YDS READING PASSAGES / TEST 4 31. Soru

-11. SIR JAMES PAUL McCARTNEY

Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, England, to Mary and James McCartney. Paul's introduction to music was through his father, who was the founder of Jim Mac's Jazz Band. It was shortly after his mother's death from breast cancer in 1956 that McCartney immersed himself in learning to play the guitar. His mastery of early rock 'n' roll songs impressed his friends and created an opportunity for him to join John Lennon in a local group that would later become The Beatles. McCartney, who is most famous for playing bass in the band, composed many memorable songs, including 'Yesterday" (1965), "Eleanor Rigby" (1966), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967), "Hey Jude" (1968), and "Let It Be" (1969). His willingness to sign autographs, pose for pictures, and give interviews caused the mass media to dub him "the cute Beatle". That title, combined with the prevalent early-1960s belief that the rock genre of music lacked artistic merit, often obscured McCartney's contribution to the music of the Beatles. His expertise in harmony and melody complemented Lennon's love of word play and basic rock 'n' roll and helped create many of the vocal and bass lines that have become the trademarks of the Beatles' musical style. As half of the Lennon-McCartney song writing team, he created some of the best known popular music of the 20th Century. McCartney was a member of The Beatles, between 1962 and 1970, the founder of Wings, which performed from 1971 to 1980, and has, in more recent years, enjoyed success as a solo recording artist, a composer of classical music, a painter, a poet and a businessman.

The author explains that the press nicknamed Paul McCartney the cute Beatle because ------ .