[ 2001 IV | 2001 III | 2001 II | 2001 I | 2000 II | 2000 I | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 II | 1996 & 1997 I ]
[ 2001 IV | 2001 III | 2001 II | 2001 I | 2000 II | 2000 I | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 II | 1996 & 1997 I ]
©1996,97 PLUGGED - the unofficial Paul McCartney Homepage. A tribute by Harald Gernhardt. Contact me
"Paul McCartney will be appearing on NBC's "The Today Show" on *three* days
next week - Monday 7/7, Tuesday 7/8, and Wednesday 7/9. An NBC publicist
told me he should be appearing during the 7:30 half hour on all three days.
The interviews were taped last week in England - Paul won't be in New York!"
Matt Hurwitz
Publisher
Good Day Sunshine MagazineThe transcript of this interview with Matt Lauer is available at http://www.msnbc.com/onair/msnbc/internight/transcripts/jul1097.asp.
Note: This is a summary of what I learned from various postings on RMB and Macca-L (Colin B., Lynn D.).
Paul was on UK's Channel 4 TFI Friday show (which is one hour, and Paul was on for about 35 minutes). It was a great unusual interview, and Paul was having lots of fun with host Chris Evans. Paul seems to have another haircut again, looking more Beatle-ish now. It was a very relaxed and happy atmosphere
When the topic came to "all this rain" (apparently it was raining a lot in England), Paul said he didn't mind, being a farmer himself. When asked if Paul did the work on the farm he responded that he has other people do that but his job is to go around saying "Well done!".
Chris Evans handed over a replica Flaming Pie in a dish which was an accurate realisation of Paul's now famous drawing, even the flames were coming out of the holes in the crust. Later Paul gave Chris a silver Flaming Pie cigarette lighter with the red Flaming Pie logo on one side.
Celebrity questions: several were faxed in from Bono (U2), The Cure, Richard & Judy (British show hosts) who asked why Paul wasn't appearing on their show - "cause this show is cooler!" was his reply. There also was a fax from Ringo "Who was your favourite Beatle?" - "I loved them all equally" said Paul.
They also chatted about Paul's relationship with George, and Chris gave Paul a roll of original Beatles wallpaper which Paul seemed to have liked a lot.
Then Paul went to play two songs live: Flaming Pie and Young Boy.
For Flaming Pie, Paul sat at the piano (the multi-coloured one from the 1989/90 World
Tour) and sang in front of three large screens, the left one with Paul playing lead guitar
(Sunburst Les Paul), the middle one showed him on drums, and the right monitor screen had
him playing his Hofner bass.
On Young Boy Paul played acoustic guitar and sang to backing which was an Epiphone
semi-acoustic guitar on the left screen, drums on the center monitor, and bass on the
right one.
Chris Evans said that these backing tracks and videos were recorded especially for this
show.
After these two songs, Paul and Chris walked through the audience out to a waiting speedboat on the river Thames. As they started to move away Paul shouted "As fast as you like!" and off they went.
|
Today the German music channel "VIVA" showed a short interview
portion with Paul, while "Young Boy" was playing in the background. There were a
couple of seconds of the promo video #2 of Young Boy cut in-between. This video appears to
be a very nice, proper one. Paul mentioned that Ringo is his favourite drummer. It was said that he will not go on tour yet but stay home and do some drawings because an art exhibition is due shortly. It will take place in Siegen, Germany (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Why? Because of the cultural referee of this city. Paul: "So he was the first person to be interested in my pictures (and not in me as a person) and so I got interested in him. Now we're planning an art show for next year in Siegen." |
1997 will be a very expensive year for the Macca completist:
The next European single will the The World Tonight.
The one track promo CD was shipped this week.
As far as the release date is concerned, I have two contradictory
reports. One says it is the 5th of July (a Saturday, unlikely), the other one says Monday
14th of July (which I think is more likely).
Again, this single is reported to become available in several formats (I don't have these confirmed yet so read with care!):
All (European) countries but the United Kingdom:
- CD single The World Tonight/Used To Be Bad/Oobu Joobu Part 2 (!)
- The Netherlands: additional "cheap" cardboard CD single The World Tonight/Used To Be Bad
United Kingdom:
- CD single The World Tonight/Used To Be Bad/Oobu Joobu Part 3
- CD single The World Tonight/Really Love You/Oobu Joobu Part 4
- colour Vinyl 7" The World Tonight/Used To Be Bad
Thanks to Meindert A. Hiemstra and Simon van der Peet for the information
There is some new information about the appearance of Paul, especially as far as the date is concerned:
Matt Hurwitz of Good Day Sunshine Magazine reports:
"I just spoke with Conan O'Brien's chief publicist, who told me Conan will be
going over to England this weekend, and will tape his interview with Paul on
Monday 6/30. The show is on vacation next week, and is scheduled to air
reruns (making it a prime time for Conan to take off and do the interview).
Paul's segment is, as of today, booked to air on Thursday 7/10 (Thursday
being a peak night for NBC).
No word yet on the location of the taping (though likely at The Mill). I'll
let you know if I find out anything further."
Updated the chart information below.
Flaming Pie Promotion:
Paul has agreed to appear on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien". A
crew from the NBC show will fly to the U.K. for the June 30 segment.
Paul is also said to have an interest in being a panelist on Bill Maher's
"Politically Incorrect."
As far as possible live performances are concerned - Paul has not yet agreed to do so.
UK's Channel 4 (www.channel4.com) recently has announced that Paul is scheduled to appear on the programme TFI Friday, Friday 27th June.
Flaming Pie Album
|
sources: USA (Billboard, http://www.billboard.com/charts/bb200.html), UK (official source : http://www.dotmusic.com/UKalbums.html), Germany (Media Control), France (official TOP 50: http://www.ifop.fr/actualit/topalb/topalb.htm), Switzerland (official TOP 50: http://www.pingnet.ch/shung/swisschart/ )
Young Boy Single
|
(these lists have been compiled using various teletext and web sources, posts from RMB and Macca-L, and with additional help by Luc Goffinet, Belgium)
In the end of week 23, Paul was giving radio interviews from London which were broadcast on US radio stations like WXRT in Chicago and also in NYC. He talked to Terri Hemmert and was in great mood. Paul talked for about 25 minutes and it was about his biography, the making of Flaming Pie, generation gap, Anthology, "Souvenir" and his hope for a cover version, his favorite cover versions, Linda, love and peace. [Editor's note: I wouldn't mind getting a tape dub of this interview!]
During this interview, Paul also said that he'd really like to go out and play some of these songs on stage. According to Matt Hurwitz, Paul's publicist Geoff Baker suggested that Paul did most likely not just say this but might have planned something...
" 'Beautiful Night' was a decade old itself, and a recording made in New York had been on the shelf, unused, since 1986." - this is taken from the booklet of the Flaming Pie CD.
Here's what Wiener writes in his Ultimate
Recording Guide:
1986, Aug 25-29: Paul recorded seom unreleased songs in New York with
members of Billy Joel's band; Phil Ramone acted as producer
1987, Jun 2-30: Paul recorded an entire album, produced by Phil Ramone,
that remains unreleased. Three of the unreleased Ramone-produced tracks may be "Love
Come Tumbling Down", "Beautiful Night" and "Return To
Pepperland," all copyrighted Aug 21. Paul reportedly worked on three Ramone-produced
tracks with George Martin on Jul 1; these may be the three.
These three songs are reportedly circulating amongst tape traders. This early version of "Beautiful Night" is basically quite similar to the Flaming Pie version, as far as melody and most of the lyrics are concerned. However, there's no orchestration nor upbeat ending (but the song is still almost 6 minutes in length), and the drumming* is similar to the style on "Once Upon A Long Ago". The song might be a semitone higher and Paul's vocal appears to be a rough guide vocal but sounds young and fresh. The song is lacking the final "kick" in this stage. Hopefully "Beautiful Night" will be released as a single later this year (how about a Christmas-sy November release?). I wished Paul would add this ten year old version as a bonus track.
*Chris Whitten? - Chris Brewer notes that this recording is from the same session as "Loveliest Thing", and the CD notes of the remastered version of Flowers in the Dirt list Liberty DeVitto as the drummer; in the video and TV appearances however Chris Whitten was drumming.
"Seeking a short, simple song to close Flaming Pie, Paul McCartney has searched back 25 years to find 'Great Day', an acoustic number that he and Linda used to perform "sitting around the kitchen or when the children were dancing" - this is taken from the booklet of the Flaming Pie CD.
Here's what Wiener writes in his Ultimate
Recording Guide:
1974, That summer-fall: (section on unreleased "One Hand
Clapping" film) ... Paul also shot the unreleased film The Backyard, originally
part of One Hand Clapping, including "Blackpool",
"Blackbird", "Country Dreamer", "Twenty Flight Rock",
"Peggy Sue", "I'm Gonna Love You Too", "Sweet Little
Sixteen", "Loving You", "We're Gonna Move" and "Blue Moon Of
Kentucky"; only five songs were included in the unreleased nine-minute film. The
"Peggy Sue" footage was seen in The Paul McCartney
Special which was released on home video.
All ten songs can be found on the Yellow Cat import CD Backyard in great sonic quality. We all knew "Great Day" sounded familar, right? It clearly has similarities to "Big Barn Bed", for instance. But we now know, thanks to WatchingWheels, and to Amy from MACCA-L, that we really have heard it before on the aforementioned CD: After "I'm Gonna Love You Too" (Track 8) has finished, Paul is going into various little tunes having fun before he gets to the next song. And - we can clearly hear him play the first couple of bars of "Great Day".
The World Tonight contains a secret backwards message. During a break of the song, exactly at 2:38-2:41 where Paul's "I can see the world tonight" is multitracked and delayed in some very strange way, this message can be heard when played backwards. This part really does sound like it could contain some voice played backwards but as it makes perfect sense played forward, I never even tried to play it backwards until someone in the newsgroups posted about it. Then I tried - and there it is, VERY clearly audible: "SAVE THE ANIMALS FUR, LINDA EASTMAN". Normally I'd say this is coincidence but in this case, with the strange delayed layers of Paul singing "I can see the world tonight" onto it - I don't know. Maybe it IS intentional ;-)
Judge yourself: FORWARD.WAV (77KB) - BACKWARD.WAV (67KB)
In the week ending June 1, Flaming Pie has sold over 121,000 copies in the US and debuted in the US charts in second position. The Spice Girls still top the charts with 137,000 copies sold but Paul's album was only released on Tuesday so next week we're gonna see what happens...
Reportedly none of Paul's albums released in the last 27 years after the Beatles had split sold so well in the week of its release. Paul will now receive the 81st gold record in his post-Beatles career.
After only 3 days, 500,000 copies of Flaming Pie were sold in the United States. Congratulations, this means Flaming Pie will probably be #1 in next week's charts. [NOTE: this number reflects the number of CDs sold by wholesale to the shops, not the number of CDs bought by domestic customers]
In the United States, the Flaming Pie album was finally released today. Best Buy again did their best to promote this CD. Not only was it on sale, but also the first 75 customers got a free copy of the Oobu Joobu - Ecology CD. Reportedly there were long queues outside Best Buy stores throughout the USA, waiting for the shops to open in the morning.
(This is a fax by Geoff Baker, Paul's publicist, forwarded by Matt Hurwitz of Good Day Sunshine Magazine)
On the eve of the U.S. release of his new solo album, "Flaming Pie," Paul McCartney has revealed that he owns a book of never-recorded songs that he wrote with John Lennon.
The songs were written 40 years ago, soon after Paul met John at the Woolton Church Fete in Liverpool. They are the earliest Lennon-McCartney compositions - and the world never knew they existed.
Paul told how - as a then schoolboy at The Liverpool Institute (now the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) - he jotted down the songs written with John in his homework book. And far from being lost in time, Paul still has the songs.
Said Paul: "There is this book of songs that we first wrote together. There are probably five or six of them and I do believe I’ve still got the book; I wrote them in my school exercise book. It’s got "Love Me Do" in it - and four others that were never recorded."
News of the existence of the unsung songs comes as Paul is poised to release "Flaming Pie," reckoned to be his most Beatley solo album in almost 30 years.
"Flaming Pie" - which takes its title from long-standing Beatles mythology that the name Beatles came to John Lennon in a vision - was heavily influenced by Paul’s recent work with "The Beatles Anthology," and Paul admitted the new album is deliberately imbued with the Beatles’ spirit.
Said Paul: "I came off the back of ‘The Beatles Anthology’ with an urge to do some new music. The ‘Anthology’ was very good for me, because it reminded me of The Beatles’ standards and the standards that we reached with the songs.
"So in a way, it was a refresher course that set the framework for this album.
"Watching the ‘Anthology’ also reminded me of the time that we *didn’t* take to make an album and of the fun that we had when we did one. The Beatles were not a serious group.
"So I wanted to get back into some of that; to have some fun and not sweat it. That’s been the spirit of making this album."
"Flaming Pie" features Paul McCartney’s son James, making his recording debut playing guitar alongside his father, and also includes two songs recorded with his Beatles pal Ringo Starr on drums as Paul plays on his old Beatles Hofner bass.
Said Paul: "Playing with Ringo again was just like the old days. I realised that we hadn’t done this for so long; but it was really comfortable and the bond is still there.
"Flaming Pie" also features arrangements and production by Beatles producer George Martin.
(hg) Last Saturday, Paul did not answer the question about his underwear (but D.L. did during the latest NY Beatlefest <g>). However, he confirmed that a recording session with together with John Lennon and a bunch of other high-profile musicians took place in 1974. But we've known that before - this session was released (in excellent sound quality) on the bootleg CD A Toot And A Snore in 1974 on the Mistral label in the early 1990s (please see that page for more info, including an excellent transcription by Malcolm Atkinson of New Zealand). Before you go out and seek for this bootleg - be warned: the contents are not very worthwhile. Paul ended up playing drums - his voice is barely audible.
Anyway, Paul's confirmation inspired a Philip Aldridge to "find" this 35-minute tape (the bootleg CD is slightly less than 30 mins in length) which he remembers having bought from a Californian collector in 1985 for $320. Aldridge is reported to have said he didn't know it was originating from the 1970s. He intends to sell it now for $3,200,000 - ARGH! Paul, I'll give you my copy of this bootleg CD for free!
Throughout
the USA, stores of the Best Buy chain were giving out free copies of a special "Oobu Joobu" CD. The 25 first persons to ask at the
service counter have received one copy each. This Oobu Joobu CD
is a special down-edited (does not contain material of other artists) version of the 5th
instalment ("Ecology Theme") of the radio series from 1995. The complete
unedited version was released on the bootleg CD Oobu Joobu Part 6.
This episode is one of the better Oobu Joobu shows and I highly recommend getting this
free CD - how and when? When you buy your copy of Flaming Pie
(from May 27), you'll also get this CD for free!
 |
 |
 |
 |
This Saturday, Paul answered a few of the 3 million questions submitted by email, phone or postcard. This chat was broadcast live by VH1 in the USA, UK and Germany. It was also broadcast via internet, as was the following 30 min chat with Paul during which he answered the questions that were incoming live. Basically, this actually worked quite well: Video and audio were available in various bandwidths for Java-enabled browsers. Audio alone could be retrieved via Real Audio, and the chat also worked for Java-enabled browsers. Users behind firewalls could still receive the streaming video (a new picture every few seconds). The streaming audio did not work for me but the Real Audio did. The chat - well, I could connect and stay there for 5 minutes before my computer crashed ;-( In case you've missed the event - VH1 will air several repeats, and if you follow the links on the flaming pie homepage, you can find a transcript of the webchat, and maybe you can still receive the streaming video.
"McCartney's Town Hall Meeting'' will feature McCartney at The Bishopsgate Memorial Hall in London answering questions submitted from the audience and also via internet, phone and mail. The event will be followed by a 30-minute, world-wide online webcast complete with video stream, in the same question and answer format as the televised special, with the artist answering questions right off the internet.
This "Town Hall Meeting" takes place Saturday, May 17th, at 6pm GMT (=7pm Central European Time, 1pm New York Time, 10am L.A. Time) and will be broadcast live by VH1 (USA), VH1 (UK) and VH1 (Germany). Note that these 3 VH1 channels are run separately, so there's no special McCartney week on VH1 Germany nor VH1 UK.
EUROPEAN READERS: Even if you don't get VH1, you can still receive an unscrambled (no decoder required!) broadcast via the ASTRA satellites (19.2 degrees East). VH1 Germany broadcasts on ASTRA every day from 20.00-24.00 CET (all other times: a scrambled channel), and it is freely available (standard PAL format). But you cannot receive the live broadcast on Saturday 17th (which is from 19.00-20.00 CET). The Townhall Meeting is repeated on: Sunday 18th at 21.00CET, Friday 23th at 23.00CET and Sunday 25th at 25.00CET. VH1 Germany can be found on channel 27, which is 11,612GHz H (horizontal polarisation).
World-wide online webcast:
This will take place at http://www.flamingpie.com.
There will be a JAVA-based chat and live video/audio stream (also JAVA-based), as
well as a separate audio-only stream using Real Audio (for those without Java). No Real
Video or other plug-ins, no other software is required. But you'll need a browser which
supports Java: Netscape 3.0 or better, or Internet Explorer 3.x or better. Be sure to
enable Java in the options menus. And: If you have less than 16MBs of RAM, better not run
Java. AOL users can also run Internet Explorer or Netscape (if you still have very old AOL
software, you must get an AOL "winsock.dll" file first). The built-in web
browser will NOT do!
"Young Boy" entered the German charts at position 55 in the week of May 12th.
It drops to position 59 in the week of May 19th.
"Flaming Pie" enters the German charts (May 19th) at position 6. This is very
remarkable, considering the lack of promotion, and considering that Young Boy is not this
big of a hit yet (and that the video still gets ZERO airplay. Thanks, EMI!). Anyway, in
1993 "Off the Ground" entered at pos. 98 - and "Hope of Deliverance"
was already a big hit, then.
Freddy Mensink posted in Macca-L that in today's charts of the Netherlands, Flaming Pie enters at position 16, and Young Boy climbs to 53, after entering at 57 last week.
Flaming Pie entered the UK charts at pole position! Congratulations, Paul! Well, at least as far as the ITV charts are concerned. Both MTV and BBC still list the Spice Girls as number one, and Flaming Pie is two. Last week, Young Boy entered the UK charts at position 19 - this week, it's not among the top 40. In Germany, Young Boy enters the charts this week at position 55.
May 6 saw the US release of the single The World Tonight.
In the first days of May, photographer Jorie Gracen met Paul several times in front of Abbey Road studios and took several nice photographs, some of them can be found at her webpage http://people.delphi.com/jobethg/
Young Boy video - at last it was shown on the German channel VIVA during their top 100 show (Young Boy entered at position 55. The show was first broadcast 9 May). The commentator Mola has read this page and took pity of me - he even cited the FULL URL of this page twice. This took him over one minute ;-) [Hi Mola, vielen Dank für die Publicity. Ihr hättet das Video aber auch ganz spielen können ;-)]
Sky News had a 30 minute special on Paul McCartney's new album this Saturday at 14:30 GMT. Unfortunately, I missed it but I heard that both Young Boy and The World Tonight promo videos were aired in full, and the well-known interview snippets were all derived from this special which carried them in their complete form.
VH1 McCartney Week
VH1 UNVEILS "MCCARTNEY WEEK''
A WEEK OF SPECIAL PROGRAMMING SUPPORTS "MCCARTNEY'S TOWN HALL MEETING'' ON MAY 17
VH1's "MCCARTNEY WEEK'' AIRS MAY 12-17 BEGINNING AT 9PM (ET/PT)
New York, NY, May 9, 1997 VH1 rolls out a week of special programming leading up to the LIVE broadcast of ""McCartney's Town Hall Meeting'' on Sat., May 17 at 1PM (ET), 10AM (PT) and 6PM (GMT). Each night beginning at 9PM (ET/PT), Mon., May 12 through Fri., May 16, VH1 brims with premieres, documentaries and concerts featuring Paul McCartney and The Beatles. Programming highlights are as follows:
"The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit'' kicks off VH1's "McCartney Week'' on Mon., May 12, airing from 9-10:30PM and repeating from 12-1:30AM. A documentary of The Beatles' arrival on U.S. shores on February 7, 1964, "The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit'' features the Fab Four performing hits such as "I Wanna Hold Your Hand,'' "Love Me Do'' and "Twist & Shout'' on "The Ed Sullivan Show.'' Also featured is behind-the-scenes footage of the group in their limos, hotel rooms and on their way from New York to Washington D.C. to Miami. Immediately following the premiere of the documentary are two half-hour editions of "Beatles Video Collection,'' airing from 10:30-11:30PM. Videos featured include "Can't Buy Me Love,'' "Hey Jude,'' "Let It Be'' and "Free As a Bird.''
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' is VH1's "Rock 'n' Roll Picture Show'' airing on Tues., May 13 from 10:30PM-12:30AM. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the 1978 film follows a carload of New Jersey teenagers determined to get tickets for The Beatles' appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show.''
"Paul Is Live,'' featuring Paul McCartney in concert on the 1993 New World Tour, premieres Wed., May 14 from 9-11PM and repeats from 12-2AM. A compilation of McCartney's performances in cities such as New York, Atlanta and Sydney, Australia, "Paul Is Live'' includes songs such as "All My Loving,'' "We Can Work It Out,'' "Hey Jude'' and "Let It Be.'' Immediately following from 11PM-12AM is "Paul McCartney Video Collection,'' featuring "Silly Love Songs,'' "Coming Up'' and "No More Lonely Nights.''
"Rockshow'' kicks off the evening on Thurs., May 15, airing from 9-11:30PM and repeating from 12-2:30AM. Featuring Paul McCartney in concert during his 1976 World Tour, "Rockshow'' premiered for the first time on U.S. television in March of 1979. Songs featured include "Let Me Roll Into You,'' "I've Just Seen a Face,'' "Go Now'' and "Listen What the Man Said.''
"Paul McCartney & The World Tonight'' makes its world television premiere on VH1, airing on Fri., May 16 from 9-10:30PM and repeating from 12-1:30AM. A 1997 documentary directed by Geoff Wonfor, the Grammy Award winning Beatles Anthology film maker, "Paul McCartney & The World Tonight'' chronicles the past two years of McCartney's life. The making of McCartney's new album, Flaming Pie, and his recent knighthood are both featured. Immediately following the documentary is "Wings Over the World,'' airing from 10:30PM-12AM. The Wings concert tour movie from which "Rockshow'' was created, "Wings Over the World'' has never before been seen on TV in its full glory. Featured in the movie are McCartney, wife Linda and the band talking to the press, rehearsing and recording as well as footage of McCartney family moments. The best performances from the 1976 tour are also featured, including the songs "Jet,'' "Maybe I'm Amazed'' and "Live and Let Die.''
"McCartney's Town Hall Meeting'' marks the final premiere in VH1's "McCartney Week,'' airing LIVE in the U.S., UK and Germany on Sat., May 17 from 1-2PM (ET), 10-11AM (PT) and 6-7PM (GMT). The premiere U.S. event in which McCartney will participate on behalf of the release of his upcoming album, "McCartney's Town Hall Meeting'' will feature McCartney at The Bishopsgate Memorial Hall in London answering questions submitted from the audience and also via internet, phone and mail. The event will be followed by a 30-minute, worldwide online webcast complete with video stream, in the same question and answer format as the televised special, with the artist answering questions right off the internet.
"McCartney's Town Hall Meeting'' will repeat on Sat., May 17 from 4-5PM and from 9-10PM. Also repeating on Sat., May 17 is "Paul McCartney & The World Tonight,'' airing from 2-3:30PM and "The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit,'' airing from 7-8:30PM and from 12-1:30AM.VH1 produces and programs a wide variety of music-based series, specials, live events and acquisition-based programming that keeps viewers in touch with the music they love. VH1 is a registered trademark of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom, Inc. MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc., owns and operates five cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, M2, VH1, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, and Nick at Nite's TV Land all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks.
The German TV boulevard magazine RTL Eplosiv had a report with exclusive interview
today:
Commentator on Ex-Beatle Paul being the wealthiest musician in the world.
Shock: Linda's breast cancer - Paul at campfire "Calico Skies", then in Studio
with Linda - interview in front of standup bass: Paul on Linda, school years - relieve
that Linda's doing better after cancer treatment - horseriding - new record: excerpts from
Young Boy clip - interview: Paul and fame. He doesn't feel famous, only his second
"self" is famous. As a private person he's different. - 30 years Beatles -
excerpt Ebony and Ivory clip with Stevie Wonder - Stella and Chloe excerpt - interview:
Paul about Stella - Paul showing medal (knighthood) - Paul and Queen at Lipa opening -
Paul playing standup bass - interview: feeling great when singing = psychological therapy
- Paul and Linda at presentation of vegetarian burgers. - interview: Paul in German about
what he eats now "Frikadellen ja, ha ha, aber jetzt, das ist Tomaten und Käse, keine
Frikadellen mehr." - a veggie - "what's that in German?" - Vegetarier -
"Vegetarier, ja!" - Paul having fun in the studio while James is recording his
guitar solo for "Heaven on a Sunday".
Note that the following video has German voice-over (and is encoded to play over a ISDN link in realtime. Modem users can download it and play after loading is finished):
 |
Report on Paul's Flaming Pie RTL Explosiv 6 May 1997 | real |   |
4:02 | 1332KB |
The album Flaming Pie 
has
been released in Europe today (in some countries like Holland and Italy, it was available
on May 3rd) - even in Germany ;-) But the video Young Boy is still not played on MTV, VH1
Germany, Viva nor on Viva II. Shame on you, EMI! Please: if anybody sees it on a music
channel in Europe, please contact me ASAP!
The German TV boulevard magazine "Brisant" had a report with interview on
Paul McCartney. At this moment, they still have an article on their website (in German) including 3 nice
photos
Paul at Campfire playing acoustic guitar and singing "Calico
Skies", then in studio with Linda next to him - Paul and Linda horseriding - Paul in
studio sitting in front of the famous standup bass, getting interviewed: talks about gens,
success of children. - excerpt of Young Boy clip - commentator talks about the inspiration
of the album - Paul says he can't read musical notation because he has Celtic origins ;-)
- Flaming Pie and Beatles, and Ringo - Paul talks about Ringo's alcohol problems and how
he solved them "Be like Ringo" - more excerpts of Young Boy video while
commentator notes that the album will be out on Monday 5 May in Germany, and that Germany
makes up 25% of Paul's worldwide sales. - Paul speaking German: "in Schule habe ich
etwas gelernt, und in Hamburg etwas anderes gelernt. Ha ha!" - commentator:
"Whatever Paul had learned in Hamburg back in the sixties - it will probably remain
his secret forever:"
Note that the following video has German voice-over (and is encoded to play over a 28.8 modem in realtime. Therefore, the picture quality is quite poor. But it's over 3 minutes!):
 |
Report on Paul's Flaming Pie ARD Brisant 3 May 1997 | real | |
3:14 | 471KB |
Yesterday, Monday 28th of April, there was a BIG opening party for the album "Flaming Pie" in Bonn, Germany, organized by EMI. A selected audience was given a listen to the complete album. Paul did not attend but has sent a pre-taped video tape with special German greetings and English introduction. Here's some 16 seconds of it, including bits of the Young Boy video (Paul in the studio - behind drums and singing into the microphone):
 |
Paul's pre-taped German greeting at the Flaming Pie opening party in Cologne, Germany, 28 April 1997 | MOV | |
0:16 | 1445KB |
NOTE: In case you haven't got Quicktime yet, it really IS time to get it now. Why? The official homepage "Flaming Pie Gazette" also makes use of Quicktime movies - and you won't want to miss these.
Today, the single "Young Boy" was released and available in most countries. Unfortunately not yet in southern Germany - I am yet to hear if anybody in Germany managed to buy it today. In the U.K., there are two different 3 track CD singles and a vinyl picture disc. Elsewhere, it's just one 3 track CD single.
Meindert Hiemstra from Holland reports that there it's also two 3-track singles, and a
2 track single in cardboard packaging.
On Tuesday 29 April, I finally managed to find the single but it still was very hard, and
quantities were very limited. If this single fails to chart, blame EMI (or whoever is
responsible) and their amateurish distribution.The single definitely was unavailable in
several major German cities on the day of release.
In a press release today, it was reported about Paul, the new album, his family and wife Linda. For the first time it is said first-hand that she is not only doing fine but in fact the treatment is over and she is cured. She's also reported to still have her new shorter hairstyle, and that she's working very hard now and leading a normal life.
Simon van der Peet from the Dutch magazine Maccazine has seen the booklet of the CD Flaming Pie and gave me the correct timings etc. which can be found here.
Paul McCartney's Town Hall Meeting to air live on VH1
McCartney will answer questions from fan in the audience and via Internet
One hour special followed by worldwide online chat
VH1 will broadcast live in the U.S., UK, Germany and on the Web Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. ET, 10 a.m. PT, 6 p.m. GMT.
VH1 to "Fly Fans on the Run" sweepstates winners to London for the event New York, NY, April 15, 1997 -- VH1 announced today an exclusive one-hour special, Paul McCartney's Town Hall Meeting. The broadcast, which will air live on VH1 in the U.S., UK and Germany, will be accompanied by a simultaneous live webcast on Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. ET/10a.m. PT and 6 p.m. (GMT). This will be the only U.S. event on behalf of the release of his upcoming album, "Flaming Pie," in which McCartney will participate. Paul McCartney will be answering questions from the audience and questions previously submitted by Internet users. The event will be followed by a one-hour, worldwide online chat, in the same question and answer format as the televised special, with the artist answering questions right off the Internet. VH1 Online (at http://www.vh1.com) is the exclusive source for the chat. The front end to the event will be provided by the VH1 Online and Capitol Records sites.
VH1 will support the live special with McCartney Week on the network May 12-17. Features programming includes the U.S. premiere of a new one-hour documentary on Paul McCartney, directed by Grammy Award winning Beatles Anthology filmmaker Geoff Wonfor. Wonfor will also be directing the VH1 special. The documentary chronicles the past two years of McCartney's life, the making of the new record, "Flaming Pie," and his recent knighthood. In addition, VH1 will air the concert films "Paul Is Live", "Wings Across the World" and additional acquisitions to be announced shortly.
VH1 Online will be supporting Paul McCartney's Town Hall Meeting with a series of promotions and exclusive events. In addition to providing information on the television and Internet specials, VH1 Online will premiere the first video/single, cybercast video clips and sneak previews of the new documentary. Through VH1's partnership with the online retailer Music Boulevard, website visitors will be able to purchase "Flaming Pie" before its release date. The Town Hall Meeting will be extensively promoted on the World Wide Web, America Online, and in cross-links with Capitol Records, McCartney's label.
VH1 has created a national and local sweepstakes called "Fans on the Run," which will run from April 21 to May 3. Contestants may enter by mail, phone or via VH1 Online. One national Grand Prize winner will win a trip for two to London aboard VH1's Magical Mystery Plane, spending money, a limo tour of "McCartney's London," front row seats to the Town Hall Meeting, McCartney memorabilia and a complete McCartney/Beatles multi-media library. One thousand First Prize winners will win "Flaming Pie" CDs. In addition, twenty local radio winners will win trips to London for the event and additional prizes including VH1 premiums and CDs.
[NOTE: Unfortunately, only US residents are eligable to enter the contest :-((((((((((. And there are even further restrictions.]
(hg) Simon van der Peet from the Dutch magazine Maccazine reports that according to EMI Holland, the European release date for the album Flaming Pie is the 5th of May.
He was also given the chance to listen to the album twice and reports that indeed it is one of Paul's best, "even better than Flowers or Off The Ground." He'd call it 'McCartney III'.
Simon has also seen the promo video clip of "Young Boy" which he describes being "homemade." [It was not aired on Saturday's "Top Of The Pops."]
Sir Paul now has his official homepage - it's hosted by MPL Communications Inc.: www.mplcommunications.com/mccartney. It starts off quite comprehensive (although only considering US releases) and there is an endless number of audio files (Real Audio format) to listen to. Nice design.
In order to find out more about the 17 May live gig and internet broadcast, I recommend keeping an eye on the above site, as well as subscribing to the McCartney mailing list by Capitol Records, see www.flamingpie.com.
The proposed release date of the album "Flaming Pie" is most likely to change from May 20 in the United States.
According to Beatlefan, at one point it was considered to change to the 13th of May. [Editor's note: a report here earlier this month was based on a mis-quote that was posted in rec.music.beatles, and it was not entirely correct. We apologize to William P. King, publisher of Beatlefan, for any inconvenience]. However, meanwhile I've heard from two different sources (including someone quoting William B. King) that it is now considered to shift it one week back to 27th of May.To make things even more complicated, a Norwegian source cites EMI Norway reporting that the release date there will be May 5th. This would probably apply for whole Europe.
Evelyn Schwarz, co-publisher of the German magazine Beatlemania reports:
"The EMI Germany newsletter concerning Young Boy has the usual promo stories every radio station tells. But it concludes with the announcement that a limited collector's issue of the CD single will be accompanied by a plectron.
1.000 are planned for the German market.
(Surely for other countries similar) "
(hg) Paul has been playing live on the rooftop of the MPL building at 1 Soho Square, London, last Friday, 11th April. It was filmed for inclusion in his TV documentary which will be broadcast in May (on May 18 on ITV in the U.K.). The rooftop concert has evoked memories of the Beatles' rooftop concert which took place on roof of the Apple Records building on January 30th, 1969.
The Associated press reported that Paul has been performing his two upcoming singles "Young Boy" and "The World Tonight". The concert lasted 20 minutes.
Geoff Baker is quoted saying "There were quite a few people gathered below listening to him playing live on his guitar.There was amplification so people down below could hear him.''
"Several of them were rather mystified but Paul really enjoyed himself. It certainly brought back memories for him."
When told that there's a crowd on the streets listening to him, Paul replied with
"I know, I've done it before.''
According to Matt Hurwitz, publisher of Good Day Sunshine Magazine, the first singles from "Flaming Pie," (as noted before) will be "The World Tonight" in the U.S., and "Young Boy" in the rest of the world. The bonus track program so far is taking the shape of one additional non-album track from the album sessions, plus a short "Oobu Joobu" vignette (this appears to be the plan for the remainder of other singles to be released from the album, though, of course, it remains to be seen). That track will feature the complete version of one of the songs featured on Paul's "Oobu Joobu" radio program from two summers ago, along with other material, to give us a little taste of the radio program, as well as some other goodies.
"Young Boy" will be issued in England on April 28th in two different CD Maxi-Singles (CDR-6462 and CDR-6462S). The track listings are as follows: [please see here for up-to-date information, the listings and numbering below is not 100% correct]
| CDR-6462: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Young Boy | 3:52 | Written & Produced by Paul McCartney | |
| 2 | Looking For You | 4:48 | Written by Paul McCartney Produced by Paul McCartney & Jeff Lynne |
From the "FP" album sessions. Reportedly, Jeff worked on only 9 songs with Paul, this, apparently, representing the last of the batch (the other 8 are on the album). |
| 3 | Oobu Joobu - Part 1 1. Some Folks Say Oobu 2. Oobu Joobu Main Theme 3. Fun Packed Show 4. I Love This House 5. Clock Work 6. Paul McCartney Talks About "Young Boy" 7. Oobu Joobu We Love You 8. Oobu Joobu Main Theme |
0:25 0:30 0:09 3:44 0:08 3:46 0:13 0:56 |
Written by (Oobu Joobu Producer Eddie) Pumer/Smith Produced by Paul McCartney & David Foster Written by Pumer/Smith |
from the same 1984 (?) sessions which originally produced "We Got Married" (which appears on "Flowers in the Dirt"). One of 4 songs reportedly recorded with Foster |
| CDR-6462S: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Young Boy | 3:52 | Written & Produced by Paul McCartney | |
| 2 | Broomstick | 5:07 | Written & Produced by Paul McCartney | |
| 3 | Oobu Joobu - Part 2 1. Wide Screen Radio 2. Oobu Joobu We Love You 3. Oobu Joobu Main Theme 4. Brilliant, What's Next? 5. Atlantic Ocean 6. Paul McCartney Reminisces (background music "Classical Guitar") 7. Bouree 8. Oobu Joobu We Love You 9. Oobu Joobu Main Theme |
0:10 0:07 0:33 0:04 6:33 1:22 0:19 0:12 0:57 |
Written by Pumer/Smith Written by Pumer/Smith Produced by Phil Ramone Composed by J.S. Bach |
Recorded during the same July 1987 sessions which produced "Once Upon A Long Ago," "Back On My Feet" and several of the bonus tracks featured on "Flowers In the Dirt" CD singles. Features members Billy Joel's band. |
| The American "The World Tonight" single, which, as of today, was scheduled for release on May 22, will feature "World Tonight" plus all of the bonus tracks from the first single listed above, CDR-6462. |
According to Good Day Sunshine Magazine, two songs from "Flaming Pie" will be included in Warner Bros. new film, "Father's Day," which will be released May 9. Both singles from the album, "The World Tonight" and "Young Boy," will be featured.
The film stars Robin Williams and Billy Crystal as two fellows who are told by a boy's mother that they *each* are his father. The boys runs away from home, and Williams and Crystal are chronicled in their search for him.
Final scoring for the film is taking place this week at Warner Bros, during which the songs will be inserted into the film's soundtrack.
According to Good Day Sunshine Magazine, the British singles of "Young Boy" will be out on April 28th. The April 17th date for "The World Tonight" is the "radio date" - the date that "DPRO" singles are sent to radio. Currently (as of today), the street date for the "World Tonight" single in the U.S. is May 22.
MPL apparently is seeking to keep the single until the album is out, rather than leading off with the single ahead of time, as is done in England.
This week's edition of Billboard Magazine has lots of info on Flaming Pie, an interview with Paul and some notes on the 1h TV special. It's worth seeking out. And there's quite a bit of critizism on the guys that have the saying in the record industry.
Here's some summarized excerpts of what Paul said to Billboard in his first interview on the new album, conducted in Sussex, England:
"I've really started to say to myself, look, what's it been worth to do all that Beatles career, earn all this money, get all that fame, if at some point I don't go, `That was great, now I can have a good time.' "
"I feel like the suits are back in charge now.So I want to be subversive and sort of break that lock, just for me personally this time.''
Paul said that he didn't want to do mega campaigns to promote Flaming Pie but "I wanted to make an album for the kid in the bedroom. The Beatles, we all wanted to make records for the kid in the bedroom somewhere, because we had recently been that kid in a bedroom.''
The president of Capital Records, Gary Gersh, is quoted saying "It's the best Paul McCartney album I've heard in years. There are a lot of people who learned a lot about the Beatles over the course of the last 18 months, and a growing number of young fans who will be receptive to a great new Paul McCartney album - and this is it."
Paul McCartney further says: "In looking at `Anthology,' I saw the standards that the Beatles had reached." McCartney tried to recapture the standards of both songwriting and spontanity in the studio.
He recalls about the situation in mid-1995 when the Anthology was being put together: "One of the big wigs at the record company said, `We don't want a [solo] record from you for the next two years. We don't really need a record off you for awhile.
``I was almost insulted at first. But I thought, well, yeah, it would be silly to go out against yourself in the form of the Beatles. So I fell in with the idea and thought, `Great, I don't even have to think about an album.' What a great, lovely, lazy couple of years - although we worked quite hard on the `Anthology.' ''Billboard also reports that Paul has been recording this album mostly alone - playing drums, bass, guitar and piano himself - just like with the 1970 album McCartney.
Style, Style
Flaming Pie'' displays a joyously familiar style - in the pounding piano of the title track, the guitar rave-up of ``The World Tonight,'' the George Martin orchestration of ``Somedays,'' the acoustic coda of ``Great Day,'' and more.
``It's the `feel' that you're talking about,'' says McCartney. ``It's true. I've got a feel. I've got my feel. And throughout my career, I have made efforts to get away from it. I think, well, okay, let's try to go in some other direction.
``But I started to think on this album, no, I don't really need to. And somebody pointed out to me, `Hell, a lot of what these younger groups are doing is your sound.' So I thought it's actually mad if I don't do it, and I just let everybody else do it, and admire how well it sounds when they do it.''Steve Miller
Paul decided to record again with Steve Miller when he discovered his son James is a big fan of Miller. Paul had been drumming for Miller back in 1969 under the pseudonym Paul Ramon on the song "My Dark Hour." In February 1995, after "Real Love" was finished, Paul flew to Idaho and these sessions produced "Young Boy." Later in May that year, they recorded again in Paul's studio: "If You Wanna" (a 'road song') written by Paul, and "Used To Be Bad", a blues jam co-written by Paul and Steve
Ringo
"We fell in, like a old habit, like a comfortable glove. When you can work with someone like that, it's stranger to lose it than for it to still be there. It often is still there, like with Ringo. "
"Ringo had always said after `Real Love,' that he was comfortable in this studio. And he said, we should do it again some time." says McCartney. In May 1996 Starr came down to play on ``Beautiful Night,'' a song on ``Flaming Pie'' which Paul had written a decade earlier but never released.
"We had a lot of fun doing it and then he stayed over the next day in case we needed to fix any drum things, which we didn't. I could see that whenever we'd gone out to rehearse anything, he was very comfortable. So I said, well, let's take this a little step further. I'll get on bass, you get on drums, we'll get Jeff on his guitar, just a three piece, and we'll have a jam for the hell of it.''
The resulting track, ``Really Love You,'' is a cool R&B groove built upon Starr's drum beat and McCartney's rock'n'roll vocals. It is the first song ever released which is co-written by the Beatles' former drummer and bassist.
From what I got to know, the CD promo singles were delivered to radio stations last Saturday by courier.
Throughout this day, I could hear the song "Young Boy" on several radio stations, several times. They also mentioned that this song was written within less than two hours while Linda was discussing some cooking things.
It's marvellous! An instant number one single! It's a very catchy McCartney tune, with a slight similarity to Hope of Deliverance but it's much better. The lyrics are simple and honest and very pleasing. The quality of this song matches Paul's Beatles output. The impact of the song reminds me of "Come And Get It" - it just will stick in your head and you'll be humming it all day long.
Now, I haven't heard "The World Tonight" but I can only guess why Sir Paul has chosen to release a different single in the US first. Maybe it's because Hope Of Deliverance failed in the US (I think because of the "teaching" lyrics), maybe it's because he feels he has to issue something "rockier" there, first. Or is it the fact that both Young Boy and The World Tonight will be part of the new movie "Father's Day" - this way both songs can be out as singles immediately. Well, time will tell.
"Young Boy" is a pretty fast song, although there's a break towards the end and there's a big change in tempo at one point until the end.The song starts off with four instrumental measures, two of which with nice "Spanish" sounding guitar melody. Basically, it's has an acoustic feel on it (with acoustic guitars over the stereo image) but in fact it's more a rocker - there's also an electric rhythm guitar, great (Beatle-esque) bass lines, drums/percussion etc. You feel that it's powered by a "McCartney-rhythm-engine." ;-) Sir Paul is drumming himself and he does an exceptionally good job! The great bass lines are back. Great guitar hooks around everywhere. A great "middle-eight" solo by Steve Miller, towards the end either played in harmony on two strings or joined by Paul(?). After the tempo change the song is rather slow, features a hammond organ (some say it's similar to the organ in "A Whiter Shade of Pale") and the drumming becomes more obvious (lots of work on the tom-toms, I think). The basic drum effects sound just a little compressed á la Jeff Lynne, and there are backing vocals in the first half which are run through a slightly ELO-ish sounding vocoder (and include 3 Pauls and one Jeff?). But one has to listen for these things - they are not really obvious but greatly add to the quality of the song. According to all reports, this song is produced by Paul himself, not by Lynne. Paul's voice? Well, seems to be manually double-tracked, at least in places. Paul's voice is in excellent shape - young and fresh, like he was the Young Boy himself. He sounds at least as good as on the 1982 hit album Tug of War - which might be surprising after all these years. Young Boy has a very "full" sound. The bass/rhythm/guitar work just kicks! The best example for the "perfect pop song" with clever arrangement and song flow.
Richard Porter from the London Beatles Fan Club reports:
Sir Paul will be on the Pepsi Chart show today (Sunday)
around 6pm co-hosting the top 10 and playing the new single 'Young Boy' -the first time
it's been played anywhere in the world -tune in if you can!!
AP reports that Sir Paul McCartney said in a radio interview (to be broadcast Sunday,
along with the first broadcast of the record):"Young Boy was written like one of
the early Beatles tunes - quite quickly, quite easily and off the cuff. Young Boy is just
about a young guy looking for a way to find love and basically I suppose I was thinking of
my own son, who's 19 - though he'll kill me for saying that."
"It's for anyone around that age, looking for love. I remember the feeling well.
I remember thinking 'There's 300 million people out there and one of them is the right one
for me' - but you don't know if you'll ever meet them or how you'll do it. It's a pretty
scary feeling. So this song is for all those people."
The song was written within a firm time limit:
"I'd driven Linda to one of her cookery
assignments and, as I knew she's be busy for about two hours doing that, I set myself a
deadline to write a song in that time.
It's just a little game that I sometimes play with myself - for that moment when people
say `What did you do? Did you get bored?' and I can say `Oh, I wrote a song, wanna hear
it?`"
Good Day Sunshine magazine reported about a week ago:
No word yet on B-side titles, but here's a little about the configuration. As we've already seen posted, there will likely be two CD Maxi-Singles in England, with two different sets of B-sides, for their single, "Young Boy." In America, where the single will be "The World Tonight," we will have the same B-sides as, likely, one of the two UK singles (or some combination thereof).
"Young Boy" will possibly be the 2nd single in the U.S., while vice versa will occur in Europe - "The World Tonight" will be their second single. However, as I mentioned above, each "first single," in both countries, will feature the same B-sides, so that McCartney can release one grouping of cool B-sides at a time, instead of having two sets floating around out there (forcing people on both sides of the ocean to buy each other's singles).
EMI will be doing an LP of the album, by the way, for Europe. It will be a single-disc package.
Billboard Magazine reports:
EMI & Capitol records have officially set the
release date of the album "Flaming Pie" for May 20 in the US, and for May 12 in
most other countries.
The first single in the US will be "The World Tonight", to be released on April
17 (!), and it will be "Young Boy" in most other coutries, to be released on
April 28.
Billboard also mentions that the producers of the movie "Father's Day" (with
Robin Williams and Billy Crystal) want to use both songs in the movie which opens May 9.
The TV documentary by Geoff Wonfor will be carried by VH-1 in the US. VH-1 is said to plan
a live event with Paul from London on May 17.
Next week's Billboard magazine will carry the full story.
Good Day Sunshine magazine reports:
"Flaming Pie" will feature a 24-page booklet, filled with new photographs by Linda McCartney, including one for the cover, according to Paul's publicist, Geoff Baker. Paul himself will be the author of the liner notes for the booklet.
The sleeve design will be by Rick Ward, the same designer who put together all three "Beatles Anthology" albums and associated artwork.
The Beatles Fanclub of Norway reports:
According to a very well informed source, James Louis McCartney (18) plays lead guitar on the title track on his dad's forthcoming album, "Flaming Pie". The track is said to be "a tribute to John Lennon TM". James has been described as an accomplished guitar-player, but isn't planning to make a carreer out of it.
Another piece of news from the same source: Paul McCartney, Paul Weller (Jam, Style Council) and Noel Gallagher (Oasis) have made several recordings together, in fact an album's worth, as "Yer Blues Band". McCartney's people are currently wondering whether to release both this new album and "Flaming Pie" simultaneously, or put the Yer Blues Band on the backburner while "Flaming Pie" is selling.
Capitol Records have set up a homepage (with cover art) for the upcoming
Flaming Pie album. It can be found at:
http://www.flamingpie.com. Hopefully, there will be further updates soon!
The single "Young Boy" will be released on 28 April in the following formats (in the U.S., the single is "The World Tonight"!):
|
In the U.K. there are two different 3-track CD singles! The U.S. single "The World Tonight" will have the same B-sides as CDR6462. The 2nd CD single in the USA will probably have those B-sides from CDRS6462. |
"Flaming Pie", Paul McCartney's much anticipated solo album, which takes its title from Beatles mythology, is set to hit stores on Tuesday, May 20th.
His first studio recording in four years, Flaming Pie marks the first album release by a Beatle since "The Beatles Anthology", which scored three consecutive #1 recordings and a #1 longform video. McCartney says he was "inspired in the making of 'Flaming Pie' by The Anthology, which reminded him of the songwriting standards and the fun of The Beatles."
Flaming Pie features 14 songs, almost all written by McCartney during The Beatles Anthology campaign, and includes bass, guitar, piano and drum performances by McCartney, as well as appearances by Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Steve Miller and Linda McCartney.
The album release will also coincide with the worldwide screening of a new one hour television documentary on Paul McCartney, filmed by Grammy Award-winning Beatles Anthology director, Geoff Wonfor. The documentary, which brings the McCartney story up to date, will air in 30 countries around the world. Negotiations are underway in the United States and an airdate is expected in mid-May.
The first single from Flaming Pie, "The World Tonight", will be released by Capitol Records in late April along with a video directed by Wonfor. The album will be released with a 24-page booklet, complete with personal liner notes by McCartney and Linda McCartney photographs.
Flaming Pie comes 30 years to the week after the release of The Beatles' seminal album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and 40 years after the first meeting between McCartney and John Lennon.
(hg) Ice Magazine reports that
the track listings that have been circulating on the internet (that is, for instance, on
this page ;-) ) are totally incorrect. Only two songs of the list are said to actually be
from the new album.
Whatever this indicates. I assume that the singles "Flaming Pie" and "The
World Tonight" will be on the album. The general public didn't get to hear
"Flaming Pie" yet, though, but there were so many reports about this song that
it should be existing - and it's the title track (or it isn't?) of the new album. But a
third song was played at Beatlefest ("Somedays"), so what?
Actually, we're still waiting for the "Big Surprise" that Paul was said to be
talking about in a radio interview, and that was meant to be on Anthology 3. And, a new
McCartney/Harrison composition "All For Love" is reportedly existing, and was
expected to be a third Anthology single at one point. So what? The track listing below may
be correct, and we will be having a great album in May. Or, Geoff Baker & Co. were
told to mislead everybody in order to draw attention from the fact that the album will
contain the BIG SURPRISE. Time will tell.
But on the other hand - didn't ICE just post wrong information a few days ago?
(hg) Reportedly, during the Beatlefest convention of last weekend, two songs from Paul's new album "Flaming Pie" have been played over the PA. The songs were "The World Tonight" which is said to be the first fingle for the U.S. The other song was "Somedays" which is said to be very touching. Both songs are reportedly very good.
(hg) Only very few hours before the big auction of Beatles memorabilia would begin in Tokyo, the High Court in London stopped the sale of the original manuscript of the lyrics of "Penny Lane". A temporary injunction was based on the point that the person who wanted to auction off this item does not have the right to sell it.
Other items sold at the auction (which was hosted by Bonhams and took place both in Tokyo and London; it was broadcast live via satellite) were the original birth certificate of Paul McCartney. It was estimated to sell for DM 24,000 but it sold for DM 142,000. The house where Ringo Starr was born sold for DM 36,000. A collarless suit of John Lennon sold for DM 60,000. However, his piano and his Mercedes, the latter estimated to go for DM 1.35 million, did not sell. Five other items were withdrawn as their authenticity was in doubt.
Ice Magazine reports that Flaming Pie will be delayed until July. However, this rumor is totally untrue. Ice corrected themselves two days later. A Capitol spokesman is reported to have said that Paul's album MUST be out in May as it contains some songs of a movie soundtrack (!)
Please see the new page on the Investiture Ceremony for quotes of Sir Paul, and many many photos!
There are also 8 images on the homepage (click on the thumbnails to get full sized images).
Simon from the Dutch Paul McCartney Fanclub
reported that there is a 14th track on "Flaming Pie" :-) (see the table below!).
The confirmed European release dates are: Album: "Flaming Pie"
Rel: 12.5.97. Single: "Young Boy" Rel: 28.4.97.
US: Single "The World Tonight" with the same B-sides as the European single.
It has been reported that Capitol in North America will be going with a different first single to the rest of the world. The title will be"The World Tonight". The "B"-sides however will be identical to the rest of the world.
In the U.K., there will be 2 different three track CD singles, and a vinyl 45rpm single with two tracks.
Oh, first of all: Paul's investiture takes place in Buckingham Palace on Tuesday at 10 am (UK time). Long live Sir Paul! :-)
The following information was posted by Blondie (jobethg@delphi.com) to MACCA-L:
From the Tokyo Beatles Fan Club via Toshiba-EMI, with updates from the Dutch Paul McCartney Fanclub
| No. | Song Title | Composer | Time | Producer | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Song We Were Singing | McCartney | 3:52 | Jeff Lynne/Paul McCartney | - |
| 2 | The World Tonight | McCartney | 4:03 | Jeff Lynne/Paul McCartney | rock'n'roll |
| 3 | If You Wanna | McCartney | 4:36 | Paul McCartney | & Steve Miller |
| 4 | Somedays | McCartney | 4:11 | Paul McCartney (Arr. G. Martin) | Ballad acoustic guitar & strings |
| 5 | Young Boy | McCartney | 3:54 | Paul McCartney | Up tempo, & Steve Miller |
| 6 | Calico Skies | McCartney | 2:29 | Paul McCartney/George Martin | acoustic |
| 7 | Flaming Pie | McCartney | 2:27 | Paul McCartney/Jeff Lynne | - |
| 8 | Heaven On A Sunday | McCartney | 4:26 | Paul McCartney/Jeff Lynne | Ballad, with James McC. |
| 9 | Used To Be Bad | Miller/McCartney | 4:08 | Paul McCartney | Straight rock'n'roll |
| 10 | Souvenir | McCartney | 3:38 | Paul McCartney/Jeff Lynne | - |
| 11 | Little Willow | McCartney | 2:55 | Paul McCartney/Jeff Lynne | Simple Ballad |
| 12 | Really Love You | McCartney/Starkey | 5:14 | Paul McCartney/Jeff Lynne | rock'n'roll |
| 13 | Beautiful Night | McCartney | 5:03 | Paul McCartney/Jeff Lynne | Ballad |
| 14 | Great Day | McCartney | 2:06 | Paul McCartney/George Martin |
| Track 9 | Steve Miller - First Vocal |
| Tracks 11 & 13 | Ringo Starr - Drums |
Jeff Lynne playing on tracks 1,2,6,8,10,11,12 & 13
Steve Miller playing on tracks 3, 5 & 9
Strings to be added to track 13
According to GDS, the release date for the album "Flaming Pie" has been pushed back by one week to May 20.
This is another list of album songs that's being rumored (can't tell if it's correct or not):
According to Beatlefan Extra #75, a 3 track album sampler has been available in record industry circles since mid-February. It's a cassette by Capitol Records from Jan. 30, 1997 featuring
The sound is reported to be similar to "Off The Ground", however the tracks are more laid back.
The World Tonight is a midtempo soft-rocker with great guitar hooks and Paul
mostly singing in a lower register. This track does not sound like a typical Lynne
production. This track is said to be everybody's favorite.
Young Boy is similar sounding as "Hope of Deliverance." This upbeat
acoustic-guitar based number features a great McCartney electric guitar solo.
Somedays is a song in which Paul sings to an acoustic guitar and a George Martin
orchestration (with a baroque feel) is joining and building.
Beatlefan Extra also lists excerpts of the song lyrics and ends with the assumption that this album will probably not be a rock album but more one of interesting style.
Good Day Sunshine is said to have reported that in the U.S. the single "The World Tonight" will be released, whereas in Europe it is "Young Boy".
The new album Flaming Pie is scheduled for release on May 12 (U.K., Europe) and
May 13 (US).
The first single Young Boy will be released on April 28, and it includes 3 new
tracks not on the album. There will be up to four singles with 3 new tracks each.
Paul will be the subject of a lengthy profile in the New York Times Sunday magazine in May.
One dutch source reports that Ringo will be playing on three tracks. So far it was reported that Ringo is drumming on two tracks only.
Good Day Sunshine reports:
According to Beatlefan, eight album tracks are produced with Jeff Lynne, two co-produced with Steve Miller including a McCartney/Miller duet, one produced solely by Paul, and two produced and arranged by George Martin. Ringo plays drums on two songs and James McCartney plays guitar on one song. Otherwise Paul plays most of the instruments himself.
Gossip: Here are some more tentative song titles (may be released on the album or on
singles):
McCartney has been working with Geoff Wonfor, the director of "Anthology". This 60 minute special will air in the United Kingdom on the Independent Television network in May, around the May 12 release date of his first new studio album in four years.
"Geoff approached us with the idea," McCartney's representative said. "There has been so much interest worldwide in `Anthology' that he thought it would be good to bring the story up to date. It focuses on Paul because he is doing so much at the moment. The documentary is basically about where he is now."
While the Anthology series by Geoff Wonfor told the story of the Beatles from their beginnings in Liverpool until 1970, the new film, which will consist of music and interviews, will focus on McCartney and his first studio album in four years.
Reuters reports that Geoff Baker, Paul's publicist, said: "A lot has gone down since 1970. He's making a new album and the documentary is basically about where he is now."
The new film will be broadcast in Britain in May and has attracted interest from Germany, Japan, the United States and other countries.
At last! Something definite on it. The title "Flaming Pie" had already been confirmed by Beatles insider Allan Kozinn a couple of weeks ago. Now we know the titles of three tracks: "Flaming Pie", "The Songs We Were Singing" and "Young Boy". Sounds like Paul's going back to his roots. My expectations are very high - and have been ever since it was known that Paul has been working together with Jeff Lynne. I've been waiting for the two to work together for many years. And with all the inspiration Paul got from putting together the Anthologies, I will be counting the days until this album is out! And there's even an advance single (with most probably 3 more tracks not on the album). :-)
I. According to Good Day Sunshine, here's the latest on "Flaming Pie," Paul's new album:
II. The Allstar Daily News of 11 Feb 97 reports:
New Album 'Flaming Pie,' Radio Show Due In May
Paul McCartney's next album is chock full of Beatles connections. First, George Martin is producing a few tracks on the album. Second, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr gets behind the kit for a few songs. And finally, the album is titled Flaming Pie, which stems from a story that John Lennon used to tell writers when he was tired of telling the story of the Beatles name. Bill Porricelli, who works at McCartney's publishing company MPL Communications, says that Lennon would tell the fictitious tale of how the Beatles' name came to him in a dream in which a man on a flaming pie said "You should be 'Beatles with an A.'"
The 12-13 track album - of all-new material- features a duet with McCartney and Steve Miller, who also lends a production hand to the record, along with Jeff Lynne. Flaming Pie, which was recorded mostly at McCartney's London studio and partially at Lynne's farm in Utah, is due on Capitol in May.
"It's Paul's best album in 20 years," says Porricelli. "It's very edgy stuff. He played a lot of instruments on it, drums on every track except for the few that Ringo did."
In lieu of touring, McCartney plans to use a syndicated radio special to help promote Flaming Pie. The details aren't mapped out yet, but it looks to be a one- to- two- hour special, hosted by McCartney, to debut the first single and the entire album. Those who played on the album will also likely be included in the special. This radio special follows the 1995 Oobu Joobu radio special, in which McCartney played his favorite music of all genres, including Beatles outtakes.
McCartney will also be debuting his new classical piece, not yet titled, to debut in London this fall at EMI's 100th anniversary celebration.
The following article appeared in Newsweek magazine's European
edition.
Oct. 28, 1996 pg. 43
Faux-Pas Fur.
The Chich-looking ad in the Oct. 14 issue of The New Yorker invited readers to call
"Paul's Furs" for a free video, showing a "lively collection of fox, mink
and raccoon." If the fur-friendly did call, they heard Paul McCartney's voice
(unidentified) requesting their mailing info. But those who ordered got a shock: the video
was actually a plea from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Instead of
warm coats, it showed the cold-blooded slaughter of fur-bearing animals. Told of the
deception last week, The New Yorker responded that the ad's intent "to mislead the
reader ... is a problem for us." But, some would say, nothing like the problem for
the minks, raccoons and foxes.
Full transcription of advertisement in The New Yorker. Oct. 14, 1996:
Free Fur Video! Before you buy, let us show you our lively collection of fox, mink and
raccoon. You'll be astounded and could save thousands. Paul's Furs 212-734-7433
According to the latest issue of
Good Day Sunshine, Paul McCartney and Jeff Lynne are getting along together very well.
Throughout November 1995, Paul and Jeff have been recording 3 new songs (Paul has
confirmed this in a radio interview). Because of Linda's illness, they only continued
recordings in mid February 1996 in order to finish the 3 songs, and to record further 3
songs.
One of the 6 new recordings is "The Song We Were Singing" which is
reported to be a lovely tribute to John. Another one is "Flaming Pie" and
is said to have "surrealistic tongue-in-cheek lyrics".
Good Day Sunshine magazine further cites their
source saying "They sound great. It will blow people away. It will have the kind
of impact that Cloud Nine had for George."
GDS also reports that only Lynne and McCartney are featured on the recordings. Paul's band
was not involved.
Good Day Sunshine just told me that Jeff and Paul have been recording two more songs at
Paul's studio in Sussex. (September and early October 1996).
This makes a total of 8 new songs (co-)produced by Jeff Lynne. Considering that Paul has
also recorded with George Martin and other producers over the last several years, it might
easily happen that not all of these songs will be released on his next album - this had
happened with multiple recordings in the past: they ended up unreleased.
Released on October the 8th...
Mouth Almighty is Allen Ginsberg with PAUL McCARTNEY &
Philip Glass
The song is called "THE BALLAD OF THE SKELETONS"
US CD single with full 8 minute version and radiolength song (4 mins) -a contemporary protest song that rails against todays heartless global political establishment. A rocker on the rollicking style of Bob Dylan circa "Like A Rolling Stone"
The 21 September 1996 issue of Billiboard mentions that MPL will release an 81 track 5 CD promo compilation to commemorate its twenty-fifth anniversary. Nineteen are said to be McCartney tracks. It's not known if these will be "greatest hits" or include some rare B-sides.
In the Summer 1996 edition of his fan magazine Club Sandwich, Paul McCartney tells some details on his next solo album.
Furthermore, it is reported that in the first half of 1996 "... Paul has been spending most of his time in the studio, working on a variety of projects that he has on the go."
But here is the complete interview by Mark Lewisohn, taken from issue 78 (Summer 1996) of Club Sandwich. Enjoy!
CS: It appears that you are having a quiet year
PM: Well, even though it might appear to be a quietish year, the excuse is the Anthology.
That's made me famous for another 12 months, to say the least! And from the letters I'm
getting I know that everyone's enjoying seeing and hearing that stuff. So the Anthology
gives me a good excuse to quietly assemble some new music myself.
CS: What are you up to, then?
PM: Having fun. And the good news is that there's a new album on the way.
CS: When will it be out?
PM: I won't release it until next year, mainly just to get the Anthology out of the way
first. I don't want to be competing with myself - particularly when it's the Beatles: it's
not seemly to do that. So I'll be waiting until next year. There's no pressure
because the record company have told me that they don't really need an album from me in
1996.
CS: How did you react to that?
PM: At first it made me think: cheek! But then I thought: well no, of course, with all the
Beatles stuff coming out, it makes sense. Then I realised that it'll give me a chance to
make music for my own fun. I've recorded a couple of new acoustic numbers with George
Martin producing, which are nice, and I've done a few tracks with Jeff Lynne, which have
also worked out very well. I enjoyed working with Jeff on 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real
Love', asked him if he'd want to do some work with me for my next album, and he said yes.
And I've also done a couple of little things with other people. So, all in all, when you
put it all together, it starts to look like an album. I just took away a tape of it, on
holiday, and the tracks hang together well. If I can have fun doing music then I think it
shows, and that's the main thing.
CS: Who is playing on that album?
PM: Well my mate Richard said he might guest on a track [laughter]!
CS: So you're feeling good?
PM: Yes, absolutely, and not just because of the sessions. The most important thing of all
is that Linda and I have just come back from a nice, long relaxing holiday and we both
feel good.
CS: Thank you.
PM: You're welcome!
[ 2001 IV | 2001 III | 2001 II | 2001 I | 2000 II | 2000 I | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 II | 1996 & 1997 I ]
©1996,97 PLUGGED - the unofficial Paul McCartney Homepage. A tribute by Harald Gernhardt.
