Paul McCartney - Simple As That (1989)

Here's a nice little collection of rarities, out-takes and b-sides from Paul McCartney, mostly covering the 80's - that's the 1980's and the 1880's, as it also includes one legendary track from 1972, with the first demo of '1882' dating back to the time that he was recording the 'McCartney' album. That was as a simple Paul-on-piano track, and some of the eventual lyrics weren't yet present, but a second second demo brought Linda in for some backing vocals, and she also vocalized the guitar parts. It was supposed that a studio version was recorded in January 1972, and this did eventually surface on the 4CD re-issue of 'Red Rose Speedway', but it was also played during the 'Wings Over Europe' tour in 1972, and a live version recorded in The Hague was originally slated for inclusion on the band's 'Red Rose Speedway' album. This was initially planned as a double-disc set, and the live recording of '1882' was to be augmented with some studio overdubs, but it was eventually removed from the final track listing, and so this version is the actual recording from The Hague, on which I've reconstructed the intro and given it a suitably bombastic finale. 'On The Wings Of A Nightingale' was written for, and gifted to, The Everly Brothers in 1984, and as their version was so faithful to his original demo, Frank Walker has managed to remix it using the Everly's backing track with McCartney's vocals for this unique version. There are a couple of b-sides from collaborative singles with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, with 'Rainclouds' reputedly being the song he was working on the day that John Lennon was murdered. 'Don't Break The Promise' was written by McCartney and Eric Stewart of 10cc during their collaboration in 1986 for the 'Press To Play' album, and although McCartney recorded it in 1988 with the help of Hamish Stuart, he kept it until 1997 when it was released as the b-side of his 'Beautiful Night' single. The title track is McCartney's contribution to an anti-heroin charity album in 1986, and 'Spies Like Us' was written as the theme to the 1985 film of the same name. It's all housed in a cover based on a wooden sculpture by Wilfred Wood, which you may seen in the news recently, as it caused quite a stir when it was banned from being used for a 7" single released by the Secret 7 charity because McCartney thought it was too "unflattering". I love it, so I'm using it here.  

Track listing

01 Simple As That (from 'It's A Live-In World' charity album by The Anti-Heroin Project 1986)
02 The First Stone (b-side of 'This One' 1989)
03 Good Sign (b-side of 'This One' 1989)
04 Rainclouds (b-side of 'Ebony And Ivory' 1982)
05 I'll Give You A Ring (b-side of 'Take It Away' 1982)
06 Don't Break The Promise (recorded 1988, b-side of 'Beautiful Night' 1997)
07 Ode To A Koala Bear (b-side of 'Say Say Say' with Michael Jackson 1983)
08 On The Wings Of A Nightingale (remixed demo for The Everly Brothers 1984)
09 Hanglide (b-side of 'Press' 1986)

10 Spies Like Us (single 1985)

11 1882 (Live in The Hague, Rotterdam, 1972)

The Beatles - Now And Then (1993)

I stumbled on an interesting compilation on Youtube the other day, consisting of various unreleased songs from all four members of The Beatles from their solo careers. There were demos, out-takes, and rejected recordings spanning the years from 1970, through the 80's, and ending in 1993, and while it was great to hear songs that even I, as a massive Beatles fan, was unfamiliar with, the difference in the sound quality of the demos compared to the studio recordings was somewhat grating. While researching one of the songs to find the year that it was recorded, I found that someone had posted a version of it online with a full band backing over-dubbed onto the piano and vocal demo, and as it sounded pretty good, it prompted me to try to find out if there any more of these fan-made recordings. It turns out that there are, and so I was therefore able to upgrade the solo demos to band versions of a number of the tracks, and when slotted into the studio recordings it made for a much better listen. They are mostly the John Lennon demos that have been augmented in this way, and in some cases more than once, so I've picked what I think are the best versions for this album. 

One McCartney track was given the treatment as well, but the recordings by George Harrison and Ringo Starr were all studio quality and needed no enhancement. The only demo that I've left as it was is Lennon's 'Sally And Billy' from 1970, because as well as the piano and vocal, it also had a click track on it, and so by boosting the bass it gave the whole song a bit more depth, and then I just added a fade to it (which sounds like it was his intention anyway), and it sounded fine.  All of Ringo's contributions are from his aborted sessions with Chips Moman in Memphis in 1987, where he recorded around 14 retro rock covers and original tunes, with Bob Dylan even joining him on harmonica on 'Wish I Knew Now (What I Knew Then)'. With no sign of the album appearing, Starr finally kicked his debilitating alcohol dependence eighteen months later, and he formed the All-Starr Band, touring for the first time since the Beatles quit the road. Moman had bankrolled the aborted sessions to the tune of $146,239 and had nothing to show for his investment, so he decided to issue the LP on his own CRS Records. Starr got wind of the news and offered him $100,000 to halt manufacturing, as he considered the recordings substandard, but Moman refused, believing that he stood to lose $3.5 million, a fanciful figure upon survey of Starr's moribund record sales. Starr therefore sued Moman, and the Court ruled that Starr owed him $74,354, but that the master tapes would the be turned over to Starr, and yet despite him now owning the original copies, five tracks have circulated on bootleg for some years. They certainly don't sound the result of some drunken recording sessions as was claimed in court, and so I've included three of them here. 

George Harrison's contributions mostly come from out-takes that were recorded during his 'Somewhere In England' studio sessions, where four songs were rejected by his record company as being too un-commercial. A re-recording of 'Lay His Head' eventually appeared on the flip of the 'Got My Mind Set On You' single, while two of the songs have only ever appeared on the CD which accompanied the second volume of the book 'Songs By George Harrison'. The fourth song 'Tears Of The World' was originally included on the CD that came with the first volume of the book, along with another out-take 'The Hottest Gong In Town', but that eventually turned up on the soundtrack to the film 'Shanghai Surprise', while 'Tears Of The World' was added as a bonus track to the re-issue of Harrison's 'Thirty Three And A Third' album. Paul McCartney's tracks are a couple of out-takes, an augmented demo, and a live performance of a song that was originally written in 1991, but which was only performed the once at The Liverpool Sound concert in 2008, to celebrate the city's year as the European Capital Of Culture. Although the album is bookended by one song from 1970 and one from 1993, the bulk of the tracks date from 1978 to 1987, and so the album flows nicely through the various musical styles, and if you've already heard the Lennon demos in their original form, then do check out these versions, as they've all been done with much love and respect.   

  
Track listing

01 Now And Then (1978 John Lennon demo augmented by Paul Newell)

02 Sat Singing (George Harrison out-take 1980)
03 Your School (1993 Paul McCartney demo augmented by Octavio Cavalli & Max Gonzales)
04 Hard Times (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
05 Hottest Gong In Town (George Harrison, from the soundtrack to 'Shanghai Surprise' 1986)
06 Help Me To Help Myself (1980 John Lennon demo augmented by Carlos Zabai)
07 Yvonne's The One (Paul McCartney out-take 1986)

08 Sally And Billy (John Lennon demo 1970)
09 Lay His Head (George Harrison out-take 1980)
10 I've Changed My Mind (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
11 In Liverpool (1991 Paul McCartney song played live once in 2008)
12 Grow Old With Me (1980 John Lennon demo augmented by Anton Popov & Vitaly Flippov)

13 Cruisin' Ahead (Paul McCartney out-take 1979)

14 Wish I Knew Now (What I Knew Then) (Ringo Starr, from the Memphis sessions 1987)
15 Flying Hour (George Harrison out-take 1979)

Soulseek hint - now then aiwe

David Spinozza - ...and on guitar (1976)

David Spinozza was born on 8 August 1949 in Port Chester, New York, and began his professional recording career as a teenager in the 1960’s, swiftly becoming a sought after New York studio musician and soon signing with A&M Records as a solo artist. He has become known for being a versatile musician, with credits that span every facet of the music and entertainment industries, and as well as adding guitar to numerous recordings over the past 50 years, he's also produced, arranged, orchestrated, conducted, co-written and played guitar for a Who's Who of acclaimed artists such as James Taylor, Carly Simon, Garland Jeffries, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, B.B. King, Judy Collins, Jim Croce, George Benson and three out of four Beatles. His guitar is heard on countless classic hits, most notably Don McLean’s 'American Pie', John Lennon’s 'Mind Games', Paul McCartney’s 'Another Day', Paul Simon’s 'Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard' and his iconic solo on Dr. John’s 'Right Place Wrong Time'. One of his earliest gigs was playing with Paul McCartney during sessions for his 'Ram' album in 1971, and when the chance came to work with Lennon two years later, as Yoko Ono prepared her 'Feeling The Space' album and Lennon his 'Mind Games', Spinozza discovered that Lennon was not aware he had previously worked with McCartney, and was afraid he would be fired if Lennon found out, given their recent feuding in the media, but when Lennon did learn of it his only comment was that McCartney "knows how to pick good people". The relationship with Ono carried on after 'Feeling The Space', where he contributed to her 'A Story' album, recorded during 1974 but not released until 1998, served as her bandleader during a residency at Kenny's Castaways, and rehearsed her band to tour her native Japan, although they parted ways when the tour began. In 1978 he released his first solo album 'Spinozza' on A&M, which was a jazz-oriented album with some vocal tracks, and he has also made contributions to the soundtracks of the movies 'Dead Man Walking', 'Happiness', and 'Just The Ticket'. Spinozza has played on literally hundreds of albums in his career, and so for this post I've only selected tracks from 1970 to 1976 where he was a featured soloist, and to show his versatility in a variety of genres I've split this three disc set into one album of jazz, one of soul and one of pop music.   

Track listing

Some Jazz
01 Ahunk Ahunk  (from 'Consummation' by Thad Jones & Mel Lewis 1970)
02 Man's Hope (from 'Push Push' by Herbie Mann 1971)
03 Lover Man (from 'All The King's Horses' by Grover Washington, Jr. 1972) 
04 Monkey (from 'White Elephant' by White Elephant 1972)
05 Hanky's Panky (from 'Superstition' by Shirley Scott 1973)
06 A Sunday Afternoon Feeling (from 'Journey' by Arif Mardin 1974)
07 Draggin' The Line (from 'Until It's Time For You To Go' by Rusty Bryant 1974)
08 Chile Con Carmen (from 'Joy Of Cookin'' by Joe Thomas 1974)
09 Who Knows What Goes When The Doors Close (from 'Brother Where Are You' by 

                                                                                                             Oscar Brown Jr. 1974) 

Some Pop
01 Come To My Bedside, My Darling (from 'Donal Leace' by Donal Leace 1971)
02 Roller Derby Queen (from 'Life And Times' by Jim Croce 1973)
03 Something So Right (from 'There Goes Rhymin' Simon' by Paul Simon 1973)
04 Get On The Right Thing (from 'Red Rose Speedway' by Paul McCartney & Wings 1973)
05 A Man Can't Always Be (from 'Lifesong' by Cashman & West 1974)
06 Rainy Day Man (from 'Streetlights' by Bonnie Raitt 1974)
07 Genesis (from 'The Second Coming' by Jerry LaCroix 1974)
08 Think I'm Gonna Have A Baby (from 'Hotcakes' by Carly Simon 1974) 
09 Me And My Guitar (from 'Walking Man' by James Taylor 1974)
10 Great Big Man (from 'Homeless Brother' by Don McLean 1974)
11 The Closest Friends (from 'Lucy Simon' by Lucy Simon 1975)
12 Angel Spread Your Wings (from 'Judith' by Judy Collins 1975)
13 Let Me Just Follow Behind (from 'Songs For The New Depression' by Bette Midler 1976)
14 Say The Words (from 'This One's For You' by Barry Manilow 1976)
15 Early Evening Light (from 'Marriott' by Steve Marriott 1976) 

Some Soul
01 Too Many Days (from 'Labelle' by Labelle 1971)
02 You've Got A Friend (from 'Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway' by 

                                                                                  Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway 1972)
03 Cold Sweat (from 'Get On The Good Foot' by James Brown 1972)
04 The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues (from 'Free Will' by Gil Scott-Heron 1972)
05 I'm Only A Woman (from 'Margie Joseph' by Margie Joseph 1973)
06 Right Place, Wrong Time (from 'In The Right Place' by Dr. John 1973)
07 Grind It Out (from 'The Soulful Crooner' by Nick Holmes 1973)
08 As Long As He Will Stay (from 'New Beginnings...' by Morgana King 1973)
09 I Know It's You (from 'Extension Of A Man' by Donny Hathaway 1973)
10 The Masquerade Is Over (from 'Let Me In Your Life' by Aretha Franklin 1974)
11 Somebody New Is Lovin' On You (from 'I'm In Need Of Love' by Lou Courtney 1974)
12 Early Ev'ry Midnight (from 'Feel Like Makin' Love' by Roberta Flack 1975)

Dave Gilmour - ..and on guitar Vol. 2 (2004) **UPDATE**

The plan was to finish the '...and on guitar' series on a high with a double disc offering from Dave Gilmour, which follows on very nicely from the first volume. There was one track that I couldn't fit on there as it was too long, and so Supertramp's 'Brother Where You Bound' opens this volume, and is then followed by Gilmour's absolutely stunning contribution to Berlin's 'Pink And Velvet', which I'd never heard before, but must count as one of the very best pieces of work that he's ever done. Add in his contributions to pop songs by Sam Brown, Pete Cetera, Paul McCartney, Elton John and Ringo Starr, as well as more progressive tracks from Phil Manzanera, Rabbit, and Robert Wyatt, and you have a superb collection to round off the series. But as it turns out it's not the end, as a passing suggestion from Maybe The Devil, Maybe The Lord has encouraged me to put together one more collection, and this could well be how it will be in future. Any suggestions will be welcomed for possible additions, but to keep in the spirit of the series it would ideally be a guitarist who has released two or three albums on his own, or with a band, and who has also played guest guitar on other artist's albums. Session guitarists who have never released an album of their own would be outside the scope of what I was aiming for, so let's see if I've missed any that I really should have included.   

A comment by AEC has prompted me to update this post, as they suggested that I could have included Rod Stewart's remake of his 'In A Broken Dream' with Dave Gilmour and John Paul Jones. Although it wasn't actually released until 2009, as part of 'The Rod Stewart Sessions', the recording date of 1992 would slot quite nicely into the second disc on this set, and to be honest it does deserve to be there, as it contains some spellbinding guitar-work from Gilmour. If you've already got this one then just download the last four tracks again to replace in the folder, and the tags will then all be updated.    

Track listing

Disc One

01 Brother Where You Bound (from 'Brother Where You Bound' by Supertramp 1985)
02 Bound To Be (from 'The Dream Academy' by The Dream Academy' 1985)
03 Pink And Velvet (from 'Count Three And Pray' by Berlin 1986)
04 Persona (from 'Persona' by Liona Boyd 1986)
05 Immaculate Eyes (from 'She' by Dalbello 1987)
06 This Feeling (from 'Stop!' by Sam Brown 1988)
07 Conquest (from 'Dream Jungle' by Rabbit 1988)

Disc Two
01 You Never Listen To Me (from 'One More Story' by Peter Cetera 1988)
02 Run Straight Down (from 'Transverse City' by Warren Zevon 1989)
03 We Got Married (from 'Flowers in the Dirt' by Paul McCartney 1989)
04 Como El Agua (from 'Roé' by Roé 1990)
05 Waiting For The Sunshine (from 'Growing Up In Public' by Jimmy Nail 1992)
06 Understanding Women (from 'The One' by Elton John 1992)

07 In A Broken Dream (from 'The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998', recorded 1992)
08 I Think Therefore I Rock 'n' Roll (from 'Ringo Rama' by Ringo Starr 2003)
09 Forest (from 'Cuckooland' by Robert Wyatt 2003)
10 Sacred Days (from '6PM' by Phil Manzanera 2004)

For MAC users

Press command+shift+period (to show hidden files) and a grayed out folder '...and on guitar" will appear and the mp3s will be inside. Either drag those to another folder OR rename the folder without any periods at the beginning. Press command+shift+period to once again hide the hidden files.

Dave Gilmour - ...and on guitar (1985)

Dave Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1967, and has been an integral part of the band ever since, appearing on all of their classic albums throughout their long and spectacularly successful career. In between recording and touring with Floyd, he has found time to add his distinctive guitar-work to songs by a number of friends and acquaintances, some that you expect, and some which are something of a surprise. 
In 1973 Unicorn were playing at the wedding reception of Ricky Hopper, who was a friend from Transatlantic days, and Gilmour was also a guest at the wedding. At the end of the evening he got up to Jam with Unicorn, and afterwards expressed an affection for country rock, which came as a considerable surprise to the band. A week later Gilmour invited them to try out his new home studio, and they recorded three songs there, with Gilmour adding guitar to them. He then offered to put up the money to record an album with them, which was recorded at Olympic Studios in London with Gilmour producing and playing electric and slide guitar. This was the beginning of a friendship with the band, which bore fruit later that year when he was given a demo tape of a very young Kathy Bush by Ricky Hopper (from the wedding), and he offered to let her record some of her songs at his studio. He called in Unicorn to act as the backing band, and one of the songs later turned up on the b-side to her 1980 single 'Army Dreamers'. In 1975 he added his guitar to Leo Sayer's friend and collaborator David Courtney's only record 'David Courtney's First Day', and also played pedal steel guitar on Scottish folkies The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver's 'Ain't Too Proud' single. 1976 was a quiet year for Gilmour, but when he offered his services in 1977 it was to the extremely obscure French artist Rachid Bahri, playing on one song on his 'Il Sirvivra' album, alongside Nick Mason on drums. Considering that I had never heard of Bahri before, and the album is impossible to track down, it was astounding to find that it also featured Tim Renwick, Rick Wills, Kenney Jones, Gaspar Lawal, and Stevie Winwood. 
Another two years passed and he was invited to contribute to Paul McCartney's new record, adding guitar to songs destined for the 'Back To The Egg' album, and the following year he appeared on Roy Harper's 'The Unknown Soldier'. Gilmour had known Harper since 1968, and Harper famously sang 'Have A Cigar' on Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' in 1975, and in return Gilmour played on three of Harper's 1970's album, co-writing five songs on 1975's 'HQ'. In 1983 Atomic Rooster were on their third line-up, and for their 'Headline News' album they managed to persuade Gilmour to play on four of the songs, and while it's not really that great an album, 'Hold Your Fire' is an excellent track. Paul McCartney called on Gilmour again in 1984 to add his guitar to a re-recording of the hit single 'No More Lonely Nights', done in a ballad style, which was eventually added to the expanded re-issue of 'Give My Regards To Broad Street', and the following year he appeared on Bryan Ferry's 'Boys And Girls' album, alongside other guests Mark Knopfler and Nile Rodgers. To close the album we have a track from the Duran Duran spin-off band Arcadia, with Gilmour and Sting both featuring on one song, 'The Promise', from their sole album 'So Red The Rose'. Like many of his contemporaries who have guested on others artist's album, Gilmour has never stuck to one style of music, covering country rock, pop, heavy rock, folk, and ballads, and it's a testament to his skill as a guitarist that he can pull them all off effortlessly.       

Track listing

01 The Farmer (from 'Blue Pine Trees' by Unicorn 1974)
02 When Your Life Is Your Own (from 'David Courtney's First Day' by David Courtney 1975)
03 Ain't Too Proud (from 'Reach For The Sky' by The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver 1975)
04 Il Survivra (from 'Il Sirvivra' by Rachid Bahri 1977)
05 So Glad To See You Here (from 'Back To The Egg' by Wings 1979)
06 True Story (from 'The Unknown Soldier' by Roy Harper 1980)
07 Passing Through Air (b-side of 'Army Dreamers' single by Kate Bush 1980)
08 Hold Your Fire (from 'Headline News' by Atomic Rooster 1983)
09 No More Lonely Nights (Ballad) (from 'Give My Regards To Broad Street' by Paul
                                                                                                                      McCartney 1984)
10 Boys And Girls (from 'Boys And Girls' by Bryan Ferry 1985)
11 The Promise (from 'So Red The Rose' by  Arcadia 1985)

Paul McCartney - Cold Cuts (1981)

I've already posted an album called 'Hot Hitz And Cold Cutz', bu that was purely a collection of rare singles, b-sides and album tracks that I wanted to have all in one place. I pinched the title from a legendary album that had been on the cards to be released by McCartney for many years, but which has never seen the light of day, and which will probably remain like that for the foreseeable future. The album was originally conceived as a budget release in 1974, composed of non-album singles and previously unreleased tracks, and work began on it July 1974, with McCartney and his band Wings recording several new songs and overdubbing some previously unused tracks. The album was slated for release in March 1975 but never materialized, and in January 1981, more overdubs were added to the unreleased tracks, with the album given a release date of in early 1981. This deadline was also missed as Columbia Records was not interested in releasing an album of outtakes, and they also considered that its release soon after the death of John Lennon would seem inappropriate. In August 1987 McCartney mixed and edited another version of the album with producer Chris Thomas and engineer Bill Price, but once again it went unreleased after bootleg versions appeared. For McCartney this was the final straw, and so the project was permanently abandoned. To date, a track listing has never been officially announced, but various bootlegs have appeared on the market, taken from a variety of sources, and I've gone with the 1987 issue for this post, with details of the songs included as follows:

• 'A Love for You' – Recorded in 1970 during the 'Ram' sessions, the track received additional overdubs by Laurence Juber and Steve Holley from Wings' third line-up, with that version being released in 2003 on 'The In-Laws' soundtrack album. A 1981 mix of the song was released in 2012 on the Special Edition re-issue of 'Ram'.
• 'My Carnival' – Recorded during the 'Venus And Mars' sessions in New Orleans in 1975, and released as the b-side of 'Spies Like Us' in 1985.
• 'Waterspout' – An outtake from the 'London Town' sessions, it was to be added to 'All The Best!', with additional overdubs done in 1987, but was ultimately scrapped in favour of 'C Moon'.
• 'Mama's Little Girl' – Recorded during the 'Red Rose Speedway' sessions in 1972, and released as the b-side of 'Put It There' in 1990.
• 'Night Out' – This 'Red Rose Speedway'-era outtake was overdubbed multiple times by different incarnations of Wings.
• 'Robber's Ball' – Recorded in 1978 during the 'Back To The Egg' sessions.
• 'Cage' – Removed from 'Back To The Egg' at the last minute in favour of 'Baby's Request', this song features the chords C-A-G-E as its riff to go along with the cage lyric.
• 'Did We Meet Somewhere Before?' – Rejected as the main theme for Warren Beatty's film 'Heaven Can Wait', this song remained on McCartney's shelf until he decided to include it on the outtakes project. A snippet of the track was used in the film 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' although it did not appear on the soundtrack album.
• 'Hey Diddle' – Recorded in 1970 during the 'Ram' sessions as a Paul and Linda duet. Later, the track received further overdubs when Wings were in Nashville in the summer of 1974. The original 1971 version was released in 2012 on the Special Edition re-issue of 'Ram'. 
• 'Tragedy – This remake of Thomas Wayne's 1959 ballad dates from the 'Red Rose Speedway' sessions, with the song being considered for inclusion on the album, which was originally planned to be a double.
• 'Best Friend' – Recorded live during the 1972 Wings Over Europe Tour.
• 'Same Time Next Year' – Recorded in 1978 for the film 'Same Time, Next Year' but not used. Released as the b-side of 'Put It There' in 1990.

k

Track listing

01 A Love For You
02 My Carnival
03 Waterspout
04 Mama's Little Girl
05 Night Out
06 Robber's Ball
07 Cage
08 Did We Meet Somewhere Before?
09 Hey Diddle
10 Tragedy
11 Best Friend
12 Same Time Next Year

Suggested by 'The Greatest Albums You'll Never Hear' by Bruno MacDonald

Paul McCartney & Wings - Red Rose Speedway (Double album) 1973

Back in 2013 the godfather of these sites, soniclovenoize of Albums That Never Were, posted a reconstruction of the legendary double album edition of Wings' second album 'Red Rose Speedway'. For many years I enjoyed this expanded edition of one of Paul McCartney's most under-rated albums, and was impressed at the number of rare songs that he'd unearthed to make up the album. Move forward five years and 'Red Rose Speedway' is treated to a Deluxe re-issue, and as part of the promotion, Paul himself was asked by the excellent The Paul McCartney Project website if a recently unearthed 1973 track-listing was what he would have liked to have used, and he obliged with the answer, saying “You know, this is actually how I recollect that double album. I don’t remember exactly why we changed it. Possibly because of the label? But, to be honest, it’s more likely that I would have just said it’s so much easier to deal with a single album. They’re so much easier to deal with! But it’s great the double album will finally get a release!” So this post is basically an update of sonic's post, but with the tracks in the order that McCartney had intended that they should have been, and housed in anew cover. Now that we know which of the many out-takes that have surfaced over the years were actually meant for 'Red Rose Speedway', we can take the rest of them, add a few singles and b-sides, and compile a couple of interesting early albums that could have been issued in 1973 and 1974, which I'll be posting later. But to start this short series here is the expanded edition of 'Red Rose Speedway'.

Track listing

01 Night Out
02 Get On The Right Thing
03 Country Dreamer
04 Big Barn Bed
05 My Love
06 Single Pigeon
07 When The Night
08 Seaside Woman
09 I Lie Around
10 The Mess
11 Best Friend
12 Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)
13 Medley
     a) Hold Me Tight
     b) Lazy Dynamite
     c) Hands Of Love
     d) Power Cut
14 Mama’s Little Girl
15 I Would Only Smile
16 One More Kiss
17 Tragedy
18 Little Lamb Dragonfly

Paul McCartney - Return To Pepperland (1987)

Between March and April 1987 Paul McCartney recorded a number of songs with producer Phil Ramone, while he was going through a phase of trying out new material with various producers following the disappointing flop of 'Give My Regards To Broad Street'. It wasn't necessarily aimed at producing an album, but was just testing the waters for future projects. Some of the Ramone tracks used Billy Joel's band as backing musicians, and the songs were a mixture of ballads, classic pop, and some more experimental dance-based music. Some of them have since turned up on b-sides and rare Japanese albums, and sixteen of them have been bootlegged as the 'Return To Pepperland' album, but not every track was classic McCartney, and there are a few songs which are generally considered to be well below par. I've therefore taken the best of the recordings and compiled a nine track album, which at 41 minutes is exactly the right length for a record of the period. I felt that 'Beautiful Night' went on a bit too long so I've edited that, but all the rest are direct from the '...Pepperland' bootleg.

Track listing

01 Lindiana
02 Beautiful Night
03 Loveliest Thing
04 Squid
05 This One
06 Love Came Tumbling Down
07 Love Mix
08 Same Love
09 Return To Pepperland

Paul McCartney & Wings - Hot Hitz & Cold Cutz (1978)

Rumours circulated throughout the 80's and 90's that Paul McCartney was going to release an album called 'Hot Hits And Cold Cuts', which would have been a collection of hit singles and some rarer tracks. For whatever reason, this never happened, and so it was up to us to put together our own compilations. My own personal one collected early non-album singles and b-sides, together with a few later hits which which I didn't have in my collection, so this was really just for me. However, I think there's enough rare stuff on here for the average fan to enjoy.

Track Listing

01 Another Day
02 Maybe I'm Amazed
03 Mary Had A Little Lamb
04 Give Ireland Back To The Irish
05 Hi Hi Hi
06 C Moon
07 My Love
08 Rockestra Theme
09 Live And Let Die
10 Helen Wheels
11 Sally G
12 Junior's Farm
13 The Zoo Gang
14 With A Little Luck
15 London Town
16 Goodnight Tonight
17 Comin' Up
18 Old Siam, Sir
19 Waterfalls