For over a decade, Paul McCartney was one of the biggest driving forces behind the Beatles.
Alongside friend and bandmate John Lennon, the pair were responsible for some of the Fab Four's biggest hits. But in 1970 the Beatles announced they were splitting up after the release of their 13th album, Let It Be.
The split allowed Macca to take his creativity into his own hands. In April 1970, he released his first solo album: McCartney. The record was a labour of love for the star, who wrote and recorded every instrument on it.
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Looking back at McCartney, Paul commented on how it felt to do his own thing after the Beatles came to an end- The Express reports.
He said via his Twitter account: "I like its bare bones, I mean, talk about honest. You couldn’t get more honest than plugging right in the back of the machine, and if the snare was too loud you moved the mic away from it a bit."
This wasn't the only thing he loved about the album, however. The split of The Beatles was still looming over McCartney when he recorded and released his solo album.
But instead of having to slog through more work, he looked at this record as solace. He said: "It was a freedom thing for me, because it was in the heat of The Beatles breaking up."
McCartney added that the method of recording the album also factored into his desire to strip things back. McCartney said: "I just wanted to get back to absolute basics in the same way as I wanted The Beatles to go back on the road."
He followed this up by describing "McCartney" as having three main themes: "Home, family and love."
To make matters even more exciting, McCartney's hard work paid off in a big way. McCartney was a massive success when it hit the album charts. It was number one for three weeks in the USA and was certified platinum.
But there was a lot of controversy within The Beatles about the release of McCartney.
McCartney was originally due to be released within seven days of Let It Be - the band's final record.
Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr decided this was not an intelligent move, so decided to push McCartney's release back.
They sent him a letter which read: "Dear Paul, We thought a lot about yours and the Beatles LPs – and decided it’s stupid for Apple to put out two big albums within 7 days of each other ... We thought you’d come round when you realized that the Beatles album was coming out on April 24th. We’re sorry it turned out like this – it’s nothing personal. Love John & George. Hare Krishna. A Mantra a Day Keeps MAYA! Away."
When Ringo arrived at his house to deliver the letter McCartney was furious.
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