McCartney II

Recorded: June-July 1979
Producer: Paul McCartney

Released: 16 May 1980 (UK), 26 May 1980 (US)

Paul McCartney: vocals, guitar, bass guitar, electric piano, keyboards, drums

Tracklisting:
Coming Up
Temporary Secretary
On The Way
Waterfalls
Nobody Knows
Front Parlour
Summer's Day Song
Frozen Jap
Bogey Music
Darkroom
One Of These Days

Although it was officially Paul McCartney's second solo album, McCartney II was actually his 11th post-Beatles long-player. Between the April 1970 release of McCartney and the May 1980 release of McCartney II there had been nine other albums, by Wings or with his wife Linda.

McCartney II was made during six weeks in the summer of 1979. The recordings began in a farmhouse on the McCartneys' estate in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, and continued in the Spirit of Ranachan Studio at his farm in Campbeltown, Scotland.

McCartney hired a 16-track Studer recording studio and, with the help of engineer Eddie Klein, taped a number of song ideas. Microphones were plugged directly into the Studer without using a mixing desk, just as he had begun the McCartney album 10 years previously.

He began each day by recording a drum track, onto which a series of overdubs were added. Although the working methods were similar to his first solo album, the results were quite unlike anything McCartney had previously recorded.

Although he had only intended to keep the Studer machine for two weeks, he enjoyed the process of recording with it. The experimental nature of the songs provided an escape from the stultified atmosphere in which Wings had often found themselves; McCartney later described the purpose of the recordings as to "blow the cobwebs away".

In 1979 Wings were still very much active, although their commercial peak had passes since the successes of Band On The Run and Mull Of Kintyre. Intra-band relations were often strained, and the group's seventh studio album Back To The Egg - which turned out to be their last - was recorded with their seventh line-up.

McCartney II was begun less than four months after the completion of Back To The Egg. McCartney desired some time away from Wings - he expressed a desire to record some fun songs "to play at parties".

The songs

A total of 20 songs were recorded by McCartney in June and July 1979, some which were improvised on the spot, and others which emerged from incomplete compositional fragments. McCartney used sequencers and synthesizers as well as the conventional guitar, bass and drums, and made heavy use of vari-speed tape recording to alter the pitch of vocals and instruments.

The results were largely experimental and inconsistent, and divided audiences upon release. Although the recordings were largely improvised, McCartney relied too heavily on conservative songwriting techniques, making the results a strange blend of conservative and unconventional. If nothing else, it proved that the most successful songwriter in pop history was unable to leave behind his talents as a melodist.

McCartney initially assembled a double vinyl version which contained almost everything of note from the sessions, but eventually agreed to trim it down to a single disc. The only song missing from this period was Wonderful Christmastime, which had been a solo hit for McCartney in November 1979.

¹ Included on the 2011 reissue Special Edition
² Included on the 2011 reissue Deluxe Edition

Of the excluded tracks, Check My Machine became the b-side to Waterfalls in the summer of 1980. Secret Friend also became a b-side, issued on the 12" single of Temporary Secretary. At over 10 minutes in length, it became McCartney's longest commercially-available track.

Blue Sway was perhaps the best of the unreleased tracks, but All You Horse Riders and You Know I'll Get You Baby were unremarkable improvisations. Mr H Atom was influenced by New Wave and featured Linda McCartney on backing vocals, and Bogey Wobble was a companion piece to Bogey Music.

Related articles:

• Coming Up
• McCartney and McCartney II reissue details announced
• Wonderful Christmastime
• Waterfalls
• Bogey Music