This collection gathers together a couple of dozen Macca titles
which are either uncirculated, currently unavailable, or are simply of better quality than
those you might have in your library.
The programme starts off with the only known complete performance of
"Suicide," reputedly a demo for Tony Bennett.
After an interlude of some pleasant reggae jams from his 1980 tour
rehearsals, Paul kicks into rock and roll mode. "Blackpool" was announced
as a b-side in the early '80's. Too bad it never showed. It's certainly better
than, say, "Soggy Noodle". Following this is a series of cover
performances of Eddie, Buddy, Chuck, Elvis and Carl songs. Most of these are taken
from an acetate of the "One Hand Clapping" sessions (which, unfortunately,
mistracks during "We're Gonna Move"). Even considering the impromptu
nature of many of these covers, these performances make Lennon's attempts on his
"Rock and Roll" LP sound pathetic by comparison.
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" leads us back to Bill Monroe (via
Elvis), and country music. In honor of this, we've followed up the rock and roll
segment with a trio of outtakes or demos of Paul's best country compositions (and don't
claim"Nightingale" - written for the Everlys is anything but country. We
know better.)
In the final act, we turn our attentions to Paul's 1986 "Press To
Play" sessions. As usual, he ruined the album with overproduction, and the raw
tracks are far superior. Here are three of the best, plus "Hanglide", an
excellent instrumental that hasn't deserved the oblivion that it's been cast in. |