Pegboy 1002

Liner Notes:

INTRODUCTION

          Cold Cuts is probably the best known of the unissued McCartney projects. With a canon of unreleased music rivaled by few other artists, Paul required an outlet for this material. The original concept was the release of a two record set comprising a disc full of hits - Hot Hits, and a second disc of leftovers, B-sides and unreleased material - Kold Kutz. Over the years, three finished lineups of the unreleased material have surfaced, each stronger than its precursor. The first collection was compiled c.1978 and ran roughly sixty minutes, gathering material from 1971 to the present. Due to record company pressure for product, this project was not completed, and Wings Greatest was sent to satisfy the Christmas market.
          Now known simply as Cold Cuts, the project was once again taken off the shelf following the Back To The Egg sessions. The Linda and Denny vocal spotlights were trimmed along with the instrumental material in favor of Paul's more commercial offerings. The final version to surface hails from the end of 1980 and consists of the same twelve tracks, albeit in a different sequence. It came about after Paul's self-imposed exile earlier in the year, when he pulled the remaining members of Wings together in October of 1980 to once again polish up the old tracks. A listen to these recordings begs the question "why weren't these released!", as most of them are superior to their contemporary relatives. Unfortunately, in the wake of John Lennon's death, the project was shelved again.
          In late 1987, additional production work was undertaken at Air Studios in London, by Paul, co-producer Chris Thomas and engineer Bill Price. The mixes of 'Mama's Little Girl' and 'Same Time Next Year' which appeared on the 'Put It There' single in February 1990, are from these sessions.
          The set presented here is the 1980 version, known by collectors as the "No Baloney" lineup, in reference to the cover artwork used on its unofficial vinyl release towards the end of 1986. Pegboy is proud to present this material from the best available source. Enjoy!

THE SONGS

Opening this collection we have A LOVE FOR YOU, which was recorded during the Ram sessions of early 1971. The version appearing here is the most complete of the four which have surfaced to date, all of which added subsequent overdubs to their respective predecessor. A great LP opener any way you look at it!

MY CARNIVAL was recorded during the New Orleans Venus And Mars sessions which took place at Allen Toussaint's Sea Saint Studios in early 1975. Written in celebration of the Mardi Gras, and featuring a quest appearance by the Meters, it bears an uncanny resemblance to Professor Longhair's 'New Orleans', (a version of which was also put to tape during these sessions). An element of all three Cold Cuts line ups, it was steadily improved upon before being overproduced for commercial release as the B-side of 'Spies Like Us' in late 1985. The version on this release marks the first appearance of several overdubs, most noticeable being the "tack piano" and additional lead vocals.

Originating from the London Town era, WATERSPOUT, was scheduled to appear on Paul's All The Best! greatest hits package in 1987, but was pulled in favor of the "all hits" concept. Once again, the version appearing on this collection is the most complete to surface. The main difference here is the addition of "The Plastic Mac's" horn section to the previous Cold Cuts incarnation.

MAMA'S LITTLE GIRL (nee MOMMA'S LITTLE GIRL) dates back to 1972 and nearly made it to the masses as part of the 1973 television spectacular James Paul McCartney, before being trimmed from the final lineup. She also kicked off the first Cold Cuts LP, but was bumped to second place by 'A Love For You' on round two. The mix appearing here features percussion and an alternative clarinet solo not heard on the original backing track. This version also differs from the 1987 McCartney/Thomas production. Although the musical elements are the same, this rendition features a dry mix, compared to the heavily reverbed commercial version.

Originating from the Red Rose Speedway era, NIGHT OUT started as mostly an instrumental save for the "night out" chant and its accompanying scat vocal from Paul. It grew lyrics some time before being re-worked for Cold Cuts Mach II, and went under considerable overdubbing and remixing before appearing on this collection.

ROBBER'S BALL evolved from a McCartney drum track during a studio jam session. Dating from the Back To The Egg era, this British flavoured "opera" appeared on the latter two Cold Cuts lineups. The mix appearing here is slightly more polished than its predecessor, and features additional vocals and production reminiscent of that on McCartney II.

CAGE was once a part of the running order for Back To The Egg before being nudged from the lineup in favor of 'Baby's Request'. Different mixes appeared on the second and third version of Cold Cuts, both of which featured additional guitar and vocal overdubs in comparison to the version on the Back To The Egg work tape.

DID WE MEET SOMEWHERE BEFORE? was specifically composed as the theme song for the 1978 Warren Beatty/Julie Christie film Heaven Can Wait (as is evidenced by the prominent clarinet). Passed over in favor of Dave Grusin's Academy Award-nominated score, it ended up being featured in the Ramones' 1979 film Rock'N'Roll High School, but was left off the soundtrack LP. (Just think what a great double A-sided single this and 'Teenage Lobotomy' would have made!). This title appeared on all three versions of the Cold Cuts LP with variant mixes, most noticeable in the placement of instruments and effects. Once again this collection features the most polished of the five distinctly different versions to surface.

HEY DIDDLE made its world premiere as part of the 1979 Wings TV Special Wings Over The World. The McCartney clan was seen hanging around the farm in Scotland, Paul picking his Martin while the kids ran wild. Committed to tape in 1972, it was given the hoe-down treatment (pedal steel, fiddle and ocarina) in Nashville during the summer 1974 sessions at the Sound Shop. Additional "down-home" percussion was added to succeeding versions of the Cold Cuts LP. Once again, this collection features the most polished of the five distinctly different versions to surface.

TRAGEDY, originally a hit for Thomas Wayne in March of 1959, was covered by Wings during the Red Rose Speedway sessions. One of Wings better known leftovers, 'Tragedy' appeared on all three line-ups of the Cold Cuts LP, a portion even appeared on the MPL promotional sampler We Moved! in the late seventies. The mix appearing on this collection features a more up front vocal and harp accompaniment not found on any other version.

BEST FRIEND was resurrected for the second and third runs at the Cold Cuts LP. Taken from Wings European tour in 1972, this particular version was recorded at the Cine Roma in Antwerp, Belgium on August 22nd, one of the few (perhaps only two) shows from the tour that was professionally recorded for possible inclusion on Red Rose Speedway. For it's commercial release, additional guitar overdubs were added to the original recording. The version appearing here feature a more "live" sounding mix than its predecessor. If you listen closely, you can hear the band kick into the set closer, 'Soily', before the tape fades away.

Another unused film theme, SAME TIME NEXT YEAR was recorded as the title track for the 1978 Alan Alda/Ellen Burstyn film, and was ultimately rejected in favor of Marvin Hamlisch's Academy Award-nominated 'The Last Time I Felt Like This'. The basic track was recorded May 5, 1978 at RAK studios with the orchestral session held the next day at Abbey Road. As previously mentioned, the version appearing here predates the one prepared in 1987 with the assistance of Chris Thomas and Bill Price, which features additional harmonies by Paul and more noticeably, Linda.

Richard N. Backer