THE NEXT DELUXE/REMASTERED ALBUM FROM PAUL
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B J Conlee:
favoritething:
B J Conlee:
Getting back to the subject at hand...the 2017 Flowers in the Dirt Remaster (all packages). It seems like the consensus is that FITD has a few very good tracks but on the whole it is 2nd tier Macca relative to Post Beatles' Albums. The other prevalent comment on the negative side is that Paul should have done a total Paul/Elvis collaborative album. That is understandable to me based on the really good Demo CD of Paul/Elvis songs done in that early burst of the collaboration. It is a relatively easy criticism to make just listening to the 2nd CD. Although the songs were demos, for a fan it is an exciting performance and all the "what if's" thoughts go through one's head. In fact, many of the critiques given by the music press on the new package allude to precisely that idea. What this does (whether fairly or unfairly) is, in my opinion, takes away from the finished product. I noticed a couple of reviews almost totally ignore some of the good McCartney only tracks just focusing on the "What if's" possibilities.
But there's a whole other disc on the big deluxe set where these demos are re-done with a band. They're not quite "finished" sounding, but they don't leave a whole lot to the imagination for "what ifs" for the most part. They're nicely fleshed out band performances.
______________________________________________________ Favorite Thing, I realize what you are saying. I just didn't want to spend that kind of money for the fleshed out band performances. What I was really referring to, was a couple of comments (whether from fans or from the music press) that Paul should have just done an "all Paul/Elvis" album on FITD and thus leave out the Paul only tracks. You could see that possibility since there were enough songs. But my point in an earlier post is that it wouldn't have been practical for these reasons: *Paul wanted so much to do a World Tour after completing FITD. Doing an all Paul/Elvis album would have put pressure on both of them to tour together *Elvis was in the "peak" of his own career. Would he do 5-6 songs from that type of album and just walk off the stage while Paul did the rest of his 2 hour show. Elvis has his own band (Attractions) and was in the peak of his career. It would make little sense for Elvis to do like 80 dates when he could easily sell out his own shows. *Paul had a bunch of good songs that he already written. He wanted some of those for his follow up Tour. Again, it wasn't practical in the greater scheme of things to do an "all Paul/Elvis album". Nobody knows for sure but I think Paul and Elvis always had the idea of splitting the songs into their own albums which they ended up doing. I personally would have preferred more of the collaborations on FITD. Instead of 4, I would have loved like 6 to make FITD an even better album. As I have mentioned on these posts, putting a combination of "The Lovers That Never Were", Back on my Feet and maybe Tommy's Coming Home on the original FITD and nixing the last 2 original tracks would have made FITD one of his best solo albums ever. Just my opinion, but I think many fans would agree. Putting that aside, there are some wonderful Paul only tracks on FITD. Actually just about all of them were subsequently done on the Tour so I am so glad that he did split the Paul/Elvis songs with the Paul only songs on the album. As I said, my only complaint is that I wished he would have included a couple more of the really good Paul/Elvis songs and take out the inferior Paul songs (the last 2 tracks especially).
I totally agree that they should have done a couple of more Paul/Elvis songs on the album at least. "Motor Of Love" is okay with me, but I could live without it. "How Many People" can definitely go. But I do think that Elvis would happily have done a whole album with Paul, based on his comments. That doesn't mean they would have had to tour together, though. In the Archive set, there's a re-creation of a letter that Elvis wrote to Paul not long after they worked together, and Elvis is enthusiastically saying he would love to write and record more with Paul in the future. It's not clear how Paul responded to him at the time, but in the new interviews, Paul literally says, "Been there, done that" when asked about collaborating with Elvis again. Ouch. Of course, they have performed together a few times since then, and Elvis's wife Diana Krall is all over "Kisses On The Bottom," so obviously there are no hard feelings about it!
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favoritething:
... Of course, they have performed together a few times since then, and Elvis's wife Diana Krall is all over "Kisses On The Bottom," so obviously there are no hard feelings about it!
I've wondered if they all got together & if old times (Flowers) were discussed when they did "Kisses".
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favoritething:
B J Conlee:
favoritething:
B J Conlee:
Getting back to the subject at hand...the 2017 Flowers in the Dirt Remaster (all packages). It seems like the consensus is that FITD has a few very good tracks but on the whole it is 2nd tier Macca relative to Post Beatles' Albums. The other prevalent comment on the negative side is that Paul should have done a total Paul/Elvis collaborative album. That is understandable to me based on the really good Demo CD of Paul/Elvis songs done in that early burst of the collaboration. It is a relatively easy criticism to make just listening to the 2nd CD. Although the songs were demos, for a fan it is an exciting performance and all the "what if's" thoughts go through one's head. In fact, many of the critiques given by the music press on the new package allude to precisely that idea. What this does (whether fairly or unfairly) is, in my opinion, takes away from the finished product. I noticed a couple of reviews almost totally ignore some of the good McCartney only tracks just focusing on the "What if's" possibilities.
But there's a whole other disc on the big deluxe set where these demos are re-done with a band. They're not quite "finished" sounding, but they don't leave a whole lot to the imagination for "what ifs" for the most part. They're nicely fleshed out band performances.
______________________________________________________ Favorite Thing, I realize what you are saying. I just didn't want to spend that kind of money for the fleshed out band performances. What I was really referring to, was a couple of comments (whether from fans or from the music press) that Paul should have just done an "all Paul/Elvis" album on FITD and thus leave out the Paul only tracks. You could see that possibility since there were enough songs. But my point in an earlier post is that it wouldn't have been practical for these reasons: *Paul wanted so much to do a World Tour after completing FITD. Doing an all Paul/Elvis album would have put pressure on both of them to tour together *Elvis was in the "peak" of his own career. Would he do 5-6 songs from that type of album and just walk off the stage while Paul did the rest of his 2 hour show. Elvis has his own band (Attractions) and was in the peak of his career. It would make little sense for Elvis to do like 80 dates when he could easily sell out his own shows. *Paul had a bunch of good songs that he already written. He wanted some of those for his follow up Tour. Again, it wasn't practical in the greater scheme of things to do an "all Paul/Elvis album". Nobody knows for sure but I think Paul and Elvis always had the idea of splitting the songs into their own albums which they ended up doing. I personally would have preferred more of the collaborations on FITD. Instead of 4, I would have loved like 6 to make FITD an even better album. As I have mentioned on these posts, putting a combination of "The Lovers That Never Were", Back on my Feet and maybe Tommy's Coming Home on the original FITD and nixing the last 2 original tracks would have made FITD one of his best solo albums ever. Just my opinion, but I think many fans would agree. Putting that aside, there are some wonderful Paul only tracks on FITD. Actually just about all of them were subsequently done on the Tour so I am so glad that he did split the Paul/Elvis songs with the Paul only songs on the album. As I said, my only complaint is that I wished he would have included a couple more of the really good Paul/Elvis songs and take out the inferior Paul songs (the last 2 tracks especially).
I totally agree that they should have done a couple of more Paul/Elvis songs on the album at least. "Motor Of Love" is okay with me, but I could live without it. "How Many People" can definitely go. But I do think that Elvis would happily have done a whole album with Paul, based on his comments. That doesn't mean they would have had to tour together, though. In the Archive set, there's a re-creation of a letter that Elvis wrote to Paul not long after they worked together, and Elvis is enthusiastically saying he would love to write and record more with Paul in the future. It's not clear how Paul responded to him at the time, but in the new interviews, Paul literally says, "Been there, done that" when asked about collaborating with Elvis again. Ouch. Of course, they have performed together a few times since then, and Elvis's wife Diana Krall is all over "Kisses On The Bottom," so obviously there are no hard feelings about it!
_________________________________________________________ Favoritething, Good points and I appreciate you responding. As I said earlier, there doesn't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for the FITD Remaster. There is certainly a good possibility that Elvis wanted to do a whole album with Paul. Looking at it from Paul's point of view, he already had songs for the new album (FITD) that he definitely wanted to perform live (Put It There, We Got Married, Figure of Eight, This One) so it would have been hard to just scratch them. I didn't get the super Deluxe set so thanks for pointing some of the details out. In the end, it seemed to work out for both Elvis and Paul. They both took some of the best collaborative songs for their own albums. As you said, there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings in 2017. I couldn't agree with you more about the fact that FITD could have been better by adding a couple more of Paul/Elvis songs. I like "How Many People" a little better than you (I agree the song is a tad overproduced) and you like Motor of Love better than me. But just think if Paul had put Back in My Feet and one or two other collaborations (e.g. The Lovers That Never Were and Tommy's Coming Home) as replacements for the last 3 tracks. And you also had Paul's own "Flying to My Home" as another possible replacement. The Lovers That Never Were is a fantastic song in my opinion and although he included the song in his next album, he could have released it on FITD. FITD arguably could have been one of Paul Masterpieces with some tweaking. I guess it is easy for hard core fans like us to just scratch our heads over some of Paul's decisions. Maybe it is so easy for Paul to write so many incredible melodies that his judgement gets confused as to what is average vs. very good. Yes, Paul and Elvis did perform later. The time I remember was the Concert for Linda in the late 90's I believe. Elvis backed Paul for the finale. Paul sang All My Loving and Lonesome Town which were great performances by the way. Elvis often talks about the sheer noise at the beginning of All My Loving. In that moment, Elvis said he understood why the Beatles decided to stop touring in 1966. By the way, Elvis does a great cover of Paul's "Warm and Beautiful" (from At the Speed of Sound) during that concert. Elvis also was a guest performer for the Paul Tribute at the White House. He did one of the tribute songs...Penny Lane. Elvis is a great live performer...he just seems to have the ability to sing anything well.
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So, Paul/Elvis did easily record an album's worth of quality songs. However, it seemed like it was Paul's decision to spread the songs out & not have an album credited to both of them. I remember Paul doing interviews at the time & he explicitly stated that he was worried that the press would say things like he needed Elvis to prop his career up & that Elvis was too similar to John & he was "playing John's part". So, thats why I think he shied away from a Paul/Elvis album. It's too bad Paul was influenced by what others, especially the press/critics, would think. He probably regrets the decision now.
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JoeySmith:
So, Paul/Elvis did easily record an album's worth of quality songs. However, it seemed like it was Paul's decision to spread the songs out & not have an album credited to both of them. I remember Paul doing interviews at the time & he explicitly stated that he was worried that the press would say things like he needed Elvis to prop his career up & that Elvis was too similar to John & he was "playing John's part". So, thats why I think he shied away from a Paul/Elvis album. It's too bad Paul was influenced by what others, especially the press/critics, would think. He probably regrets the decision now.
But he would never publicly admit it!
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MetalGod:
Bob Gannon:
MetalGod:
wingsdgm:
Bob Gannon:
https://i.imgur.com/K6otB04.jpg Here's my 5th disk
pretty cool...sent me one ..I 'll pay shipping and anyone having trouble with the 45 from Best Buy ?? the site has nothing on McCartney ???
Bob, as a lurker on the SH forum - I think that post revealed yourself ð???
That's ok, not really a lurker there. I basically made a mistake here in this forum many years ago going by my real name. There I can kind of give hints with less chance of being found out. As many posts as I have made there, I don't think lurker is the correct terminolgy. The post was to simply show that I said I would make a nice disk of the download stuff and slip it in the box. No time to whine or complain, just fix the problem and move on. When handed lemons...make lemonade!!!
Bob - just to clarify; I'M a lurker on the SH forum! Lol. I enjoy your insider info on either forum.
still waiting for you too D...
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JoeySmith:
So, Paul/Elvis did easily record an album's worth of quality songs. However, it seemed like it was Paul's decision to spread the songs out & not have an album credited to both of them. I remember Paul doing interviews at the time & he explicitly stated that he was worried that the press would say things like he needed Elvis to prop his career up & that Elvis was too similar to John & he was "playing John's part". So, thats why I think he shied away from a Paul/Elvis album. It's too bad Paul was influenced by what others, especially the press/critics, would think. He probably regrets the decision now.
_____________________________________________________ Joey, I appreciate that you and Favoritething are keeping this discussion alive. As I have said earlier, there just doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm about the 2017 FITD Remastered Packages. Sales don't seem to be going very well in the US either. Being an old timer I became a big fan of the Beatles as a Freshman in high school in the Fall of 1963 and into 1964. I have remained a big fan of the Beatles and Paul McCartney ever since. I do remember the 1988-1989 period quite well also and the news that Paul was writing some songs with Elvis Costello (EC). I don't remember hearing or seeing exactly what you stated above but I do remember Paul being concerned of the inevitable comparisons that would be made from both his and Elvis's point of view. Paul was a big Elvis fan and the feeling was quite mutual with the much younger Elvis also being from Liverpool. Living in the Philadelphia/New York City market, I clearly remember that back in the 70's and 80's, there was a certain element from the music press including radio personalities that were very anti-McCartney. I could understand Paul's concern of the comparisons that would be made...some of them being inaccurate as Paul and Elvis point out in the People Magazine article. Not sure if you have read two current articles in particular that I found useful. One is the People Magazine feature (which I just mentioned). The article details all the songs that Paul and Elvis wrote during that era. Fascinating stuff for music buffs like us. The other more brief article is from Star written by David Baeder. This article is called "The PM and EC Duet Album That Never Was. Both articles can be found rather easily via the Internet. To be continued
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B J Conlee:
JoeySmith:
So, Paul/Elvis did easily record an album's worth of quality songs. However, it seemed like it was Paul's decision to spread the songs out & not have an album credited to both of them. I remember Paul doing interviews at the time & he explicitly stated that he was worried that the press would say things like he needed Elvis to prop his career up & that Elvis was too similar to John & he was "playing John's part". So, thats why I think he shied away from a Paul/Elvis album. It's too bad Paul was influenced by what others, especially the press/critics, would think. He probably regrets the decision now.
_____________________________________________________ Joey, I appreciate that you and Favoritething are keeping this discussion alive. As I have said earlier, there just doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm about the 2017 FITD Remastered Packages. Sales don't seem to be going very well in the US either. Being an old timer I became a big fan of the Beatles as a Freshman in high school in the Fall of 1963 and into 1964. I have remained a big fan of the Beatles and Paul McCartney ever since. I do remember the 1988-1989 period quite well also and the news that Paul was writing some songs with Elvis Costello (EC). I don't remember hearing or seeing exactly what you stated above but I do remember Paul being concerned of the inevitable comparisons that would be made from both his and Elvis's point of view. Paul was a big Elvis fan and the feeling was quite mutual with the much younger Elvis also being from Liverpool. Living in the Philadelphia/New York City market, I clearly remember that back in the 70's and 80's, there was a certain element from the music press including radio personalities that were very anti-McCartney. I could understand Paul's concern of the comparisons that would be made...some of them being inaccurate as Paul and Elvis point out in the People Magazine article. Not sure if you have read two current articles in particular that I found useful. One is the People Magazine feature (which I just mentioned). The article details all the songs that Paul and Elvis wrote during that era. Fascinating stuff for music buffs like us. The other more brief article is from Star written by David Baeder. This article is called "The PM and EC Duet Album That Never Was. Both articles can be found rather easily via the Internet. To be continued
Not sure how extensive Mr. Baeder interviewed Paul (he is an AP writer) but he does quote Paul in certain parts. The gist of the article was that the writer was trying to find out why this mythical album never took place. Mr. Baeder reasoned that if Paul and Elvis had used Veronica and My Brave Face (the 2 most commercial songs) as bookends for the album and filled in between with their other good collaborations that it could have been a massive hit. He goes on to say that Paul's comment to him was that in hindsight it might have been a crazy hit. While there were Duets on individual songs in the 80's(Paul of course was involved on 2 big hits) there hadn't been (that I know of) a full Duet Album at the time. Joey, for that reason, I do agree with you that at the time FITD as a full Paul/Elvis album could have been a much bigger album for Paul. Mr. Baeder then quotes Paul..."they decided not to alter their original plan. That plan of course was that they would split up the songs between their next couple of albums. For Paul it was FITD and Off the Ground and for Elvis it was Spike and Mighty Like a Rose. Elvis put 3 on Spike including Veronica, This Town and Pads, Paws and Claws. Then he put So Like Candy and Playboy to a Man on"Mighty like a Rose". All of this is detailed in the People article. I'm not saying that I know that the original plan was a joint decision or more Paul. But at the time there wasn't any controversy that I read about. Elvis never complained that Paul promised a joint Duet album nor did he complain about the split. They were and have remained very good friends to this day. They both have a lot of respect for each other as the People article entails. But I agree with you that after hearing Disc 2 and if you, like the writer said, had both Veronica and My Brave Face as the singles it could have been a big hit. It is easy to Monday quarterback now. One of the reasons that Mr. Baeder said that it didn't become a full Duet album was Paul's Pride in some of the songs that he had already written without Elvis. That was no doubt a big factor in my opinion. Since Paul was at a low point (relatively for him) Paul desperately wanted to also do a World Tour with his new Band. He partially wanted to promote the new album for the tour with new songs that he would perform. While the sales of FITD weren't fully realize in the US, the combination of the album and the World Tour did help Paul get his Mojo back. As we know, Paul sang My Brave Face on the World tour but he also did Put it There, This One, Figure of Eight (the tour opening song), We Got Married and Rough Ride...all McCartney only penned songs. To be continued
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Continued from previous thread Like I said, I do agree with you that in hindsight, an all Paul Elvis Duet Album could have been a much bigger hit at the time. Duet albums and Duet Tours (e.g. Elton John and Billy Joel) started years later but Paul and Elvis could of had the 1st Duet album of major stars at the time. But for me, my problem and frustration with FITD is a little different than yours. I really love a half dozen of Paul only songs on FITD so for me a combination of Paul only songs with Paul/Elvis songs could have been perfect. The problem is that (believe it or not) Paul does not recognize a good to very good song vs. a subpar or even inferior song. The good Paul only songs on FITD are really good but the last 3 tracks especially bring the album down a couple of notches. I'm not just saying that, fans and reviewers generally say it as well. That being said, Paul should have had at least 6 (maybe 7) Paul/Elvis songs on FITD. This would represent half the album. He had room for them if he replaced certain subpar tracks to B-side status. For example, Back on my Feet (a B-side Paul/Elvis song to Once Upon a Long ago that failed miserably in the States) would have been a good replacement. I really like the song. Even a bigger mistake was not including "the Lovers That Never Were" on FITD. This is great song and in my top 5 of the Paul/Elvis collaborations. Put this also on FITD and take out the subpar songs and it would put the album in almost masterpiece status. Paul also probably had "Tommy Coming Home" and Twenty Fine Fingers available at the time. These last 2 songs were not officially released until this 2017 Remaster. And finally, Paul had "Flying to my Home" one of his own songs that in my opinion is so much better than the last 3 tracks. While I understand how some might drool with the "what if" mythical Paul/Elvis Duet Album and what it could have been. I don't believe you had to go that far (and Elvis did take some of them for his own albums). Just some tweaking and a couple more of the best songs from this unique partnership would have made, in my opinion, FITD a true "masterpiece". Sorry for being so long winded here. I'm retired so I have time on my hands some evenings. I know I need to get a life but I'm passionate about Macca. But he does drive me crazy with his song selections for his albums. You would think that one of his kids would take charge and say to his Dad...let me help you...you have better alternatives.
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Haven't seen the People article, but does it forget to mention that Elvis did "Shallow Grave" on his "All This Useless Beauty" album in 1996? Paul's comments about Elvis "propping up his career" were in an article in, I believe, Rolling Stone at the time in 1989, or it could have been Musician. I know I have it somewhere. But besides Paul himself, decisions about the album were also influenced by his then-new manager at the time, who really pushed him to sound contemporary, using modern producers, so that also diminished the role of the Elvis songs to an extent.
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favoritething:
Haven't seen the People article, but does it forget to mention that Elvis did "Shallow Grave" on his "All This Useless Beauty" album in 1996? Paul's comments about Elvis "propping up his career" were in an article in, I believe, Rolling Stone at the time in 1989, or it could have been Musician. I know I have it somewhere. But besides Paul himself, decisions about the album were also influenced by his then-new manager at the time, who really pushed him to sound contemporary, using modern producers, so that also diminished the role of the Elvis songs to an extent.
_______________________________________________________ Thanks for the input Favoritething. People Magazine does mention Shallow Grave being put on Elvis's "Shallow Grave" album. It really is a fascinating article. I would interested to know if the super deluxe package has the same information. Just google PM and EC Flowers in the dirt and you will see it. Didn't realize your final point which seems like another factor that was in the decision process. But do you understand my point. I love the 1st eight songs with the various producers. I think FITD is terrific up to that point. But the 2nd half of the album (minus That Day is Done)could have been so much better with a few more Paul/Elvis songs that I detailed. I have no problem with Put It there, Distractions, We Got Married, This One, Figure of Eight on the album. It was just those subpar Paul tracks where he had much better alternatives. Could have been a masterpiece in my opinion.
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I recently read Elvis' autobiography, and there is a decent section where he writes about recording these songs with Paul. I will have to go dig it out for some quotes.
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B J Conlee:
favoritething:
Haven't seen the People article, but does it forget to mention that Elvis did "Shallow Grave" on his "All This Useless Beauty" album in 1996? Paul's comments about Elvis "propping up his career" were in an article in, I believe, Rolling Stone at the time in 1989, or it could have been Musician. I know I have it somewhere. But besides Paul himself, decisions about the album were also influenced by his then-new manager at the time, who really pushed him to sound contemporary, using modern producers, so that also diminished the role of the Elvis songs to an extent.
_______________________________________________________ Thanks for the input Favoritething. People Magazine does mention Shallow Grave being put on Elvis's "Shallow Grave" album. It really is a fascinating article. I would interested to know if the super deluxe package has the same information. Just google PM and EC Flowers in the dirt and you will see it. Didn't realize your final point which seems like another factor that was in the decision process. But do you understand my point. I love the 1st eight songs with the various producers. I think FITD is terrific up to that point. But the 2nd half of the album (minus That Day is Done)could have been so much better with a few more Paul/Elvis songs that I detailed. I have no problem with Put It there, Distractions, We Got Married, This One, Figure of Eight on the album. It was just those subpar Paul tracks where he had much better alternatives. Could have been a masterpiece in my opinion.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_This_Useless_Beauty What exactly do you mean by "the same information?"
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Nancy R:
B J Conlee:
favoritething:
Haven't seen the People article, but does it forget to mention that Elvis did "Shallow Grave" on his "All This Useless Beauty" album in 1996? Paul's comments about Elvis "propping up his career" were in an article in, I believe, Rolling Stone at the time in 1989, or it could have been Musician. I know I have it somewhere. But besides Paul himself, decisions about the album were also influenced by his then-new manager at the time, who really pushed him to sound contemporary, using modern producers, so that also diminished the role of the Elvis songs to an extent.
_______________________________________________________ Thanks for the input Favoritething. People Magazine does mention Shallow Grave being put on Elvis's "Shallow Grave" album. It really is a fascinating article. I would interested to know if the super deluxe package has the same information. Just google PM and EC Flowers in the dirt and you will see it. Didn't realize your final point which seems like another factor that was in the decision process. But do you understand my point. I love the 1st eight songs with the various producers. I think FITD is terrific up to that point. But the 2nd half of the album (minus That Day is Done)could have been so much better with a few more Paul/Elvis songs that I detailed. I have no problem with Put It there, Distractions, We Got Married, This One, Figure of Eight on the album. It was just those subpar Paul tracks where he had much better alternatives. Could have been a masterpiece in my opinion.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_This_Useless_Beauty What exactly do you mean by "the same information?"
______________________________________________ Nancy, Hope you are doing well. I only bought the 2 CD FITD package...the least expensive one at Target. I loved the People magazine article that detailed all the songs that Paul and Elvis wrote together. I was curious if the Super Deluxe FITD package basically had similar information...a rundown of all of the songs that Paul and Elvis did. The People Magazine article not only had a list of the songs and on which album they ended on, but for each song they gave bits of information about the origin of the song, Paul and/or Elvis's contributions etc.
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Yes, there is tons of info at the back of one of the books. P.S. Thanks for asking. I've had a mini-cold and/or allergies since about March 20th! Just aggravating!
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Anybody here buy the Flowers in the Dirt Best Buy CDs with the single promo? Did you get your promo single yet? I ordered mine the morning of release and keep getting backorder notifications. I feel like this is going to take a long time!
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LetMeRollIt89:
Anybody here buy the Flowers in the Dirt Best Buy CDs with the single promo? Did you get your promo single yet? I ordered mine the morning of release and keep getting backorder notifications. I feel like this is going to take a long time!
_____________________________________________________ LetMeRollIt89 I bought my 2 Disc set at Target but I hope your "single promo" arrives shortly for you.
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Just wanted to point out, I just "googled" Paul McCartney to see current articles. A new review on the Flowers in the Dirt Reissue just appeared. This Review is from BC (BlogCritics) and the writer is "The Other Chad". He explains that there are 2 writers who share the name Chad so that is why he goes by "The Other Chad". I'm certain he didn't read my earlier posts on this site (re: FITD) but several of his points in his review followed almost verbatim what I said. He singled out a couple of the subpar Paul only tracks (namely the last 2) and still finds it unbelievable that Paul didn't include "The Lovers That Never Were", Back on My Feet, and possible the inclusion of either Tommy's Coming Home and Twenty Fine Fingers. I responded positively to his review and added that another great B-side (Paul's only "Flying to My Home") would have been significantly better in my opinion than any one of the last 3 tracks. "Flying to My Home" is a rock-oriented track that was needed for Flowers compared to Motor of Love. I know this is crying over spilt milk as the decisions that Paul made are from 1989. It does show however, as several have pointed out on this thread, of how bad Paul is at making "final track picks" for his albums. Listening to this year's Flowers in the Dirt Remaster, just reminded me of this problem that Paul consistently seems to have. As Yankeefan has pointed out, when Paul has someone like Nigel Goodrich with equal control, there weren't subpar tracks on Chaos and Creation. I still remember when Red Rose Speedway was released. The first 6 or 7 tracks were quite good in my opinion, and then he fills the last third of the album with the dreadful, 12 minute Medley tracks. The album initially was going to be a Double Album and Paul had so many better options.
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Okay BJ, a couple of thoughts on your last comment. I always thought Paul's album selections were pretty bizarre at times. For example, Red Rose Speedway should have had Live and Let Die, HI HI HI, and Oh Woman Oh Why; Venus and Mars should have added Soily and Juniors Farm; London Town would have sold another two million lps' if Mull of Kintyre and Girl's School were included; and finally, the addition of Goodnight Tonight and Daytime Nighttime Suffering would have made Back To The Egg a #1 album. IMO, Chaos and Creation has SEVERAL subpar tracks; I mean, English Tea, A Certain Softness, Friends To Go, and Jenny Wren are ALWAYS skipped. Always. And sorry, but I freaking LOVE the Red Rose Speedway Medley. Always have. Always will. Now to be fair, your comments are always a welcomed sight; I enjoy them immensely! I agree to disagree politely though!!
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As a solo recording artist, Paul's first screw-up was not releasing Maybe I'm Amazed as a single. It would have been a #1 hit and sold at least a million copies. He's been consistently bad at making certain song choices ever since.