Concord Music Group gets Paul McCartney Back Catalogue (Pt. 3)

I just listened to "Boil Crisis" for the first time. I thought it was great!.. and then I heard him mention that it was boil as in "skin defect" instead of "water boiling". Ugh. I had envisioned a "boil crisis" as hot, boiling water flooding a city and that there was a boil crisis! The latter would have DEFINITELY been cool! I'm going to pretend that that's what he's singing about.

 

Alright, my two cents on all this "Flaming Pie" onwards talk. "Flaming Pie" is good but I don't think it's as good as the critics labeled it as. There are some fantastic songs on there that would definitely make a greatest hits collection of his later material. Something about some of the songs rubs me the wrong way. I'm sure that, as time goes by, I'll learn to like it more.

"Run Devil Run" is an OK album. There are some awesome songs on there and I certainly don't hate it but I can't get past the fact that if the Beatles had recorded every song on there, it would be infinitely better. I know that that will never happen and that I should get over it but that's honestly how I feel about it. Still, it's good.

I still haven't listened to all of "Driving Rain" but I listened to more than half of it last night and I think it's bleh. The songs on it that I really like are all the ones Paul did during his "Back in the U.S." tour and that's probably because I've heard that live album multiple times and those "Driving Rain" songs have had time to bounce around in my head and I've become used to them and like them. I'll give "Driving Rain" a rain-check, as it were, because I need time with albums to fully enjoy them. "Vanilla Sky" is great, though.

"Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" was the first solo-Paul album I bought because I was just getting into the Beatles then and had "Wingspan" so I got the newest McCartney release. I didn't like it at first because I wanted Beatles and, of course, didn't get that. I was 16, give me a break! Anyways, after having it for so many years and giving it a fresh listen last night, I really like it. I don't like "Riding to Vanity Fair" and have always hated it. Nothing has changed there. I do like the album more than I remember liking it. It's a keeper! Also, "Comfort of Love" is a great extra track, as is "Summer of '59".

"Memory Almost Full" - WOO HOO! I LOVE this album! I like rock 'n' roll, you see, and this album delivers. The only two songs I don't like as much as others are "Gratitude" and "The End of the End". They are both good, don't get me wrong, but when I compare them to the rest of the album, they're not as good. That's just me being nit-picky, though. I love this album!

"Electric Arguments" was OK for me. I've only heard it a couple times and I'm not too hot for the instrumentals. I think it's airy/boring for the last few songs on the album. The ones with vocals are all good but the other ones make me stop the record. I'll have to give this one a rain-check as well. It needs more time to grow on me.

 

Talking about what goodies are in the McCartney vault, something else we're forgetting about is the huge amount of material he wrote and gave away to other artists.

Off the top of my head, we could hear Pauls studio versions of:

- Mine For Me (given to Rod Stewart)
- On The Wings Of A Nightingale (Everleys)
- Lets Love (Peggy Lee)
- The McGear tracks
- Pure Gold, Attention, 6 'o clock, Private Property (Ringo)
- Fourth Of July (?)

I'm sure there's more, but it'd be good to have all of these included in a McCartney Anthology.

 

Oh yes, you're absolutely right! We got a tiny snippet of "Six o'Clock" with Paul on vocals at the tail end of the extended version of Ringo's version. I'd love to hear the whole song like that!

 

Also: Goodbye (1969 demo for Mary Hopkins). Arnie

P.S. John Christie did the version of Fourth of July. And it is a wonderful song.

 

"Giddy" -- Roger Daltry
"New Moon Over Jamaica" -- Johnny Cash

 

I have not been following this. Anyone have word on when the albums will be reissued? All we have right now is "Band On The Run".

 

This was posted on the Beatlefan Facebook site earlier. I know it doesn't answer anything yet, but hey, Norm & Shake wouldn't lie....

 

"Your Loving Flame" is classic Macca, IMO. Wouldn't change a thing.

 

I cannot stand "your loving flame." Right or wrong, I associate this song with the dreaded Heather - and it makes me ill.

"About You" is the song I totally missed on Driving Rain - it smokes. The album is a mixed bag, and I like it slightly more than Flaming Pie - which is to say, not all that much. Flaming Pie just has a vibe on it that bugs me. I will admit that that 1997 was a lousy year for me, and I think that influences my dislike for the album (as well as The Stones "Bridges To Babylon" from the same year - my god, BTB is to me, as unlistenable as "Dirty Work").

I'm really hoping for another new Paul album soon - the last 3 have been VERY enjoyable.

 

The only thing I would change is getting rid of the backing vocals/harmonies on the chorus. Paul debuted the song on the 'Parkinson' chat show in 1999, with David Gilmour on guitar, and I prefer that version, with no backing.

I remember loving the song when I first heard it, and hoping it would be on his next album. It was, but 'Driving Rain' wasn't released until two years later!

 

Bridges To Babylon is one of the very few Stones album from the 70s to now that I enjoy. 'Anybody Seen My Baby' is killer!

i think 'Flaming Pie' was over hyped & over rated at the time. I remember reviews talking about it having a 'White Album' vibe, which probably only increased the hype. There are some great songs on there, but also too many songs that are just 'ok', nothing special.

 

You can hear a tantalizingly short snippet of "4th Of July" sung by Paul on the boot which has all the outtakes of the acoustic segment of the 1973 "James Paul McCartney" TV special (along with lovely versions of "Bluebird", "Blackbird", "Michelle", "Heart Of The Country", "Mama's Little Girl", Buddy Holly's "Take Your Time", the "Love Is Long" part of "Long-Haired Lady" and even a couple of seconds of "Monkberry Moon Delight")!

 

It really is, isn't it?

I just wiki'd John Christie and he's not on there. What's the story behind Fourth Of July? How did he get that classic from Paul?

 

I was the same, but not for 'Loving Flame', for the other song he performed on Parkinson "Dedicate A Song To Us". It reminded me of the slightly caberet style he had in Honey Pie. What happened to this song?

 

Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTaOtXvr7DM&feature=related

Have to say, I prefer 'Loving Flame'.

 

Here's the version of 'Loving Flame' with David Gilmour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_5TrCsSCLs&feature=related

 

Oh. I know the song, I remember it.

I'm just wondering what happened to it. Another one lost to the mysterious vaults I guess.

 

I don't know the complete story but I remember reading an interview with Dave Clark (in "Beatlefan", maybe?), who was John Christie's producer, in which he said he still has Paul's demo tape.

Wasn't it re-recorded around 2004 with Jool's Holland's band for one of his albums, but then shelved because Paul wasn't satisfied with the result? CB70 or Claudio or Etcetera must know more about this.

 

Yeah, I have always wondered about that too about Fourth of July. And I don't think John Christie ever did anything else. As such, it definitely is the "best song that Paul ever wrote and gave away to an unknown artist who was never heard of again". Fourth of July is one of those seemingly-effortless Paul songs, which he basically could just pop out of his head from the late 60s-early 70s. I hope that we get to hear Paul's demo version one of these days. Arnie

 

He made a few other singles for Polydor and EMI and at least one album in the mid 70's and re-recorded "Old Enough To Know Better", which was the original "4th of July" b-side, for one of his EMI singles in 1976.
Hear him on "Top Of The Pops" with "Here's To Love" in 1976: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1oPGgP0GBY

He also appeared in 1986 on Dave Clark's "Time", along with Cliff Richard, Julian Lennon and Freddy Mercury among many other guests.

 

Thnaks for the further info on John Christie. But 4th of July is such a fantastic tune, and one which very few Macca fans have ever heard. Arnie

P.S. I also like Paul's "Penina" which a few people covered in 1969 or so. There are some off the cuff versions of Paul doing this at the Get Back/Let It Be sessions in January 1969.

 

Well here's my verdict; still going to languish in the library I''m afraid. I really like Dance Tonight and Mister Bellamy. Only Mama Knows suffers from weak lyrics IMO but does have a nice melody and rocking sound. As far as Wings-iest sounding I would put in below Back To The Egg which to me sounds awful. BTTE is my least played Wings LP, a few decent songs and the rest pedestrian to me. I did give it a good listen though. If I were to make a McCartney comp the three songs I mentioned would make it the rest is just plain boring to me. At least you got me to play it again.

 

I had the promotional CD for FLAMING PIE a month or so before it was released and remember thinking not only what a great album it is, but that, for most of the album, Paul was be "real," lyrically. Much more so than previously over the past 20 years or so.

Dare I say it, FLAMING PIE was so Beatle-y ... and reminded me very much of RAM's whole vibe at the time.

 

Re: Driving Rain:

I agree with your assessment that, trimmed down, Driving Rain would be a classic. And I nearly agree with your proposed listing: swap Riding Into Jaipur for From A Lover and you have a bona fide great album. My only real gripe with the album was his performance of Magic. It's a wonderful song and has so much potential, but he plays it so slowly it seems like the tape machine batteries are about to run out! And he sings it in the wrong key, so that when he (unnecessarily) repeats a line, he can barely sing it.