McCartney II

McCartney II
Studio album by Paul McCartney
Released	16 May 1980 (UK) 22 May 1980 (US)
Recorded	July–August 1979
Genre	Experimental rock, electronic rock
Length	38:36
Label	Parlophone (UK) Columbia (US)
Producer	Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney chronology
Thrillington (1977) McCartney II (1980) Tug of War (1982)
Singles from McCartney II
"Coming Up" Released: 11 April 1980 "Waterfalls" Released: 13 June 1980 "Temporary Secretary" Released: 15 September 1980

McCartney II is the second solo album by Paul McCartney, and the first since the formation of Wings in 1971. It was released in 1980, a year before the band's dissolution and while their future lay in limbo. The album is a significant departure for McCartney, as much of it relies heavily on synthesisers and studio experimentation. It was reissued on 13 June 2011 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.

Background

After the release of what turned out to be Wings' final album, Back to the Egg, McCartney went north to his farm in Scotland to begin some private recordings in July 1979. The first song he recorded was "Check My Machine" as a way to test the equipment, hence its title. By sessions' end, he had recorded over 20 songs. With no immediate use for the recordings, he put them aside for the time being and returned to work with Wings to prepare for a UK tour that November and December. Simultaneously with the performances (which included the new "Coming Up"), Paul McCartney released his first solo single since 1971, Christmas song "Wonderful Christmastime", backed with "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae", which charted at number 6 in the UK,^[1] and at number 10 on the Christmas Singles chart in the US.^[2] The A-side was recorded during the McCartney II sessions, while its flip side had been cut in 1975. However, upcoming events were about to change McCartney's plans with Wings.

After years of visa refusals due to his past arrests for marijuana possession, Japan had finally allowed McCartney, and thus Wings, to perform. It would be McCartney's first time playing there since 1966 with The Beatles, and anticipation was running high with Wings' tour completely sold out. However, upon his arrival in Tokyo on 16 January 1980, a search of McCartney's luggage revealed a bag containing 219 grams of marijuana, prompting his immediate arrest and eventually cancelling the tour. After a nine-day jail stay, McCartney was released and returned home to his Scottish farm. Deciding to put Wings on hold while he contemplated his future, he now decided to issue his solo recordings from the previous summer.

Music and lyrics

"Coming Up"

"Coming Up" – an uplifting dance number – appeared that April with a video (Paul playing all the bandmates, dubbed 'The Plastic Macs', except for the backing singers (played by Linda)) and with two B-sides by Wings: "Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)", recorded during Wings' December 1979 show there, and the piano laden instrumental "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" (a Venus and Mars outtake). An immediate UK No. 2 hit, "Coming Up" was flipped over for the live Wings version in the US where it became another No. 1 for McCartney, greatly raising hopes for his first solo album proper in years. The live Wings version of "Coming Up" was also issued as a white-labeled, one-sided 7" vinyl bonus record in many copies of McCartney II within the US and Canada.

"Temporary Secretary"

"Temporary Secretary" features frantic synthesizer lines and lyrics about requiring a secretary of any skill level for a short period of time. McCartney dubbed the song an "experiment," saying that he found the concept of a temporary secretary humorous. "Temporary Secretary" was released as a 12" single in Britain, backed with the experimental non-album track "Secret Friend." The single was only released in a quantity of 25,000 copies, failing to make an impact on the charts. The single artwork was created by Jeff Cummins of Hipgnosis.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Robert Christgau	C[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Essential Rock Discography	5/10[6]
MusicHound	[7]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[8]
Q	[9]
The Quietus	(favourable)[10]
Record Collector	[11]
Rolling Stone	(unfavourable)[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[13]
Smash Hits	5/10[14]

McCartney II was released in mid-May to mixed reviews; many critics found the album, with its experimental, synth-based compositions and its handful of instrumentals, slight. That did not stop it from reaching number 1 in the UK^[1] and number 3 in the US.^[15] The next single, the introspective "Waterfalls", charted at number 9 in the UK,^[1] but failed to make an impact in the US. Despite its less-than-rapturous critical reaction, McCartney II has continued to remain a favourite of McCartney devotees.

The initial issue of this album on compact disc featured "Check My Machine" and "Secret Friend" as bonus tracks. The two songs were originally released as the B-sides of "Waterfalls" and "Temporary Secretary", respectively. In 1993, McCartney II was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with Wings' 1979 hit "Goodnight Tonight" added as a third bonus track.

When the new remastered version was released in 13 June 2011 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection,^[16] the album re-entered the UK charts at number 108.^[17]

Track listing

All songs written by Paul McCartney.

Side one

1. "Coming Up" – 3:53
2. "Temporary Secretary" – 3:14
3. "On the Way" – 3:38
4. "Waterfalls" – 4:42
5. "Nobody Knows" – 2:52

Side two

6. "Front Parlour" – 3:32
7. "Summer's Day Song" – 3:25
8. "Frozen Jap" – 3:40
9. "Bogey Music" – 3:27
10. "Darkroom" – 2:20
11. "One of These Days" – 3:35

Bonus tracks

1993 The Paul McCartney Collection bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Check My Machine"	5:52
13.	"Secret Friend"	10:30
14.	"Goodnight Tonight"	4:21

2011 remaster

In 2011 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of the second set of releases, alongside McCartney, in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. It was released in various formats:^[18]

• Standard Edition 1-CD; the original 11-track album
• Special Edition 2-CD; the original 11-track album on the first disc, plus 8 bonus tracks on a second disc^[19]
• Deluxe Edition 3-CD/1-DVD; the original 11-track album, the bonus tracks disc, a limited and numbered 128-page book containing many previously unpublished images by Linda McCartney. The book features album and single artwork and a full history of the making of the album, complete with a new interview with Paul and expanded track by track information. The DVD features rare and previously unseen footage (including rehearsal footage of "Coming Up" and a new video for the unreleased track "Blue Sway")^[20]
• Remastered vinyl 2-LP version containing of the Special Edition and a download link to the material^[21]
• High Resolution 24bit 96 kHz limited and unlimited audio versions of all 27 songs on the remastered album and bonus audio discs

Disc 1

The original 11-track album.

Disc 2 – Bonus Audio 1

1. "Blue Sway" (with Richard Niles Orchestration) – 4:35

   Previously unreleased

2. "Coming Up" (Live at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow – 17 December 1979) – 4:08
3. "Check My Machine" (Regular Single B-side Edited Version) – 5:50
4. "Bogey Wobble" – 2:59

   Previously unreleased

5. "Secret Friend (Full Length Version)" – 10:31
6. "Mr H Atom" / "You Know I'll Get You Baby" – 5:55

   Previously unreleased

7. "Wonderful Christmastime" (Regular A-side Version) – 3:47
8. "All You Horse Riders" / "Blue Sway" – 10:15

   Previously unreleased

Disc 3 – Bonus Audio 2

1. "Coming Up" [Full Length Version] – 5:34
2. "Front Parlour" [Full Length Version] – 5:15
3. "Frozen Jap" [Full Length Version] – 5:43
4. "Darkroom" [Full Length Version] – 3:45
5. "Check My Machine" [Full Length Version] – 8:58
6. "Wonderful Christmastime" [Full Length Version] – 4:15
7. "Summer's Day Song" [Original without vocals] – 3:25
8. "Waterfalls" (DJ edit) – 3:20

Disc 4 – DVD

1. "Meet Paul McCartney"
2. "Coming Up"

   Music video

3. "Waterfalls"

   Music video

4. "Wonderful Christmastime"

   Music video

5. "Coming Up"

   Live at Concert for the People of Kampuchea – 29 December 1979

6. "Coming Up"

   Taken from a rehearsal session at Lower Gate Farm, 1979

7. "Making the Coming Up Music Video"
8. "Blue Sway"

   Music video

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient	Award	Result
1981	"Coming Up"	Best Rock Vocal Performance – Male[22]	style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals, guitar, bass, electric piano, keyboards, drums

Charts

Peak positions

Original release Chart (1980) Position Australian Kent Music Report[23] 6 Austrian Albums Chart[24] 4 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[25] 5 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[26] 20 French SNEP Albums Chart[27] 2 Italian Albums Chart[28] 11 Japanese Oricon LPs Chart [A][29] 8 New Zealand Albums Chart[30] 5 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[31] 5 Spanish Albums Chart[32] 7 Swedish Albums Chart[33] 5 UK Albums Chart[34] 1 US Billboard 200[15] 3 West German Media Control Albums Chart[35] 19

Reissue Chart (2011) Position French SNEP Albums Chart[36] 158 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[37] 32 Spanish Albums Chart[38] 85 UK Albums Chart[39] 108 US Billboard 200[40] 82 US Top Pop Catalog Albums[41] 10

Year-end charts Chart (1980) Position Australian Albums Chart[23] 32 Canadian Albums Chart[42] 20 French Albums Chart[43] 17 Italian Albums Chart[28] 39 Japanese Albums Chart[44] 95 UK Albums Chart[45] 36

Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Japan (Oricon Charts) 80,000[B][29] United Kingdom (BPI)[46] Gold 100,000^ United States (RIAA)[47] Gold 500,000^ ^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes

• A^ Until January 1987, Japanese albums chart had been separated into LP, CD, and cassette charts. McCartney II also entered the cassette chart, peaking at number 13.
• B^ Combined sales of LP and audio cassette.

References

External links

• JPGR's Beatles site: Paul McCartney's McCartney II
• Collector's Music Review of Paul McCartney – The Lost McCartney Album
• Check My Machine

Preceded by The Magic of Boney M. by Boney M.	UK Albums Chart number one album 31 May 1980 – 13 June 1980	Succeeded by Peter Gabriel by Peter Gabriel

Paul McCartney Paul McCartney Paul "Wix" Wickens Rusty Anderson Brian Ray Abe Laboriel, Jr. Linda McCartney Hamish Stuart Robbie McIntosh Chris Whitten Blair Cunningham Studio albums McCartney Ram (with Linda McCartney) McCartney II Tug of War Pipes of Peace Press to Play Choba B CCCP Flowers in the Dirt Off the Ground Flaming Pie Run Devil Run Driving Rain Chaos and Creation in the Backyard Memory Almost Full Kisses on the Bottom New with Wings Wild Life Red Rose Speedway Band on the Run Venus and Mars Wings at the Speed of Sound London Town Back to the Egg Classical The Family Way Thrillington Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio Standing Stone Working Classical Ecce Cor Meum Ocean's Kingdom Electronica Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (The Fireman) Rushes (The Fireman) Liverpool Sound Collage Twin Freaks Electric Arguments (The Fireman) Live albums Wings over America Tripping the Live Fantastic Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) Paul Is Live Back in the U.S. Back in the World Live iTunes Festival: London Amoeba's Secret Good Evening New York City Live in Los Angeles iTunes Live from Capitol Studios Compilations Wings Greatest Cold Cuts (unreleased) All the Best! The Paul McCartney Collection Wingspan: Hits and History Tours Wings University Tour Wings Over Europe Tour Wings 1973 UK Tour Wings Over the World tour Wings UK Tour 1979 The Paul McCartney World Tour Unplugged Tour 1991 The New World Tour The Concert for New York City Driving World Tour Back in the World tour 2004 Summer Tour The 'US' Tour Summer Live '09 Good Evening Europe Tour Up and Coming Tour On the Run Out There Filmography A Hard Day's Night (1964) Help! (1965) Magical Mystery Tour (1967) Yellow Submarine (1968) Let It Be (1970) James Paul McCartney (1973) Wings Over the World (1979) Rockestra (unreleased) (1979) Concert for Kampuchea (1980) Rockshow (1980) Back to the Egg (1981) Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) Put It There (1990) Get Back (1991) Paul Is Live (1993) In the World Tonight (1997) Live at the Cavern Club (1999) Wingspan (2001) Back in the U.S. (2002) Paul McCartney in Red Square (2005) Between Chaos and Creation (2005) Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road (2005) The Space Within US (2006) The McCartney Years (2007) Good Evening New York City (2009) The Love We Make (2011) Related articles Articles Discography Song list Awards Music contributions and appearances Paul McCartney concerts Maxi-singles MPL Communications Oobu Joobu Paul is dead "Lisa the Vegetarian People/Artists The Beatles Heather Mills Albums Wide Prairie A Garland for Linda Paul McCartney's Glastonbury Groove Let Us in Americana: The Music of Paul McCartney The Art of McCartney Book Commons Wikiquote Category Paul McCartney singles discography 1970s 1971 "Another Day" / "Oh Woman, Oh Why" (with Linda McCartney) "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" / "Too Many People" (with Linda McCartney) "The Back Seat of My Car" / "Heart of the Country" (with Linda McCartney) "Eat at Home" / "Smile Away" (with Linda McCartney) 1979 "Wonderful Christmastime" 1980s 1980 "Coming Up" "Waterfalls" "Temporary Secretary" 1982 "Ebony and Ivory" (with Stevie Wonder) "Take It Away" "Tug of War" "The Girl Is Mine" (with Michael Jackson) 1983 "Say Say Say" (with Michael Jackson) "Pipes of Peace" 1984 "No More Lonely Nights" "We All Stand Together" 1985 "Spies Like Us" 1986 "Press" "Pretty Little Head" "Stranglehold" "Only Love Remains" 1987 "Once Upon a Long Ago" 1989 "Ferry Cross the Mersey" "My Brave Face" / "Flying to My Home" "This One" "Où est le Soleil?" "Figure of Eight" "Distractions" (promo) 1990s 1990 "Put It There" / "Mama's Little Girl" "Birthday" (live) / "Good Day Sunshine" (live) "All My Trials" (live) / "C Moon" (live) "We Got Married" (promo) 1991 "The World You're Coming Into" / "Tres Conejos" "Save the Child" / "The Drinking Song" 1993 "Hope of Deliverance" "C'Mon People" "Off the Ground" "Biker Like an Icon" / "Things We Said Today" "Transpiritual Stomp" (The Fireman) 1995 "A Leaf" (with Anya Alexeyev) "Come Together" (The Smokin' Mojo Filters) 1997 "Young Boy" "The World Tonight" "Beautiful Night" 1998 Rushes (The Fireman) 1999 Fluid (Nitin Sawhney Remixes) (The Fireman) "No Other Baby" / "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" "Vo!ce" (with Heather Mills) "Run Devil Run" (promo) 2000s 2000 "Free Now" (promo) 2001 "From a Lover to a Friend" "Freedom" / "From a Lover to a Friend" "I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra" (promo) 2002 "Your Loving Flame" (promo) "Lonely Road" (promo) "Hello Goodbye" (promo) 2004 "Tropic Island Hum" / "We All Stand Together" 2005 "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (with U2) "Fine Line" "Jenny Wren" "Really Love You" (Twin Freaks) 2006 "This Never Happened Before" (promo) 2007 "Dance Tonight" / "Nod Your Head" "Ever Present Past" 2008 "Heal the Pain" (with George Michael) "Sing the Changes" (The Fireman) 2009 "Walk with You" (with Ringo Starr) "Meat Free Monday" "Dance Til We're High" (The Fireman) 2010s 2010 "(I Want to) Come Home" 2011 "My Valentine" 2012 "Only Our Hearts" Christmas Kisses: "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" / "Wonderful Christmastime" "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (The Justice Collective) "Get Yourself Another Fool" (promo) 2013 "Out of Sight" (The Bloody Beetroots feat. McCartney & Youth) "New" "Queenie Eye" 2014 "Save Us" "Appreciate" "Early Days" "Hope for the Future" "Only One" (with Kanye West) 2015 "FourFiveSeconds" (with Rihanna & Kanye West) "All Day" (with Kanye West) Book Category Paul McCartney family Parents Jim McCartney: 1902–1976 Mary McCartney: 1909–1956 Siblings Mike McCartney: born 1944 Ruth McCartney: born 1960 Children Heather McCartney: born 1962 Mary McCartney: born 1969 Stella McCartney: born 1971 James McCartney: born 1977 Beatrice McCartney: born 2003 Wives Lady Linda McCartney: 1941–1998 (1969–1998) Heather Mills: born 1968 (2002–2008) Nancy Shevell: born 1961 (2011–present) Relationships Thelma Pickles: born 1941 (1959) Dot Rhone: born 1940 (1959–1962) Jane Asher: born 1946 (1963–1968) Francie Schwartz: born 1944 (1968)