The next Paul McCartney/MPL Music Project should be
-
Thanks Oobu. That's a great idea.
-
oobu24 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Your idea of a DVD or two of Paul's classic concerts is a great one. I already have the Red Square and Put It There DVDs but I would love to have the Up Close and Personal MTV DVD (with his Hamish and Robbie etc Band) as well as the Cavern Club Perforance in 1999 with David Gilmous and the rest of his Run Devil Run Band. His vocals on both of these shows that I have seen on Youtube were fantastic and some of his best ever. We can only hope that DVD's like these will eventually be released.
Talk later.
You need to search for the DVDs you want. Some are available on ebay.
I have that one!
B J, not planning to see Paul since a) He's not coming anywhere near me, and b) The tickets are too damned expensive!
Bogie Wobble, "I have a feeling Sir Paul is a perfectionist" Ya think? (Sorry, we've been saying that here forever!)
-
"I do not think BJ Conlee's concept is a dead horse nor long shot at all. Let's not forget, in one of the You Gave Me The Answer posts, was it not Sir Paul that came up with the Cold Cuts and Not So Hot Hits collection that was shelved at the time by the powers at be? That project should be revisited and expanded and yet it would not really compete with future archive releases. Having the material curated, supervised along with insight by Sir Paul would be best."
There are very few if any people on this board who share and appreciate BJ's passion about Paul's solo career than me. That being said, BJ has done several posts about this type of project for awhile so it is beating a dead horse to myself and NJR for example. I don't mind if BJ continues to do it but I am at the point of not replying anymore because I have shared my opinion several times already. Let me remind you that it was only a few years ago that "Pure McCartney" was released and it flopped commercially. I will be the first one to tell you the McCartney team did a horrible job with song selection and I told BJ he would do a much better job if he could do a compilation. I will still bet anyone money that this type of compilation will never happen in Paul's lifetime.
"I was thinking back when Bob Dylan first released his official Bootleg Series vol.1-3 the critics were simply raving, giving it the max five out of five stars. The material on that collection was legendary and with varied audio fidelity circulating in even lower quality for years. Since that set was released, there are now sixteen _B_ootleg Series volumes and counting."
You can't compare Bob Dylan doing a bootleg with Paul because Dylan has always been a solo act and Paul is thought of as a Beatle and leader of Wings. Very few critics ( exception the "Take It Away "Podcast guys) think of Paul as a solo artist so a "Bootleg" series of his solo work would not IMO interest many critics.
"One of BJ Conlee's selections, the most excellent The Lovers That Never Were demo with Elvis Costello is a prime example. The official album version is good, but it never struck me. When the archive edition finally released this early demo in fairly high and very acceptable quality, I was blown away. Sir Paul's vocals showing raw emotion, with such versatility is really incredible and unique. I feel like I have just been through something. This is what I'm talkin' about!
I do not think it would be a money grab at all. Rather, a much anticipated and well deserved option for so many fans."
Nobody is denying that Paul is fantastic and this is a wonderful song and version of it. Paul's collabaration with Elvis Costello was fantastic and wish they would have tried it again. The problem is there are not so many fans who would care about this song or many other solo songs. Sad to say but he has not been commercially viable artist in about 40 years. Paul even jokes that when he plays some non Beatle/Wings music it appears the audience is taking a bathroom break. The interest in any type of compilation CD like BJ has created would be slim and IMO and mostly a few fans on this site.
Finally, I would advise people to make their own CD with the songs they like from BJ's list. It would not be that difficult if you have the time.
-
Hey Yankeefan...
I think Bruce made a very good suggestion. Since the success of this project might depend on appealing to "casual Beatle/Paul fans" (not hard core fans like you and me), why not limit an initial Release to 1 CD with a "Sale" Price from Target or Walmart at $9.99. That way it would give casual fans a chance to try the CD with little cost to them. The marketing/publicity selling point would still be same...A "Leftover/Rarities" type of Set with the emphasis being on songs that never appeared on "original McCartney" albums or CDs.
Off the top of my head, here would be a suggested 1 CD Tracklist:
1. A Love For You (my favorite version is the "In-Laws Sountrack" version)
2. The Mess (Live at the Hague 1972)
3. Best Friend (Live in Antwerp 1972)
4. Sally G (B-Side)
5. Waterspout (Unreleased)
6. Daytime Nightime Suffering (B-Side)
7. Rainclouds (B-Side)
8. On the Wings of a Nighingale - Paul's Demo (Unreleased)
9. Yvonne's the One (Unreleased)
10. Flying to My Home (B-Side)
11. Loveliest Thing (B-Side)
12. Love Come Tumbling Down (B-Side)
13. I Can't Imagine (B-Side)
14. Whole Life (the Nelson Mandela tribute version)
15. Home Tonight (Issued as a Double A-Side Single well after Egypt Station was released)
16. In A Hurry (Same as directly Above)
I don't know if you could fit this number of tracks in 1 CD but I would love the variety of this set. You have rock, rockabilly, ballads, country, mid-temp etc. I think this Set could do very well with the right publicity. It has, in my opinion, commercial type stuff in the overall tracklist.
-
B J Conlee wrote:
Hey Yankeefan...
I think Bruce made a very good suggestion. Since the success of this project might depend on appealing to "casual Beatle/Paul fans" (not hard core fans like you and me), why not limit an initial Release to 1 CD with a "Sale" Price from Target or Walmart at $9.99. That way it would give casual fans a chance to try the CD with little cost to them. The marketing/publicity selling point would still be same...A "Leftover/Rarities" type of Set with the emphasis being on songs that never appeared on "original McCartney" albums or CDs.
Off the top of my head, here would be a suggested 1 CD Tracklist:
1. A Love For You (my favorite version is the "In-Laws Sountrack" version)
2. The Mess (Live at the Hague 1972)
3. Best Friend (Live in Antwerp 1972)
4. Sally G (B-Side)
5. Waterspout (Unreleased)
6. Daytime Nightime Suffering (B-Side)
7. Rainclouds (B-Side)
8. On the Wings of a Nighingale - Paul's Demo (Unreleased)
9. Yvonne's the One (Unreleased)
10. Flying to My Home (B-Side)
11. Loveliest Thing (B-Side)
12. Love Come Tumbling Down (B-Side)
13. I Can't Imagine (B-Side)
14. Whole Life (the Nelson Mandela tribute version)
15. Home Tonight (Issued as a Double A-Side Single well after Egypt Station was released)
16. In A Hurry (Same as directly Above)
I don't know if you could fit this number of tracks in 1 CD but I would love the variety of this set. You have rock, rockabilly, ballads, country, mid-temp etc. I think this Set could do very well with the right publicity. It has, in my opinion, commercial type stuff in the overall tracklist.
Just a difference of opinion BJ, the casual Beatle/Paul fan is not going to care one bit about this type of CD. I think the target group is the hardcore fan and that is why I have mentioned several times this type of project should be "Limited " release like the Russian album many years ago. Make it available to fans on this board first to judge interest and then take it from there. Make the packaging as bare as possible to keep cost down. Have Paul sign a couple hundred of them for a bunch of money and have it go to charity. If they can't get any interest/sales from people on this board then you know it will not sell.
-
Yankeefan2 wrote:
B J Conlee wrote:
Hey Yankeefan...
I think Bruce made a very good suggestion. Since the success of this project might depend on appealing to "casual Beatle/Paul fans" (not hard core fans like you and me), why not limit an initial Release to 1 CD with a "Sale" Price from Target or Walmart at $9.99. That way it would give casual fans a chance to try the CD with little cost to them. The marketing/publicity selling point would still be same...A "Leftover/Rarities" type of Set with the emphasis being on songs that never appeared on "original McCartney" albums or CDs.
Off the top of my head, here would be a suggested 1 CD Tracklist:
1. A Love For You (my favorite version is the "In-Laws Sountrack" version)
2. The Mess (Live at the Hague 1972)
3. Best Friend (Live in Antwerp 1972)
4. Sally G (B-Side)
5. Waterspout (Unreleased)
6. Daytime Nightime Suffering (B-Side)
7. Rainclouds (B-Side)
8. On the Wings of a Nighingale - Paul's Demo (Unreleased)
9. Yvonne's the One (Unreleased)
10. Flying to My Home (B-Side)
11. Loveliest Thing (B-Side)
12. Love Come Tumbling Down (B-Side)
13. I Can't Imagine (B-Side)
14. Whole Life (the Nelson Mandela tribute version)
15. Home Tonight (Issued as a Double A-Side Single well after Egypt Station was released)
16. In A Hurry (Same as directly Above)
I don't know if you could fit this number of tracks in 1 CD but I would love the variety of this set. You have rock, rockabilly, ballads, country, mid-temp etc. I think this Set could do very well with the right publicity. It has, in my opinion, commercial type stuff in the overall tracklist.
Just a difference of opinion BJ, the casual Beatle/Paul fan is not going to care one bit about this type of CD. I think the target group is the hardcore fan and that is why I have mentioned several times this type of project should be "Limited " release like the Russian album many years ago. Make it available to fans on this board first to judge interest and then take it from there. Make the packaging as bare as possible to keep cost down. Have Paul sign a couple hundred of them for a bunch of money and have it go to charity. If they can't get any interest/sales from people on this board then you know it will not sell.
Same for me Yankeefan...just a difference of opinion for these reasons:
-
Of course, the primary audience would be the hard core fans and I think they would react very positive especially for a CD that would cost anywhere from just $10 to $15. I agree that it should have minimal packaging cost. I think hard core fans would be more like me...the most important thing is the music itself. I also think they would be very positive with the tracklist. They would get first rate sound quality for unreleased material like "A Love For You", "Waterspout", "On the Wings of a Nightingale", "Yvonne's the One", and great B-Sides like "Flying to My Home", "Loveliest Thing", "I Can't Imagine", "Rainclouds", "Sally G", "The Mess" etc... all in one convenient inexpensive package.
-
I agree that the hardest part would be getting the "casual Beatle/Paul fan to take a chance on buying a "Leftovers/Rarities CD". The first part of getting that job done and being successful is the marketing/publicity/articles and reviews part of it. Paul/MPL did a great job on getting the word out on McCartney 3. If you can get strong reviews and lots of positive articles that would be half the battle. I believe critics (especially younger ones) would be favorable to this type of "Leftovers/Rarities" inexpensive package because of the quality of these recordings. For those who aren't hard core fans, they would, in my opinion, be very surprised how commercial they still sound. The songs, in my opinion, are better than a good percentage of tracks that actually made the original albums.
I like the "inexpensive" one CD approach to this project and I am confident the overall reaction from the music industry (reviewers, general music writers etc.) would be very positive. It also has a good story to tell especially the "unreleased" material. These are actual songs that didn't make the "cut" to get on the original albums. The more positive publicity that an artist, record company gets...the more they can turn and expand their audience to actual buyers. I think a lot of Beatle and Paul fans (even if they are casual fans) would buy an inexpensive CD if the reviews, articles are very positive. The big problem with Paul's Archive Series taking one album at a time is that they are very, very expensive so casual fans wouldn't consider buying these big packages that are more for completests, collectors or people with a lot of money anyway.
I'll be interested in seeing what other Boardies here think.
Thanks as always for your imput and honest opinions.
-
-
B J, type up all your ideas for Macca compilation albums, go to London, camp out in front of MPL and eventually Paul would have to show up. Wow him with your charm and enthusiasm and present him with your "manifesto." Maybe he'll even offer you a job! (Remind him about his and John's vision for Apple!) When I'm in London Aug. 31 - Sept. 5 I'll stop by his office and see if they accept album concept submissions.
I think if he really looked at it, he'd be impressed! -
Rather than new compilations, my personal preference would be to continue the archive collections (and pick up the pace a little). I don't think a comp of rareties is going to have widespread commercial appeal, and these super deluxe editions should capture all of these tracks at some point. Just my opinion. Of course I would take the comp in a heartbeat to more quickly fill in some holes.
-
Iowa Hawkeye Beatlefan wrote:
Rather than new compilations, my personal preference would be to continue the archive collections (and pick up the pace a little). I don't think a comp of rareties is going to have widespread commercial appeal, and these super deluxe editions should capture all of these tracks at some point. Just my opinion. Of course I would take the comp in a heartbeat to more quickly fill in some holes.
Yes Iowa Hawkeye....I bought the first couple Archive Collections like Band on the Run. You had the availability of smaller packages that weren't overly expensive. From my memory, you got 2 CDs and 1 DVD. Can't quite remember what I paid for that set but I'm thinking it might had been from Best Buy and the price was around $30. On the newest ones however, the packages got bigger and bigger and the prices became ridiculous. I'm talking more recent Archive Collections like Flaming Pie, Flowers in the Dirt, and even Wildlife/Red Rose Speedway. They all had raritiy type songs I would love to own but you had to buy all the extra, extra stuff that "casual" fans would never buy. I would imagine that an Archive for London Town and Back to the Egg would be just as pricey. All right for collectors or completests but not regular, more casual Beatle or Paul fans.
This is why a very affordable small package (even 1 CD for a starter) in my opinion does make sense. If it's priced right and if Paul and the Record Company gets the right publicity for it, it would sell. I think the 1 CD Set would have a great story to tell...not "throw aways" but good songs not on the corresponding original Paul album at the time. The tracklist would have unreleased type stuff and great B-Sides included. In my opinion, the example tracklist I've written has mostly wonderful songs that also have good, commercial appeal.
I agree with you that this overly long Archive process has been way too long even for hard core fans. You had to wait forever to get the "chestnuts" you really want. For me it's all about the music and not the Books, DVD's and other cutesy stuff. Paul and MPL has continued to make these pacgages bigger and bigger just so they can make a profit. Just give me an affordable greatest hits package of Unreleased and B-Sides, and I would buy them in a heartbeat. It's mainly the "music" that is my full interest.
-
"This is why a very affordable small package (even 1 CD for a starter) in my opinion does make sense. If it's priced right and if Paul and the Record Company gets the right publicity for it, it would sell. I think the 1 CD Set would have a great story to tell...not "throw aways" but good songs not on the corresponding original Paul album at the time. The tracklist would have unreleased type stuff and great B-Sides included. In my opinion, the example tracklist I've written has mostly wonderful songs that also have good, commercial appeal."
I am curious why you would think this would be commercially succesful. Paul's recent albums have been critically acclaimed and promoted fairly well and have not sold well after the first couple of weeks. If we all take a reality check, Paul has not been commercially succesful in 40 years. In addition, I just don't see Paul going out and promoting an archive compilation that is very "bare bones".
"I agree with you that this overly long Archive process has been way too long even for hard core fans. You had to wait forever to get the "chestnuts" you really want. For me it's all about the music and not the Books, DVD's and other cutesy stuff. Paul and MPL has continued to make these pacgages bigger and bigger just so they can make a profit. Just give me an affordable greatest hits package of Unreleased and B-Sides, and I would buy them in a heartbeat. It's mainly the "music" that is my full interest"
You nailed the problem with this type of project BJ. MPL is concerned with making a decent profit and archive package is not going to be big money maker. It is plain and simple, MPL is all about making the big buck. Once again, love the music and it is nice idea but the reality is that it is not high priority for MPL.
-
Yankeefan2 wrote:
"This is why a very affordable small package (even 1 CD for a starter) in my opinion does make sense. If it's priced right and if Paul and the Record Company gets the right publicity for it, it would sell. I think the 1 CD Set would have a great story to tell...not "throw aways" but good songs not on the corresponding original Paul album at the time. The tracklist would have unreleased type stuff and great B-Sides included. In my opinion, the example tracklist I've written has mostly wonderful songs that also have good, commercial appeal."
I am curious why you would think this would be commercially succesful. Paul's recent albums have been critically acclaimed and promoted fairly well and have not sold well after the first couple of weeks. If we all take a reality check, Paul has not been commercially succesful in 40 years. In addition, I just don't see Paul going out and promoting an archive compilation that is very "bare bones".
"I agree with you that this overly long Archive process has been way too long even for hard core fans. You had to wait forever to get the "chestnuts" you really want. For me it's all about the music and not the Books, DVD's and other cutesy stuff. Paul and MPL has continued to make these pacgages bigger and bigger just so they can make a profit. Just give me an affordable greatest hits package of Unreleased and B-Sides, and I would buy them in a heartbeat. It's mainly the "music" that is my full interest"
You nailed the problem with this type of project BJ. MPL is concerned with making a decent profit and archive package is not going to be big money maker. It is plain and simple, MPL is all about making the big buck. Once again, love the music and it is nice idea but the reality is that it is not high priority for MPL.
Hey Yankeefan...you may be right that this isn't a realistic CD package to sell. All "Aging" Rock/Pop Artists (including Paul) only stay on the Billboard Best Seller List for a few weeks. That was certainly true for McCartney 3 and Egypt Station. They did get good publicity which put them at #1 or # 2 for a couple of weeks in both the USA and Great Britain which is as successful as you can be in this day and age for Older Music Stars. It doesn't mean that McCartney 3 and Egypt Station werren't profitable in the end. I would admit that what I'm suggesting (a small Leftovers and Rarities CD) would probably be a slower sales arc but I think it could be successfu if Paul and Record Company had the right publicity behind it. You woudn't get all the sales at once like you did with McCartney 3 and ES. That being said, I think it could be successful in the long run. My key point is that this Tracklist for "Leftovers and Rarities" are songs that weren't on Paul's original albums. The Problem with "Pure McCartney" (A true Greatest Hits Compilation) is that so many of the songs were already on previous orlginal albums and other Compilations. And you are right that some of the more obscure choices they added were bad selections. This idea is totally different! You have a tracklist of songs that casual Beatle and Paul fans don't have and it is an inexpensive package to boot.
Anyway, I'm with you that I'm beating a dead horse. Hopefully the right people (including Paul and his kids) would read our latest Posts and it will spark a new Project idea for Paul and MPL Are the "up front"costs commercially viable is another question and I can't answer that question. Take care.
-
"Anyway, I'm with you that I'm beating a dead horse. Hopefully the right people (including Paul and his kids) would read our latest Posts and it will spark a new Project idea for Paul and MPL Are the "up front"costs commercially viable is another question and I can't answer that question. Take care"
As I have stated, it could happen but it would be many years from now. Paul's kids (estate) would probably want to wrap all his music up in a bow and package it one last time. I only hope if it ever gets done, it is by somebody like Giles Martin. Actually, I would nominate you for the project if you are not too busy traveling around the world -lol
-
Yankeefan2 wrote:
"Anyway, I'm with you that I'm beating a dead horse. Hopefully the right people (including Paul and his kids) would read our latest Posts and it will spark a new Project idea for Paul and MPL Are the "up front"costs commercially viable is another question and I can't answer that question. Take care"
As I have stated, it could happen but it would be many years from now. Paul's kids (estate) would probably want to wrap all his music up in a bow and package it one last time. I only hope if it ever gets done, it is by somebody like Giles Martin. Actually, I would nominate you for the project if you are not too busy traveling around the world -lol
This posted really had me laughing at the end. I read it to my Wife and she was laughing too.
We're now going out for a few errands. I'm sure there will be a lot of traffic tomorrow on Maccaboard. By that time, we will know the complete setlist and probably be able to see a few videos from Spokane's show.
-
To complicate things a bit: Aside from the rarities that BJ has listed, there are plenty of never-released tracks that have been reported on but have never seen the light of day, like You Are Still Here. You could sprinkle in a couple of those to have some truly "new" (i.e. never released in any form) material and maybe add some interest. I personally would love to hear a lot of this stuff. But it may be that we won't get to hear it until Paul is gone and his estate starts doing posthumous releases of buried treasures.
-
Bruce M. wrote:
To complicate things a bit: Aside from the rarities that BJ has listed, there are plenty of never-released tracks that have been reported on but have never seen the light of day, like You Are Still Here. You could sprinkle in a couple of those to have some truly "new" (i.e. never released in any form) material and maybe add some interest. I personally would love to hear a lot of this stuff. But it may be that we won't get to hear it until Paul is gone and his estate starts doing posthumous releases of buried treasures.
Never released tracks are by far what I'm most interested in, I would love to be able to get these!
-
Bruce M. wrote:
To complicate things a bit: Aside from the rarities that BJ has listed, there are plenty of never-released tracks that have been reported on but have never seen the light of day, like You Are Still Here. You could sprinkle in a couple of those to have some truly "new" (i.e. never released in any form) material and maybe add some interest. I personally would love to hear a lot of this stuff. But it may be that we won't get to hear it until Paul is gone and his estate starts doing posthumous releases of buried treasures.
Great point. I tapped on the "You Are Still Here" song above and the main quote came from Gabe Dixon, a wonderful keyboardist from the "Driving Rain" Sessions. I remember Rusty Anderson also talking about a good song from those sessions that never made it on the actual Driving Rain album. If the same song came from that era, it sounds like Paul wrote it in the 2000-2002 time era. If Paul could add a song or two that are truly unreleased and only in his vaults, that would really boost the viability of a "Leftovers and Rarities" type CD I'm suggesting.
More recently Diana Krall did a cover of a Paul song he wrote for the "Kisses" Sessions that never saw the light of day on the subsequent "Kisses" albums. Maybe that's another song that could be added for this proposed project. I think the name of the song was like "If You Take Me Home Tonight". Maybe Paul has a demo of this song in his vaults.
-
"More recently Diana Krall did a cover of a Paul song he wrote for the "Kisses" Sessions that never saw the light of day on the subsequent "Kisses" albums. Maybe that's another song that could be added for this proposed project. I think the name of the song was like "If You Take Me Home Tonight". Maybe Paul has a demo of this song in his vaults."
That song is beautiful and Diana Kroll is wonderful !!!
-
Yankeefan2 wrote:
"More recently Diana Krall did a cover of a Paul song he wrote for the "Kisses" Sessions that never saw the light of day on the subsequent "Kisses" albums. Maybe that's another song that could be added for this proposed project. I think the name of the song was like "If You Take Me Home Tonight". Maybe Paul has a demo of this song in his vaults."
That song is beautiful and Diana Kroll is wonderful !!!
It's "If I Take You Home Tonight"
-
NJR wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
"More recently Diana Krall did a cover of a Paul song he wrote for the "Kisses" Sessions that never saw the light of day on the subsequent "Kisses" albums. Maybe that's another song that could be added for this proposed project. I think the name of the song was like "If You Take Me Home Tonight". Maybe Paul has a demo of this song in his vaults."
That song is beautiful and Diana Kroll is wonderful !!!
It's "If I Take You Home Tonight"
And yes, it's beautiful. "You Are Still Here" is reportedly about Linda. I bet it's heartbreaking.
-
Bruce M. wrote:
NJR wrote:
Yankeefan2 wrote:
"More recently Diana Krall did a cover of a Paul song he wrote for the "Kisses" Sessions that never saw the light of day on the subsequent "Kisses" albums. Maybe that's another song that could be added for this proposed project. I think the name of the song was like "If You Take Me Home Tonight". Maybe Paul has a demo of this song in his vaults."
That song is beautiful and Diana Kroll is wonderful !!!
It's "If I Take You Home Tonight"
And yes, it's beautiful. "You Are Still Here" is reportedly about Linda. I bet it's heartbreaking.
https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/song/you-are-still-here/
Wish we could hear it!