retroblog.net

In this day and age of instant gratification, instant streaming, instant messaging, etc., where anything and everything is available at an INSTANT, Paul McCartney fans are having to exercise a lot of patience. The reissue campaign for McCartney’s back catalog will span over the course of several years with select titles being released a few at a time. MPL/Concord Music Group kicked things off successfully last year with the deluxe reissue of Band on the Run. And now after months and months of waiting come the next batch of remastered reissues: McCartney (1970) and McCartney II (1980).

I totally understand the need to stagger the releases since it maximizes the exposure of each set but from a fan’s point of view, the waiting sucks. If the reissue campaign continues at this pace, it’ll be well into the latter half of this decade before we get the complete set. that’s a LONG time. Who knows if CDs will even still be around a few years down the road?

But enough of me whining. The big positive in all this is that the remasters (so far at least) sound GREAT. There’s no brickwalling, no harshness/shrillness in sound and the “no-noised” dullness of the previous remastered collection has been corrected. kudos to the Abbey Road remastering team for doing Macca fans a “solid” in this regard.

I got the two-disc “special editions” of McCartney and McCartney II. I know, I know, I should have splurged for the “super deluxe” versions to get the hard bound books and DVDs but unfortunately, I’ve got a tight budget. But anyway, the albums have never sounded better. I’m not going to comment on the content of the original albums since most fans already know these albums by heart. I’ll just run through some of the bonus content.

Frankly, the bonus disc on McCartney I is a bit skimpy. The rumor is that the “good stuff” is being saved for a rarities box set which may (or may not) get released at the end of this long reissue campaign. But it is still great to finally hear “Suicide” in full which we’ve always heard a snippet of at the end of “Glasses”. The three tracks from the Wings 1979 Glasgow show is a surprise. I was hoping Concord would release the full Glasgow show as part of the “Back to the Egg” package but I guess not. “Don’t Cry Baby” is simply the instrumental mix of “Oo You”. And “Woman Kind” is a bit of a throwaway.

The bonus disc on McCartney II is a lot more interesting. “Blue Sway” features orchestration by Richard Niles which was added/overdubbed back in 1986. Pretty neat but the track sticks out a bit because it’s not a “one-man band” like the rest of the material. The live “Coming Up” version is slightly different that the one we’ve all heard as a single. This version includes the extra “making music endlessly” verse and the ending is a bit weaker which indicates a lil’ overdubbing/sweetening was done on the original single. The rest are the leftover tracks that would have comprised the 2-LP version of McCartney II. Yeah, I think it was a wise decision to go with the single LP but still a fun listen. I really appreciate the fact that McCartney was obviously experimenting during these sessions with no intention of making a hit single.

RetroGrade: remastered sound A+, bonus audio content for McCartney C, McCartney II B.
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Finally after months of fan speculation, Paul McCartney’s management has posted an official announcement concerning the next releases in the “Archive Collection” series. MPL/Concord Records will be releasing deluxe remastered versions of McCartney (1970) and McCartney II (1980) on June 7th, 2011.

Looks like the “super deluxe” editons for both albums are the way to go for McCartney fans since it’ll include the bonus DVDs as well as the 128-page hardbound book. My wallet will be taking a hit when getting both editions but at least Concord will be spreading these re-releases out so that I’ll have time to *save up* for the next set of releases. Hopefully the next batch will include “Ram” and “Wings over America”. WOA with it’s original muffled mid-range-y sound definitely could use a new remix or better quality remastering job.

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I’m not sure if you heard it or not but back in early November, there was a huge collective sigh of relief from Paul McCartney fans the world over. That was when fans finally got the chance to hear the newly remastered Band on the Run CD. Yes, it’s the first of Concord Music Group‘s career-spanning reissue campaign and we’ve all been keeping our fingers crossed hoping that this record company won’t screw it up. You may remember my initial post concerning the reissue campaign back in April expressing my hopes that they’d take special care during the remastering of these albums. Well, I’m happy to report that Concord/MPL did the album justice. The new 2010 reissue of Band On the Run sounds phenomenal. No worries of “brickwalling” or “no-noising” here. In fact, it’s probably the best sounding version of all the past reissues of the album including the highly regarded DCC reissue. Of course, opinions will differ depending on personal preferences but there’s no denying that this reissue is a vast improvement over the 1993 “no-noised” EMI version.

In addition to the great remastering job, Concord thankfully included some bonus material. The 2CD/DVD set features a 9-track bonus CD plus a DVD of the unreleased “One Hand Clapping” special. A special collector’s edition includes a third CD (the audio documentary from the 25th anniversary edition) and a beautiful 120-page book of photos by Linda McCartney and Clive Arrowsmith. And it doesn’t stop there. Concord is also making available a 2-disc 180 gram vinyl set for audiophiles.

I’ve listened to the Band on the Run album off and on ever since junior high so needless to say I’m very familiar with the material. But even so, the sound quality and the details that come alive in songs like “Bluebird” and “Mamunia” result in an almost brand new listening experience. Plus, “One Hand Clapping” footage is neat to see. It’s essentially the band playing live in the studio with McCartney full of enthusiasm. As a fan, it’s a blast to see the man perform at this stage in his career (in the early to mid-70′s). His live vocal performances are effortless and he seems very eager to prove himself as an artist out from under the Beatles’ shadow. It’s too bad the video quality of the “One Hand Clapping” special wasn’t spruced up to today’s standards. But as “archival footage” from the mid-70′s, it’ll do.

I’m still not certain if Concord/MPL will be doing the “deluxe” treatment on every album in McCartney’s catalog but it sure would be nice if they do. There’s probably enough material (B-sides, alternate mixes, re-mixes, unreleased tracks, etc.) to fill up multiple discs for every release. But I guess Concord will be making the decision on those future “deluxe treatments” based on how well “Band on the Run” does in the marketplace. So, Macca fans, do your duty and order more copies of the Band on the Run reissue for holiday stocking stuffers for all your family & friends! Let’s encourage Concord to do the right thing and invest in the extra care and attention to McCartney’s back catalog.

retroGrade : A+ kudos to MPL and Concord Music Group!!

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Here’s an interesting lil’ video clip I recently came across featuring an interview with Paul McCartney’s long time guitar tech Keith Smith (or as Smith says in the interview, “Paul’s Technical Manager”), backstage at the Israel gig in 2008. It’s a guitar fanatic’s dream to get to see some of the rare & valuable instruments Sir Macca uses on tour. And this is as good as it gets for most of us since we’ll never see these guitars up close and in person. Smith shares some neat tidbits about the various vintage guitars including the 1963 signature Hofner bass, the Epiphone acoustic and the extremely rare left handed Gibson Les Paul goldtop.

holy crap! Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr on stage last night to sing “Birthday” to celebrate Ringo’s 70th birthday!!

Ringo and his All-Starr band had a gig at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and played their usual set. But it wasn’t just another ordinary day, it was Ringo’s 70th b-day. So to commemorate the occasion, a whole slew of famous friends attended the show. Most came on stage to singalong to “With a Little Help from My Friends” including Yoko Ono, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh and Max Weinberg. But the biggest thrill of the night came afterwards when Sir Paul put on his signature Hofner bass and counted out the start of “Birthday”. Definitely an amazing moment. Thankfully it was captured on video for all to enjoy. kudos to the original uploader for sharing the video clip!
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My favorite Paul McCartney era in terms of live performances has to be during the years 1989 through 1993. McCartney worked with a stellar group of musicians including Robbie McIntosh, Hamish Stuart and Wix Wickens. I saw Macca live on both tours during that time (1990 and 1993) and have collected a bunch of boots from that era. One recording that stands out among all the live boots from those tours is the 1992 show at the Ed Sullivan Theater that was done for the MTV special “Up Close”. Macca’s album Off the Ground was about to be released at the time and so the show was part of the whole promotional campaign for the album. The world tour was still a few months off so the set list for this show was pretty unique with songs that never made it on tour, including:

Big Boys Bickering – a non-album B-side that features Sir Paul singing the F word. It’s pretty weird. it’s like hearing your grandfather cussing or something. It’s probably the reason why it was dropped from their live set especially since fans bring their kids to the shows and all. Well that plus maybe the fact the song wasn’t all that good to begin with.

I Owe It All to You – a deep cut off the new album. I’ve always liked the melody and the instrumental portion of the song (especially McIntosh’s fantastic guitar work) but the lyrics are sadly cringe-tastic!

Can’t Buy Me Love – yes, the song has always been part of Macca’s live set but this version was performed in an interesting pseudo-bluegrass style. Pretty fun to listen to. I’m not sure if the way they did the song was simply a spur of the moment thing but it was never done that way again.

There are several versions of this show circulating among fans. I don’t know if there’s a sound quality difference among the versions but I highly recommend getting your hands on one of the recordings of this show. It’s fantastic and definitely *a must* for any McCartney fan. McCartney sounds relaxed and on the top of his game during the show and the band is absolutely flawless. I love the way Robbie McIntosh plays and Hamish Stuart voice blends well with Sir Macca’s. Oh and I have to add that Blair Cunningham drums with restraint which is what these songs need as opposed to sir Paul’s current basher of a drummer, Abe Laboriel Jr. Man, Abe hits his kit so hard that it would seem that he’d require a new set of drums and cymbals every night!!

retroGrade : A++

Paul McCartney
Live at the Ed Sullivan Theater
(Up Close MTV Special)
December 10, 1992
New York, NY
Soundboard Recording

TrackList:
Twenty Flight Rock
Get Out Of My Way
Fixing A Hole
Looking For Changes
Penny Lane
Biker Like An Icon
I Owe It All To You
Big Boys Bickering
Michelle
Hope Of Delieverance
Can’t Buy Me Love
Peace In The Neighborhood
Off The Ground
I Wanna Be Your Man
My Love
C Moon
Lady Madonna
C’Mon People
Live And Let Die

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Concord Music Group just announced that they’ve acquired the rights to Paul McCartney‘s back catalog. As a long time McCartney fan, I’m a bit worried about the upcoming reissues. Sir Macca’s extensive catalog has been neglected over the years and is in need of some TLC. EMI totally botched the 1993 remastered series by “no-noising” the heck out of the recordings. Yes, the bonus tracks included on the 1993 CDs were nice but the lifeless and dull sounding reissues left fans scrambling to find the original CBS/Columbia CDs which weren’t perfect but on the whole, sounded better than those dreaded EMI/Capitol remasters.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s great that McCartney’s post Beatles solo work will get some much needed attention. But I’m hoping Concord will mirror what was done for the Beatles catalog. A tremendous amount of time and effort was put into the Beatles remastering project and the resulting CDs are miles beyond the original 1987 CDs. Maybe realistically they won’t have the resources to replicate what was done for The Beatles reissues but the least that Concord can do is to make sure the remasters aren’t “loud and brickwalled” which marred Concord’s 2007 McCartney release, Memory Almost Full. Talk about an “ear-bleeder”. yikes.

Most Macca fans feel the benchmark in terms of sound quality are the DCC reissues expertly handled by Steve Hoffman (which included the albums McCartney, Ram, Band on the Run, Red Rose Speedway, Venus and Mars and Wings at the Speed of Sound). Hopefully someone at Concord will take note of how those were done.

And while Concord is at it, why not finally release a box set of Macca rarities?? Now that’s what fans are really waiting for!

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Here’s the official press release:

McCartney Catalog To Be Reissued By Concord Music Group

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Paul McCartney’s MPL and Concord Music Group, one of the world’s leading independent music companies today announced an historic agreement to globally market and distribute McCartney’s venerated solo and Wings catalog, which encompass 40 years of cherished, classic material from the most successful songwriter and recording artist in music history. Indeed, the music legend has sold an astonishing 100 million solo singles and 700 million albums world-wide in his unparalleled career. The announcement coincides with the 40th anniversary of McCartney, his fabled first solo album released April, 1970.

Concord Music Group is one of the largest independent record and music publishing companies in the world and owner of a rich and historically significant catalog of recordings. Concord Music Group’s legendary family of labels includes Concord Records, Concord Jazz, Fantasy, Stax, Milestone, Riverside, Specialty, Telarc, Peak, Heads Up, Prestige and most recent acquisition, famed American roots label Rounder Records, further strengthening Concord’s independent leadership position. They include titles from some of the most admired and enduring names in music, including Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Isaac Hayes, Little Richard, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Rosemary Clooney, George Shearing and Mel Torme. The group’s current roster of world-class artists includes: Alison Krauss, Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, Robert Plant, Christian Scott, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Sergio Mendes, Bela Fleck, Alejandro Escovedo, Esperanza Spalding, Macy Gray and Angie Stone. In 2007, Concord partnered with Starbucks Entertainment to form Hear Music, an innovative record label rooted in quality, authenticity and passion. Hear Music works directly with artists, both emerging and established, to bring quality music to the widest possible audience, in both Starbucks locations and traditional music retailers worldwide. Hear Music has released records from Paul McCartney, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello and Playing For Change.
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Apparently Sir Paul McCartney has heard all the whining about Wings tunes being neglected in his recent live gigs. Well, rejoice Wings fans – Sir Macca added a couple NEW tunes to his setlist on his current tour!!

Check it out – Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (from the Band On the Run album)

other newly added songs to the Macca setlist:
Venus and Mars/Rock Show
I’m Looking Through You
and Letting Go!!

also there are some fairly “new-ish” additions on the list that were done during last year’s European gigs:
(I Want To) Come Home
Obla-di Obla-da
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I’m still amazed that Paul McCartney’s little one-off ditty “Wonderful Christmastime” from 1979 continues to get substantial airplay each and every year around the holidays. I mean, it couldn’t have taken Sir Paul more than a couple minutes to come up with the whole song. Just take a look at the lyrics and it’s pretty obvious.

The mood is right, the spirits up
We’re here tonight and that’s enough
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
Simply having a wonderful christmastime

The party’s on the spirits up
We’re here tonight and that’s enough…

Sir Paul seems to recognize the “won’t ever go away” aspect of the song and even included it in his live set in Cologne (16Dec09). Fans will most likely get to hear it again in Dublin (20Dec09) and in London (22Dec09).

Check out the live footage from Cologne on youtube:

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I’ve been listening to some old Paul McCartney boots these last few days just to wash the bad aftertaste left from this whole autotune debacle. I’d rather listen to a pure, un-altered performance of a Macca show than some artificially pitch-corrected mess that’s on Good Evening New York City.

So for today’s Friday Free for All I thought I’d share a few tracks off of the Hey Tokyo! bootleg. It’s a great sounding live recording from 1993 with absolutely no auto-tuning to speak of.

enjoy.

PaperBack Writer

the Long and Winding Road

Good Rockin’ Tonight

Let Me Roll It

Lady Madonna

The live band: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Hamish Stuart, Robbie McIntosh, Wix and Blair Cunningham.
from the November 14th and 15th 1993 gigs at the Tokyo Dome

Have a great weekend!