Field migration, cultural mobility and celebrity: the case of Paul McCartney

Abstract

This paper discusses the phenomenon of celebrity migration, whereby figures established in one cultural field attempt to cross over into a neighbouring field, a long-standing practice in the arts more generally, but one which is fraught with risk for the individual. I illustrate this with a case study of the popular musician Paul McCartney, who has spent the last two decades attempting to take up residence in the field of classical music, with considerable commercial success. However, McCartney’s status as a classical composer is challenged by the almost universally negative reviews of his work in the classical music press. Since one criterion for defining a field is its specific principles of evaluation, it would seem that his migration has failed to establish him as a legitimate producer in his adopted field. Following a discussion of McCartney’s career and analysis of some of the critical reviews of his classical work, I suggest some reasons for this relatively unsuccessful migration with reference to other artists who have attempted similar boundary crossings.

Keywords:

• celebrity
• popular music
• classical music
• cultural field theory
• Bourdieu
• Beatles
• music criticism
• music press
• cultural legitimacy

Notes

1. It must be noted that, while most of the award categories at the Classical Brits are voted for by musicians and other industry figures (i.e. those firmly rooted in the ‘field’), the Best Album award is exceptionally based on votes cast by the listeners of the radio station Classic FM.

2. The reviewer here is alluding to an important commercial pressure that must be borne in mind when considering celebrity migration: the demands of producers in neighbouring fields offering opportunities for migration (usually to serve their own commercial interests). We see this very clearly in the efforts of the classical music industry to secure the involvement of a figure of McCartney’s box-office potential.

3. McCartney has subsequently claimed that composing software is sufficiently advanced to enable him to transcribe by simply playing melody lines on a keyboard (various videos can be found on YouTube in which he demonstrates the process).

4. Indeed, McCartney’s relationship with Davis springs from a celebrity connection – Davis’ wife Jean Boht was appearing at the time in the BBC sitcom Bread, written by Carla Lane, a friend of McCartney’s wife Linda.

5. In a subsequent interview (Metcalf 1991), Carl Davis admits to having been slightly piqued by McCartney’s insistence that the Oratorio should be attributed solely to him: the former’s remark that the decision was ‘not negotiable’ is another instance of McCartney’s celebrity capital wielding its power.

6. According to several sources (including Miles 1997), then Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock wrote a personal letter to McCartney complaining about the Guardian reviewers’ ‘sniffy snobbery’. Kinnock’s endorsement of McCartney’s migratory status (Miles quotes him as describing the premiere as ‘bloody great music’) may reflect his own sensitivity to social class issues.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David C. Giles

David Giles is Reader in Media Psychology at the University of Winchester, UK. He has written about fame and celebrity for over a decade (e.g. Illusions of Immortality, Macmillan, 2000) as well as on many topics relating to media and psychology, with particular emphasis in recent years on the dynamics of online communities relating to mental health and fandom.