Following on the heels of his 1999 oldies tribute Run Devil Run, Paul McCartney’s 2001 studio release, Driving Rain, ventured into quick and unexplored territory with an added pinch of the ex-Beatle’s proclivity for sprite melodies and turnabout arrangements. Even as a few of the 15 songs occasionally slip into that rarefied form of Macca goofiness that sends herds of hardcore Fabs streaming into the streets, bristling with venom — as a whole, McCartney had probably spun together his most cohesive collection since Tug Of War. Three years after losing Linda, his wife of 30 years, it was as if McCartney had a revelation of sorts. With renewed urgency and confidence, he asserted himself to make a decent record. And in the process, he probably ended up learning a thing or two about himself.
One of the strengths behind Driving Rain is that McCartney lets down his guard and takes us through some very personal terrain. The romantic themes running throughout the record are, of course, due to McCartney’s own very public love life — three decades with Linda, and then second wife, Heather Mills. On “Lonely Road (Nu Nu),” a mild and steady rocker, McCartney bares his soul to Linda by declaring, “I tried to get over you, I tried to find something new…” In his frustration, he then poses a rhetorical question during the refrain of “From A Lover To A Friend,” mournfully pleading, “let me love again…” McCartney’s relationship with Mills at that time emerges in the lightness of “I Do” and “Magic.” But it’s the country bounce of “Your Way” and dynamic simplicity of “Heather” that ground the singer’s commitment to his new love.
McCartney’s boldness is underscored by the vigorous group of musicians he recruited to help chisel out a deeper cut between the grooves. Guitarist Rusty Anderson, drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr., keyboardist Gabe Dixon, and producer David Kahne took part in the fresh, impulsive approach that McCartney had adopted. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the album’s final two tracks. The Eastern touches of “Riding Into Jaipur” are elegant enough to send shivers through any of the previous dabblings of George Harrison. And the 10-minute “Rinse The Raindrops” finds McCartney and company against the ropes in a full-on jam session, hearkening back to the days of his on-the-spot exercises with the Beatles. For its first run Driving Rain also included the bonus track “Freedom,” a last-minute entry that McCartney penned for The Concert For New York. Despite the song’s somewhat mundane melody, it shows that Paul McCartney’s disposition was then, as it is now, as bright and optimistic as ever, no matter what the climate.
~ Shawn Perry
