‘All My Trials’ is song on Paul McCartney’s live album Tripping The Live Fantastic – Highlights!.
It was recorded at the PalaTrussardi in Milan, Italy, on 27 October 1989.
‘All My Trials’ was a folk song sometimes known by the titles ‘All My Sorrows’ and ‘Bahamian Lullaby’. Its origins are unclear, but it may have been a pre-Civil War gospel song in America, which later became a lullaby in the Bahamas.
McCartney’s version was the only song on Tripping The Live Fantastic – Highlights! to not appear on the main album.
It was also issued as a single on 26 November 1990, and peaked at number 35 on the UK singles chart. The single featured photography David Modell.
The b-side of the single was ‘C Moon’, which was recorded during the soundcheck in Milan on 26 October 1989.
A 12″ vinyl and CD single were also released on the same day, and included live versions of ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ and ‘Put It There’ as bonus tracks.
On 3 December 1990 a second CD single was issued, containing ‘All My Trials’, ‘C Moon’, and a medley of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, ‘Help!’, and ‘Give Peace A Chance’ recorded at McCartney’s concert on 28 June 1990 at Liverpool’s Kings Dock.
MEMO TO: ALL MACCA FANSFROM: GEOFF BAKER, MPL
DATELINE: LONDON, YESTERDAY
Hi,
I’m fine, thank you. How are you?
Good.
Right then…..sorry to be abrupt but I just wanted to tip you off about a surprise Christmas release from Mac.
He’s putting out All My Trials as his new single for Christmas.
“All My What?”, you say…..Aha, exactly. This is a rare one, guys. You won’t find it on the triple live album and in fact it was only ever performed once during the whole World Tour. Hands up all of you who caught Macca’s second show in Milan? Right, well you heard it then. The rest of everyone wasn’t so lucky.
All My Trials is a traditional, it’s an old slave song in fact. And Macca’s turned it into one of those all-time weepies that only he knows how to. He used to play it a lot at Soundcheck, in fact it kind of became the unofficial Tour Anthem of the crew.
Anyway, now it’s to get a wider audience. All My Trials will be in the shops on Monday, November 26th.
I just thought you ought to know…… ‘cos it sounds like another Mull Of Kintyre to me.
Merry Xmas (Isn’t it too early to say that?)
A video for ‘All My Trials’ contained scenes of children in hospital, homeless people, and other scenes including the gates of Strawberry Field in Liverpool. It was uploaded to YouTube by McCartney’s team in 2009 with the description: “Even though this was done in 1990, its something we think is appropriate for today.”
In December 2022 the The 7″ Singles Box contained ‘All My Trials’, with ‘C Moon’ on the b-side.
