"She was known for her powerhouse voice, and James was confident enough in that voice not to oversell it."  Well said. And something certain singers today just don't get.

Right. You missed the point of the early Beatles if this is what you got out of it. Like a sad trained seal, Elvis said "yes ma'am" and "no sir" in every interview and never expressed any independent thought, while the Beatles brought style, freshness, and irreverence to pop. They smoked, swore, spoke their minds, and…

We all like what we like. The Beatles looked forward and experimented in any way they could. It's why Abbey Road and the White Album still sound fresh today. The Stones' music looks back, musically, and also looks back lyrically (under my thumb, brown sugar bull shit). I realize those lyrics represent some male angst…

And yet somehow I'm unconcerned.

I'll go with Elvis and the Beatles.

There's not enough eyerolls in the world to respond to your comment.

Too many rock bios are either hatchet jobs (like the Goldman bio) or fan worship. An exception is the two-part Elvis biography by Peter Guralnick — the only Elvis bio worth reading. It's well written and well researched, and it doesn't sugarcoat Elvis' problems at all, yet it feels like the author has a deep…

What does a mega millionaire with an obsessively buffed body, botox and hair plugs have to be "angry" about?

Nope, but now that you mention it … I just read a blog post where someone claimed that the song title, "Norwegian Wood," was actually a bit of Lennon word play for "Knowing She Would." Meaning: The song is supposedly about all the affairs he had as a Beatle and knowing that the women he propositioned would ALWAYS say…

Listen again. Flaming Pie is a good album with some great songs: Calico Skies, Beautiful Day, Young Boy, Great Day, Souvenir, and Little Willow. It's not a great album but there are some  fine tracks on it.

Well my first reaction was: Standards? But yes, it could be good and I'm willing to give it a listen.

Not at all. He's easily my favorite. Fuck all the haters. And I admire a bunch of his solo work as well as his Beatles work. The comments here are just typical and tired ("gee, another joke about Wonderful Christmastime." No one's ever said THAT before).

Why do people say that like it's so surprising. Spy Magazine was making this same joke 30 years ago.

I don't know about this record, either. As a Paul fan, I'll give it a listen I suppose. But what the hell. He's near 70 and he wants to do it. No one's forced to buy it. And he's produced enough amazing work that if he wants to mess around with the old standards he's always loved, why not?

No it isn't the "worst." Not by a long shot. And Christ, another thread on AV club about this throwaway song? You people really do have nothing else to talk about.

That's bullshit. Paul has done a lot of great work since the late 90s. If you haven't listened to any of it, fine. Or if it's not to your taste, fine. But his Chaos and Creation album is terrific and so is Electric Arguments.

The silly overreaction of people hating on this song is far more boring than the song. Everyone who has ever worked in retail has had to listen to some song that drove them nuts. Whatever.

But I like that snippet of the song used in the old Staples commercial advertising the beginning of school in September, with that guy flying by in the shopping cart. Little bit of marketing genius.

Well said, Martha. It's ridiculous how many people define Paul's solo career by a few overplayed songs they heard on the radio.

Oh come on, it is not. Case in point: You've Having My Baby by Paul Anka.