The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969 – 73

Written by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair

Narrated by Simon Vance

In this first of a groundbreaking multivolume set, THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL 1: 1969-73 captures the life of Paul McCartney in the years immediately following the dissolution of the Beatles, a period in which McCartney recreated himself as both a man and a musician. Informed by hundreds of interviews, extensive ground up research, and thousands of never-before-seen documents THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL 1 is an in depth, revealing exploration of McCartney’s creative and personal lives beyond the Beatles.

When Paul McCartney issued a press release in April 1970 announcing that the world’s most beloved band, the Beatles, had broken up no one could have predicted that McCartney himself would go on to have one of the most successful solo careers in music history. Yet in the years after the Fab Four disbanded, Paul McCartney became a legend in his own right. Now journalist and world-renowned Beatles’ historian Allan Kozinn and award-winning documentarian Adrian Sinclair chronicle in technicolor McCartney’s pivotal years from 1969 to 1973, as he recreated himself in the immediate aftermath of the Beatles breakup – a period when, newly married and with a growing family, he conquered depression and self-doubt, formed a new band, Wings, and recorded five epochal albums culminating in the triumphant smash, Band on the Run.

Part 1 of a multivolume set, THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL. 1 documents a pivotal moment in the life of a man whose legacy grows increasingly more relevant as his influence on music and pop culture remains as relevant as ever. It is the first truly comprehensive biography, and the most finely detailed exploration of McCartney’s creative life beyond the Beatles, ever undertaken.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Dec 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9780063000735

Allan Kozinn

Allan Kozinn was a music critic and culture reporter for the New York Times from 1977 to 2014, where he wrote principally about classical music. In that capacity, he interviewed Paul McCartney several times, and saw him perform in a great variety of configurations and venues—from singing with a hand mic at the Lonestar Roadhouse, playing rock oldies at the Cavern, in Liverpool, and performing in small halls like the Ed Sullivan Theater and the Highline Ballroom, to full-scale concerts at Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium. He currently contributes regularly to the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and other publications. He has taught courses at the Juilliard School and New York University (including a course on the Beatles at the latter), and has written seven books, among them The Beatles—From the Cavern to the Rooftop (1995), Got That Something! How The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ Changed Everything (2013), The New York Times Essential Guide—Classical Music (2004).

Reviews for The McCartney Legacy

[Blake Simpson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm only a few hours into this book, but I am very happy. Unlike most books about any of the Beatles, so far, I have not heard any factual errors, and the content is scholarly and thorough without sounding scholarly in style and tone. Very informative, and gloriously long, a real plus when you listen to audiobooks while doing factory work as I do. Only Mark Lewisohn is writing about the Beatles on a level this high.