Paul McCartney

Cold Cuts (Bootleg) - 1970-80

Originally planned as an official double LP comprised of one disc of hits and another of unreleased material, the Hot Hits and Cold Cuts package died on a number of occasions at the starting gate before eventually being scrapped altogether. Decades since it was initially dreamed up, the Cold Cuts portion of that project has become one of the most highly regarded and frequently traded McCartney bootlegs in existence - and for good reason. Rather than another chronologically ordered heap of poorly mixed outtakes and also-rans, Cold Cuts escapes the trappings of typical leftovers collections through thoughtful track selection and sequencing that was overseen by McCartney himself. The fact that this 12-track LP was mined from one of the most envied vaults in the history of rock music doesn't hurt either. Most of the songs here have shown up on other bootlegs throughout the years, but on Cold Cuts these misfits are presented in a way that makes them work as an album that stacks up with any in the McCartney canon. It's presented here at 192K, but it's a bootleg at the end of the day, so keep that in mind as you wrap your ears around these rare gems.

Track listing:
1. A Love for You - 1971 Ram Sessions
2. My Carnival - 1975 Venus and Mars Sessions
3. Waterspout - 1977 London Town Sessions
4. Mama's Little Girl - 1972 Red Rose Speedway Sessions
5. Night Out - 1972 Red Rose Speedway Sessions
6. Robber's Ball - 1980 Unreleased
7. Cage - 1977 Back to the Egg Sessions
8. Did We Meet Somewhere Before - 1977
9. Hey Diddle - 1970/1974 Ram/Nashville Sessions
10. Tragedy - 1972 Red Rose Speedway Sessions
11. Best Friend (live) - 1972 Intended for Red Rose Speedway
12. Same Time Next Year - 1978 Unreleased

Paul McCartney

Red Rose Speedway - 1973

After giving John all the attention with last month's Complete Lost Lennon Tapes series, I figured it was time to turn our attention to Beatle Paul and one of the wildly underrated gems in his vast catalogue, 1973's Red Rose Speedway. For years I'd ignored this LP whenever I saw it in the shops, most likely due to it's garish cover. Once I got wind that it contained a few unused tracks from 1971's magnificent Ram, one of my all-time favorites, I had to get my hands on it. Officially his second LP with Wings, Red Rose Speedway bridges the sound of the low-fi records McCartney made at the the start of his solo career with the grandiose, lavishly produced ones he would start knocking out with 74's Band on the Run. Of course that also means Red Rose Speedway marks the beginning of Paul's schmaltzy period, but thankfully this record only carries the weight of a couple such tunes - the worst of which, "My Love" sounds eerily similar to Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", so really, it could be worse. The high points here, the ones that keep drawing me back to this record, are absolutely incredible. The trippy "Loup" (First Indian on the Moon)" could fit in easily on Pink Floyd's Meddle, "When the Night" is a slow burn that ends just as it starts to boil, while "Get On the Right Thing" and "Little Lamb Dragonfly" are excellent leftovers from the Ram sessions. With the addition of a few singles and B-sides from the era tacked onto the end of this remastered edition, you really can't go wrong. But don't take my word for it, have a listen yourself.