney II was a UK top ten single in 1980, so it is out too, even though many fans still think of it as a hidden gem. 'Arrow Through Me' from Back to the Egg was a single in the US. If you love those songs, you will probably love most of the list below, because they share the same quality: melodies that reward repeat listening rather than grabbing you on first play.

1970 to 1973: The Home Recordings and Early Wings

1. 'Every Night' (McCartney, 1970). A song about wanting to get out of bed and get on with life, written in the low period as the Beatles ended. Simple, warm, and one of his most honest vocals. It came back into his set on the 2002 US tour and has surfaced on and off since, without becoming a fixture.

2. 'Junk' (McCartney, 1970). A melody that dates back to the 1968 India trip and the White Album demos, finally released here. Gentle and quietly sad.

3. 'Dear Boy' (Ram, 1971). Stacked harmonies with Linda that rival the Beach Boys, over a melody that keeps turning unexpected corners. Ram was dismissed by many critics on release and is now widely regarded as one of his best albums. This track shows why.

4. 'Heart of the Country' (Ram, 1971). A light, jazzy country shuffle with scat singing, all about the farm life he and Linda had built in Scotland. It was the UK B-side of 'The Back Seat of My Car', which is how it qualifies here.

5. 'Some People Never Know' (Wild Life, 1971). The best song on the first Wings album, a long, patient ballad that deserved a better home.

6. 'Little Lamb Dragonfly' (Red Rose Speedway, 1973). Dating back to the Ram sessions, it moves through several sections and stands as one of the most beautiful melodies he wrote in the 1970s.

7. 'Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)' (Band on the Run, 1973). Written after Dustin Hoffman challenged Paul to write a song on the spot around a news story about Picasso. It turns into a collage that quotes other songs from the album.

1975 to 1980: Wings at Full Strength

8. 'Call Me Back Again' (Venus and Mars, 1975). Recorded during the New Orleans sessions for Venus and Mars, it is a slow, horn-laden soul ballad with one of Paul's most unrestrained rock vocals. It was played on the 1975 to 1976 world tour and appears on Wings Over America, then largely disappeared.

9. 'Treat Her Gently / Lonely Old People' (Venus and Mars, 1975). A tender two-part piece about old age, sitting just before the 'Crossroads' theme at the close of the album.

10. 'Beware My Love' (Wings at the Speed of Sound, 1976). The hardest-rocking thing on a gentle album, with a quiet opening that explodes into a full-band assault.

11. 'Warm and Beautiful' (Wings at the Speed of Sound, 1976). A short, stately piano ballad, as open-hearted as anything he wrote in the decade.

12. 'Cafe on the Left Bank' (London Town, 1978). A sharp little rocker with a great groove, cut during the May 1977 sessions aboard the yacht Fair Carol in the Virgin Islands, with a five-piece line-up that still included Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English, both of whom had left by the time the album came out. Proof that London Town has more to offer than its reputation.

13. 'Winter Rose / Love Awake' (Back to the Egg, 1979). A wintry fragment that opens into a folk-flavoured acoustic song, the gentlest moment on Wings' final album.

14. 'Summer's Day Song' (McCartney II, 1980). Amid the synthesiser experiments of McCartney II, this is a slow, choral, almost hymn-like piece that most people skip past. Do not.

1982 to 1997: The Studio Craftsman Years

15. 'Somebody Who Cares' (Tug of War, 1982). Tug of War was produced by George Martin and it shows in the detail. This acoustic song, with Stanley Clarke on bass, is a quiet highlight on a strong record.

16. 'Wanderlust' (Tug of War, 1982). A slow, stately song that sounds like a Sunday afternoon. Paul revisited it for the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broad Street.

17. 'Distractions' (Flowers in the Dirt, 1989). A lush ballad with an orchestral arrangement by Clare Fischer, about the things that keep us from the people we love. Flowers in the Dirt is best known for the Elvis Costello co-writes, but this solo Paul song is the album's secret heart.

18. 'Little Willow' (Flaming Pie, 1997). Written for the children of Ringo's first wife, Maureen, after her death in 1994. It is delicate and devastating, and it deserves far more attention.

19. 'Calico Skies' (Flaming Pie, 1997). An acoustic ballad written during a 1991 hurricane power cut on Long Island. It has had occasional live outings, but it remains unknown to most casual listeners.

2001 to 2020: The Late Career Gems

20. 'Tiny Bubble' (Driving Rain, 2001). Driving Rain was cut quickly in Los Angeles with producer David Kahne and a new band, including Rusty Anderson and Abe Laboriel Jr., and this moody, reflective track is its best moment.

21. 'Riding to Vanity Fair' (Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, 2005). Producer Nigel Godrich pushed Paul hard on this album, and this dark, slow, restrained song, widely read as being about a friendship gone sour, is the result. It is one of the best things he has recorded since 1970.

22. 'Jenny Wren' (Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, 2005). A fingerpicked companion piece to 'Blackbird', with a duduk solo by Pedro Eustache. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and Paul played it on the 2005 US tour.

23. 'You Tell Me' (Memory Almost Full, 2007). A late-life look back at long summers, gentle and quietly moving, and one of his best vocals of the 2000s.

24. 'Early Days' (NEW, 2013). Paul looking back on the Liverpool record shops and the start of it all, and pushing back against people who tell the story wrong. Fragile, honest, and a perfect piece of late McCartney.

25. 'Long Tailed Winter Bird' (McCartney III, 2020). An instrumental-led track built on an insistent acoustic riff, recorded alone during the 2020 lockdown. McCartney III reached No.1 in the UK, but few people talk about this opener.

Where to Start If You Only Have an Hour

If you only have time for a handful, start with 'Dear Boy', 'Little Lamb Dragonfly', 'Call Me Back Again', 'Distractions', 'Riding to Vanity Fair' and 'Early Days'. Between them they cover five decades and show every side of Paul: the harmony arranger, the rock singer, the studio craftsman and the older songwriter looking back.

Putting this list together shows how consistent Paul's melodic gift has been across five decades. Critics have tended to judge his albums by their singles, and many of those singles are lighter than the best album tracks. Ram, Red Rose Speedway, London Town and Driving Rain all had mixed reviews on release, and all of them contain songs on this list. If you have only ever heard the greatest hits, the albums are where the rest of the story is, and the Archive Collection editions add demos that show how several of these songs took shape.

Most of these albums have been reissued on vinyl in recent years through the Paul McCartney Archive Collection and standalone reissues. Our roundup of the best McCartney vinyl pressings shows which editions are worth your money.