THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
840) Paul McCartney — “Every Night”
This “sweet, gentle” tribute to Linda McCartney “rank[s] as [a] full-fledged McCartney classic”, “full of all the easy melodic charm that is McCartney’s trademark”. (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, https://www.allmusic.com/album/mccartney-mw0000194129) “[O]ne of [his] greatest solo accomplishments [see #28, 132, 374, 669] . . . , [i]t is rare to find a song that paints such a perfect view of romantic love while staying unique, personal, and cliché-free.” (Jessy Krupa, https://www.popmatters.com/126886-paul-mccartney-every-night-2496181073.html)
The Beatles Bible says:
The lyrics for the song recounted how McCartney had found solace in the domesticity he enjoyed with his wife Linda. During The Beatles’ break-up McCartney struggled with depression and turned briefly to alcohol, but eventually found fulfillment and motivation in songwriting and family life. Like ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, it revealed how Linda had become a stabilising influence upon him.
https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/every-night/
Jessy Krupa adds that:
A lot changed for Paul McCartney in the year 1969, and he reportedly didn’t handle it well. The band that his entire life revolved around–the biggest band in the world, the Beatles–was falling apart, and the resulting tangled mess of hurt feelings and legal matters left him sorely depressed. Getting him through this difficult time was his wife, Linda, who suggested that he should start working on his own music apart from the group. “Every Night” became the resulting tribute to his inspiring spouse.
https://www.popmatters.com/126886-paul-mccartney-every-night-2496181073.html
Appearing on McCartney’s first solo album (see #132), the song actually came into being during the Beatles’ Get Back sessions in ’69. As the Good Book tells us:
McCartney first performed the song during The Beatles’ Get Back sessions at Apple Studios, on 21 and 24 January 1969. On the first occasion it was a brief solo rendition while the group was working on ‘Dig A Pony’ though the second had some poorly-played slide guitar accompaniment by John Lennon. [It] was recorded properly by McCartney on 22 February 1970 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road.
https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/paul-mccartney/songs/every-night/
McCartney had “the first two lines . . . for years. They were added to in 1969 in Greece (Benitses) on holiday.” (press release for the McCartney album, https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/1970/04/mccartney-press-kit-sent-to-uk-press/) He remembers that “when I played the McCartney album to Ringo he said that he preferred my original solo version, when I had first sung it to him.” (Club Sandwich, Winter 1994, https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/song/every-night/)
As to McCartney, Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes:
Paul McCartney . . . record[ed] his first solo album [see #132] at his home studio, performing nearly all of the instruments himself. Appropriately, [it] has an endearingly ragged, homemade quality that makes even its filler — and there is quite a bit of filler — rather ingratiating. . . . At the time the throwaway nature of much of the material was a shock, but it has become charming in retrospect.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/mccartney-mw0000194129
Here are the Beatles:
Live in ’79, with Wings:
Cool version by Richie Havens:
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