Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney has a little of that Princess Diana thing about her where fans (usually boomer women, I gather) can be often be rabidly enthusiastic about her. Me? I'm fairly ambivalent. She seemed pleasant enough...but her musical work never particularly interested me...though some of her photographs were wonderful:

Photography

In the Sixties she had become a professional photographer for the fledging Rolling Stone magazine, taking shots of:

Jimi Hendrix
Janis Joplin
Bob Dylan
Aretha Franklin
The Who
The Doors &
The Beatles

There's a wonderful retrospective of Linda McCartney's photos at ackland.org. and a book of her pictures...

Linda McCartney's Sixties, photographs of the Rock Aristocracy

"...I first saw this book at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and was amazed at the photographs. Mrs. McCartney didn't seem to take posed pictures with bright lights in the musician's eyes. She used natural light and caught the musicians in their natural state. I love this book so much because of the honest quality to the photos. I'd definately recommend it!.." Anon

"...Portraits include...a stunning Jimi Hendrix in performance, Bob Dylan scratching his ear, Frank Zappa holding his baby daughter Moon Unit and Janis Joplin hoisting a bottle of Southern Comfort..." Amazon blurb

Linda McCartney Roadworks 1996

"...Linda McCartney's unassuming eye seems to capture the everyday in a not-so-everyday fashion...In both color and black-and-white, McCartney's images, which here span the globe and at least two decades, deserve the attention and study of today's younger generation of photographers..." Amazon blurb

Linda McCartney Wide Open 1999

"...There is a terrific sense of reverence for the natural world in these photos, in which she demonstrates that nature provides the most satisfying, serene, and dramatic of images, if you look for them...You need not travel to the Grand Canyon or the redwood forests to see them - looking out your back door, out the plane window, in your garden, across the beach or through the glass teapot on your table may yield views as delicate and mysterious as the old masters..." Amazon reviewer C. Cleveland

Linda McCartney Light From Within 2001

"...Light from Within: Photojournals follows Linda McCartney's Sixties and other collections of her b&w shots, taken mostly in the late '60s, '70s and early '80s. Forty duo-tone and seventy five color shots including:

Allen Ginsberg standing in front of the Hampton Jitney bus
Paul, Stella and James McCartney in a farmyard
the Grateful Dead in Central Park

...were chosen by daughter Mary and Martin Harrison, with a foreword from McCartney's Beatle husband..." Amazon blurb

"...As a long time Beatles fan, it was great to get a peek into some of the private photos of Paul McCartney and family. Love the photos at the farm in Scotland...Great pictures, great memories, nice book to add to the Beatles Library..." Amazon reviewer S. Kretschmer

Cooking

In 1991 Linda released her own range of Vegetarian foods, making her a millionaire in her own right.

Linda McCartney's Home Cooking

"...I picked this up on a whim and I'm glad I did. It is written in a very comfortable, casual style and makes you feel as if Linda is really sharing her family recipes. The recipes themselves are unpretentious, and tasty! (I highly recommend the Shepherd's Pie!) The book is written from a lacto-ovo-veg perspective, and uses a lot of meat substitutes. Mainstream families would easily be able to incorporate these into a "less meat" lifestyle, or transitioning into vegetarianism...The photos are lovely and mouth watering, too. It is such a great book, and makes me sad that Linda left us so early in her life. May she rest in peace..." Amazon reviewer Fanshawe

"...My daughter has recently decided on a vegetarian diet much to the chagrin of the rest of the family. This book has provided recipes that we all can enjoy..." Amazon reviewer Cathy Gamas "tink"

Linda McCartney: Linda's Kitchen 1997

"...I was delighted to find this book to be entirely practical. So many vegetarian cookbooks contain unknown or hard-to-find ingredients, and some of the recipes are often rehashed versions of old tofu mixtures. Linda's book is one of the best vegetarian recipe collections I've found, based on fresh and commonly found ingredients; filled with the kinds of meals people usually eat..." Amazon reviewer Marguerite Pruett

"...I own many vegetarian cookbooks and this is the one I cannot do without! I would have never been able to become a vegetarian if it had not been for the recipes in this book....The recipes are easy to follow and every one I have tried has turned out perfectly. I have owned this cookbook for over 10 years and the pages are dog-eared and spattered with food (proof that this is a much-used and much-loved cookbook!)..." Amazon reviewer SweetPollyPB67

Linda McCartney: Linda's Summer Kitchen 1997

Linda McCartney: Linda Winter Kitchen 1998

Linda McCartney died of metastic breast cancer 1998, and Paul issued Wild Prairie, a collection of musical pieces that she had sung on as a member of of Wings, as well as other bits and pieces, odds & sods. Here's an interview that he did on Wild Prairie. Tracks include:

Seaside Woman, recorded in 1972 and released as a single by Suzy & The Red Stripes. In 1980 it was re-released with an animation music video, made by Oscar Grillo, which won the Palme D'Or (a major prize) at the Cannes Film Festival &
Oriental Nightfish, recorded during the Band On The Run sessions in 1973

Linda McCartney: Wide Prairie

"...It might not be the best album of the century but this CD is a fantastic tribute to the life of Linda McCartney:

...she does not really care about having a perfect voice
she might be out of tune, from time to time
but she is sincere, sings from her heart and communicates a lot of emotion

The CD package is great with a selection of photos and Paul's texts. As for the songs, after a couple of times, you really get to like them...Thanks to the CD, she is still with us! Thanks Paul..." Amazon reviewer Cardonnel

Linda McCartney: Wide Prairie book

Various Artists: A Garland For Linda

"...This album is designed as a tribute to the life and memory of Linda McCartney (who died of breast cancer in 1998) and includes the work of nine contemporary British composers. Portmanteau albums such as these always raise the question of stylistic unity, but actually the composers have mostly responded to the theme of illness, suffering, and hope in very similar ways: the tone of the whole album is one of calm reflection, punctuated by moments of visionary ecstasy..." Amazon blurb

In 2001, friend Danny Fields released an occasionally uncomplimentary biography of Linda McCartney

Danny Fields: Linda McCartney, A Portrait

"...This well crafted biography of Linda McCartney will certainly hold the interests of those who read it. Linda, most known for her photographs of famous rock stars of the 1960s and, later for marrying former Beatle Paul McCartney fully emerges as a person in her own right in this book..." Amazon reviewer BeatleBangs1964

"...Danny Fields has managed to capture the "no BS" story of the late Linda. He obviously cared for her deeply as a friend and colleague, but didn't fall prey to the usual sycophantic ramblings that often appear in such books. Nor did he sweeten the subject unnecessarily. It is a tribute to his regard, his professionalism and his Amazon reviewer Martin Nethercutt

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