A New Paul McCartney Recording Sessions Book

In something of a first in the publishing world comes a new book detailing the background to every Paul McCartney song, from McCartney (1969), to New (2013).

“Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013). A Journey Through Paul
McCartney’s Songs After The Beatles” is written by Italian author, researcher and collector  Luca Perasi. It details the stories behind each of McCartney’s 383 compositions in their chronological order of recording. There are recording dates, studios and who played what on each song.

The book includes 70 exclusive interviews with the musicians, arrangers, producers and collaborators who worked with McCartney through the years, including Denny Seiwell, Laurence Juber, Carl Davis, Neil Dorfsman, Jerry Marotta, and Steve Holly…to name just a few. The foreword is by long-time Abbey Road Studios recording engineer Tony Clark.Cover_singola_ENGRetro_singola_ENG

Beatles With Records – Part Twenty One

When we started way back with Part One of the Beatles With Records series it was based on the premise that (quote): “Despite selling multi, multi-millions of the things, it’s kind of strange that you hardly ever see photographs of the Beatles themselves with, or listening to, records”.

Well, through lots of help from Beatles Blog readers we’ve actually amassed quite a lot of photographs to disprove that theory.

And here are some more….

Back in that first post we showed this great photo of John Lennon surrounded by guitars, amplifiers, speakers and 45 singles, listening intently to music:john-with-singles

Here is another angle from that same day:Aug 2013 15248

John is a bit of a running theme throughout this post. In this next photograph he seems to be holding either a big reel-to-reel tape box, or some sort of record box from the classic Epic Records company:Lennon Epic Records

You can clearly see the company’s old logo on the front. In the 1960s EMI, the Beatles’ record company, had a distribution deal with Epic to release their titles in the UK – so maybe it was a box of sample records from them for him to listen to?epic-records-older-logoEpic is still going strong of course. Here’s another of John seeking out a track to play on a great-looking jukebox. It’d be interesting to know which song he chose to listen to….
Aug 2013 853389

There are no recognisable discs in this next one of John and Yoko rehearsing, but there’s a shelf full of records behind them none-the-less:Aug 2013 1989920

This next photograph shows the couple on the promotion trail for Imagine:Aug 2013 2041046imagine

Not sure which LP John is listening to here:Aug 2013 1784786

Back in Part 5 we showed this photo of Beatle manager Brian Epstein holding a UK copy of Help!:

epstein-help

Another photo has come in which gives the close-up shot above a great deal more context. Brian was actually studying the cover of Help! amidst the hubbub of the Beatles getting ready to make some sort of an appearance, or about to go on stage:  Aug 2013 970032beatles-helpThis next one is associated with the same Beatle film-related project. It’s pretty easy to guess that the band is at a press conference in the United States, only this time associated with the US version of the LP from the film Help!  It came with a different cover:Aug 2013 - 1965 29 Aug 1786515-3help_us_version_capitol_records_semaphore_NVUJ

Here’s another photograph of Brian Epstein, this time with a much earlier album, Please Please Me:Uncut Beatles 2aThe Beatles - Please Please Me

Meanwhile, back to John Lennon, and two photograph taken around the time of the release of Double Fantasy. Check what looks to be a sample image of the cover stuck on the noticeboard:Aug 2013 2035709And, in the same office, signing the back covers of promotional copies of Double Fantasy to go out to reviewers at radio stations, magazines and newspapers:Aug 2013 1971789double-fantasyDouble fantasy rear

We’ve previously featured Paul McCartney besieged by fans when trying to move between a building and his car. The fans are thrusting out albums to be signed. You can see a couple of good examples in the Beatles With Records Part Twenty, and also in Part Fourteen. Sometimes, from the look on his face, you get the feeling that Paul must be thinking “Will this ever stop?”Aug 2013 2023012Aug 2013 2061267Most times though he seems very willing to smile and help fans out where he can:Aug 2013 2057180Aug 2013 2057183And to finish, a couple of earlier Paul photos with records from his Beatle days:Aug 2013 909287

And from the Wings days:Aug 2013 2062430You can see the entire Beatles With Records series here: 12345678910111213141516,17,18,19 and 20.

The Bloody Beetroots and Paul McCartney – Vinyl Single

Remember this post about Paul McCartney and Youth teaming up with Italian dance punk performer Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo (a.k.a. The Bloody Beetroots)?

Well, our limited edition and numbered copy of the vinyl single “Out of Sight” has just arrived:McCartney BB frontMcCartney BB rearMcCartney BB Side AMcCartney BB Side B

Things to note on the rear cover are the song and recording credits…..McCartney BB credits

….the Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo (SBCR) logo and the McCartney signature…..McCartney BB signature

……and the hand-written limited edition number:

McCartney BB ltd edThe single is taken from the Bloody Beetroot CD Hide, released in SeptemberBloody Beetroots Hide

“Wonderful Christmastime” with Straight No Chaser

Paul McCartney’s company MPL Music Publishing has announced that he’s teamed up with a cappella group Straight No Chaser for a new version of his 1979 Christmas single, “Wonderful Christmastime”. Listen to it here.

The song is featured on Straight No Chaser’s new EP, Under The Influence: Holiday Edition.
Straight No Chaser

The 8-song EP will be available digitally and on CD this week (from October 29), and includes appearances by Paul McCartney, Colbie Caillat, CeeLo Green, and Otis Redding. For more details about Straight No Chaser go to the group’s website.

For Christmas last year the song appeared, in a version by The Shins, on the Holidays Rule/Christmas Rules compilations.


 

Queenie Eye Video, and the “Making Of ” Video

Here’s the official video clip for the second single from Paul MacCartney’s New:

And here’s the “behind the scenes” making of, complete with an explanation of what the term Queenie Eye really means:

The Story Behind the Cover Art for McCartney’s “New”

Speaking of inspirations for album cover artwork, the small print in the credits for Paul McCartney’s latest recording turns up some interesting background information on where he looked for the stylised image of the word NEW depicted on the cover.

Here’s the cover for the standard edition CD [and vinyl]:paul-mccartney-new-album

…and the different coloured “deluxe” CD variation, which contains two bonus tracks:New - Deluxe Edition

Inside, along with who played and produced what, there’s this:

Artwork information:
NEW album cover inspired by Dan Flavin with special thanks to Stephen Flavin
Logo and cover concept: Rebecca and Mike
Consultancy and design: YES
Cover Image: Ben Ib

Dan Flavin was an American minimalist sculptor who specialised in using coloured neon and fluorescent tubes. As an example, here’s Flavin’s 1987 work Untitled (to Don Judd, colorist) at the Tate Liverpool gallery in 2009 (photograph: Colin McPherson):Dan-Flavin-Unititled-to-D-007

Or this (Site specific installation 1996 – Menil Collection, Houston Texas): Flavin 2

You can easily see where the New cover is coming from. The reference to Stephen Flavin is to Dan Flavin’s son, who has overseen the activities of his father’s estate since 1997. (For an in-depth and scholarly review of a retrospective exhibition of Dan Flavin works held in London in 2006 try this). The website Artsy.net has also created a page which really captures well what Flavin’s art is all about – and it has some great images too.

So much for the inspiration for the New cover.

Turns out though that the image used wasn’t actually made of fluorescent lights. See that reference to Ben Ib? Well, he’s a music video director who has worked extensively with Paul McCartney in the past. On his website Ib says he made the piece using a computer rendering program (with a logo and concept by Rebecca and Mike, and consultancy and design by YES). He also says the cover is “…my first foray into print work…It was a great team to work with under Paul’s guidance. I’ve also created the deluxe edition (gatefold) image.”

Ben Ib has done heaps of video work for McCartney. He created visual content for the “On the Run” and “Out There” tours, and the visuals for the song “Sing the Changes” which featured Barack Obama and which Sir Paul used for his headlining set at the Coachella festival. You can see a short extract of that here.

Ib’s talents were also utilised in June 2008 when Paul McCartney came home to Liverpool to give a performance (the first in his home town in five years) for the Liverpool Sound 2008 event. Ib built a huge, beautiful 20-minute long visual collage to serve as a backdrop to the show. It charts Paul’s story – from the early Cavern club days to the present, with footage and memorabilia from Paul and Linda’s personal archives.

And Ben Ib did this short biographical documentary film featured on the deluxe CD re-issue edition of Ram. If you haven’t seen it here’s an extract:

Meanwhile….back to the cover of New and Paul McCartney has provided the following piece of advice:

“If you buy ‘NEW’ on CD, please be careful when removing the booklet and take it out through the front cover gap, rather than the inside gap; If you do it could rip the cover. I only know this because I did it three times before I realised the booklet had to come out of the front gap! I hope you enjoy the music!! And please pass this message on.”

To help illustrate his point the news page on his official site shows these two photographs. First the correct way to remove the booklet:Correct_Image

…and this is the incorrect way:Incorrect_Image

The Beatles With Records – Part Twenty

OK, to kick off Part 20 in our series a couple of photographs of the Beatles with records which are going to be tough to solve.

Here Paul is standing in front of a display. The thing is these record covers are all not immediately recognisable as they seem to be from other countries. They would all be from the 1960s. Does anyone have any idea what these discs might be?beatles with records13-tiff

And this one below of John – is that an LP to his left (our right)? This appears to be a photograph taken while the artists known as The Fool give one of John’s pianos a very special paint job. Amongst other things The Fool designed the original inner sleeve for Sgt Pepper, and they did the huge mural which adorned the outside of the Apple Boutique clothing shop in London.

Back to the photo. Is this an LP record cover? You can clearly make out what looks to be the word “Velvet…..”. Or could it be a poster?

beatles with records11-tiff

Let us know if you have any further info on this one.

Now onto some easier-to-solve Beatles With Records photos. Firstly to Paul and Linda with a copy of Press to Play, his sixth solo studio album, released August 1986.beatles with records14-tiffpaul-mccartney-press-to-play

I really don’t know what the occasion is below – Yoko is photographed with a group of young men, one of whom is in a Beatle jacket, and another who is holding up a copy of John’s “legal obligation” disc called John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits (which later, and with much better sound, appeared on Apple Records as Rock ‘n’ Roll):July-2013-1842817rootsYou can read the full story about how this album came into being here. It’s a long and complicated tale….

These next photographs are very similar (but taken at a different event) to those photos you may have seen in Part 14 where Paul McCartney is swamped by waiting fans eager for him to sign LP covers.

Beatles with records8-tiff beatles with records10-tiffIn the two photos above I can make out at least ten albums, beginning at the top:McCartney 1Beatles-RevolverAnthology1coverwhite-album_coverbeatles_loveFireman_Strawberries_Oceans_Ships_Forestbeatles-helpBand on the Run Archives bookWorkingClassicalCoverTug of War

If you can see any others let us know.

And yet again, another flock of fans hoping for a signature but this time at a different location:McCartney with Records1McCartney with Records3

I can make out these titles: pepper-rearrubber_soulBeatles_-_Abbey_RoadBeatles-RevolverMAgical Mystery Tour Rear CoverBeatles19621966At_the_hollywood_bowlFigure of Eight

Signings for their fans have always been something the Beatles as a band (and as solo artists) have always embraced. Here’s another of Paul – this time autographing a copy of Wings at the Speed of Sound from 1976:July-2013-1858535WATSOSCoverThis one of George Harrison doesn’t have any records in view (except for the indistinguishable 45 actually on the turntable) – but it has a cool little record player though….and it’s a great shot of GeorgeBeatles With Records GeorgeOne final photo to finish off this installment….obviously taken at the quality control room at the EMI plant in 1965:Beatles With Records-tiff

A big thank you to Andrey in Russia for most of these images. You can see the other parts in The Beatles with Records series here:  12345678910111213141516,17,18 and 19.

Tripping the Live Fantastic – Triple LP Vinyl

Wings Over America (originally from 1976, and released again this year as part of the Archive Series) isn’t the only triple live LP set Paul McCartney has released. He also did it in 1990 with Tripping the Live Fantasic.TTLF Cover

I’ve just picked up a nice Spanish pressing of this for the collection.

The stripped-down, single disc Tripping the Live Fantastic – Highlights vinyl has been in the collection since it was first released, but never the full triple vinyl deluxe package, complete with its 26 page full-colour booklet, three individual coloured inner-sleeves and custom labels:

TTLF rearTTLF Label

TTLF inner1TTLF inner2TTLF inner3Here’s the front cover of the glossy booklet with some great live photography inside:TTLF booklet frontTTLF booklet2TTLF booklet1This is the cover of the trimmed-down single LP Tripping the Live Fantastic – Highlights:

TTLFH Cover

The giveaway of the single vinyl version is the addition of the word “Highlights!” on the front cover:TTLFH detailThis is the Australian vinyl pressing so no custom labels, just the standard black and silver Parlophone issue:

TTLFH LabelTTLFH rear

And the Highlights! inner sleeve:

TTLFH inner

Highlights! was also released as a single CD – but with quite a different track listing having 17 songs instead of just 12 for the vinyl version. The CD adds “Got To Get You Into My Life”, “We Got Married”, “All My Trials” [which is unique to this CD – it doesn’t appear on the vinyl Highlights! LP, or the more complete triple LP/CD versions], “Things We Said Today”, “Back in the U.S.S.R.”, and “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End”. However, the LP version has the song “Put It There” included. That makes both interesting, and also a little bit collectable for the completists among us.

The full Tripping the Live Fantastic set was also released as a double CD in a jumbo sized jewel case in most markets (though in the US it was also available in two separate jewel cases). It has the exact same track listing and running order as the vinyl LP.

Garage Sale Beatles 45’s

It’s not often you see 7-inch, 45rpm Beatles vinyl for sale at garage sales anymore. There are occasionally one or two, but they are now getting few and far between.

That’s why I was surprised this week when I asked after records at a local garage sale and the guy went into his house and brought out crate after crate of the small, vinyl gems. He had literally hundreds of 45’s – all pop and rock artists ranging from the 60s, 70’s and 80’s.
It took me quite a while to look through them all but the task produced a couple of nice items. Some I already owned, but others I didn’t have in my collection – so it was very worthwhile.

Here’s what came out of crates (in release date chronological order). First up, an Extended Play – four songs – from A Hard Day’s Night (1964):

AHDN frontAHDN rearA Hard Day's Night 1964

Then came a copy of the Beatles Rock and Roll Music single (1965):Rock and Roll Music 1965

These next few have the release date displayed on the label:Happy Xmas 1971Give Me Love 1973Letting Go 1975Mull of Kintyre 1977Coming Up 1980

This next one, Yoko Ono’s Walking on Thin Ice (1981) comes in a picture cover:

Walking FrontWalking rearWalking 1981

Ebony and Ivory 1982Say Say Say 1983All the above are Australian pressings (except the John and Yoko Happy Xmas which is British). There was though one odd item in the crates. It was just the sleeve (no record inside unfortunately) of a French EP from 1964 with four songs:Les Beatles 1964Les Beatles rear

I’ll keep it – in the hope of finding the correct record to go inside it one day….

McCartney Impromptu A cappella Version of “New”

Just uploaded to the official McCartney YouTube site.

Track listing and producers for the New album have also been announced.

And there’s something New happening here….