Paul is Jack Gray?

Amanda Riddell

Aug 28

1 min read

Jane Asher confirmed it. Timothy Gray was a real singer who worked with Hugh Martin, while Jack Gray was the name Paul used when writing songs with Hugh. It's a lot like with Taylor and Don/Peter. He helped her with some early hits too. High Spirits is the one where Paul got to co-write the songs. Hugh Martin had a nervous breakdown in the early 1960's. Paul was there for him. - The real Timothy Gray found out, then stole the credit and the royalties for High Spirits. Paul only wrote a handful, but Love Can Change The Stars is one he co-wrote. I'm the one who matured later as a songwriter (at 17-18). Paul and Taylor were good as kids and wrote lots of early songs as tweens.

4 Comments

Amanda Riddell

Sep 03

Paul wrote off Hugh when he went Christian. Thought that was too far...

Amanda Riddell

Aug 27

Paul was into songs, but famously isn't much of a theatre person. At Last We're Alone was another one of his. Do You Want To Know A Secret makes more sense this way. Didn't mean Paul could secretly read music. That was John. John and George could pick up Tin Pan Alley songs from a score. They had PVG scores in those days, not tabs like today. Paul needed a transcriber; Lennon, Starr and Harrison were into rock.

Edited

Amanda Riddell

Aug 27

Replying to

While the band was very real, Beatlemania was as cynical as Jacindamania. Clearly manufactured, but then it turned out the songs were seriously good. Mike McCartney was often involved in the early Beatles songs; he could rock. John wrote some High Spirits arrangements with Paul. The London production gave Paul lots of room to fix it, though it was a hit in NY. Hugh Martin wasn't British... it was a huge flop in London.

Edited