From Beatles break-up to John’s murder, a look at Paul’s transformation
Fresh Air
NPR
4.3 • 36.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville tells us about his new film, ‘Man on The Run.’It begins when the Beatles end, with Paul McCartney trying to figure out who he is as a musician and as a person— without John Lennon and the band that defined him since he was a teenager. Neville got access to previously unseen archival footage of McCartney with his young family and forming his new band, Wings. He spoke with Fresh Air contributor/producer Ann Marie Baldonado.
Also, jazz critic Martin Johnson reviews an Art Blakey concert album, ‘Strasbourg 82.’
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, |
| 0:05.4 | investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish. |
| 0:11.1 | More information is available at Hewlett.org. |
| 0:14.5 | This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. |
| 0:17.4 | A new documentary about Paul McCartney, his life after the breakup of the Beatles, and the |
| 0:22.6 | formation of his band Wings, is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The film was made by our guest |
| 0:28.8 | Morgan Neville. He also directed documentaries about Fred Rogers, Anthony Bourdain, and Orson |
| 0:34.7 | Wells, as well as many prominent musicians, and has won an |
| 0:38.6 | Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy. Morgan Neville spoke with fresh airs, Anne Marie Boldenado. |
| 0:44.8 | Chances are Morgan Neville has made a documentary about music that you love. He won the Academy Award |
| 0:51.4 | for Best Documentary Feature and the Grammy for Best Music Film for 20 feet from stardom, |
| 0:57.4 | his portrait of the backup singers whose voices helped define rock and pop music while remaining largely invisible. |
| 1:05.4 | His latest film is about one of the most visible musicians, Paul McCartney. |
| 1:11.2 | If I hear someone damning Paul McCartney, |
| 1:15.2 | I tend to agree with them. |
| 1:19.1 | So when everyone was saying, I broke up the Beatles, |
| 1:22.8 | and I was just overbearing and all of that, |
| 1:26.4 | I kind of bought into it. |
| 1:30.3 | I thought that's, you know, the kind of bastard I am. |
| 1:34.3 | It leaves you in this kind of no man's land. |
| 1:38.3 | But the truth, John had come in one day and said he was leaving the Beatles. |
| 1:46.2 | He said, it's kind of exciting. |
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