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The McCartney Legacy 2022
The McCartney Legacy is a biographical series focusing on Paul McCartney’s musical journey after the Beatles, authored by music journalist Allan Kozinn and documentarian Adrian Sinclair. The first volume, 1, detailing the period from 1969 to 1973, was published on 13 December 2022. A second volume, covering 1974 to 1980, appeared on 10 December 2024. The series draws influence, in part, from the work of Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, whose The Beatles: All These Years series served as a source of inspiration. McCartney himself did not take part in the project, though he did not prevent others from participating, including interviews with former Wings drummer Denny Seiwell and filmmaker Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg.
Volume 1 received positive feedback in The New York Times, described as a "well-planned encore" to McCartney’s 2021 semi-autobiographical book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. British music publications also offered praise, with Record Collector magazine's Jamie Atkins giving it 5/5, Uncut’s Jim Wirth awarding 9/10, Classic Rock’s Hugh Fielder 8/10, and Mojo’s Tom Doyle 4/5. Music scholar Kenneth Womack called it "a triumph. Masterful in scope and full of rich detail." However, The Times' Daniel Finkelstein offered a mixed review, criticizing its length and calling it a weak "imitator" of Lewisohn's efforts, although he appreciated the thoroughness of the research. The Irish Times found the book "often compelling," but noted that it was "so exhaustive it's almost like swimming through treacle to get to something that little bit more interesting." Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield labeled it a "comprehensive, painstaking, dazzling and definitive chronicle." Lewisohn himself called it an "accurate biography of a universal explorer."
Following the release of Volume 1, Sinclair was appointed Archive Consultant for Morgan Neville's 2026 documentary Man on the Run. Neville referred to Kozinn and Sinclair’s book as "the blueprint" for his film, which traces Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles resurgence.
Details
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- ISBN
- 9780063000728
- Pages
- 720
- Format
