It’s been a long week and I think we all deserve a new Beatles (-related) Rarity of the Week. This week’s feature is a catchy little instrumental experiment by Paul McCartney recorded in the summer of 1979. Some of you McCartney fans out there may already be aware that the McCartney II album released in 1980 was originally intended to be a 2-record set. The single record version that was commercially released was Paul’s first totally solo album in a decade and like it’s 1970 predecessor McCartney, was very experimental, with Paul handling all the instruments with little or no technical help from anyone else. The two-record set was never officially released save for a few test pressings that surfaced, circa 1979. It contained a number of unreleased songs (some of which made their way to b-sides) and some different mixes of songs that did see their way to the final single LP version. This track, titled Front Parlour, is a sampling of the original version of the album. It was featured on the commercial McCartney II with a different mix and edited down to 3 and a half minutes. This original mix is over 5 minutes long and was the opener for the original double album, whereas the more well-known Coming Up opened up the final version.

Paul McCartney, circa 1980

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.

2 people think this is FAB!

Click here if this is FAB!

Click here if you change your mind.

No related posts.