Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Tag: Paul McCartney

  • Paul McCartney kind of saved my life once; he has no idea of course

    A story of pushing through when I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue this life.

  • Driving and Singing: Paul McCartney, “Too Much Rain”

    Friday mornings of late I’ve been sharing songs I love to sing and telling stories about their place in my life. I love to sing! But as every song ends, so does this series, today.  2005 might well have been the hardest year of my life. My wife was divorcing me, I got to see my…

  • Driving and singing: Wings, “Daytime Nighttime Suffering”

    I sing. My goodness, do I love it. It’s a cathartic pleasure that lets me vent steam. Singing is key to my mental health! While I’ll never be a singing star, I’ve got a decent voice, I can carry a tune, and I can sing out. If you want to hear, just join me at church…

  • Paul McCartney kind of saved my life once; he has no idea of course

    I was away at my first year of engineering school working harder than ever before or since. My full class load was delivering six to ten hours of homework every night. I tried to keep up but it involved too many late nighters. My life consisted of meals, class, homework, and too little sleep. As…

  • New Paul McCartney music is always a big event in my life

    For as long as I can remember, new Paul McCartney music has been a big event for me. It started with the Beatles music my mother played around the house when I was very small. But McCartney’s post-Beatles work really formed the soundtrack of my life. Aged four, I sat at the breakfast table waiting…

  • Rock shows

    I’m going to a rock concert tonight, my first in five years. I’m going to see heavy-metal patriarchs Iron Maiden, who are still rocking hard even though the band members are all in their 50s. Their music has evolved from straight-ahead metal to progressive rock, which means it’s grown up just as I have. So…

  • Another day

    Has a song ever powerfully restored a lost memory for you? One has for me. In college, I was collecting Paul McCartney on vinyl – everything he recorded after he left the Beatles. It was the mid 1980s; everybody was selling their records to buy CDs and discarded albums could be had for a buck…

  • Paul McCartney kind of saved my life once; he has no idea of course

    I was away at my first year of engineering school working harder than ever before or since. My full class load was delivering six to ten hours of homework every night. I tried to keep up but it involved too many late nighters. My life consisted of meals, class, homework, and too little sleep. As…

  • Rock shows

    Who have you seen in concert? Something the disk jockey said on the radio this morning started me thinking about the concerts I’ve been to. I was surprised that I couldn’t remember them all! It’s not like I’ve seen that many shows, and I certainly wasn’t smoking any dope at them to fog my memory.…

  • Mamunia

    When life rains on you, let it, because you will surely grow.