Linda McCartney - Wide Prairie

U.K., U.S.: Release 27 October 1998, Parlophone 7243 4 97910 2 2
Germany: Release 6 November 1998, Parlophone 7243 4 97910 2 2

Notes from the poster

"A couple of years ago, a fan wrote to Linda saying she had enjoyed Seaside Woman and asked if there were any more tracks of hers available. That letter made us decide to gather together all the music she had recorded through the years and put it on one album. This definitive collection is the result of our efforts and is something Linda and I had a great time producing."

Paul

1 Wide Prairie 4:33

"I have always thought of this song as Linda's fantasy. Her passion for horses and riding started as a young girl and remained with her all her life. Her tongue in cheek attitude and what we called her 'twangy' voice joined to make this joyful little rocker. She recorded it during sessions at EMI studios in Paris where years before I had done the vocal for Can't Buy Me Love. We travelled there shortly after Princess Annes's first wedding in Westminster Abbey, taking the group van with other band members who at that time included Jummy McCullouch and Denny laine. As you can probably hear, we had a ball."

November 1973  Paris, France

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Mellotron, Backing Vocals
Paul McCartney: Bass, Piano, Rhodes, Electric Organ, Backing Vocals
Davey Lutton: Drums
Jimmy McCullough: Electric Guitar
Denny Laine: Acoustic Guitar
Vasser Clements and Johnny Gimble: Fiddles
Thaddeus Richard: Baritone Sax
Hewlett Quillen: Trombone
William Puett: Tenor Sax
George Tidwell, Barry McDonald: Trumpets

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 11/20/73 EMI Odeon, Paris, and 6/75 Soundshop, Nashville, Tennessee
Engineers: Geoff Emerick and Ernie Winfrey

2 New Orleans 3:13

"We were at Sea Saint Studios in New Orleans working on Venus And Mars when Linda came up with this number. References to The Dew Drop Inn and The Dungeon - places we visited during our stay - were included, along with many other memories of Linda's from our trip."

February 1975  New Orleans, Louisiana

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Piano
Paul McCartney: Bass, Piano, Backing Vocals
Denny Laine: Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Joe English: Drums

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 2/75 Sea Saint Studios, New Orleans, and 5/24/79 RAK Mobile
Engineers: Alan O'Duffy, Doug Hopkins, Tim Summerhayes

3 The White Coated Man 2:13

"Linda's and my involvement with animals rights caused her and our friend Carla Lane to come up with The White Coated Man. Carla's poignant lyric explores the vivisection issue.

Linda felt deeply about the suffering of innocent animals for mankind's gain, which still continues to this day and will until we as a society show compassion towards the creatures we share our planet with."

March 1988  Sussex, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Casio Keyboard
Paul McCartney: Hofner Bass, Emulator Strings, Drums, Electric Guitar
Carla Lane: Spoken Verse
Robbie McIntosh: Electric Guitar
Steve Johnson: Synth Strings, Trumpet, Bass Kurzweil

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 3/21/88 Hog Hill, Sussex, England, and 7/18/89 Can Am Recorders, California
Engineers: Eddie Klein, John Hammel and Alvin Clark

4 Love's Full Glory 3:46

When we first met, I showed Linda the basic rudiments of keyboard playing and songwriting. She soon developed her abilities and this fine song not only shows her melodic skills but her strong sense of the value of love. The pedal steel guitar was played by Lloyd Green - one of nashville's finest.

July 1980  Sussex, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Piano, Harmony Vocal
Paul McCartney: Bass Guitar, Drums
Lloyd Green: Pedal Guitar
Lawerence Juber: Acoustic Guitar

Produced by: Paul and Linda McCartney
Recorded: 7/16/80, Superbear Studios, France and 10/80 Park Gate Studios, Sussex
Engineers: Peter Henderson, Steve Lipson, Geoff Emerick and Eddie Klein

5 I Got Up 3:19

"During the Paris sessions in 1973 we recorded a backing track of one of Linda's ideas. The song was completed many years later and the vocal finally added in 1998. Its gutsy feel is typical of her unwillingness to put up with other people's bullshit. She hated words like "should" and "compromise". For her, freedom to do what you want was a basic right."

November 1973  Paris, France

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Backing Vocals
Paul McCartney: Bass, Organ Backing Vocals
Jimmy McCullough: Guitar
Denny Laine: Backing Vocals
Davey Lutton: Drums

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 11/2/73 EMI Odeon, Paris, and 3/20/98, 7/9/98 Hog Hill, Sussex
Engineer: Geoff Emerick

6 The Light Comes From Within 2:57

"If 'I Got Up' showed Linda's strong opposition to oppression, then 'The Light' took it a few steps further. During the last couple of years of her life, we were required to make many trips 'up to London' for one treatment or another. We always tried to put the journey time to good use. She and I talked a lot about this album, and the lyrics to this song were finished during one such trip. When we came to record the vocal, which was sadly to be her last, I said half-jokingly, 'you can't sing this'. She looked at me with a sparkle in her eye and said 'You wanna bet?'.

It was her answer to all the people who had ever put her down and that whole dumb male chauvinist attitude that to her had caused so much harm in our society. God bless her... my little baby literally had the last word. She also loved the idea of our son James playing guitar on it. "

March 1988  Sussex, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Electric Piano
Paul McCartney: Hofner Bass, Electric Guitar, Piano, Wurlitzer, Electric Piano, Backing Vocals
James McCartney: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 3/18/98 Hog Hill, Sussex
Engineers: Geoff Emerick and Keith Smith

7 Mister Sandman 2:50

"During the early days of reggae when the Tighten-Up albums were pumping out the good news, we asked Lee 'Scratch' Perry to make some backing tracks for us. Mister Sandman was recorded at Black Ark Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, in 1977 when the radio station RJR was still rocking the airwaves and the sun was always hot. Linda's vocal was done later in great style in Rude Studios, UK."

June 1977  Kingston, Jamaica

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal
Paul McCartney: Electric Guitar, Vocals
Lee Perry: Backing Track
Billy Gardner: Rhythm Guitar
Baris Garner: Bass Guitar
Miky Boo: Drums
Winston Write: Keyboards

Produced by: Lee Perry and Paul McCartney
Recorded: 6/20/77 Black Art Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, and 8/77 Rude Studios, UK
Engineers: Lee Perry and Paul McCartney

8 Seaside Woman 3:54

"Was the first song Linda wrote. Her delight in being exposed to the Caribbean lifestyle inspired this beautiful response.

This song was made by Linda and Oscar Grillo into an animated short which went on to win the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme D'or."

November 1972  London, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Electric Piano, Backing Vocals
Paul McCartney: Bass, Backing and Harmony Vocals
Denny Laine: Piano, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Henry McCulloch: Guitar
Denny Seiwell: Drums

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 11/27/72 Air Studios, London
Engineer: Bill Price
Remix Produced by: Steve Popovich 5/10/77 Columbia Recording City, New York City, USA

9 Oriental Nightfish 2:49

"Recorded with Wings up at the old Air London Studios, Linda's dramatic vocal harks back to the Fifties and Sixties when strange stories were told by acts like The Shangri-Las, The Coasters and others. It was made into an excellent animated film by Ian Eames which was later objected to by some lady writing to a newspaper to complain about the nudity and its effect on her 5 year old child. A female figure is seen naked, yes, but come on! - it's only a harmless drawing, the likes of which have been on view in museums around the world for centuries"

October 1973  London, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Moog, Electric Piano
Paul McCartney: Bass, Drums, Guitar, Mellotron
Denny Laine: Flute

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 10/15/73 Air Studios, London
Engineer: Geoff Emerick assisted by Peter Sweetenham

10 Endless Days 3:11

"A wistful ballad that Linda played often at home. Her gentle vocal really captures a special kind of innocence that those of us who knew her loved deeply. The recording is in Ian Maidman's studio and there is no multitrack to the song - this mix being all that exists."

October 1987  London, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal
Mick Bolton: Piano, Keyboards
Ian Maidman: Bass and Drums
Geoffrey Richardson: Mandolin, Slide Guitar

Produced by: Linda McCartney and Ian Maidman
Recorded: 10/21/87 Positive Earth Studios, London
Engineer: Ian Maidman

11 Poison Ivy 2:54

"The Fifties original of Poison Ivy by The Coasters was one of Linda's favorites. She had a lasting affection for the doo-wop music of her youth, having spent many hours under the bedclothes with a transistor radio glued to her ear, listening to 'Alan Freed's Rock 'n' Roll Show'. The song's sense of humour is typical of many from that period."

October 1987  London, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal
Ian Maidman: Bass Guitar, Drums, Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals
Mick Bolton: Piano, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Steve Fletcher: Backing Vocals

Produced by: Linda McCartney and Ian Maidman
Recorded: 10/21/87 Positive Earth Studios, London
Engineer: Ian Maidman

12 Cow 4:24

"Another collaboration between Linda, Carla Lane and myself, which deals with the last days of a cow under sentence of death. The sweet innocence of the song made many of our friends decide to 'go veggie'. Linda probably has done more than anyone else to bring vegetarianism into the dietary mainstream of our society, and made thousands of people ponder the wisdom of our cruel treatment of animals generally."

April 1988  Sussex, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Casio Keyboard, Harmony Vocals
Paul McCartney: Hofner Bass, Drums, Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocals
Carla Lane: Spoken Verse
Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 4/29/88 Hog Hill, Sussex
Engineer: Peter Henderson

13 B-side To Seaside 2:38

"When a B-Side was required for the release of Seaside Woman, Linda and I whipped up this little ditty. Its lighthearted flavour exemplifies Linda's attitude to life. Amongst her favourite sayings was 'don't make so much of it'."

March 1977  London, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal, Backing Vocal
Paul McCartney: Drums, Mellotron, Backing Vocals, Electric Guitars, Piano, Moog, Congas and Banjo

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 3/16/77 Abbey Road Studios, London
Engineer: Mark Vigars
Remix Produced by: Steve Popovich 10/5/77 Columbia Recording Studios, New York

14 Sugartime 2:06

"Since we first met, the two of us remembered certain songs from our childhood. This tune was a big hit for The McGuire Sisters in the late Fifties. Linda and myself would sing this as a party piece, splitting into the melody and harmony to amuse and amaze our friends and relatives.
Lee Perry produced the backing track in Kingston, Jamaica, at Black Ark Studios."

June 1977  Kingston, Jamaica

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal
Paul McCartney: Wurlitzer, Vocals
Lee Perry: Backing Track

Produced by: Lee Perry and Paul McCartney
Recorded: 6/20/77 Black Ark Studios, Jamaica, and 7/7/98 Hog Hill, Sussex
Engineers: Lee Perry, Paul McCartney and Geoff Emerick

15 Cook of The House 2:37

"Late one night when we were on tour renting a house in Australia, we were looking at one of those plaques found in many kitchens worldwise: 'wherever I serve my guests, they like my kitchen best'. This led on to a perusal of the contents of the shelves around us which instantly became the lyric to the song. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1976 and was included on the Wings album 'At The Speed of Sound'. The noise at the beginning is our chip pan simmering."

June 1976  London, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal
Paul McCartney: Upright Bass, Melltron, Piano
Joe English: Drums
Denny Laine: Electric Guitar

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 6/20/77 Abbey Road Studios, London
Engineers: Peter Henderson and Mark Vigars

16 Appaloosa 4:44

"This melody was one that Linda wrote many years ago and would use as a practice piece when playing piano. Her love of native American history, and in particular the Nez Perce Indians and their Appaloosa horses [named after The Palouse river] inspired this song which we recorded in March 1998.

She was drawn to the story of the New perce's near escape from the American cavalry [they were chased to the U.S. border and massacred]."

Linda herself rode a magnificent Appaloosa stallion named Blankit who was bred on our farm."

March 1998  Sussex, England

Linda McCartney: Lead Vocal
Paul McCartney: Drums, Hofner Bass, Clarinet, Wurlitzer, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar

Produced by: Paul McCartney
Recorded: 3/17/98 Hog Hill, Sussex
Engineers: Geoff Emerick and Keith Smith

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