In 1976 or 1977, depending on your internet source, a karate film called Empty Hand was released containing exclusive Paul McCartney music. It is about a karate competition from what I can gather and Geoff Britton, Wings' karate drummer, was the link here. Empty Hand (1976) Empty Hand (1977) - IMDb The music was recorded in 1975. Two of the song titles are "Backwards" and "Karate Chaos". Has anyone seen this film? What else is known? Comments? Is there a description of the music? "Backwards" (sometimes listed as "Reverse") can be heard here but I don't believe any of the remaining music is out there in any fashion. This likely isn't the lost ark but it is interesting.
In your link, we can read " Abstract percussion music Paul McCartney" Strange thing... (and so, there's songs in it?) And because it's a "Paul McCartney Production", we can hope to see the film (or the music) in the future London Town box... ??
Paul recorded roughly 5 tracks for the film. Unfortunately I think the odds of this making it into the box are slim. Still, I guess it's possible. It would be quite a dark horse addition. Given the unhappy departure of Mr. Britton, I'm willing to bet Paul will just let the film rot in the vaults.
When I interviewed David Litchfield, this is what he had to say about Empty Hand. "I did a short karate film with Geoff called Empty Hands. It did very well and went out with a Chinese director called Ken Hu and went out as a second feature. Very well received and Paul did the music on that which was good fun. He funded it and didn’t interfere at all. He just wanted to see it when it was done. He liked it."
Here is an excerpt from Jeremy Pascall's Paul McCartney and Wings book "Much was made of Britton's accomplishments as a karate expert. He had recently been a member of the British Amateur Karate Association team that had beaten some exponents from Japan - the home of the sport. The victory was recorded on film by director David Litchfield on behalf of McCartney Productions. The resultant 32 minute documentary - Empty Hand - was finally released in 1977 with Paul shown on the credits as producer and contributing abstract percussion music - rather ironic as Britton is a drummer!"
@winojunko76 thank you for some more detail and history here! Why were you interviewing David Litchfield?
Not yet. I just received approval from his family on the manuscript so it is his authorized biography.
David Litchfield is also the "One hand clapping" director. He was camera operator for the famous "Cosmos 1999" TV series. David Litchfield - IMDb
If anyone knows how to access the documentary "Empty Hand", share it, please. I'm very interested to see it.
Did a recent poke around and still haven't found much of anything more on this film. Here's a photo of Geoff engaged in some karate though!
I've uncovered this title as one of the handful that Paul recorded for this film from The Beatles Bible. "Piano, Violin, Etc." Apparently they were all recorded at the time "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reggae" was recorded in May 1975. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reggae Geoff Britton left Wings in March 1975 supposedly so the timing seems odd that Paul would be making music for a film on a guy who just quit his band. I'm guessing because by then, Paul was under agreement to complete the music.
Just reproducing here as a possible film clue. Perhaps Empty Hand was recovered along with One Hand Clapping.
