Maybe I'm Amazed

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by English musician Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1970 debut solo album McCartney.

Although the original recording has never been released as a single, a live performance by McCartney's later band Wings, from the live album Wings over America, was released in 1977; this version became a top-ten hit in the United States and reached number 28 in the United Kingdom.

In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Maybe I'm Amazed" number 347 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.

History
McCartney wrote the song in 1969, just before the break-up of the Beatles. He credited his wife Linda with helping him get through the difficult time. Although most of his debut solo album was recorded at his home in London, McCartney recorded "Maybe I'm Amazed" entirely in EMI's Number Two studio in Abbey Road, on 15 February 1970.

McCartney played all the instruments: guitars, bass, piano, organ and drums. At 0:44 into the track, "you can hear the noise of the drumsticks hitting one another, a detail cleaned up in the 2011 McCartney reissue". Although McCartney declined to release the song as a single in 1970, it nonetheless received a great deal of radio airplay worldwide. A promotional film was made, comprising still photographs of McCartney, his wife Linda, stepdaughter Heather, and daughter Mary; it aired in the UK on 19 April 1970 on ITV in its own slot, and later as a part of an episode of CBS Television's The Ed Sullivan Show.

Reception
Regarded as one of McCartney's finest love songs, it achieved the number 347 position in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2004, and is the only solo McCartney song to make the list. In a late 2009 Q&A with journalists held in London to promote his live album Good Evening New York City, McCartney said "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "the song he would like to be remembered for in the future".

In a review for the McCartney album on release, Langdon Winner of Rolling Stone described "Maybe I'm Amazed", as "a very powerful song", that states "one of the main sub-themes of the record, that the terrible burden of loneliness can be dispelled by love." Winner continued to describe the track as "the only song on the album that even comes close to McCartney's best efforts of the past. It succeeds marvelously." In a retrospective review for McCartney, Record Collector has highlighted "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Every Night" and "Junk", as songs that "still sound absolutely effortless and demonstrate the man's natural genius with a melody". Joe Tangari of Pitchfork similarly evaluated "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with "Junk" and "Singalong Junk", as the "peaks" of McCartney. While McCartney's former bandmate George Harrison admitted that he didn't care for the album, he conceded in an interview that he thought "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "great".

Live version
A live recording from the 1976 album Wings over America was released as a single by McCartney's band Wings on 4 February 1977; it reached number 10 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 28 in the UK. This live version is longer than the original and has a slower tempo.

Record World said, "Already a classic and familiar track, this version comes without the false ending. You'll be amazed, too."

Versions of the song can be heard on several other live McCartney albums including Back in the U.S. and Back in the World. "Maybe I'm Amazed" has become a centrepiece of McCartney's concerts, along with "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die". Live versions of the song are available on the 2011 reissue of McCartney.

7"

 * 1) "Maybe I'm Amazed" – 5:11
 * 2) "Soily" – 5:10

12" US Promo, Record Store Day 2013 EP
Side A
 * 1) "Maybe I'm Amazed – Short Version (Mono)" – 3:43
 * 2) "Maybe I'm Amazed – Album Version (Mono)" – 5:11

Side B
 * 1) "Maybe I'm Amazed – Short Version (Stereo)" – 3:43
 * 2) "Maybe I'm Amazed – Album Version (Stereo)" – 5:11

Personnel
According to author John C. Winn:

McCartney studio version:
 * Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass, piano, organ, drums
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals

Wings Over America live version:
 * Paul McCartney – lead vocals, piano
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals, organ
 * Denny Laine – backing vocals, bass guitar
 * Jimmy McCulloch – lead guitar
 * Joe English – drums

Cover versions
Faces recorded a studio version of the song in 1970 and released it as a US-only single, while a live version appeared on their 1971 album Long Player.

Billy Joel covered the song for the 2014 tribute album The Art of McCartney.