| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 03/02/2012 : 18:23:41
Inspired by his new wife, Paul McCartney takes on the Great American Songbook. The result? VINTAGE MACCA
By Adrian Thrills, Mail online
Verdict: A class tribute act
Rating: 4 Star Rating
Love me do: Sir Paul has been inspired by his new wife Nancy Shevell
There's nothing an old Beatle likes more than the warm glow of nostalgia.
When he toured the UK before Christmas, Paul McCartney played no fewer than 26 Fab Four songs in a three-hour show that was a magical celebration of shared memories.
This collection from Sir Paul goes back even further. An intensely personal trip through U.S. classics of the Thirties, Forties and Fifties, it is his first account of what he calls ‘the songs that inspired the songs’.
Before he hooked up with John, George and Ringo, a young McCartney was exposed to American greats such as Harold Arlen and Irving Berlin by his father Jim, a trumpeter who fronted his own jazz combo.
‘My dad used to play the piano at home, so I heard all these songs from him,’ says Sir Paul.
‘On New Year’s Eve, they’d roll back the carpet and all the ladies would sit around, sipping rum and blackcurrant. After half-an-hour, they’d all start singing, so I associate these songs with good times.
‘Later, when I got into songwriting, I realised how well structured the songs were, and I learnt a lot from that. I loved all the beautiful little tricks. John and I based a few songs on them.’
McCartney has been thinking of dipping into The Great American Songbook for at least 20 years. ‘In the end, it was now or never,’ he says.
In a twist, however, he’s added two original numbers written in the style of the old standards. As you would expect, the new songs, My Valentine and Only Our Hearts, are not out of place.
Kisses On The Bottom — its title lifted from Macca’s version of Fats Waller’s 1953 hit I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter — benefits from a strong support cast.
Recorded with veteran producer Tommy LiPuma, it features virtuoso pianist (and wife of Elvis Costello) Diana Krall and her band of high-quality jazz players. There are also mouth-watering cameos from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder.
As much as the album is a tribute to McCartney’s father, it also comes across as a love letter to new wife Nancy Shevell. It is easy to envisage the old charmer crooning these tunes to his American heiress in one of the couple’s luxury homes.
On a superb new ballad, My Valentine, that is certainly true, with Clapton supplying acoustic riffs as McCartney croons: ‘I’d tell myself that I was waiting for a sign / Then she appeared, a love so fine / My Valentine / And I will love her for life.’
Fab Four Sir Paul (far right) with his fellow Beatles (from left) George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr
But not every track is an ode to late-life contentment. The beautiful Home (When Shadows Fall) is tinged with wistful regret. Even Bye Bye Blackbird is not as innocent as it sounds — the song is widely thought to be about a prostitute.
Some moments are languid (Irving Berlin’s Always is soporific). But these are exceptions.
The album ends with a pair of gems. McCartney offers a lesson in elementary arithmetic on Frank Loesser’s The Inch Worm before joining forces with Wonder for the first time since 1992’s Ebony And Ivory on the yearning ballad Only Our Hearts.
Covers albums can be the last resort of the creatively bankrupt. This is nothing of the sort — it is the work of a man at the top of his game.
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| rocker |
Posted - 17/02/2012 : 13:59:03
very good!!.. |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 16/02/2012 : 20:09:35
One of Macca's most unusual and creative Wings tunes ever--unreleased...love it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10dYXoVI6c
I keep expecting the Eggmen to appear....Beatlesque in their zanier moments.
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 16/02/2012 : 19:48:20
quote:
Originally posted by Joe Morris
Hey lk
did I ever pass along that article in RecordCollector on Cold Cuts and other Beatles booties?
No---Beatles boots rule.... I respect Paul for supporting bootlegs.
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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| Joe Morris |
Posted - 14/02/2012 : 01:18:20
Hey lk
did I ever pass along that article in RecordCollector on Cold Cuts and other Beatles booties?
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 14/02/2012 : 01:03:00
Cold Cuts
The first known incarnation of Hot Hits - Cold Cuts was in 1978 when McCartney was compiling the greatest hits album for his band Wings. Originally the album was planned to be a 2 LP set, with the second disc planned for outtakes and live tracks that Wings had shelved during their 7 year history. However, as the end of that year came closer, the band's record company EMI wanted a release for the Christmas season so Wings Greatest was released as a single disc album instead in early November 1978.[2] A version was then compiled containing nearly 60 minutes of music, but this one was also shelved.[3]
A second version was assembled in 1979, cutting out many of the instrumentals and the Linda McCartney and Denny Laine vocal songs and adding two songs recorded during the Back to the Egg sessions (Robbers Ball and Cage).
In early 1980, Wings went into the studio for their final time to add further overdubs. McCartney then assembled the third version of the album with an intended for release in 1980.
Around 1986 a fourth version was being prepared for release. 14 of the songs on this configuration received overdubs from the Richard Niles Orchestra and the title for the 1972 live song "Best Friend" was changed to "Why Do You Treat Me So Bad?".
Between 1978 and 1980 the three versions of the album have turned up on various bootlegs. Each version of the album contains a different mix and new overdubs by McCartney and Wings.
1978 version
1. Tragedy
2. Night Out
3. Oriental Nightfish (Linda McCartney lead vocal)
4. Lunch Box/Odd Sox
5. Waterspout
6. Send Me The Heart (Denny Laine lead vocal)
7. Hey Diddle
8. Tomorrow (Instrumental version)
9. Proud Mum
10. Proud Mum (Reprise)
11. Did We Meet Somewhere Before?
1979 version
1. Night Out
2. Hey Diddle
3. Best Friend (Live)
4. Tragedy
5. Waterspout
6. Same Time Next Year
7. Cage
8. Did We Meet Somewhere Before?
9. Robber's Ball
1980 version
1. Waterspout
2. Night Out
3. Robber's Ball
4. Cage
5. Did We Meet Somewhere Before?
6. Hey Diddle
7. Tragedy
8. Best Friend (Live)
1986 version
1. Blue Sway
2. Hey Diddle
3. Mama's Little Girl
4. Twice In A Lifetime
5. Waterspout
6. A Love For You
7. Did We Meet Somewhere Before?
8. Same Time Next Year
9. Why Do You Treat Me So Bad? [a.k.a. Best Friend (Live)]
10. Cage
11. Tragedy
12. Thank You Darling
13. Night Out
14. Robber's Ball
Track by Track
Tracks from the 1978 version
"Tragedy"
This remake of The Fleetwoods' early 60s ballad dates from Red Rose Speedway sessions. The song was considered to be featured on the album, which was originally planned to be a double. There are at least four mixes of this track available among collectors. Each one featuring several distinct instrumental differences throughout the song.
[edit] "Night Out"
This Red Rose Speedway-era outtake was overdubbed multiple times by different incarnations of Wings in advance of the version that finally appears here.
"Waterspout"
Regarded by some as Paul's finest unreleased song, this outtake from the London Town sessions features an infectious melody. It was to be added to All the Best!, with additional overdubs done in 1987, but was ultimately scrapped in favour of "C Moon".
"Hey Diddle"
Featured as the last track on the Wingspan: Hits and History album as a fun acoustic run-through, this full-blown version of the song began to take shape in 1971 during the Ram sessions as a Paul/Linda duet. Later, the track received further overdubs when Wings were in Nashville, in the summer of 1974, with the help of musicians such as Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer. The same sessions in America produced the rocker "Junior's Farm" and its b-side, "Sally G".
"Tomorrow (Instrumental version)"
A remake of the Wild Life song. Recorded during the Venus and Mars sessions in 1975.
"Proud Mum/Proud Mum (Reprise)"
Two instrumental tracks from the 1974 Nashville sessions.
"Did We Meet Somewhere Before?"
Rejected as the main theme for Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait, the song remained on Paul's shelf until he decided to include it on the outtakes project. A snippet of the track was used on Ramones film Rock 'n' Roll High School although it did not appear on the soundtrack. Allan Arkush, the director, swung a deal whereby he was able to use the song for only $500 provided McCartney did not receive screen credit.[4] The song is a gentle ballad in the vein of "My Love". A cleaner mix of the song recently[when?] appeared on a bootleg along over 60 tracks. The recording originally belonged to Paul McCartney's late roadie Trevor Jones and was auctioned in 1998 as part of the Trevor Jones private collection.
[edit] Tracks from the 1979 and 1980 versions
"Best Friend" (live)
Recorded live in 1972, this rocker is a nice memento of the 1972-era Wings as a live act. For the 1986 compiling of Cold Cuts this was temporarily retitled to "Why Do You Treat me So Bad?".
"Robber's Ball"
One of the most interesting songs in this compilation, "Robber's Ball" features a rare operatic-style vocal from Paul and similarly over the top vocals from the rest of Wings, sounding more like a slightly off-beat Broadway show number than a Wings tune.
"Cage"
Removed from Back to the Egg at the last minute in favour of "Baby's Request", this exquisite song (which features the chords C-A-G-E as its riff to go along with the Cage lyric) was prominently placed as the first track on Side Two of the 1980 Cold Cuts.
http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f90/paul-mccartney-hot-hits-amp-cold-cuts-various-outtakes-amp-demos-108336.html
http://losslessalbum.com/2011/04/23/paul-mccartney-cold-cuts-1980-2010-remastered-limited-edition.html
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 14/02/2012 : 00:48:15
It is interesting that Paul is also in favor of free downloads, and bootlegs, and says they do more good than harm in getting the music out there.
RED ROSE SPEEDWAY...note that his is oddly out-of-print and not available on CD.
Red Rose Speedway is the second album by Paul McCartney & Wings and was released in 1973 after the relatively weak commercial performance of the band's debut Wild Life, which had been credited only to the then-unknown Wings. The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200. As of 2010, the album is currently available on the iTunes store but out of print in the compact disc format.
In early 1972, McCartney decided to expand Wings to a five-piece band, by adding an additional guitarist, and to begin touring with the group. The group spent many months on the road across Europe, beginning with a tour of British universities, and continuing in the summer in bigger European venues - where Paul and wife Linda McCartney would encounter their first of several marijuana busts over the ensuing years. Both tours were bookended by Red Rose Speedway's long string of studio sessions, which started that March in Los Angeles and finished in London that October.
Despite not releasing an album in 1972, the first year of his professional career that McCartney had failed to do so, Wings managed to release three singles: "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" which was banned by the BBC for political reasons; an updated rendition of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb;" and "Hi, Hi, Hi" which was banned by the BBC for alleged sexual references and backed with "C Moon" on the b-side. Consistent with the practice of the early Beatles, none of those songs were included on the album.
Red Rose Speedway was initially planned as a double album, and Paul McCartney decided to include some unreleased songs that had originally been recorded during the Ram sessions, prior to the formation of Wings. Two of those songs, "Get On the Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly," eventually appeared on the final album, which was held up a further six months before appearing as a single record. It featured a 12-page booklet stapled into the gatefold featuring pictures from the Wings tours. Its cover design - with the cover shot of a Harley-Davidson 'shovelhead' engine by Linda McCartney - was by Eduardo Paolozzi, while the back cover of the album contains a Braille message of "We love ya baby" for Stevie Wonder.
In March 1973 "My Love" was released as the lead single for the album, and became a UK Top 10 hit and McCartney's second US #1. It raised expectations for the album, which shot to #5 in the UK when it appeared and went to #1 in the US. "Live and Let Die", the title song to the James Bond film of the same name, was recorded during the sessions for this album, but would be released on the Live and Let Die soundtrack album rather than here.
The original compact disc version contained three bonus tracks: "I Lie Around," "Country Dreamer," and "The Mess." In 1993, Red Rose Speedway was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "C Moon," "Hi, Hi, Hi," the b-side to "My Love" "The Mess," the b-side to "Live and Let Die" "I Lie Around" as bonus tracks. "Country Dreamer" was later added to the Band on the Run 1993 reissue.
Side One
No. Title Length
1. "Big Barn Bed" 3:48
2. "My Love" 4:07
3. "Get on the Right Thing" 4:17
4. "One More Kiss" 2:28
5. "Little Lamb Dragonfly" 6:20
Side Two
No. Title Length
6. "Single Pigeon" 1:52
7. "When the Night" 3:38
8. "Loup (1st Indian on the Moon)" 4:23
9. "Medley: Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite/Hands of Love/Power Cut"
Originally planned as a double album,[4] this is the tracklisting from the acetates of the early incarnation of the album dated 13 December 1972.[5] Most tracks left off the released version ended up on b-sides, but some are still officially unreleased.
Side one
1. "Big Barn Bed"
2. "My Love"
3. "When The Night"
4. "Single Pigeon"
Side two
1. "Tragedy"
2. "Mama's Little Girl"
3. "Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)"
4. "I Would Only Smile"
Side three
1. "Country Dreamer"
2. "Night Out"
3. "One More Kiss"
4. "Jazz Street"
Side four
1. "I Lie Around"
2. "Little Lamb Dragonfly"
3. "Get On The Right Thing"
4. "1882" (live)
5. "The Mess I'm In" (live)
There are several bootlegs and alternate version of Red Rose and worth pursuing....
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
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| rocker |
Posted - 13/02/2012 : 14:21:33
That interveiw was really good. I found it fascinating since it gives some insight into how he incorporates all those influences he grew up with into his work. Sure helps him. From the looks of it his song well never ever runs dry. ok time for Red Rose Speedway...love that record. |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 21:14:30
Paul seems to effortlessly handle putting some jazz into his rep..but if you go back to his early music, all those jazz structures he grew up with became a part of his own pop structures in all he wrote...the foundation.
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
|
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 18:52:20
quote:
Originally posted by rocker
KOTB...a little different! To me he's kind of following of what Bryan Ferry did a few years ago doing all sorts of old standards, (20's I think). The singing style is close.
The interview above is very interesting...the process he went through to get there....if you haven't already listened.
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
|
| rocker |
Posted - 10/02/2012 : 13:56:38
KOTB...a little different! To me he's kind of following of what Bryan Ferry did a few years ago doing all sorts of old standards, (20's I think). The singing style is close. |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 09/02/2012 : 22:51:12
Paul tries rapping....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DJpCKUBb7c
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
|
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 09/02/2012 : 22:29:57
15 minute interview...song clips and great words from Paul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2CAuZbKtKg
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
|
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 09/02/2012 : 22:13:31
Live stream today on iTUNES..Feb 9th...10PM EST ...live VIDEO stream.
Good reviews from listeners
________________________________________________
We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers & discoverers-
-thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses.
Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams.
-Peter S. Beagle 1973
|
| rocker |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 14:11:12
is Paul a billionaire yet?
If not then it's amazing Mark Z of Facebook has more money than him! I can't believe how loaded that guy is. |
| Joe Morris |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 03:29:31
I count 50 albums all told, including Wings and solo compilations
Terribly disappointed you can't watch the Unplugged set in its entirety on the recent 3DVD Mccartney set
Nice to have the videos for "Wonderful Christmastime", sure, but that Unplugged performance was the best set any of the Beatles did! Where else can you hear Paul playing his first song "I lost my little girl"
Not as good as "In spite of all the danger" though!!
is Paul a billionaire yet? anyone? Bueller?! |
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