Recorded: 2020
Producers: Paul McCartney, George Martin (‘When Winter Comes’), Greg Kurstin (‘Slidin’’)
Engineers: Steve Orchard, Keith Smith, Alex Pasco
Released: 18 December 2020
Personnel
Paul McCartney: vocals, all instruments
Rusty Anderson: electric guitar (‘Slidin’’)
Abe Laboriel Jr: drums (‘Slidin’’)
Tracklisting
Contents
‘Find My Way’
‘Pretty Boys’
‘Women And Wives’
‘Lavatory Lil’
‘Deep Deep Feeling’
‘Slidin’’
‘The Kiss Of Venus’
‘Seize the Day’
‘Deep Down’
‘Winter Bird/When Winter Comes’
McCartney III is the third completely solo homespun Paul McCartney album, following 1970’s McCartney and 1980’s McCartney II.
The album was announced on 21 October 2020, ahead of its 18 December release date (moved back a week due to “unforeseeable production delays”), and will be available on compact disc, various vinyl editions, digital download, and streaming services.
It was kind of unintentional. I had to go into the studio at the beginning of lockdown to do a couple of bits of music for an animated short film. So I got got in and did that bit of work and sent it off to the director, and then I thought, ‘Oh, this is nice, I’m enjoying this, this is a nice way to spend lockdown,’ so I ended up finishing off some songs, looking at bits and bobs, making up stuff, and generally enjoying myself in the studio. And then I’d come home in the evening, and I just happened to be with my daughter Mary’s family. The combination of being able to go to work, make some music, and then hang out with four of my grandkids, I was very lucky. Y’know, we were being super careful, but being able to make music really helped.Right at the end of it, I’d just been stockpiling tracks, and I thought, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of this – I guess I’ll hang onto it,’ and then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, this is a McCartney record,’ because I’d played everything and done it in the same manner as McCartney I and II. That was a little light bulb going off, and I thought, ‘Well, at least that makes a point of explaining what I’ve been doing, unbeknownst to me.’
loudandquiet.com
Cover artwork
The principal photography for McCartney III was by Paul’s daughter Mary, with additional shots by his nephew Sonny McCartney – the son of Paul’s brother Mike. Extra photographs were taken by Paul on a smartphone.
The cover art and typography is by American artist Ed Ruscha. It uses a modified version of Ruscha’s own typeface, Boy Scout Utility Modern. The tie (middle horizontal line) of the letter ‘E’ is narrower on McCartney III than in Ruscha’s normal lettering.
I first met Ed Ruscha through my daughter, Stella, and since then have visited his studio quite a few times. He is a very easy going, humorous guy and ‘of course’ a very skilful painter. His treatments are ingenious and intriguing. Nancy asked Ed to paint a picture for my birthday which uses the phrase ‘For Life’ which is taken from the song ‘My Valentine’, which I wrote for her. It is a beautiful picture with the text in his usual deadpan signature style. The lettering font he uses reminds me of art classes I used to take as a teenager in the Liverpool Institute where we learned to write the alphabet in this style and I enjoyed it so much I even offered to do the lettering on one piece of George’s homework! I feel happy to know him and his family and hope you enjoy reading the essay we have put together for the website.
paulmccartney.com, 15 March 2019
The vinyl variants contain different photographic montages inside the gatefold, with at least three different known versions.
!!!
can’t wait for McCartney 3, it’s going to be FAB
what is your sources?
1, 2, 3
I don’t yet know if this is happening, but there are enough intriguing threads to be drawn together at this stage.
Now Spotify shows a rolled dice at number three [?] on McCartney and McCartney II album cover. So, that means…. it’s confirmed!
Another clue to the rumored McCartney III album, while playing McCartney, or McCartney II on Spotify there is an image of a hand rolling a die that continuously comes up 3.
The Sun report appeared online at 9pm on 20 October when they uploaded the digital version of the 21 October print edition.
First time I’ve heard ‘Pipes of Peace’ being called a masterpiece. But that’s Macca, where every fart he produces is a revelation.
It is unbelieveable how not good the songs on this new album from Paul McCartney are. Almost everyone of them is totally meaningless. Will he never learn?
To be fair, Seize The Day, Find my way, When Winter Comes and Women and Wives are not right out terrible, but why does Paul McCartney never ever write songs of the same quality as in his Beatles days. Very strange.
@per
Good grief man, do you know who you’re talking about? When has Paul ever been known for releasing so-called “deep” songs? And he’s 78 for goodness sake, it’s a miracle he can still write catchy and pleasing melodies, of which this album has more than a handful.
Well, Paul McCartney began releasing songs inferior to The Beatles material immediately after the group spit and nothing has changed since then. If you want to know what I mean, listen to Paul McCartney III and then to an even not very acclaimed McCartney Beatles song from 1965 and sense the difference in quality. Do the same thing with McCartney songs from other decades and the result willl almost invariably be about the same: McCartney songs had something in the 1960’s that they have mostly not had since then.
I have a still sealed red vinyl McCartney III album that is NOT (hand)numbered.
Cant find any info about it. Guess its a misprint.
Anybody know with this phenomenon?