ES-Say #34 All The Best Songs He Was Singing(On Any Particular Night...)

                               Photo:Spockey Centre.com                                        

We all have our favourite songs from musicians. The Beatles and Paul McCartney have so many great songs, it's often difficult to pick favourites. I'm going to try to list my favorite McCartney solo song releases at the moment.

Maccameri's Top 15 favourite McCartney songs (that got changed to 19 songs plus one that doesn't count)

1. Maybe I'm Amazed- first stand out track from McCartney(1970), is a great reminder to his range and talents with crafting a song. It never gets old

2. Temporary Secretary- From McCartney II(1980). Experimental for the time, the wordplay is nearly a Rap. Just can't get enough of that new 80s sound.

3. Band On The Run(1973)- I've often wanted to give "it all away to a registered charity". The best example of a song that lifted Wings to the forfront of the 1970s rock scene.

4. Say Say Say- I kind of remember this song being a huge hit in 1983 for Michael Jackson duetting along with some guy helping him go "ooh ooh ooh say say say."(I was only 6). Took about 30 years to figure out the lyric went "just look at my face, these tears aint drying" but still love it.

5. Goodnight Tonight- My interest with this song takes too long to explain. Here's a video that might
turn you off from wanting to know about why I like it.

6. No More Lonely Nights- In 1984, if a flop movie didn't come attached to this song, maybe it wouldn't be so underated and actually have climbed higher in the charts than #2(UK) and #6(US). George Martin worked his beatles-ese producer magic for one of the best songs of the 80s.

7. Let 'em In(1976)- A song that has a similar feel to Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover". I was convinced as a little girl that there was a mob of people entering someone's front door and one of them was my very own "Auntie" whom managed to get inside. These people were relentless enough for soul singer Billy Paul, to continue to list additional important people in his own version. Unforgettable tune (which forced Paul to move when he ran out of living space, I'm assuming..)

8. Hope Of Deliverance- From Off The Ground(1993). I think I saw the video on NBC's Friday Night Videos. Shortly after I bought the album and McCartney was on my radar as a solo artist.

9. Appreciate- the "New"(2013) CD had released several songs with videos that would quickly get bumped from the public consciousness in favour of releasing another single from the album. I can't be expected to ignore a Paul dancing with a Robot named Newman in the "Appreciate" video. The song is embedded in my head and I sing it proudly(...while thinking of a robot).

10. I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday- Sounds great when the Fats Domino cover has been performed live, as I think I've not heard the studio version recorded for Chobba B CCCP (1988). One of the better 1950's cover versions within the McCartney catalogue.

11. Beware My Love- The B-Side to "Let 'em in'"(1976) demands to be a double "A" side.  I had to take days to download it on my 1990s computer before Itunes came along. I think the song was so rocking it broke my dial up. My mother might have said back then "Stop playing that 'whatever loud screamin'- oh..it's a Beatle?"

12. Getting Closer- Paul sings "I'm getting closer...to...your..HAAAR-ART". And so, the Back To The Egg(1979) continues to be another underrated gem in my collection.

13. Soley- Why is this song not performed anymore? Why can't Paul scream an octave higher anymore? We can blame a lot of songs. I blame this 1974 one with it's "cat in satin trousers said it's oily" lyric slammed together to sound more like "TheCatInSatInSatItSoil" Only Paul McCartney!

14. Once Upon And Long Ago- The 'Press To Play'(1986) track got put on the greatest hits Lp, 'All The Best', a year later and released as a single. Is it really now considered another Christmas entry?
I really don't care, it's a great ballad anytime. I don't want to talk about overblown Mull Of Kintyre after discovering this one, though.

15. CMoon- Nothing is bad about this song. It's classic. I'm singing it now and I'm looking to play it right now. (yes, right now).

(Break)

(Resume with the songs forgotten to be named)
*16. Junior's Farm- #16 was almost Jet but Junior's Farm stomped it's foot. (Don't question this explanation, it's simply wonderful).

*17. Coming Up- Any live version like, Last Flight(1979) or Tripping The Live Fantastic(1990). I don't really like the McCartney II studio version which tries too hard.

*18. Ou Est Le Soleil- first heard it from the bonus Japanese track from "Flowers In The Dirt". Even if I didn't like the dance track, I can't forget its loop. Get the vinyl out.

*19. Brown Eyed-Handsome Man- highly danceable song even before the 1999 video instructs everyone to move. I can't remember many other cover tracks from its CD "Run Devil Run" except this one.

& finally *20, the truth is, I actually wrote up this list on paper and listed "Cmoon" again!

I guess I've chosen a favorite song. But *20 has been re-assigned to "With A Little Luck"(1977)- the London Town LP Version.

All the video/songs in this list can be found here

                      

ES-Say #33 Paul is Uncut. Pipes Of Peace is Cut.

                 I get it "Coming Up"! Is that also on Tug Of War?

 The new October issue of Uncut Magazine feature story is an 11-page spread on...well I thought the focus was the remasters but it's more about a mishmash of the impact surrounding John Lennon's death. It's very true the making of McCartney's first " proper" solo album(as he himself defines it), was heavily shaped by the passing of his band and childhood mate. It was expected that the interview would revisit this early-80s period of McCartney's career. How could it not?

The interviewer got a very candid interview in this 2015 Uncut article. All the right questions were asked concerning the period of time with one major oversite: the creations of Pipes Of Peace and to some extent, Tug Of War. It's great hearing about Carl Perkins and George Martin being huge influences on McCartney's work in general, but let me stop here. I'm now distracted from the "Joe La Taxi" song coming from the cable network "Vintage TV". But, is this really important for me to mention to you? Well, that's how the Uncut article started, mentioning random things about the interviewer doing his interview. Instead of being interesting about the interview taking place at Macca's Hog Mill Hill Studios, we get to hear a soulless description of facts about the place. At the very least, when the journalist of the recent Esquire magazine expressed the enormity of actually interviewing McCartney there was something poinent explained. I'm not sure I need to know the exact detailing in Uncut, ranging from archieval McCartney clutter to fridge magnets. But, oh yeah, McCartney has a current Lennon calendar, so this should be mentioned.

What does this article actually have to do with "Tug Of War" and "Pipes Of Peace"? In my mind, not that much. These topics were clearly danced around a lot, but at times it felt more like an article about all the post-Beatles period of collaborations for each other Beatles solo efforts. Nice to know that Paul also worked on Ringo's albums. Can you explain how Ringo fit in with " Tug Of War"? "Yeah, OK" said Ringo, in response to joining in with the  Tug sessions...and that was all to be explain about his appearance recording in 1981. Stevie Wonder is name dropped but he also is not questioned about working on the LP. Wanna hear about Stevie and Paul recording "Ebony and Ivory"? Look to a different magazine. It's probably in there. Along with Michael Jackson who get no mention...da da da DA! SaySaySay...I digress. My main point here is the Uncut article was conducted to accompany the '82 and '83 LP re-releases in October. You can't talk about the making of two albums and forget about how Paul appeared on Michael Jackson's colossal "Thriller" LP (and even Jackson cover of the Wings song, Girlfriend for his "Off The Wall" LP) which led to the collaborations on McCartney "Pipes Of Peace"(ie. Say Say Say, US#1 six weeks, or The Man, one of the albums highlights.). Luckily, it was not forgotten in Uncut that Wonder's duet of "Ebony and Ivory" was #1 in 9 countries from "Tug Of War". But, how was it recorded? Uncut sidesteps all these relevant stories yet deems it necessary to say that Paul offered his interviewer a piece of fruit to end the article. Try to remember that this feature article, while showing what the LP cover of "Peace" looks like, fails to identify that "Average Person" and "So Bad" are from "Peace" and not "Tug" as the reader has to assume its the latter album because the making of "Pipes Of Peace" is not discussed at all. I didn't even want to hear another explanation of Paul's notorious "It's a Drag" comment to reporters when bombarded by the Press for a reaction to Lennon's death. Move on to Paul's 1980s album period. I'm going to move on to the "Press To Play"(1986) LP, basically 'cause I mentioned "the Press" in this blog.

Apples and Oranges...Apples and Oranges...

ES-Say #32 Odd Sox(s) and Ends

Since yesterday, there has been a few McCartney news bits about touring and the upcoming Tug Of War album re-release. It's a lot to think about. Mainly, the realisation that these handful of tour dates announced are definitely a North American Tour. When the first date(Toronto) got announced by itself without other dates for october, it was rumoured more announcements would follow. Since Lollapalooza ended this summer, aside from a private event upcoming(possibly for PETA) nothing else was part of continuing the "Out There" tour. With most musicians, announcing a single random venue for a concert is not a one-off event. In the case of McCartney for this Fall, rumours have correctly predicted a small tour as Columbus, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Buffalo, NY, have been announced in the last few days.

It's possible that the reason for some dates in October is to coinside with the Tug Of War and Pipes Of Piece re-releases arrival on the 2nd. Well, it makes sense to me. As much as Paul likes to get "Out There" and perform live, publicity wise an artist always should be promoting something. Not for nothing, I strongly believe that McCartney is one of the best in the business of self-promotion and PR in general. This is not a negative thing, at all, since this business sence has equated to a financial empire. His business should be a business model of money management. It sounds like I'm gushing but it's true. I've always had an interest in PR and believe me, usually MPL(AKA McCartney Productions, Limited) is a great example to study.

Speaking of great PR, guess who's been interviewed for the october issue of Uncut Magazine? That's right, a well known 1982 photo of McCartney(aged 40) will be interviewed. (I'm not sure from what year, but it's save to say it's all about the re-releases).

Also, yesterday, an exclusive listen on the Paul McCartney SoundCloud page of "Take It Away" (single edit, 2015), and a YouTube video for it followed. As I thought my complaining was definitely over in ES-Say #30(see entry), I'm sorry to report it's not. This 2015 single edit is 4:05 mins and when I popped on the CD of the 2001 "single edit" (yet another remaster from Wingspan) that too was exactly 4:05. The new single edit(I'm not even sure if it's going on the new box set, maybe not?), did not sound that different from 14 years ago and the accompaning video was clearly rushed. But, let's all enjoy the 5th(or 6th) released version. Rant over. (Besides, to be fair, it is free to listen!)

"It's a tug of war...we expected mooore"- fitting lyric of any of the billion(now assumed) versions of the song, Tug of War. Gotta love it!

ES-Say #31 Yeah, I reeeeealy needed that Beatles mug...Not!

This past Sunday, I went to the city for lunch with family. I had mentioned that I wanted to visit a clothing shop for some sports-related clothing and it was agreed among everyone that my purchases could be made on the way home. It happened to be raining, but I happened to spot novelty items outside another shop that were getting drenched in a bin. It was this little unofficial nugget in the center below...  

I walked past the bin rather quickly but I knew it was a Beatles coffee mug. During lunch, I said that I wanted to buy the mug I saw as well because "I neeeeded it". Everyone at the lunch table either laughed, rolled their eyes (or both). By the time I returned to the store, the several identical mugs were pretty dusty and slightly damp but for £.99($1.50) I sure as heck decided to buy two.

My idea was to keep one and sell the other on Ebay. I checked Ebay while I was on the train home and saw that tons of Beatles mugs (hundreds) were listed and not really selling. I found a listing for the same one I had but then I couldn't find it listed at all when I got home. Needless to explain, I put one of the mugs up on ebay and it's not selling. I'm not disappointed for two reasons a) the original price of the mug was £9.99($15) b) I can just add it to the pile and hope to have a Beatles-themed tea party!  (I'm humming a lyric from Lovely Rita as I'm typing).

This particular mug is obviously unofficial because it's not an Apple licensed product or subsidiary. It can't even say "Beatles" on it, but repeats the composite picture twice and calls the lads by their other moniker "The Fab Four". Well, after knowing that I don't even have to go to a record show to find some odd merchandise I reeeally need to "get back" to the city after that money tree in my backyard starts growing again.

Note: This blog was a bit uneventful but a new edition in my collection. I apologise for the obvious puns.
I'd like to thank my 10-15 loyal readers for still reading my blogs and I've stuck this new promo on Periscope and YouTube. Gotta keep the self promotion, uh promoting? finally, did you know You Tube stars now have best-selling (or available) books? How many lifetimes will it take me? *eye roll*

ES-Say #30 "Houston, we have a problem..." The loss of Tug Of War

As Tug Of War(1982), is scheduled to be re-released on October 2nd, there is an issue. A HUGE issue. Unless your willing to shell out a ton of money for the box set version, the original studio mix will not be included on the standard or delux versions. What those reasonably priced version will include instead, is an brand new 2015 remix from the master tapes. Not the version that was remastered in 1993 or the original version from 1982.

I think I understand what this means. A remaster from the Master tapes basically cleans up a recording. You can hear individual channels(voice, piano, drum recordings) a record a bit more richer, either more or less predominantly to achieve an improved sound. However, it rarely features new sounds because that would change the entire album completely. Yes, that's exactly what's going to happen here with the 2015 version. It will sound significantly different because they(Paul and whomever, I won't know til I read the new liner notes) are going to start from scratch. Using the master tapes and basically do a hack job(not necessarily with bad results), newly remixing the album with an intention to present a different version (that's what a remix does). I would hope no brand new recordings(2005) would be added in with the 1982 recordings, but having a "new" remix in general is fine and welcome.

What's not so fine and welcome is that I realised I no longer have the 1987(?) CD copy of the 1982 LP Vinyl. I need to buy a used copy as the previous cd copies are out of print. I thought I could be able to find it on iTunes. It's nowhere to be seen on iTunes, being replaced with pre-orders for the standard and delux 2015 versions. EBay didn't seem to have many people selling the '87 or '93 Holland remasters(I recommended all of the latter CDs). I'm not sure I will win the eBay copy I'm watching(an eBay option to keep an auction saved on your account).

I think I feel this should be in comparassion(poorly) to the plot of Paul's wonderfully overlooked Turkey film(which I personally love), Give My Regards To Broad Street. For those of you who forgot or choose to forget what the facacta plot was, here's my version in a nutshell.

Paul McCartney stars as himself in 1984 trying to find the Master tapes of his "new" album which has been reportedly "stolen" by an employee\friend named Harry. Paul's faith in Harry drives the film into a 90 min brand new live version sing-along of previously released Beatles, Wings, and Solo songs peppered with a few new songs. Actual some of the songs from "Tug Of War" were performed live in the movie, and released on the movie sound track.

Now, I've confused myself completely, I was going to point out that in the film the original tapes are feared destroyed. Basically what's happening now if you remix and entire album and scrap\distroy the old one from existance (ignore the fact that the old '82 version is included in the 2015 box set because its not as widely accessible to the "AVERAGE PERSON"...). So, with my trying to make a point with the original version of Tug of War suffering from this new 2015 remix version(essential trying to forget about the original), I have discovered something else.

The soundtrack to Broadstreet(1985) features new recordings of at least three Tug of War(1982) songs- Ballroom Dancing, Wonderlust, and Take It Away(maybe the song Tug Of War also, but I'm too lazy to look at the CD soundtrack). This means that parts of Tug of War('82) have already, technically, been re-recorded with different arrangements. So not only has the idea of changing songs on Tug of War('82 LP, '87 CD) been done for Broadstreet. Those several songs are going to get a THIRD rearranged version?????????? There wasn't anything wrong with the 84 versions, they did sound very good but a THIRD version, 31 years later?!?!?

I really need a lie down...

ES-Say #29 My somewhat hatred of "New" Beatles Merchandise.

Collecting Beatles and\or McCartney branded goods(or merchandise) is a wonderful hobby but it's important to focus on a particular medium(for example-vinyl, books, clothing). Fans may choose to collect everything. However, I find collecting without a preference to be both tedious and difficult to maintain. I personally don't want to add more categories to the categories I am currently maintaining.
When I look to add to my collection, I have avoided looking at "new official Beatles goods" in the past. I define these new goods as valueless due to being mass produced by Apple corps within the last ten years. Overpriced and designed to be attractive to a new audience, it really doesn't interest me. Or it didn't really make a ripple in my collection until I realised I actually have a "new goods collection".
There needs to be some clarification- new goods have been produced since The Beatles broke up in 1970. I can't refer to goods from the 70s-90s as "new", because a significant amount of time has past. My opinion is that anything produced in the last decade is categorise as "new" and prior items are collectable with some reseverations to its rarity and value.
The worn 1995 T-shirt I have could be a collectable but the condition is poor and would not make much of a profit. I'm not necessarily looking to sell newer merchandise, but recently, I have been collecting a few goods that could possibly (fingers crossed) be sold in 10-20 years time.
The reason I broke my initial disinterest in valueless new goods, was because I started to see things that seemed collectable or stuff that I wanted to use without caring about what happens to it. Last year, I bought two of the same coffee cups with the "Live from the BBC volume 2" logo. I will continue to buy the new goods for new cd releases because some of the Promo merchandise produced around the time for Anthology(mid 1990s) seems to have been gaining both interest and value.
Recently, I found espresso mugs and chose the "Hard Days Night" design. Produced in 2014, they are wildly available, but I have no interest in the Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper designs. I have some sort of reasoning that the wildly popular designs of the aforementioned are so common, it will saturate the market and never gain the value a lesser common design will gain. Call it what you want, but with my interest to less common new goods, at the very least becomes a talking point based around limited edition productions(hopefully).

In the video above, I have filmed some of these "new" Beatles goods that for whatever reason, I haven't been able to pass up. The blue travel mug is a good example of a valueless but attractive purchase as I had to find it on eBay and couldn't find it in the shops due to a couple of the several designs being widely sold and re-ordered with no intention of stocking any more designs. I guess this means if I feel something is truely "limited edition" I want to have it. The other examples in the video for whatever reason peaked my interest. Previously, I felt all the modern goods were a waste of time because the Beatles broke up 45 years ago. Now, I'm not so convinced. This does not include "new" Paul McCartney goods, because he's still producing new material. (Many of these new goods from tours and cds are limited and demand higher prices). But, when it comes to new Beatle goods alot of it is rather, well, a gamble...
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Es-Say #28 Let's talk about "true", " real", and "original" fans!

   

Fans are (mostly) all the same 

Over the lifetime of this website the initial theme has remained the same- I, the author, am only one of many Paul McCartney fans. I am not better or worse than any other music fan. I am simply a writer who likes to write about my fan experiences, mostly about my music collection which I started as a teen in 1993. Being a Paul(as a solo artist) fan for 20 something years does not make me a "real", "true","super" or any other adjective that would acknowledge that I've got some sort of leg up on other people that like The Beatles or Paul McCartney.

What I am is a fan just like someone in 2015 who has just bought a Paul album for the first time. A new fan is commonly known as a "newbie". But a "newbie" might know about something I have no knowledge of- a remix, recent news, a promotional item, etc. In some ways, I too, am a "newbie" and in no way should I be doubting another persons level of fandom.

Similarly, I have little respect or patience for people who want to express their fan loyality as greater than my own. The truth is these sorts of fans usually have one thing greater than myself, which is a lot of disposable income to spend to continue to keep up to contribute to Paul McCartney's income. Let's ignore that Sir Paul has an estimated worth of at least £800 million. The misconception is that a fan's superiority is equivalent to a musician owing them, personally, for faithfully supporting(aka moola) them through the years. Recently, on the subject of The Paul McCartney Achieve Collection, someone wrote that only buying the deluxe versions of those CDs and not the Box Set collection, is what the average non-fan person would buy. My reaction to this, as I own all the delux CDs sans two and no box sets is extreme pity that anyone would believe their financial position equals being a genuine fan. If that's the measure of a real fan, I want to take my toys and go home. Now, with Tug of War having a 1,000 copy limited run of a super deluxe box set, I did not even attempt to order it. The people who want to basically brag about owning this, I don't want to associate with, but I tolerate these people until the "I'm a better fan" declaration is implyed or said.

As I'm sure some of you may relate, proving yourself to be a big fan is pointless, usually due to another attempting to prove themselves greater with statistics which again, only equally to greater amounts of money spent. For example, I've been to four concerts, yet there will always be a person who's gone to fourty and they will tell you what happened(financially) by telling you what merchandise and seat packages they bought without you even asking or really caring. I recently enjoyed concert #4 by simply spending time with a fellow fan and cracking jokes left and right about Paul. How can we get away with this behaviour and call ourselves fans? OK, we're happy to say we are 100% not fans just so you will leave us alone. Bygones be bygones, et all.

So, why should any of my rant matter? Unfortunately, it is unavoidable but it boggles the mind why people feel the need to knock others for less involvement(again, M-O-N-E-Y) in Paul McCartney's career. Most musicians do not discriminate over fan status because they have private lives. As much as a meeting an musician seems like the ultimate experience for a fan, it's a general and usually forgettable experience for the musician. Paul has said previously that he relys on fans to have his career statistics, but he never gives those people individual shout outs. Why? Because it's "too many people" to mention individually.

No one should feel invalidated for being an average fan. We're all special and we all spend money on the musician because we "appreciate" them and they "appreciate" our money, admiration, and devotion in general. It's my opinion and I'm allowed to have one as a person(not necessarily as a fan).

Now that's enough on that topic, I have enough Paul related problems to attend to, starting with which Linda McCartney frozen meal to have for dinner and neglected reading and listening materials to get to. Viva la average fandom!