mei 10, 2025

Published mei 10, 2025 by ad-vinylrecords with 0 comment

Paul McCartney - Tug Of War (1982) LP - €10,00

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Tug of War is the third solo studio album by the English musician Paul McCartney, released on 26 April 1982. 
It is his 11th album overall following the break up of the Beatles in 1970, his first album released after the dissolution of his band Wings the previous year, and his first album following the murder of his former songwriting partner John Lennon. 

Like 1970's McCartney, 1980's McCartney II functioned as a way for Paul McCartney to clear the decks: to experiment and recalibrate in the aftermath of his band falling apart. 
This means 1982's Tug of War is, in many ways, the very first Paul McCartney solo album, a record recorded not at home but in a studio, a record made without Wings and not co-credited to Linda, who nevertheless is present as a backing vocalist. 
McCartney recognized this album as something of a major opportunity, so he revived his relationship with Beatles producer George Martin and brought in several heavy-hitters as guests, including his hero Carl Perkins, his Motown counterpart Stevie Wonder, fusion star Stanley Clarke, prog rock refugees Eric Stewart and Andy Mackay, and his old bandmate Ringo Starr, whose presence was overshadowed by "Here Today," an elegy written for the murdered John Lennon. 
Tucked away at the end of the first side, "Here Today" is bittersweet and small when compared to all the show pieces elbowing each other for attention throughout Tug of War: the grave march of the title track, the vaudevillian "Ballroom Dancing," the stately drama of "Wanderlust," and sincere schmaltz of "Ebony and Ivory," the Wonder duet that helped turn this album into the blockbuster it was intended to be. 
As good as some of these numbers are -- and they are, bearing an ambition and execution that outstrips latter-day Wings -- much of the charm of Tug of War lies in the excess around the edges, whether it's the rockabilly lark of the Perkins duet "Get It," the later-period Beatles whimsy of '"The Pound Is Sinking," the electro-throwaway "Dress Me Up as a Robber," or the long, electro-funk workout of "What's That You're Doing?," a track that's a fuller collaboration between Paul and Stevie than "Ebony and Ivory." 
Such crowd-pleasing genre-hopping finds its apotheosis on "Take It Away," a salute to eager performers and the crowds who love them, which means it summarizes not only the appeal of Tug of War in general -- it is, by design, a record that gives the people old Beatle Paul -- but McCartney in general.

Following the release of the solo album McCartney II, McCartney's band Wings regrouped in July and October 1980 to rehearse several songs which later appeared on Tug of War and Pipes of Peace. 
Feeling the need for direction, McCartney called upon his former producer, George Martin, to begin recording a song written for the animated Rupert Bear character (to which McCartney acquired the film rights in 1970), titled "We All Stand Together", among others. 
The productive sessions continued until 9 December, the morning McCartney woke up to learn that his former songwriting partner and fellow ex-Beatle, John Lennon, had been murdered in New York City the previous night. 
Abandoning that day's session (in which he and Denny Laine were recording future B-side "Rainclouds") part-way through, both Martin and McCartney felt it was best to leave the project for the time being and start anew once they were ready.
In February 1981, two months after Lennon's death, McCartney resumed the sessions, recording that month with Stevie Wonder, Stanley Clarke, Carl Perkins and Ringo Starr, and laying down several songs in the process. 
The sessions were held at AIR Studios in Montserrat, in the Caribbean, and lasted from 3 February to 2 March, ending with "Ebony and Ivory" and "What's That You're Doing", two songs featuring Stevie Wonder. 
10cc guitarist Eric Stewart also became a frequent collaborator of McCartney during this period. 
Further sessions were undertaken that summer at Martin's AIR Studios in Oxford Street, London. 
The sessions were so productive that several resulting tracks were held over for McCartney's next album, Pipes of Peace, which followed in 1983. 
The rest of 1981 was spent in a quiet fashion, with McCartney and Martin giving the finishing touches to the album. 

The cover features an abstract oil painting by the artist Brian Clarke, a frequent McCartney collaborator, incorporating an overpainted transparency of a portrait of Paul taken by Linda McCartney.


Side A
A1. Tug of War - 4:22
A2. Take It Away - 4:14
A3. Somebody Who Cares - 3:19
A4. What’s That You’re Doing?  (with Stevie Wonder) - 6:19
A5. Here Today - 2:27

Side B
B1. Ballroom Dancing - 4:07
B2. The Pound Is Sinking - 2:54
B3. Wanderlust - 3:49
B4. Get It  (with Carl Perkins) - 2:29
B5. Be What You See (Link) - 0:34
B6. Dress Me Up as a Robber - 2:41
B7. Ebony and Ivory (with Stevie Wonder) - 3:46

All songs were written by Paul McCartney, except "What's That You're Doing?" co-written by Stevie Wonder.


Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Release:  1982
Format:  LP, Vinyl
Genre:  Pop
Label:  EMI
Catalog#  1C 064-64750

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)
Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00

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