Paul McCartney/Live Archives 1990-1997

Paul McCartney’s 70s almost overlapped with his 30s. His talent and ambition were burning hot in his 30s, and he led the band Wings through the fruitful 70s. And it was thought that this would continue into the 80s and beyond. However, two big incidents occurred for Paul in the first year of the 80s. First, in January 1980, he was arrested for possession of marijuana in Japan while visiting for a concert. Paul was detained, and while the interrogation continued, which may never end, the band members, who had become impatient, returned to Japan. Wings fell apart when even Denny Laine, who was a loyal “Friday,” returned to Japan. Paul lost his band, which made it impossible for him to go on tour. Then, at the end of the same year, John Lennon was murdered by a crazy person. When Yukiko Okada committed suicide, many young people followed her lead, and it was even discussed in the Diet, so in any era and in any case, there are people who are influenced and try to imitate others. At this time, Paul seemed to be genuinely afraid that it would be his turn next, and that if he went on stage, he would be shot by the audience. As a result, he did not tour at all in the 1980s, and spent a period of silence in terms of live activities. On the other hand, although he did not go on tour, he did a fair number of one-off live appearances. This work focuses on Paul’s one-off live appearances, and is a series that chronologically records detailed live performances that are not included in many collector’s items. This first work includes one-off live performances, TV appearances, radio appearances, etc. from 1984 to 1990. [ASPEL & COMPANY] June 9, 1984, this is the first performance in public after Wings broke up. “I Lost My Little Girl” is a humming song that was only done playfully, and the middle part that was added later was not completed at this point, and the title is sung on the melody. He performed this song as the first song he composed during a conversation with a TV host. At the end of the show, he sings Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” with a piano performance, holding a microphone, just like the promo film for “Coming Up”. A woman sings along with him, and this is Tracey Ullman, who played a supporting role in “Broad Street”. [SOUTHBANK SHOW] This was recorded on October 14, 1984. Paul sings “For No One” with just a guitar. When the French horn comes in, Paul adds his own scat to fill in the gaps. He plays the whole song with a pretty solid performance. This was around the time that the movie “Broad Street” was released, so this appearance was also a promotion for that movie. It seems that he performed this song, which was also performed in the movie. This was the first live performance throughout the Beatles era. It would later be officially featured on stage during the 2005 tour. [THE TONIGHT SHOW] Recorded on October 23, 1984. Paul sings the touch of “Yesterday” in a drunken manner with a guitar in hand, then transitions into “You’re My Sunshine” in a light-hearted manner. It’s a light and playful performance, but this is the only time he sings this song. Surprisingly, this is a precious live take of a song that he has never sung at a sound check or anything else. [LIVE AID] This is the performance at the famous and historic Live Aid on July 13, 1985. When Bob Geldof asked Paul to perform at this time, he initially declined because he didn’t have a band, but Geldof suggested that he play “Let It Be” on the piano, and he decided to perform. The song “Let It Be” was chosen because it could be played on the piano without a band. On the day, the concert was broadcasted worldwide by satellite, but due to a problem, Paul’s vocals were turned off for the first half of the song. This was not only seen on TV, but also in the actual venue, where Paul’s vocals could only be heard faintly off-mic while only the piano sound was clearly heard. There were two cheers during the show. The first was when the staff noticed the microphone trouble, repaired it, and Paul’s vocals were turned on. The second was when Bowie, Pete Townshend, and others appeared as choruses. Incidentally, the next day, Paul re-recorded the first half of the song with the microphone off in the studio. At the time, Bob Geldof said that he had no intention of commercializing it, but Paul probably recorded it just in case. This was later used when it was made into a DVD. This work includes two takes: a real-time take where the first half of the vocals were off due to a microphone problem, and a re-recorded take the next day. The re-recorded take has the vocals properly from start to finish, so the first cheers sound unnatural, but there’s nothing that can be done about it. And at the end of this event, all the performers sing “Do They Know It’s Christmas”. Paul doesn’t sing, he just hops around at the back of the stage, but he participates. [THE REAL BUDDY HOLLY STORY] This is a performance from Buddy Holly’s history program, recorded on December 12, 1985. He plays “Words Of Love” with just an acoustic guitar. Paul scats in a high-pitched voice throughout the interlude. Although the arrangement is the same as “BEATLES FOR SALE”, the beauty of the melody is undeniable, making for a very beautiful performance. [THE TUBE] This is the jingle for THE TUBE’s 100th anniversary, recorded on April 4, 1986. “Happy 100th Anniversary!” is repeated along with the hard rock guitar. [PRINCE’S TRUST CONCERT] This is the Prince’s Trust concert held on June 20, 1986, next to the Crown Prince and Princess. Paul performs repertoire from his Beatles days, including “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Get Back,” and “Long Tall Sally.” Backed by famous musicians such as Elton John and Tina Turner, Paul seems to have awakened the joy of performing on stage. He later said in an interview that this experience was what prompted him to go on a world tour in 1989. Paul, with a somewhat plump appearance, performs with beads of sweat running down his face. It has been a while since he has been away from the stage, so it is hard to say that Paul’s voice is in top form, but it is very clear that he is enjoying himself and getting into the groove with his performance. “Dancing In The Street” is a duet between Mick Jagger and David Bowie, but Paul plays an acoustic guitar in the background. As an aside, the lyrics refer to “Back In The USSR.” [ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE] This was performed at the Royal Variety Performance on November 24, 1986. This is the same event as the Jewel Jara Jara that The Beatles performed at in 1963. Before the performance, Paul laughed at John’s joke from that time. On this day, they performed “Only Love Remains” from the album “PRESS TO PLAY” that had just been released. It is a masterpiece with a grand melody and universal lyrics, and is a suitable choice to perform in front of the royal family. Paul sits at the piano and Linda adds chorus. Listening to Paul’s live vocals without any processing, the goodness of this song is conveyed once again. [UNICEF GALA] Recorded on December 4, 1986. When sending a message to promote UNICEF, he plays “Lady Madonna” on the piano. This is the first time they have performed the song in 10 years since Wings’ 1976 tour. However, he is not singing, but rather playing the memorable phrase of the song on the piano before and after the message, like a jingle. [THE TUBE] November 11, 1986, this was a performance on a TV program to promote the new album “PRESS TO PLAY” at this time. Paul’s playing, singing, and chorus are all live, not mimed. In the studio version, the orchestra comes in on a large scale, but this is simply piano only. It feels like listening to a naked version of “The Long and Winding Road”. If the studio version is the result of entrusting it to the producer, it even makes me think that this is the way the song should have been intended by the person himself. At the end, he plays a light-hearted “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On”. This is a familiar song from sound checks and get back sessions. [WOGAN] Recorded on November 20, 1987. Around this time, Paul released a best album called “ALL THE BEST”. It is his first best album in 10 years since “WINGS GREATEST”. Contrary to the title, “WINGS GREATEST” included songs by Wings as well as solo artists, but since it was a single album, there were many hit songs that were not included. “ALL THE BEST” was a double album with a very well-chosen selection, including new songs and songs that were only available as singles. This program was for the promotion of the new best album, and he performed two songs from his Wings days, “Jet” and “Ano Ko ni Sekkai.” It is a very rare Wings song performed in the 1980s. The bass is mixed in as loudly as Paul would have liked. Perhaps it was a hastily put together band just for a TV appearance, but the performance is not polished, but that makes it enjoyable in a different style from what you can hear on later tours. [BIRTHDAY MESSAGE FOR ALAN FREEMAN] This performance was recorded in 1987 for Alan Freeman’s 60th birthday. The song is a parody of “SGT. Pepper’s” and has a very punkish arrangement. [THE LAST RESORT] Recorded on November 27, 1987. This is also an appearance to promote “ALL THE BEST”, but the songs performed are three songs that are not included in the album, “Don’t Get Around Any More”, “I Saw Her Standing There”, and “Lawdy Miss Crowdy”. Paul is impressive as he sings oldies numbers with great ease. The “woo-woo” part of “Don’t Get Around Any More” is particularly cute. “I Saw Her Standing There” has been an important part of Paul’s stage repertoire from the Beatles era to the present, but the performance you can hear here is a different arrangement from those, a very 80’s arrangement, which is also a highlight. The last song, “Spin It On”, was performed as the closing jingle of the show and does not include singing. [COUNT DOWN] Recorded on December 2, 1987. As you can hear the female announcer overlapping with “Jam” in the intro, this is from when he appeared on a show in the Netherlands. While the first “Jam” is a live performance, “Once Upon A Long Ago” is performed with miming.Miming is out of the concept of this series, but it is included as an exception because it is the same program as “Jam”. [SAN REMO FESTIVAL] Recorded on February 27, 1988. This “Once Upon A Long Ago” is probably miming, but the mix sounds different, and the following “Ano Ko ni Sekkai” is a live performance, so it was recorded in that flow. As you can see from these two songs, this was also an appearance to promote “ALL THE BEST”. It is probably not widely known that he performed “Ano Ko ni Sekkai” live twice in the 1980s. Moreover, he played the bass, not the piano like he did in the Wings era. [ECHOES UK SPECIAL / THE FAME GAME] Recorded on August 2, 1988. This is a precious unreleased song. It is a nostalgic song with the title “In Liverpool”. It remains unreleased to this day. Maniacs were surprised when it was suddenly performed live at the 2008 Liverpool concert, but in fact, the song was completed like this 20 years ago and was broadcast in a studio live format. [BUDDY HOLLY WEEK] Paul is known not only for his activities as a musician, but also for his business, where he owns many song rights. In particular, Paul owns the song rights of Buddy Holly, who he is a fan of. And every year, he hosts an event called “BUDDY HOLLY WEEK”. Since the purpose is to play Buddy Holly’s songs and pass them on to future generations, naturally, only Buddy’s songs are played. This is a live performance of “Rave On” at the same event on September 7, 1988. [McCARTNEY ON McCARTNEY] Recorded on May 7, 1989. This is also the first song he composed, “I Lost My Little Girl”. This take is also known for being included at the beginning of the old analog bootleg “WINGS OVER DENMARK”. Compared to the first track on disc 1, performed in 1984, it seems that the middle part was finally completed at this point. [RFANTASTICO] Appearance on a Brazilian TV show on May 7, 1989. The album “FLOWERS IN THE DIRT” was about to be released, but they performed “How Many People” from the album acoustically. The studio version was a reggae-flavored song, but when played on an acoustic guitar like this, you can see a different charm. When you actually listen to it, the reggae rhythm is hidden and it sounds like a normal McCartney number. Here, you can hear another song, “Distractions,” also from the album, although it is only a brief snippet. The following track, [RAPIDO], was also recorded during their stay in Brazil, and although there is no performance of the song, the performance in the background of the interview is played by Paul Band. [MENSCH MEIR] Performance from an appearance on a German TV show on May 18, 1989. “Put It There” is a highly polished performance that sounds just like the studio version. At first, I thought it was miming, but when you listen carefully, you can see that the singing and playing are different, and it is definitely a live performance. “Figure Of Eight” has a slightly relaxed performance, with the same humming singing in the intro as the one sung in the early days of the Get Back tour. It seems that such a tight arrangement was developed in the process of gradually refining the new songs to be performed on stage, but what you can hear here is the early, still fresh live take. It is rare to see a song that changes in performance from the beginning to the end as much as this one. [WOGAN] Recorded on May 19, 1989. “Figure Of Eight”, which would later open the concert, is also played at this time. Although this appearance was for the promotion of “FLOWERS IN THE DIRT”, it is probably also meant as a prelude to the tour. The singing is quite different from the performance of the same song at MENSCH MEIR, which was held on a different date, so this is probably because the arrangement was not yet solidified. “My Brave Face” is a miming performance, but the actual live vocals can be heard in parallel with the studio version. [COUNT DOWN] This is an appearance on a Dutch program recorded on May 22, 1989. First, the band members are introduced one by one. It was decided that this band would go on tour, and the band introduction was based on that. Members such as Hamish and Robbie are now nostalgic. “How Many People” is a live performance by the band, unlike the previous performance by RFANTASTICO. This song is played quite frequently, but history tells us that it has never been played on the actual tour. “My Brave Face” is a miming performance. [GERMAN TV SHOW] Recorded in 1989. This is also an appearance to promote “FLOWERS IN THE DIRT”. And here again, it is “How Many People”. It can be seen that Paul considers this song to be very important in the album. Of course, it is performed with a band. [STEVE WRITE SHOW] This is a performance on a radio program recorded on June 13, 1990. The tour had already started the previous year, and this was probably an appearance during the tour. Since it was a radio program, the band did not participate and Paul was interviewed alone, and as a sideshow, he played two songs, “Matchbox” and “Blackbird,” using an acoustic guitar. In “Blackbird,” he interjects in the middle to make people laugh, and you can see that the people in the studio are laughing so hard they can’t contain themselves. [BUDDY HOLLY WEEK] This was recorded on September 4, 1990, and was performed at Buddy Holly Week that year. This year, he played three songs for the service. It was performed by the Crickets, who backed up the real Buddy. Paul was also excited. Since then, I haven’t heard of any Buddy Holly Weeks being held, so this may have been the last. [LIVE ARCHIVES VOL.1] Vol.1 of the Live Archives series, which covers in detail, in chronological order, one-off live performances that are not included in the usual titles, contains performances from 1984 to 1990. As you can see from the track list, you’ll be amazed at how many of these detailed performances, and the ones that were previously unknown and making their first appearance, have been collected. From songs that are not performed on regular tours to the only live takes, these are all valuable and indispensable to Paul’s activities as a musician. The concept of this series is to cover all of them in chronological order. DISC ONE ASPEL & COMPANY, UK June 9, 1984 01. I lost My Little Girl 02. That’ll Be The Day SOUTHBANK SHOW October 14, 1984 03. FOR NO ONE THE TONIGHT SHOW, USA OCT 23, 1984 04. Yesterday – You’re My Sunshine LIVE AID, Wembley Stadium, London July 13, 1985 0 5. Let It Be (original live vocal/mic failure) 06. Let It Be (studio fixed version) 07. Do They Know It’s Christmas? THE REAL BUDDY HOLLY STORY September 12, 1985 08. Words Of Love THE TUBE, UK April 4, 1986 09. 100TH Anniversary Jingle PRINCE’S TRUST, UK CONCERT, JUNE 20, 86 10. I Saw Her Standing There 11. Long Tall Sally 12. Paul’s Introduction 13. Dancing in the Street (Paul on Acoustic Guitar) 14. Get Back ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE November 24, 1986 15. Only Love Remains GALA UNICEF, UK December 4, 1986 16. Lady Madonna THE TUBE, UK December 19 86 17. Only Love Remains 18. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On WOGAN, UK November 20, 1987 19. Jet 20. Listen To What The Man Said BIRTHDAY MESSAGE FOR ALAN FREEMAN, UK 1987 session 21. It was Sixty Years Ago Today (Sgt Pepper parody) THE LAST RESORT November 27, 1987 22. Don’t Get Around Any More 23. I Saw Her Standing There 24. Lawdy Miss Crowdy 25. Spin It On COUNT DOWN, NETHERLANDS December 2, 1987 26. Jam 27. Once Upon A Long Ago DISC TWO SAN REMO FESTIVAL, ITALY February 27, 1988 01. Once Upon A Long Ago 02. Listen to What the Man Said ECHOES, UK SPEC IAL / THE FAME GAME August 2, 1988 03. In Liverpool BUDDY HOLLY WEEK, UK September 7, 1988 04. Rave On McCARTNEY ON McCARTNEY RADIO SHOW, UK May 7, 1989 05. I lost My Little Girl FANTASTICO, BRAZIL MAY 7,1989 06. How Many People 07. Blue Suede Shoes – Distractions RAPIDO, UK May 10, 1989 08. Improvisation (voice over) MENSCH MEIR May 18, 1989 09. Put It There 10. Figure Of Eight WOGAN May 19, 1989 11. Figure Of Eight 12. My Brave Face COUNT DOWN May 22, 1989 13. Band Introduction 14. How Many People 15 . My Brave Face GERMAN TV SHOW Date Unknown 1989 16. How Many People STEVE WRIGHT SHOW June 13, 1990 17. Match Box 18. Blackbird BUDDY HOLLY WEEK September 4, 1990 19. Introduction 20. Rave On 21. Lucille 22. Oh Boy