This week’s Beatles Rarity of the Week ties up another loose end from one of those stray Paul McCartney releases. By 1985, Paul was ready to give his music a more contemporary sound and teamed up with producer Hugh Padgham for that very reason. Hugh had worked with Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel of Genesis, along with other big names like The Police and XTC. Having written a few songs with former 10cc member Eric Stewart, as well as a few on his own, Paul was now pumped to get an album out. The result was the August 1986 release Press To Play, which ended up with a few other guest musicians you may have heard of before. Along with Eric Stewart, there was Pete Townshend (of The Who…in case you didn’t know that) and Eddie Rayner (from Split Enz). One of the tracks, an up-tempo pop tune slated for single release, called Press, was mixed by a DJ named Bert Bevans and his partner Steve Forward. In the UK only, after the first batch of pressings were out (about 45,000 copies or so), the album was altered, replacing this mix of Press with the original mix by producer Hugh Padgham. The original vinyl UK single also contained the Padgham mix of Press, but the rest of the world never saw a release of this version. The international standard as well as what is on the CD releases is the Bevans/Forward mix and now the earlier mix (that was released second) is no longer anywhere on the market. Since this original mix sounds quite different to my ears (better, as a matter of fact, as it sounds more “souped up” and has an alternate ending), I thought I’d give it a spin on BROW for old times sake.

Paul McCartney, 1986

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Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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This is Rockestra which includes Paul McCartney and Wings along with 11 other guest musicians such as Pete Townshend, Robert Plant, John Bonham, The Clash, etc. It was recorded live at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on Dec. 29, 1979 as an event to raise money for victims of war-torn Cambodia. The track appears on the album Concerts for The People of Kampuchea but this was never released to CD. It was the last time Wings appeared on stage together.

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Wow! How many legends can you spot in this line-up?

The Rockestra line up featured Paul McCartney, Wings, David Gilmour, Hank Marvin, Pete Townshend, Kenny Jones, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Ray Cooper and more. How often do you get a Beatle, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Pink Floyd together? Recorded in October 1978, which was a month after the death of Keith Moon, this song was released on the last studio Wings album Back To The Egg in 1979. It was also played live at the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, which was a series of concerts featuring Queen, The Clash, The Pretenders, The Who, Elvis Costello, Wings, and many more artists. This took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, England during December 1979 to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia and was the last live show from Wings. Refer to the related posts section below to check out this live account in London. The video footage here comes from a rehearsal Paul organized for the recording. Looks like a good time was had by all. Enjoy!

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Since 2007, I have been bringing you a new Beatles-related rarity every week and fortunately, I have not had to repeat myself yet. This week is no exception and I promise to not run out of rarities any time soon.

This week’s feature hails from the often interesting and enormous family of McCartney out-takes from his 1970′s era band, Wings. The uniquely arranged Cage was once a part of the running order for the last Wings album, Back To The Egg, released May 24, 1979. You may remember this album as the one containing the hit singles Arrow Through Me and Getting Closer. Later in the LP’s production, it was decided that another track from the sessions called Baby’s Request would replace Cage which was then filed away in the vault and never heard from again. The line-up for Wings at the time included Laurence Juber (guitars), Steve Holly (drums), Denny Laine (guitars), Linda McCartney (keyboards), and Paul McCartney (bass). A lot of other big name musicians contributed to the LP as well such as Pete Townshend, John Bonham, Kenney Jones, Gary Brooker, John Paul Jones, David Gilmour, Ray Cooper…and the list goes on and on. Needless to say the album was an interesting end to the long series of Wings releases from 1971-1979.

Wings in 1979

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.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Merry Christmas and welcome to BROW. As the 1970′s ended, so did Paul McCartney & Wings. This week’s BROW recounts a farewell performance of one of the most successful acts of that decade. This last hoorah by Wings was recorded on December 29th, 1979 at a series of benefit concerts for the people of Kampuchea. The event took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and was organized by Paul and Kurt Waldheim to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia. The line-up of Wings at the time was Paul & Linda along with Denny Laine (bass, guitars, piano), Laurence Juber (guitar, vocals) and Steve Holly (drums). This particular performance also includes a phenomenal amount of other English rock musicians on it such as Kenney Jones, Dave Edmunds, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Gary Brooker, Pete Townshend and more. The combination of all of these musicians came to be known as the Rockestra Line-up and this rocking instrumental was their theme. Also present for the concerts were Queen, The Clash, The Who, Ian Drury & The Blockheads, The Pretenders, The Specials and more. The double album release covering the performances at the shows was not released to vinyl until March of 1981 and has never been released to CD. I have no idea why not, but since it hasn’t it is now a rare recording that has been out of print for many years. The way Paul yells “Happy New Year” at the conclusion made me feel that it was an appropriate time to feature this on the BROW. Enjoy, thanks for reading and Happy New Year to you all.

Cover for the 1981 double vinyl LP Concerts For The People of Kampuchea (never released to CD)

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.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

Related posts:

1. The Rockestra Theme Wow! How many legends can you spot in this line-up?...
2. Let It Be – Rockestra, 1979 This is Rockestra which includes Paul McCartney and Wings along...
3. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – Cage (out-take) Since 2007, I have been bringing you a new Beatles-related...