Paul McCartney
“Tug Of War”
1982
Toshiba-EMI Japan pressing EPS-81485
From wikipedia:
Tug of War is an album by Paul McCartney, released in 1982. It is the follow-up to the 1980 album McCartney II and
his first official solo album after the dissolution of Wings, who were disbanded by McCartney in April 1981. The
recording sessions for the album reunited McCartney with producer George Martin. Tug of War was also McCartney's
first album after the murder of John Lennon.
Following McCartney II's release, Wings regrouped in October 1980 to begin what would be their final recording
sessions, whereby several songs later to appear on Tug of War and Pipes of Peace were rehearsed and recorded.
Feeling the need for direction, McCartney called upon his old producer, George Martin, to begin recording a song
written for the animated Rupert Bear character (of which McCartney owned the rights), entitled "We All Stand Together,"
among others. The productive sessions continued until 9 December, the morning McCartney woke up to discover his old
songwriting partner and fellow ex-Beatle, John Lennon, had been shot and killed the night before in New York City.
Abandoning that day's session part-way through (where he and Denny Laine were recording future B-Side "Rainclouds"),
both Martin and McCartney felt it was best to leave the project for the time being and start anew once they were ready.
In February 1981, two months after Lennon's death, Paul McCartney resumed his sessions, recording that month with
Stevie Wonder, Stanley Clarke, Carl Perkins and Ringo Starr and laying down several songs in the process. Ex-10cc
guitarist Eric Stewart also became a frequent collaborator of McCartney's during this era. Further sessions that
summer were also undertaken at George Martin's AIR studios at Oxford Street, London — with the producer manning
the controls and giving McCartney's music the benefit of 1980s technology. The sessions were so productive that
several of its tracks would be held over for the next album, Pipes of Peace, which followed in 1983. The rest of
1981 would be spent in a quiet fashion, with McCartney and Martin touching up the album and perfecting it.
In March 1982, McCartney's duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory", was released to broad acclaim. It reached #1
in many countries and did much to restore McCartney's critical reputation after what was viewed as a lean period for
him. Consequently, when Tug of War appeared in April, it was an instantaneous worldwide #1, selling several million
copies and was received strongly by the public, even being nominated for the "Album of the Year" Grammy in 1983.
Follow-up single "Take It Away" was a US Top 10 entry as well.
As 1982 progressed, and with McCartney now having recovered from Lennon's death, the now 40-year-old ex-Beatle would
spend the rest of the year completing the projected follow-up to Tug of War, as well as writing and developing a film
project which would begin filming that November.
Personnel
Denny Laine - guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass on "Wanderlust"
Eric Stewart - guitar, background vocals
Campbell Maloney - military snares on "Tug of War"
Ringo Starr - drums on "Take It Away"
Steve Gadd - drums
George Martin- electric piano
Adrian Brett - pan pipes
Andy Mackay - lyricon
Adrian Sheppard - drums
Dave Mattacks - drums
Carl Perkins - vocals, guitar on "Get It"
Stevie Wonder - synthesizer, electric piano, vocals
Jack Brymer - clarinet
Keith Harvey - cello
Ian Jewel - viola
Bernard Partridge - violin
Jack Rothstein - violin
Linda McCartney - background vocals
Stanley Clarke - bass
Tracks included:
1. "Tug of War"- 4:22
2. "Take It Away" - 4:16
3. "Somebody Who Cares" - 3:19
4. "What That You're Doing?" (with Stevie Wonder) - 6:22
5. "Here Today" - 2:27
6. "Ballroom Dancing" - 4:00
7. "The Pound Is Sinking" - 2:55
8. "Wanderlust" - 3:49
9. "Get It" (with Carl Perkins) - 2:28
10. "Be What You See (Link)" - 0:33
11. "Dress Me Up as a Robber" - 2:42
12. "Ebony and Ivory” (with Stevie Wonder) - 3:43
13. “I’ll Give You A Ring” from a UK 12-inch 45rpm single - 3:09
14. “Rainclouds” from a UK 12-inch 45rpm single – 3:11
15. “Tug Of War”, from a UK 7-inch 45rpm single – 4:06
16. “Ebony And Ivory” (solo version), from a UK 12-inch 45rpm single – 3:46
The setup used:
-Technics SL-1900 direct drive turntable running an Ortofon 2M Black cartridge
-Underwood/Parts Connexion performance-modified PS Audio GCPH phono preamp
-E-MU 1212M sound card
The audio was captured at 192/32-bit (float)
All pops & clicks were removed manually in Audition. No EQ or NR has been added.
Sample rate conversion to 96kHz & 44.1kHz and down-converting to 16-bit audio was accomplished via iZotope RX Advanced.
Artwork is included for those who care for it.
Enjoy,
-DLedin