McCartney "Ram" reissue news

Chris -

There are two different reels of SFX for 'I Lie Around', one is a twin-track from mid-November, the other is a 16-track recorded a few days later at A.I.R. So I would suspect that the two-track is a field recording and the multi-track contains the work with the Moog.

Chip Madinger
www.lennonology.com

P.S. And for the doubters among us, 'Hi, Hi, Hi' was spelled numerous ways, based on the vintage of the recording and the studio/engineer - the first being "High-Hi-High". The details of the 1973 jam with John Bonham originate from a contemporary report in a U.K. music trade. Perhaps one of the McCartney scholars can quote chapter and verse.

 

This rarities box set has been rumored for years. This is most likely the most recent version of it. What you say actually lends some kind of validity to this: "To date, hardly any of these have come out". Exactly. They are part of a box, so why would they be released separately? I'd like to quote Calico from an old thread on this subject:

Also, this tracklist was given to us about a year before the Archive Collection was announced, wasn't it? Things change, you know, and this is probably the thing that did it.

 

I've been deleted for posting true things.

Everyone here is not just dolts who analyze wav forms.

Settle down, Beavis.

 

Just because the box set hasn't been released yet doesn't mean it's "phony." If the longer, full release schedule is accurate -- I know, I know, and who really DOES know other than Paul and his team? -- these boxes aren't even planned for release before 2014-2016. So I'd be more cautious about labeling someone a liar.

 

etcetera is legit.

 

Interesting update, I wonder why the demos have been kept off limits for this release. They included one on McCartney and there seem to be several to choose from here (while keeping better ones for later release). Does anyone know how these demos were recorded? Did Paul use his Studer 4-track or a lower quality tape recorder? The sonic quality of the Women Kind demo was bit dismal and so I hope that the Ram demos are in better quality (similar to say Pete Townshend's demos for Quadrophenia).

 

What difference does it make if he was making it all up out of whole cloth? No one knows what's going to happen - probably not even Paul. If someone is slipping some tracklistings or tentative plans to someone who posts that information on our forum, I think it's great. If those things don't materialize, what does it mean? Basically, nothing. However, I'd be willing to wager that etcetera's postings on plans and song titles is more accurate than what we'd get from Paul if he were doing it.

Never knew there was a 1971 "Blackpool". I think I hear Denny Laine in the mix. Again, another track that would have made Wildlife better, which further confirms my theory that Wildlife came out exactly as Paul intended. There was no shortage of songs.

 

+1

I've never understood why Paul didn't choose better songs for the debut LP of his new band. There were these bunch of Ram leftovers that would've definitely helped make Wild Life a much better album. Big Barn Bed, Get On The Right Thing, A Love for You,..........

 

That's the question. I don't think he was trying to make the best album he could. It seems weird to knowingly make something substandard, but I think he wanted to make a "Wings" album, while also not trying to make another album like Ram. I also think his explanation about being inspired by Dylan to make an album in a week played a larger role than we may have initially assumed.

He probably wanted to make the album quickly. He wanted it to represent the work of his new band. And he wanted to do something that wasn't Ram. I think Paul thought Ram was every bit as a good as Abbey Road, and intended it to be a knockout blow to the doubters as well as his three ex's. When that didn't happen, he was probably confused and uncertain of what he should do next. Wild Life was a new direction and it set the bar low. He tried out some of his pet ideas, didn't take it too seriously, and deliberately didn't try to make it into what he thought a great album would be. He tried that already.

Thus, we have Wild Life; what might Paul's version of Dylan's Self Portrait. It's made more perplexing by his decison to include a track from Ram. That opens up the "why not use the other tracks from Ram?" side of things, but it's probably a red herring.

 

Try the content predictions for McI and II. Also while things can change at short notice, say the track changes, then the corresponding booklet - or hardback book - and actual CD(s) manufacturing does not happen over night. If there was a decent inside source one could reasonably expect there to be enough time before decision, production and release for this news to get out. Otherwise the predictions seem so full of caveats/get out clauses that it allows room for loads of error which isn't much of a prediction. Also Ram was predicted to be released before Christmas, this didn't happen, and the next prediction chimes in after other people have already suggested an alternative date which is similar just based on marketing/release trends.

 

between, not before.

 

That's how I've always thought of this. I think the critical bashing that Ram got on release must have been a huge shock for Paul - here he was hoping for the best reviews since Abbey Road and instead was called the nadir of 60's musical decomposition. It must have left him confused and for the first time, uncertain if he had lost the pulse of the musical world.

So I can somewhat understand his reluctance to use anything from the Ram sessions. But then, why rush into another hurried attempt to put out the next LP? He knew that that the music critics were out with the dagger and he would be slammed for another sub-par effort. Yet, he chose to cut Wild Life in quick time (inspired by Dylan) and put it out just few months after Ram. I guess the confusion created by the negativity around Ram made him lose his then-super musical judgement and throw a dart into the dark.

In hindsight, it would've served him much better to spend more time working his band mates, doing the university tour and then putting out a stronger debut album in the fall of 1972.

 

I was just going through the set lists of the Wings live shows in '72 and '73. I don't see "Eat At Home" in any of them. I only see "Smile Away". Am I missing something?

 

That summer 1972 tour comprised two legs. One featured "Eat At Home", which was then replaced by "Bip Bop" in the next one.

Evidence of this in this acetate label:

 

Thanks. Would these potential live songs be coming from the Hauge show? Here's the setlist:

Opening Jam
Eat At Home
Bip Bop
Smile Away
Mumbo
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
1882
I Would Only Smile
Give Ireland Back To The Irish
The Mess
Best Friend
Soily
I Am Your Singer
Seaside Woman
Henry's Blues
Say You Don't Mind
Wild Life
My Love
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Maybe I'm Amazed
Hi, Hi, Hi
Long Tall Sally

This show was obviously recorded professionally (and used "The Mess" as the B-side to "My Love", in addition to "Best Friend" and "1882" from Cold Cuts). Are there any other professionally recorded early Wings shows that sound as good as this one?

 

@Supermd: at least Antwerp and The Hague shows are known to have been professionnally recorded, but there may be others of course.
The live version of "The Mess" (B-side to "My Love") was recorded in The Hague, and the live version of "Best Friend" (closing track of the 1980-81 "Cold Cuts") is from Antwerp. You can even hear the first notes from the intro of "Soily", which was the next track played, during the fade out.

 

If you read the interviews in the 1972 tour programme, they say that they recorded several shows to examine.

 

Cool, thanks Calico and MHP. I have a show from Arles that is not the greatest quality. I've only listened to snippets of the songs, but they do not sound professionally recorded.

 

This Arles show was recorded by a concert goer who kept the tape for himself for 30+ years... But it took until we had that recording to discover that the LP version of "Sgt Pepper's" was played over the PA system after the show had ended!

 

You have to admit this is an odd set list. I wonder what the people seeing Paul McCartney live at the time thought of this eclectic mix of songs. I'd absolutely love to hear this NOW, but it had to be an odd show at the time. Nary a Beatles song in the bunch except for Long Tall Sally. It had to be a weird time for Paul, apparently trying to find his footing.

Oh, my version of Cold Cuts doesn't include 1882. But I'm pretty sure there were several different Cold Cuts variations, right?

 

Am I the only one that thinks that "Blackpool" is one of the worst songs Paul has ever written. Unless the real unheard studio versions are totally different than the b**tleged versions then the song sucks big time to my ears.. for gods sake read the lyrics.. it would have fitted well on "Driving Rain" perhaps lol. I will never miss having this song on any future collection.

 

What I'd like to know if people who went to those summer 1972 European shows were disappointed at the time that so many songs announced as being "from our next album" ("Soily", "1882", "Best Friend", "I Would Only Smile", "The Mess"...) sort of vanished after the tour. At least, "Soily" was revived for the short 1973 UK tour (it was the show's opener) before becoming the impressive finale for the 1975-76 Wings Over The World tour.

As to the album itself, it would be quite some time before it would be released (May 1973), and ultimately, the only song that would make the transition from the 1972 live set to the LP was "My Love".

Anyway, even with such a dodgy setlist ("Henry's Blues", anyone?), the 1972-73 band lineup was my first exposure to Wings and I'd love to have a full show professionally recorded available.

 

Totally breaks my heart when I think of this critics baching of the day over such a super fine album! Oh the mental decadence these guys were ensconsing themselves into by then... I'd bet this didn't even have anything to do with the music in the first place... I can picture them merely putting the cover in front of the typing machine for "inspiration", pondering for a minute how unhip McCartney was to even sue his ex-Beatles pals, then going for it...

 

Unbelievable Experience probably has the worst lyrics of any unreleased McCartney song, although Stop, You Don't Know Where She Came From and Boil Crisis are up there as well.

 

I love Blackpool, I don't care about the lyrics, it just sounds good and that's good enough for me!

As long as the lyrics aren't vulgar or offensive, I'm good!