McCartney III

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I'm sure one of the shows from the tour was filmed, but this one wasn't, surprisingly.  Open air, King's Dock, I got there early to get about 10 metres from the front, and stood for hours till my legs were half numb.
I think the most recent song he did was Calico Skies. The rest was almost wall-to-wall Beatles and classic solo Macca - BotR, Jet, Let Me Roll It, Live and Let Die (fireworks, awesome), etc. I was close to blubbing during Here Today and the final Abbey Road encore with the truelling guitars and the love-you-make coda. There was a nod to Liverpool in one song with photo backdrops - I think it was Maggie Mae.

I remember a rumour going around that it was going to be his last live show EVER (it was the last one of a world tour) and that his voice took a while to warm up. Sounds silly now. Also another rumour that Ringo was going to join him.

There was an electronic ticker tape display over the stage showing texts that people could send for others to read as they waited for the show to start. There'd been a lot of controversy that some of the limited seating at the sides had been bagged by a load of Liverpool City councillors before they went on sale to the public. One of the texts said: For the people who are standing, please clap your hands. If you're a Liverpool City councillor, just rattle your jewellery. Scally wag.

That's a great post, thank you for that. Actually I seem to vaguely remember the retirement rumours surrounding that show. I saw him live a couple of years earlier in London when he was promoting Driving Rain. It was good but, I dunno, at that stage his live shows were so rigidly formatted that you could kind of predict which song was coming next. There were no surprises. It was a bit like watching a DVD. Ungrateful sod aren't I? Conversely he seems to now revel in mixing up his set list which is great but because his voice has gone I still can't fully enjoy it.

I also saw him when I was about 14 on his Off The Ground tour. I enjoyed that one more. Band on the Run was particularly memorable. And Every Night.

I love Calico Skies. Makes me cry sometimes cos I have a calico cat and I imagine it's about her. Not sure why. Bit weird actually.

[Menu]

Also I think he was opening his shows with Hello Goodbye at that time, which is understandable, but I don't think it's a great opener. I mean, if it didn't have the word 'Hello' in the title it wouldn't have been considered.

Before that he would open with Figure of Eight which is an even more curious choice as it was from the latest album and, although a good song and a really good performance, it's still sort of an 'anticlimax' to begin the show(if that makes sense).

In the mid 70s it would be Venus and Mars. Does anyone else know what songs he would open his shows with in other eras? My mind's gone blank.

[Menu]

Haha! I've just remembered that he would move on from Hello Goodbye by going into Jet, and every time he said the word 'Jet' he would punch the air.

Cool move, Paul!

[The Cloud of Unknowing]

I've just remembered the Something on uke tribute to George, and me wondering at the time if Heather was okay with him singing My Love!

Found the setlist for the night I saw him. What a talentless Scouse git.

Hello, Goodbye
Jet
All My Loving
Getting Better
Let Me Roll It
Honey Hush
Lonely Road
Your Loving Flame
Blackbird
Every Night
We Can Work It Out
You Never Give Me Your Money
The Fool on the Hill
Here Today
Something
Eleanor Rigby
Here, There and Everywhere
I've Just Seen a Face
Calico Skies
Two of Us
Maggie Mae
Michelle
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Maybe I'm Amazed
Let 'Em In
My Love
She's Leaving Home
Can't Buy Me Love
Birthday
Live and Let Die
Let It Be
Hey Jude
    ENCORE:
    The Long and Winding Road
    Lady Madonna
    I Saw Her Standing There 

    ENCORE 2:
    I Lost My Little Girl 

    Yesterday

    Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
    The End

[Menu]

I've just remembered the Something on uke tribute to George,

The Take It Away podcast heavily criticise him for that saying it's disrespectful and that he should have chosen a different George song to uke rather than that one. I'm not sure though, I liked it and George was obsessed with ukes by the end so he'd probably have approved. And his performance of Here Today is moving, I agree.

[Menu]

I've just remembered the Something on uke tribute to George, and me wondering at the time if Heather was okay with him singing My Love!

Found the setlist for the night I saw him. What a talentless Scouse git.

Hello, Goodbye
Jet
All My Loving
Getting Better
Let Me Roll It
Honey Hush
Lonely Road
Your Loving Flame
Blackbird
Every Night
We Can Work It Out
You Never Give Me Your Money
The Fool on the Hill
Here Today
Something
Eleanor Rigby
Here, There and Everywhere
I've Just Seen a Face
Calico Skies
Two of Us
Maggie Mae
Michelle
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Maybe I'm Amazed
Let 'Em In
My Love
She's Leaving Home
Can't Buy Me Love
Birthday
Live and Let Die
Let It Be
Hey Jude
    ENCORE:
    The Long and Winding Road
    Lady Madonna
    I Saw Her Standing There 

    ENCORE 2:
    I Lost My Little Girl 

    Yesterday

    Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
    The End

There's some interesting ones on there. Honey Hush, Maggie Mae, You Never Give Me Your Money. I wouldn't mind if I never heard Let Em In again though. Very boring song once you've heard it a few times.

[Menu]

and me wondering at the time if Heather was okay with him singing My Love!

From what I can gather about Heather I don't think she would have known who the fuck My Love was about or when it was first recorded, as opposed to any other of his songs. Apparently when he was composing Loving Flame on his piano at home, she thought it must have been an old Beatles record. Like all women she has no knowledge of Paul McCartney's discography.

[The Cloud of Unknowing]

I wouldn't mind if I never heard Let Em In again though. Very boring song once you've heard it a few times.

Guaranteed iconic re-released hit when Covid subsides.

From what I can gather about Heather I don't think she would have known who the fuck My Love was about or when it was first recorded, as opposed to any other of his songs. Apparently when he was composing Loving Flame on his piano at home, she thought it must have been an old Beatles record. Like all women she has no knowledge of Paul McCartney's discography.

Yeah, I realise that now. At the time I thought she was all right.

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Guaranteed iconic re-released hit when Covid subsides.

Ha ha!

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Yeah, I realise that now. At the time I thought she was all right.

I did too. I sort of still do. I don't think she was prepared for the media onslaught she was about to receive(partly because of her lack of knowledge of quite who Paul McCartney was). And maybe Macca has got a darker side. He snapped up the recording of that interview Linda did with a friend on which I think there was some suggestion that there might have been some violence in their relationship. And Heather I think alleges the same thing. Not sure what to make of that.

She also gets pretty nasty disablist abuse in the media(and still does). To be honest, I'm not that interested in her so I haven't heard her speaking that much or know much about her at all so I can't really speculate as to her character or motives.

I guess Nancy Shevell has done a better job of keeping her head down but she's not British so of less interest to the British tabloids I suppose.

[LynnBenfield69]

Hadn't heard Yvonne before, very nice.

Waterspout would be my top unreleased macca track, absolutely joyous bridge in that tune. Part of this brilliant compilation of outtakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajOA9GHQPV0&t=2191s.

Also can't remember if I've posted this before, but I made a full band version of his 1969 Goodbye demo using all Beatle parts from the RockBand multitracks: https://soundcloud.com/thestaffordsofficial/goodbye-full-band-version

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Hadn't heard Yvonne before, very nice.

Waterspout would be my top unreleased macca track, absolutely joyous bridge in that tune. Part of this brilliant compilation of outtakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajOA9GHQPV0&t=2191s.

Ah so glad you liked Yvonne and, yes, Waterspout is one of my favourites. It sounds quite melancholic in a weird way but with typically mad lyrics. Why wouldn't he have released it.

[Menu]

Also can't remember if I've posted this before, but I made a full band version of his 1969 Goodbye demo using all Beatle parts from the RockBand multitracks: https://soundcloud.com/thestaffordsofficial/goodbye-full-band-version

Ooooh thank you. I enjoyed that!

[Beagle 2]

That is bonkers about Yvonne, I've been ploughing through some 80s Macca today ans Christ it's bad, especially Press to Play. To think he slung that one on the scrapheap at the time is insane.

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That is bonkers about Yvonne, I've been ploughing through some 80s Macca today ans Christ it's bad, especially Press to Play. To think he slung that one on the scrapheap at the time is insane.

He's a terrible judge of his own work. The Off The Ground sessions produced loads of amazing songs only some of which found their way onto the album, and there are songs that did make it on there which are much poorer.

I think the classic story is when, after the Band on the Run sessions, Paul thought Helen Wheels would be a more successful single than Jet. The record company had to put their foot down on that one.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Years of reading the Steve Hoffman forum has convinced me of two things, he dosn't know what's good and what's not, and sometime puts the duffers on the albums, and the cream on the B-sides, and that if he combined the good stuff from 3 of his albums onto one album, Wings really could have been only the band the Beatles could have been

[Custard]

Heh, there aren't many Macca records I wouldn't alter the tracklisting, at least slightly

That said, why wasn't Helen Wheels on Band On The Run? It's an absolute tune. Maybe not a single, but it'd deffo fit on there

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Heh, there aren't many Macca records I wouldn't alter the tracklisting, at least slightly

That said, why wasn't Helen Wheels on Band On The Run? It's an absolute tune. Maybe not a single, but it'd deffo fit on there

It's on the US version I think but was left off the British version(which is odd to begin with as it's about, er, driving on British motorways and A roads!). However it was a bonus track on the 1993 remastered version and that's the first one I knew so I always imagine it as a part of BOTR anyway.

[Menu]

Years of reading the Steve Hoffman forum has convinced me of two things, he dosn't know what's good and what's not, and sometime puts the duffers on the albums, and the cream on the B-sides, and that if he combined the good stuff from 3 of his albums onto one album, Wings really could have been only the band the Beatles could have been

I agree with the point about leaving great tracks off his album. I wonder if he's ever been asked about that?  Also was listening to some of the OTG rejects (as Danny Baker coincidentally posted one of them) and it made me wonder, "At what point would he be saying to himself, hmm, this isn't going to make the album?"). Does he somehow judge them all when they've finished, or does he finish them even though he knows it won't be worth it. Some of the OTG rejects sound really good but, you know, what's the fucking point?

[Custard]

Ah yes, it appears it was track two on the US version, which seems like a good place for it, sandwiched between Band On The Run and Jet. Three great rockers in a row. Jesus, Macca was on fire then

[shagatha crustie]

Never mind Helen Wheels - what on earth was he doing relegating Daytime Nighttime Suffering to a B-side?

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Never mind Helen Wheels - what on earth was he doing relegating Daytime Nighttime Suffering to a B-side?

Yes, that is mad. It's one of his very best. The story behind that one is quite funny as well. He thought the group were a bit lethargic one Friday so he set them a challenge. "Whoever comes in on Monday with the best song - we'll release it!"

I mean, I doubt Laurence Juber had his hopes too high but, in any case, Macca turns up at 9am on Monday with 'Daytime Nighttime Suffering'. Not sure if they ever listened to Linda's attempt. But I bet band morale had never been higher!
<wings split up the following year>

[Custard]

If we're doing great Macca b-sides which should have made the album, why oh whyyyyy wasn't this gem on Ram?

https://youtu.be/bOsCe3NCfLU

[the science eel]

'cos it's at least a minute too long and his voice is a bit wearing?

I mean...I quite like it, but I'd say every track on Ram is better.

[Wacky Homemade Badges]

In case this would be helpful to anyone who fancies dipping a toe into Macca's solo stuff, I dug out a deep cuts list I made a while back - picking out one (imo) genuinely great track per proper solo pop/rock album, excluding hit singles but including bonus tracks/alt versions here and there.

McCartney - Junk
Ram - Ram On
Wild Life - Tomorrow
Red Rose Speedway - Single Pigeon
Band On The Run - it's all quite overexposed this one, but Let Me Roll It
Venus and Mars - of course Magneto and Titanium Man
At The Speed Of Sound - Warm And Beautiful
London Town - Cafe On The Left Bank
Back To The Egg - Winter Rose/Love Awake
McCartney II - Blue Sway (the Richard Niles orchestral version, bonus track, tons of fun)
Tug Of War - I really like the very brief Be What You See link as a tiny nugget of Macca oddness, but Wanderlust pips it
Pipes Of Peace - Ode To A Koala Bear (a B-side but so adorable)
Press To Play - Only Love Remains (which was a single but no one remembers it)
Flowers In The Dirt - You Want Her Too
Off The Ground - The Lovers That Never Were (but the original demo with Costello, not the LP version!)
Flaming Pie - Calico Skies
Driving Rain - Your Loving Flame
Chaos and Creation In The Backyard - Friends To Go
Memory Almost Full - Vintage Clothes
New - On My Way To Work
Egypt Station - Fuh You. No, of course not. Dominoes.

[Menu]

If we're doing great Macca b-sides which should have made the album, why oh whyyyyy wasn't this gem on Ram?

https://youtu.be/bOsCe3NCfLU

Yes, one of the very best. Although, like Helen Wheels and BOTR, I assume it is on Ram because it was an extra track on the 1993 remastered version, which is the only one I've ever owned.

[Menu]

In case this would be helpful to anyone who fancies dipping a toe into Macca's solo stuff, I dug out a deep cuts list I made a while back - picking out one (imo) genuinely great track per proper solo pop/rock album, excluding hit singles but including bonus tracks/alt versions here and there.

McCartney - Junk
Ram - Ram On
Wild Life - Tomorrow
Red Rose Speedway - Single Pigeon
Band On The Run - it's all quite overexposed this one, but Let Me Roll It
Venus and Mars - of course Magneto and Titanium Man
At The Speed Of Sound - Warm And Beautiful
London Town - Cafe On The Left Bank
Back To The Egg - Winter Rose/Love Awake
McCartney II - Blue Sway (the Richard Niles orchestral version, bonus track, tons of fun)
Tug Of War - I really like the very brief Be What You See link as a tiny nugget of Macca oddness, but Wanderlust pips it
Pipes Of Peace - Ode To A Koala Bear (a B-side but so adorable)
Press To Play - Only Love Remains (which was a single but no one remembers it)
Flowers In The Dirt - You Want Her Too
Off The Ground - The Lovers That Never Were (but the original demo with Costello, not the LP version!)
Flaming Pie - Calico Skies
Driving Rain - Your Loving Flame
Chaos and Creation In The Backyard - Friends To Go
Memory Almost Full - Vintage Clothes
New - On My Way To Work
Egypt Station - Fuh You. No, of course not. Dominoes.

Fascinating choices. Single Pigeon, Calico Skies, Vintage Clothes, Winter Rose - YES!

Cafe on the Left Bank - WHAT?!?!

[Wacky Homemade Badges]

Aw, I love Cafe On The Left Bank. Mainly for the bits when it all stops dead for the "continental breakfast in the bar-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!". Just a totally McCartney indulgence in a bit of melodic ornamentation for its own sake. I'm not going to claim its the Penny Lane of the minibreak, but it's a lovely little song. 

[Menu]

Aw, I love Cafe On The Left Bank. Mainly for the bits when it all stops dead for the "continental breakfast in the bar-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!". Just a totally McCartney indulgence in a bit of melodic ornamentation for its own sake. I'm not going to claim its the Penny Lane of the minibreak, but it's a lovely little song.

Interesting. I'll try to listen again with fresh ears. Up until now I'd viewed it as London Town's "The Note You Never Wrote". A 'Track 2' that stalls the album.

[Pauline Walnuts]

I've just remembered the Something on uke tribute to George, and me wondering at the time if Heather was okay with him singing My Love!

Found the setlist for the night I saw him. What a talentless Scouse git.

Hello, Goodbye
Jet
All My Loving
Getting Better
<snip!>
    The End

That's the set list of an an heritage act, I miss the set list of things like Wings Over America, mostly new songs. It was only 45 years ago!

He should have gone out and played all the tracks off Egypt Station on his last tour.


Encore

Fuh You
12 seconds of Yesterday
Fuh You Reprise