Paul McCartney
Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard ~ the album & the tour
Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard
came out in 2005.
A long time in the making, all the songs were written by Paul and the set was produced by Radiohead and Beck collaborator Nigel Godrich.
In an interview with nme.com, Paul said that Godrich forced him to work harder and challenged him
in a way similar to when he was working with his old bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison
and Ringo Starr.
And in a way, Paul is still collaborating with former bandmades. He
claims he wrote one song with the help of George Harrison - even though the
former Beatle died in 2001.
Paul said he felt Harrison's presence with him when he pieced together
Waiting For Your Friends To Go so strongly, he still doesn't feel
like he wrote the track by himself.
McCartney says, "I just got this feeling, this is George.
I was like George - writing one of his songs.
It just wrote itself very easily because it wasn't even me writing it.
...It was funny, particularly the second verse
- 'I've been sliding down a slippy slope, I've been climbing up a slowly burning rope'. I just thought - it's a George song."
The album, which is reported to be more organic in nature,
features McCartney playing almost all the instruments himself.
Tracks include Fine Line, How Kind Of You,
Jenny Wren,
At The Mercy,
Friends To Go,
English Tea,
Too Much Rain,
A Certain Softness,
Riding To Vanity Fair,
Follow Me,
Promise To You Girl,
This Never Happened Before, and
Anyway.
It's available as a
standard CD
and special edition CD/DVD combo
with additional features including interviews with Paul McCartney and Nigel Godrich, performances by Paul,
the Fine Line and How Kind of You and an clever segment that's hard to describe called Line Art.
I was thrilled when I heard that Paul McCartney would be touring the U.S. again! My husband John and I had seen him Nassau Coliseum during his 2002 tour. John had never seen The Beatles live but after that concert he said he felt like he had. And truly, Paul's concert was so much in the spirit of the band that what we saw and heard was very close to Beatles concert, only with better speakers, heh ;-) And of course there was plenty of great new material and Wings stuff too. I didn't think it would be possible for Paul to top himself but the show we saw at Madison Square Garden last night (October 5, 2005) did.
I'm not quite awake yet as I write this so I'll probably leave out some special moments but PAUL WAS AWESOME AT MSG LAST NIGHT!!! The whole audience was up for the opener, Magical Mystery Tour, and Flaming Pie majorly rocked. There were so many stand-out performances... I'll Get You was a fab blast from the past singalong and In Spite of All the Danger had the feel of very young Beatles sitting on a Liverpool stoop harmonizing. Paul was great on A Fine Line and luckily the positioning of his piano aimed him right at us so my eyes were fixed on his face for much of the keyboard performances.... I loved being able to watch his expressions change. Maybe I'm Amazed is always bliss. As for I Will.. sooo poignant I nearly fainted. English Tea was adorable and the garden montage on the back and floor "screens" were the perfect touch. After a beautiful rendition of I'll Follow the Sun we got 5 mini-encores of the last line, the last one kind cool and bluesy. And YEAH to everyone who's been saying Follow Me is much better live! (Whoever held up the Follow Paul heart sign... Very cool!) I loved the little classical bit segueing (is that a word?) into the gorgeous Blackbird. And Too Many People... WOW! electrifying performance, great audience reaction, what a rush!! I've Got A Feeling, Back in the USSR and Get Back ALL rocked the rafters but NOTHING could top the energy of Helter Skelter which got me dancing so crazy I almost passed out! Somewhere in there was also perfect Hey Jude with Paul singing, playing and orchestrating an enthusiastic audience singalong. Please Please Me was another standout... can't help but miss John's vocals but the harmonies were really good and sent me into a kinda trippy time warp. And Let It Be... Paul lit a single candle on the piano and that wistful voice (sigh)... lots of happy tears here. And the Sgt Pepper reprise and The End were the perfect ending (if the end of a Macca concert can ever be considered a good thing!)
Aside from the incredible music, I LOVED Paul's stories and the way he kept turning and waving to all sections of the stadium. It's obvious he really cares about his fans and loves performing for us all. May he never stop! Til next time, Paul! Hopefully he'll tour again this year, 2008 :-)
Paul's latest DVD Paul McCartney - The Space Within Us is out!
It includes 30 songs recorded live during his latest tour plus lots of behind-the-scenes extras :-)
Paul McCartney's 2005 U.S. Tour
Friday, September 16th - Miami American Airlines ArenaSaturday, September 17th - Tampa St. Pete Times Forum
Tuesday, September 20th - Atlanta Philips Arena
Thursday, September 22nd - Philadelphia Wachovia Center
Friday, September 23rd - Philadelphia Wachovia Center
Monday, September 26th - Boston Fleet Center
Tuesday, September 27th - Boston Fleet Center
Friday, September 30th - New York Madison Square Garden
Saturday, October 1th - New York Madison Square Garden
Tuesday, October 4th - New York Madison Square Garden
Wednesay, October 5th - New York Madison Square Garden
Wednesday, October 5th - New York Madison Square Garden ...We were there! Oh yeah!
Saturday, October 8th - Washington DC MCI Center
Monday, October 10th - Toronto Air Canada Centre
Friday, October 14th - Detroit The Palace Auburn Hills
Saturday, October 15th - Detroit The Palace Auburn Hills
Tuesday, October 18th - Chicago United Center
Wednesday, October 19th - Chicago United Center
Saturday, October 22nd - Columbus Value City Arena
Sunday, October 23rd - Milwaukee Bradley Center
Wednesday, October 26th - St. Paul Xcel Energy Center
Thursday, October 27th - Des Moines Wells Fargo Arena
Sunday, October 30th - Omaha Qwest Center
Tuesday, November 1st - Denver The Pepsi Center
Thursday, November 3rd - Seattle KeyArena
Friday, November 4th - Portland Rose Garden
Monday, November 7th - San Jose HP Pavilion
Tuesday, November 8th - San Jose HP Pavilion
Friday, November 11th - Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Saturday, November 12th - Anaheim Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Wednesday, November 16th - Sacramento ARCO Arena
Saturday, November 19th - Houston Toyota Center
Sunday, November 20th - Dallas American Airlines Center
Wednesday, November 23rd - Phoenix Glendale Arena
Friday, November 25th - Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
Saturday, November 26th - Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena
Tuesday, November 29th - Los Angeles STAPLES Center
Wednesday, November 30th - Los Angeles STAPLES Center
Paul McCartney on DVD - Movies & Concerts
1964 The Beatles Live at Shea Stadium live picture with sound overdubbed in studio 2 weeks later due to all the screaming :-)1964 A Hard Day's Night
1965 Help!
1967 Magical Mystery Tour
1968 Yellow Submarine
1970 Let It Be pre-order; due out in September 2005
1976 Paul McCartney and Wings Rock Show 1976 concert
1984 Give My Regards to Broad Street
1990 Get Back World Tour1989 concert tour
1991 The Beatles: The First US Visit 1964 performances, interviews & more
1994 The Beatles: The Making of A Hard Day's Night
1997 Paul McCartney Standing Stone behind the scenes documentary & live performance of Paul's classical work
1998 Paul McCartney In the World Tonight documentary on the making of Flaming Pie plus songs from the album
2001 Paul McCartney Live at the Cavern Club 1999 concert, interviews & more
2001 Paul McCartney & Friends: The PETA Concert for Party Animals 1999 concert
2001 Wingspan An Intimate Portrait of Paul McCartney & Wings (and Paul 'n Linda :-)
2003 Concert for George
2002 Back in the U.S. 2002 concert
2004 Music And Animation Collection 3 clever cartoons with music, vocals and creative input by Paul McCartney
2005 Paul McCartney Live In Red Square 2003 concert
2006 Paul McCartney - The Space Within Us
2007The McCartney Years
Books by & about Paul McCartney
The Music of Paul McCartney - 1963-1973
A collection 47 songs from Paul's career with The Beatles and Wings as well as his early solo work including All My Loving, Another Day, I Will And I Love Her, Back In The U.S.S.R., Birthday, Blackbird, The Fool On The Hill, For No One, Getting Better, Give Ireland Back To The Irish, Good Day Sunshine, Hello Goodbye, Here There And Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby, Hey Jude, I Saw Her Standing There, Junk, Lady Madonna, Let It Be, Live And Let Die, The Long And Winding Road, Maybe I'm Amazed, Michelle, Mother Nature's Son, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Penny Lane, She's Leaving Home, We Can Work It Out, When I'm Sixty-Four, Your Mother Should Know, Get On The Right Thing, Tomorrow, Every Night, Heart Of The Country, When The Night, Wild Life, My Love, Get Back, Every Little Thing, Yesterday and more. Arranged for piano and vocal with guitar chords. Lots of great full-page photos too. Also check out The Music of Paul McCartney - 1973-2001
Each One Believing: Paul McCartney; On Stage, Off Stage, and Backstage
Each One Believing isn’t your standard tour memento, but then the tour it chronicles was pretty extraordinary, too. Paul McCartney’s 2002-2003 world tour demonstrated just how much mania an ex-Beatle could trigger more than three decades after the demise of the Fab Four. Each One Believing captures the spirit of the tour from all angles via numerous on stage and backstage photos, interviews, and press quotes. Includes more than 100 photos by Bill Bernstein and lots of great inside information from Sir Paul and his band.
Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles
A book for anyone who doesn't already know (and for those of us who have always known :-) that Macca is more than just a pretty face & cute personality: a wonderful telling of the McCartney story by a man who knows him well. But one of the best thing about this book is Paul's sharp and compassionate insights into his fellow Beatles, especially the brilliant but troubled John. And the inside info on all those songs!
Paul McCartney Paintings
A catalog of paintings from McCartney's 1999 exhibition in Germany. From the illustrations and accompanying essays to the very candid interview, we are given remarkable insight into McCartney's practice as a committed creative person. He confides his insecurities as a painter who has never gone to art school, and his defining moments as an artist both musically and visually. There is an unusually generous section in which McCartney discusses many of the paintings in the book; it's a behind-the-scenes look as he elaborates on the personal meanings behind certain symbols, tells stories and anecdotes, and acknowledges his painterly influences, specifically Willem de Kooning. Also included are personal photographs of the artist at work, 117 color illustrations, and 17 duotone photographs.
Blackbird Singing Poems and Lyrics, 1965-1999 written by Paul McCartney; collected by Adrian Mitchell
Sir Paul McCartney painter, composer and songwriter has been steadily writing poetry along with the lyrics memorized by much of the world. In this collection are the grand and expected songs, such as "Hey Jude," "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby"; ditties like "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" and surreal oddities like "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"; elegies for McCartney's wife, Linda Eastman McCartney, and for friend Ivan Vaughan; and a variety of verse, such as "To Find the Joy": "Seagulls spiral whirl/ Against the sullen oak/ No scientific thought informs/ Their madcap tribal swirl." As Mitchell writes: "Clean out your head. Wash out the name and the fame. Read these clear words and listen to them decide for yourself."
I Saw Him Standing There by Jorie B. Gracen
An insider's glimpse into the private persona of one of the world's greatest musician-singer-songwriters or our time. All of the pictures in the book are the work of one professional photographer who has had unique access to McCartney from 1976 to the present. Her exclusive photos, taken during tours, record signings, private parties, press conferences, award ceremonies, backstage moments, and numerous personal encounters, show the many faces of McCartney-the musician, devoted husband, proud father, environmentalist, and animal rights activist. Includes interviews with Paul and many of his fans.
The Unknown Paul McCartney by Ian Peel
For over three decades, Paul McCartney has initiated and participated in projects that have taken him far from the kind of music associated with the Beatles, Wings, and his career as a solo artist. From as far back as the mid–sixties, there have been experimental solo projects, both under his own name and incognito: The Beatles Carnival of Light, Thrillington the recent Fireman dance CDs as well as less–publicized activities, all of which Ian Peel fully details here for the first time. In writing this book, Peel interviewed many of the musicians who have worked closely with McCartney, including Thrillington mainspring Richard Hewson, bassist Herbie Flowers, psychedelic artist David Vaughan, Gong's David Allen, and Frank Zappa collaborator Mike Keneally. What emerges is a unique insight into Paul McCartney's little–known contribution to avant–garde music. Ian Peel is a British music journalist with a special interest in digital dance music and other experimental forms.
Paul McCartney Discography
1963 Please Please Me UK album most of which was on Introducing...The Beatles in the US1964 With The Beatles UK
1964 Meet The Beatles US
1964 The Beatles Second Album US
1964 Beatles For Sale US
1964 A Hard Day's Night UK version with some of the songs from the US Something New album included
1964 Something New US
1964 Beatles '65 US
1965 The Early Beatles - US - Capitol's version of Introducing The Beatles
1965 Beatles VI - US - another Capitol "catch up" album
1965 Help!
1965 Rubber Soul
1966 Yesterday and Today
1966 Revolver
1967 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1967 Magical Mystery Tour
1967 The Family Way (movie soundtrack)
1968 The Beatles (The White Album)
1969 Yellow Submarine movie soundtrack
1969 Abbey Road
1970 Let It Be
1970 McCartney
1971 Ram
1971 Wild Life
1973 Red Rose Speedway
1973 Band on the Run
1975 Venus and Mars
1976 Wings at the Speed of Sound
1976 Wings Over America Live double album (1976 tour)
1977 Thrillington Yup, it really is Paul, re-arranging and re-recording the songs from RAM minus the lead vocals.
1978 London Town
1979 Back to the Egg
1980 McCartney II
1982 Tug of War
1983 Pipes of Peace
1984 Give My Regards to Broad Street
1986 Press to Play
1989 Flowers in the Dirt
1990 Paul McCartney All The Best
1990 Wings Greatest collection
1990 Tripping the Live Fantastic double album recorded during Paul's 1989-1990 tour
1991 CHOBA B CCCP Back in the USSR Live
1991 Unplugged The Official Bootleg live MTV concert
1991 Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio
1993 Off the Ground
1993 The Beatles 1962-1966 collection
1993 The Beatles 1967-1970 collection
1993 Paul Is Live in Concert on the New World Tour
1997 Flaming Pie
1997 Standing Stone
1999 Run Devil Run
1999 Working Classical: Orchestral and Chamber music by Paul McCartney
2000 The Beatles 1 (number one hits collection)
2000 Liverpool Sound Collage
2001 Wingspan Hits and History (remastered collection)
2001 Driving Rain
2005 Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard
2007Memory Almost Full
Visit the Paul McCartney Photo Gallery
and for Beatle movie fans, the Hard Day's Night page.