Also on this date, Paul McCartney officially releases his first solo album, “McCartney.” Press and deejay copies released the week before were accompanied by a Q&A press release officially announcing the end of The Beatles.
The other Beatles had begged Paul to delay his release so as not to hamper sales of their group’s new album “Let It Be” (which is actually the #1 single in America right) now but McCartney held firm and released his album anyway. (McCartney plays all of the instruments on this LP … and had Allen Klein’s ABKCO logo removed from the LP’s back cover as Klein at no time ever represented “the cute Beatle.”)
One of McCartney's best known, most loved tracks, "Maybe I'm Amazed" appears on this album. Incredibly, the beautifully played and arranged track (despite the odds that it absolutely would have gone straight to #1), was not released as a single. (Eventually a live version recorded during Paul McCartney and Wings' first tour of America, was released in 1977 and made it to #10 on the charts.)
Also on this date, Johnny Cash performs at The White House at the invitation of President Richard Nixon. (During this performance, Cash is asked to sing “Okie From Muskogee” but declined to do so ... as this was Merle Haggard’s song, not his!) Instead, he played his #1 Hit “A Boy Named Sue.” And I just LOVE this quote from “On This Day In Rock History”: “It is not known if Nixon recorded the concert.”
