Maybe I'm Amazed
"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by English musician Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1970 debut solo album "McCartney". Although the original recording has never been released as a single, a live performance by McCartney's later band Wings, from the live album "Wings over America", was. Released in 1977, this version became a top ten hit in the United States and reached number 28 in the United Kingdom. In 2011, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked "Maybe I'm Amazed" number 347 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. History . McCartney wrote the song in 1969, just before the Beatles' break-up. He credited his wife Linda with helping him get through the difficult time. Although most of his debut solo album was recorded at his home in London, McCartney recorded "Maybe I'm Amazed" entirely in EMI's Number Two studio in Abbey Road, on the same day as he recorded "Every Night". He played all the instruments: guitars, bass, piano, organ and drums. Although McCartney declined to release the song as a single in 1970, it nonetheless received a great deal of radio airplay worldwide. A promotional film  was made, comprising still photographs of McCartney, his wife Linda, stepdaughter Heather, and daughter Mary, which first aired in the UK on 19 April 1970 on ITV in its own slot, and as a part of an episode of CBS Television's "The Ed Sullivan Show". Reception. Regarded as one of McCartney's finest love songs, it achieved the number 347 position in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list compiled by "Rolling Stone" magazine in November 2004, and is the only solo McCartney song to make the list. In a late 2009 Q&A with journalists held in London  to promote his live album "Good Evening New York City", McCartney said "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "the song he would like to be remembered for in the future". In a review for the "McCartney" album on release, Langdon Winner of "Rolling Stone" described "Maybe I'm Amazed", as "a very powerful song", that states "one of the main sub-themes of the record, that the terrible burden of loneliness can be dispelled by love." Winner continued to describe the track as "the only song on the album that even comes close to McCartney's best efforts of the past . It succeeds marvelously." In a retrospective review for "McCartney", "Record Collector" has highlighted "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Every Night" and "Junk", as songs that "still sound absolutely effortless and demonstrate the man's natural genius with a melody". Joe Tangari of "Pitchfork" similarly evaluated "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Junk" and "Singalong Junk", as the "peaks" of "McCartney". Live version. A live recording from the 1976 album "Wings over America" was released as a single by McCartney's band Wings on 4 February 1977 and reached number 10 in the US on the "Billboard" pop charts, and  number 28 in the UK. Versions of the song can be heard on several other live McCartney albums including "Back in the U.S." and "Back in the World". "Maybe I'm Amazed" has become a centrepiece of McCartney's concerts, along with "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die". Live versions of the song are available on the 2011 reissue of "McCartney". Track listing. 12" US Promo, Record Store Day 2013 EP. Side A Side B Personnel. "McCartney "studio version: "Wings Over America" live version: References.