That Was Me

This book examines the cultural significance of the Beatles and the solo career of Paul McCartney re-emerging from, re-connecting with, and ultimately representing the Beatles legacy.

---

That Was Me: Paul McCartney’s Career and the Legacy of the Beatles explores the impact of Paul McCartney as a musician outside the Beatles, identifying the continued excitement in generations of fans and listeners, and his perennial efforts to perform and record music. Though rooted in biographical details of Paul McCartney, the book identifies a historical placement of musicians since World War II that makes those performing for decades since the 1950s and 1960s significant. Richard D. Driver shows how McCartney’s solo career is multi-faceted and extremely diverse, ranging from breaking sharply with the style and output of the Beatles to experimenting in orchestral and operatic music and returning to music designed to emulate and reproduce the style, success, and popularity of the Beatles. Through McCartney we can literally and symbolically view and revisit the popular music phenomenon that was the Beatles, and popular music from the 1950s to today.