Tag Archives: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney – Teaser Campaign For Latest Solo Album?

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Paul McCartney’s social media sites have seen some mysterious images appear.

On Instagram in the last 12 hours we first had this – posted twice (what looks to be just a blank white page):

Many people were speculating it was something to do with an impending announcement about a release for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the The Beatles White Album. However, that post was soon followed with this black and white freehand drawing:

On Facebook it was a similar story. First the blank page was posted as his new cover photo:

Then cam this, with a notification it was his new profile picture:

The story was similar on the official Paul McCartney Twitter account – only this time no blank page, just the same freehand drawing (and notice that McCartney’s avatar image has also been changed to the same drawing):

And at the McCartney Google+ site too: 

So……what can it all mean?

One person on Reddit reckons it looks a bit like the new Apple Airplay2 logo!

We’d take an eductaed guess that it’s very likely McCartney’s rumoured new studio album. He played a track from it live in Liverpool only the other day. Just that rough smart phone recording exists, but it sounds like a pretty good song!

Also, both he and The Beatles have used extensive teaser campaigns in the past.

Remember The Beatles 1 DVD/BluRay? The recent Sgt Pepper 50th Anniversary box coloured images? And Paul McCartney’s own NEW LP and CD from 2013, plus his Pure compilation from 2016 – to name just a few. Each had multiple teasers in the lead-up to their release…..

More McCartney Coloured Vinyl To Be Issued

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Capitol Records is following up last year’s coloured vinyl Paul McCartney releases with four more titles. These will be available on May 18 (fingers crossed, given the delays experienced last time!) and they are the albums NEW; Thrillington; Wings Greatest; and Chaos and Creation in the Backyard: 

As you can see, NEW is to be on pink vinyl, Thrillington on what looks to be a marbled red/black, Wings Greatest is on blue, and Chaos will be on gold coloured vinyl.

As they were last time each title will also be issued on black vinyl, and as single CD’s in the digipak format. Every release is supervised by Paul himself, who oversees all aspects of each and every title. See the official McCartney site for more details.

McCartney’s ‘Pipes of Peace’ – Original Labels

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Looking at the recently released Capitol Records coloured (and black) vinyl reissue of the Paul McCartney Pipes of Peace LP, we got thinking about the labels used for the original release back in 1983.

This is the label style used on both sides of the 2017 version:

As you can see, the custom designed labels are similar thematically (but not exactly the same) as those used for Side 2 of the 1983 vinyl release:

The chrome-plated chair image is larger and positioned differently, plus it has a different musical instrument on it.

But it’s the labels used for Side 1 in 1983 that fascinate.

For some reason Side 1 in each of the major markets around the world featured vintage depictions of either Parlophone or Odeon record labels (for those territories outside the US), or Columbia Records for the United States (because that was the label McCartney was signed to there at the time).

Here, for example, is the Side 1 label used in the UK – a vintage Parlophone in deep maroon:

And here’s the label used in the US, which was done in the style of an old-fashioned Columbia release:

In Australia it was a vintage Parlophone – done in a dark brown and gold:

For Europe, where the Odeon label was used to release EMI titles, they used a vintage version too. Here’s the one for Germany:

And Spain of course:And here’s the label used in France for Side 1. Unusually, it’s a vintage Parlophone – which is strange because you’d think it would more likely be on Odeon too:

It was definitely vintage Odeon for Japan: And in New Zealand it was a Parlophone: 

These next few are from smaller territories where we’re pretty sure that on both sides of the disc the  labels used were both the same. If you happen to have any further info on these please get in touch using the “Leave a Reply” section below. First up, India:

We can confirm that The Philippines definitely used a vintage black and yellow Parlophone for both sides of the disc:

Malaysia:

And to some South American countries now – Argentina:

Uruguay:

Bolivia:

And lastly, Columbia, which interestingly seems to be serviced by both Parlophone and Columbia/CBS records:

If you’d like to see these labels in more detail, click on the images to bring up larger versions.

And if anyone knows just why Paul McCartney wanted to use vintage labels for Side 1 only of Pipes of Peace, please let us know by commenting below.

McCartney – Eight Coloured Vinyls Arrive

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Like a lot of collectors around the world, we have been waiting patiently for Universal Music to sort out the delays and confusion around the supply and delivery of the recent Paul McCartney vinyl re-issues on coloured vinyl.

We ordered ours last year, weeks before the advertised shipping date – but it is only in the new year that they have finally arrived, and in two separate shipments. Ram clearly was in very short supply and it is pretty obvious that a pressing of more copies had to be hurriedly arranged. That LP came in a separate package a few following the main batch.

Having said all that, these look absolutely fantastic. Here are some images of the collection – the front “hype” stickers and record labels: 

(As usual, click on the images to see larger versions)

Paul McCartney – ‘Music of the Spheres’

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On Christmas Day, two keen music fans leaked their version of the as-yet unreleased original symphonic music composed for the the video game, Destiny.

There is of course a Beatle connection here in the form of Sir Paul McCartney who contributed to the soundtrack for the game, most notably the end-credits song ‘Hope for the Future‘.

The Destiny: Music of the Spheres suite is the work of Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, but it took the fan duo of Tlohtzin Espinosa and Owen Spence to bring it to the public. They spent more than a year pulling together all the elements they could get their hands on to compile what is essentially a complete soundtrack album of Destiny:

You can hear it on Soundcloud, and on YouTube. Download links are out there on the World Wide Web too if you are interested.

There’s more background on how all this came to be in an article on the Ars Technica site, plus you should also see this Reddit post by the two fans who took the risk of putting it out there in the first place.  

McCartney Musical Memory for endthesilence.com

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“When a baby in an orphanage cries nobody comes to comfort them. As a result, they learn not to cry; internalising their pain, causing lifelong mental and physical damage. Deprived of love, deprived of life. Left to grow up without laughter, without music, without hope. Left there, children will never experience the love and protection only a family can offer. Together we can End the Silence.”

So begins the explanation of what the charity End the Silence is about. It is asking everyone to share a musical memory, and to donate, so that 8 million children confined to orphanages around the world might have their silence ended.

Lots of music personalities have got behind the push to raise money by sharing their own musical memories, including Paul McCartney:

Get cracking. Every pound donated to the End the Silence campaign before the 27th December will be doubled by the UK Government. Every child should grow up surrounded by love, family and music.

Paul McCartney – ‘Take 5’ on triple j

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Seems like this blog has become more paulmccartneyblogger.com than beatlesblogger.com lately…

Only natural I guess as Paul McCartney is in Australia at the moment, and that’s where we are too. There has been a lot more media as a result.

Just wanted to let you know that a lengthy radio interview has just been broadcast nationally on the country’s leading youth music station, triple j.

Presenter Zan Rowe each week sits down with a musician and talks about their craft. It’s called ‘Take 5’ and is based around five back-catalogue tracks chosen by the artist. This week they scored a big one – an extensive conversation with Paul McCartney.

The radio station has kindly uploaded the episode as a podcast – so you can have a listen to it here as well.

(Photo: MPL Communications/MJ Kim)

triple j has also published a few different angles on the content. Here are a couple of pages that will be of interest:

Paul McCartney On The Unheard Stories Behind His Songs

A Different Cut of ‘Take 5’ – Without Zan Rowe’s Intro Plus More Text and Song Links

And don’t miss his one and only Australian TV interview here.

Paul McCartney’s Only Australian TV Interview – And It’s A Good One

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Australian television presenter and journalist Leigh Sales is highly respected. She’s the host of a nightly national current affairs TV program called 7.30 and well-known for her political interviews. Sales is often feared by those sitting across the desk from her because a) she does her homework, b) is not afraid to ask the difficult questions, and c) is fearless in calling decision-makers to task.

But Sales is equally at home speaking to writers and musicians. She clearly has a love of the arts, and what drives creative people to produce the work they do.

That’s why it was fascinating to watch her last night getting ready to meet and interview one Paul McCartney.

The 7.30 program had scored an exclusive: the only television interview that McCartney would conduct while on the Australian leg of his One On One tour.

You’d think that would be pressure enough, but the fact that Leigh Sales is also a huge long-time fan allowed us to see the usually composed interrogator in a very different light.

She has written a great article about the experience – you can read that here, and you can also view the piece that went to air on the same page. There’s also rehearsal footage of the band running through ‘Day Tripper’ before the Perth concert.

Turns out Paul McCartney was generous and charming, plus we get to go backstage and learn that the guitar he used in 1964 on The Ed Sullivan Show to play ‘Yesterday’ is still in active service in 2017. And that Sales gets to play one of his Magical Mystery Tour stage pianos!

As she says: “It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

(Photos: 7.30 and ABC News)

Paul McCartney Kicks Off His Tour Down Under

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Last night saw Paul McCartney and his band take to the stage in Australia for the first time since 1993. He played Perth’s nib Stadium, the first of six dates across the country before he ventures over to New Zealand, as part of the continuing One On One Tour.

Reviews of the Perth gig are beginning to come in, and you’d have to say they are positive, bordering on gushing! This one, from The Music.com.au, gives you a good feel for what went down, and the site has posted some concert images as well: (Photo credit: Linda Dunjey  themusic.com.au)

In the lead-up to the Perth concert, Paul invited 20 fans to an intimate Q&A session, the best part of which was a question from nine-year-old Harrison Haines. You can view and read about that here, courtesy of ABC TV News. The session ended with a live, three-song set which included ‘Drive My Car’, ‘Junior’s Farm’ and ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’. Meanwhile…..the tour rocked on through to Sydney. Here is a review of that concert by one of Australia’s best music writers, Bernard Zuel.

McCartney – ‘Man On The Run’ Book

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While in Sydney city to pick up the RSD Black Friday McCartney releases we called in to one of those pop-up discount bookshops – and found a hardback copy of Tom Doyle’s 2013 study called Man On The Run – Paul McCartney in the 1970s:

Haven’t read it yet, but it looks to be interesting. There’s a decent review of the book here from the Washington Post. If you’d like to have a sneak read here’s one of those “Look Inside” widgets.

There are some very good photos contained in a pictures section in the middle of the book, some “behind-the-scenes” shots we’ve not seen before:

If anyone has read this work and has some thoughts, let us know. Here’s the rear cover:

(click on images to see larger versions)