Paul McCartney & Wings 1977 GirlSchool acetate, longer version, different mix

Sounds like a soundcheck. Although the boot listed at https://www.discogs.com/Paul-McCartney-Studio-Rarities-Volume-2/release/8100217 seems to suggest that it's from the 1979 Wings rehearsals.

 

Yes, I've had that boot now for a couple of days, on which the rest is from the 1979-80 era (and it has some previously unreleased mixes of "Robber's Ball" and "New Orleans"), but on "Cruising Ahead", Paul's voice is more in line with the voice he had in 1987 for sessions that would later become the "Choba B CCCP" album. And I don't recognise either Denny's, Laurence's or Steve's playing. The song is definitely a finished studio recording, not one of those loose jams/rehearsals we've had so many from Wings' last lineup.

 

My guess is that the whole group played percussion on Cafe on The left bank.
English also is credited with harmonica which is featured on Children Children (maybe he sings on it too).

Luca

 

I completely agree. Definitely not a Wings recording.

 

This really is an interesting area, and one that I would love to be explored in the potential future 'London Town' reissue book. Paul has said that although he had heard of Kraftwerk by 1979, he had not actually listened to them at the time, and that 'McCartney 2' was purely him experimenting with his equipment and melodies, which is why it does sound so different to the synth experiments released by Townsend, Kraftwerk, Numan, etc.

The fact that he had been using synths since Abbey Road, and that they were featured strongly on two of his biggest early 70's hit singles, 'Jet' and 'Band On The Run' is not mentioned often in relation to his later experiments with synths, and his synth work on 'London Town' has never been compared to what he would go on to do with 'McCartney 2' by any critic or biographer as far as I know, despite the proximity between the two releases.

The album 'London Town' is a very interesting mix of folk influenced acoustic songs and pop songs with synth flourishes (Cuff Link really could work on 'McCartney 2'), and Paul should be asked for the reissue whether it was the use of synths on that album that inspired him to play around with them on his own in the summer of 1979. The newly leaked version of 'Girl's School' shows what a prominent synth part that it could have had if mixed differently.

As you point out, 'BTTE' was a step backwards in many ways (even the title of the album is a reference to the fact that it was meant to be a return to a more rock'n'roll sound, similar to the concept of 'Get Back'), and I wonder if the relative failure of 'BTTE' is why Paul went up to Scotland on his own to experiment with electronic sounds.

 

It is from 1978.

 

I completely agree that McCartney sounds similar to the "Choba B CCCP"-sessions. Is it pure coincindence that this completely unknown track appears out of nowhere a couple of months before the release of a box set containing sessions from 1987 to 1989 ?

 

Based on MPL's past history: Yes, it is pure coincidence.

 

It will be interesting to see whether this is related to the FITD reissue, because I have been told that it is from 1978.

 

Indeed, and it is still amazing to me that Paul had no intention of even releasing the McCartney II material until he played it for friends who suggested that he put it out. Yeah, he hedged his bets by 'diluting' the album and not releasing the intended double album, but either way the McII tracks were really ahead of their time in a lot of ways. No wonder some of that stuff -"Temporary Secretary", for one- was big in the clubs not so long ago. "Secret Friend" is prototype Trance music. Hell, I bet if you played "Secret Friend" or "Front Parlour" -or even a longer version of "Cuff Link"- to some kid and said it was somebody called "DJ Paul"'s latest song or something they'd probably believe it.

No question, Paul knows his way around a synthesizer, admittedly with very mixed results over the years. To give him his due, unlike some people who went over the top with synthesized wankery in their music, McCartney uses them pretty tastefully.

As I've said in other discussions my biggest problem with London Town is how the varied styles of some of the tracks clash badly (IMO). Personally I think he should have stuck with the folk-pop aspect and saved the experimental/synthy stuff for another project, but hey, 38 years after the fact the album as released is what it is.

I want to say that I've read comments from Paul in some McCartneybook/article or another that he was indeed disappointed by the failure of Back To The Egg and felt the need to take a different approach after that. For one thing, I get the idea that had the album been more successful he might not have been so willing to put Wings out to pasture, which means we might not have gotten McCartney II at all, without which as far as I'm concerned the world would be a much poorer place...

 

It's not a completely unknown track. It's been "around" for a few years at least (in select circles) and it was said to be from 1978. It does have that 1987 oldies feel/vibe to it, but then again, so does Name And Address from 1977. It COULD be from 1978 or 1987 (maybe a typo/mixup from the original sheet??), but the song itself is well-known to collectors. Ron

 

PS I believe a rough mix of Girl's School (not THIS mix) was on the same tape as Crusin' Ahead, but that doesn't definitively date it either.

 

You two have it all wrong.

Pure Coincidence is the name of an upcoming compilation featuring group and solo Beatles material that supposedly derived melodies from other sources. The single to be sourced to radio for promotion will be none other than George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." Pure Coincidence will be a companion piece to Pure McCartney in a growing series of other Pure releases.

**This post is purely a joke.**

 

Perhaps, someone could reach out to Juber and have him listen to "Cruising Around" to see if he's performing on it. Since the song did appear (many months ago) along with new early takes of "Robber's Ball" and "New Orleans" one can assume they are all from the Lympne Castle sessions done in mid 1979. If you recall, Paul was also trying out other new songs then like "All In Love Is Fair" and a run through of "Cage".

 

Who by, Ben?

 

Thanks for posting. I actually like this mix better than the official one. It brings the tune out more and is more suitable for it than the "heavy" mix, which always had kind of a cruddy sound in my ears. This sounds more like the Wings "hits" rather than a forgotten flop.

 

Crusin' Ahead "surfaced" at least four years ago in private circles. The recent bootleg used that source, in slightly lesser quality. The other songs supposedly recorded, or re-worked were Robber's Ball, New Orleans and Weep For Love. The session was reportedly held at RAK Studios London (not Lympne Castle) on 22 June 1979 (no session notes to prove or disprove this dating). Given the recording date and background of the other tunes on the short comp tape, it's quite possible that Crusin' Ahead was an original song recorded for the Cold Cuts Project. It's also conceivable that Paul re-recorded his lead vocal sometime later, when he tinkered with releasing Cold Cuts in the mid-80's. Ron

 

'Cruisin' Ahead' dates from a June 22nd, 1979 session at RAK.

Ron - you beat me to it. However, I can confirm that the date does come from proper documentation.

Chip Madinger
www.lennonology.com
forum.lennonology.com

 

I meant I didn't have documentation on hand to post verification. Hiya Chip!!

 

If this be official confirmation of its recording date, coming from proper documentation, I'll accept it.
Just that... Paul's voice doesn't shout "1979" on this recording.
Do Laurence Juber and/or Steve Holly play on this track?

 

Except it does. Not sure if Chip can post the documentation, but the song most definitely was recorded in 1979 with Wings. As mentioned, it's always possible that Paul re-recorded his lead vocals sometime later, but there seems to be NO information to back this up. Name And Address doesn't sound particularly like a Wings track either. Both have a 50's retro feel to them. Ron

 

Not having the chance of being part of any private circles, are there any other such McCartney outtakes unknown to most of us that are known to be in circulation?

 

I am really pleased that this has finally made it online so that we can discuss it, because I love the 50's vibe that it has, and feel that it should have been released, maybe on 'BTTE', where it would have suited the variety of genres on that album.

 

It may be considered official confirmation - and it would only make sense that Laurence and Steve were on the track. This was tracked just a few weeks before the band returned to Lympne Castle to shoot the videos for Back To The Egg.

Chip Madinger
www.lennonology.com
forum.lennonology.com