Tug of War

Tug of War
Paul McCartney's studio album
Publication (s)	April 26, 1982
Label (s)	Parlophone / EMI (UK) Columbia Records (USA / Canada)
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD , download
Genre (s)	skirt
Title (number)	12
running time	41 min 10 s
occupation	Paul McCartney : vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer, drums, bass , vocoder , percussion Eric Stewart : guitar, backing vocals Denny Laine : guitar, synthesizer, bass Ringo Starr : drums Carl Perkins : vocals, guitar Steve Gadd : drums George Martin : hybrid piano, arranger Adrian Brett: Panpipe Andy Mackay : Blowwalker Adrian Sheppard: drums Dave Mattacks: drums Stevie Wonder : synthesizer, hybrid piano, drums, vocals Jack Brymer: Clarinet Keith Harvey: Cello Ian Jewel: Viola Bernard Partridge: violin Jack Rothstein: violin Linda McCartney : Backing vocals Stanley Clarke : Bass Sound engineers : Geoff Emerick and Mike Stavrou and Jon Jacobs
production	George Martin
Studio (s)	AIR Studios , London AIR Studios, Montserrat
chronology McCartney II (1980) Tug of War Pipes of Peace (1983)

Tug of War ( English tug of war ) is the fourth solo studio album by Paul McCartney . At the same time, including the Wings albums, it is Paul McCartney's 14th album after the Beatles split up . It was his first album after his group Wings split up and was released on April 26, 1982.

Emergence

Paul McCartney had released his solo album McCartney II in May 1980 , which received mixed reviews and raised the question of how it would go with McCartney's group Wings. Other band members also devoted themselves to solo projects, but McCartney denied a breakup of the band: “If one of us does something of our own, you don't have to talk about a split. Other groups belonging but also the agenda "In July 1980, the members of the Wings went -. Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney , Denny Laine , Laurence Juber and Steve Holley - Manor after Finchden in Tenterden ( Kent ), where they on new material rehearsed for a future album. In July 1980 the song Love's Full Glory , sung by Linda McCartney, was recorded in the Superbear Studios in France (Berre-les-Alpes) , which was only officially released in October 1998 on the Linda McCartney album Wide Prairie . In August 1980, Paul McCartney and Denny Laine prepared demos for the Wings' upcoming studio album at Park Gate Studio in Sussex ; Sixteen songs from the demo recordings were released on bootlegs , but only eleven of these were recorded as recordings in the years to come. In October 1980 Park Gate Studios was working on a compilation album with previously unreleased Wings / Paul McCartney songs called Cold Cuts .

The Wings rehearsed and worked on their new album again in October in Park Gate Studios and Pugin's Hall in Tenterden, but made little progress. In January 1981 the Wings worked again on Cold Cuts , reworked the song Same Time Next Year and on January 26, 1981 the final mixing of the album took place, which was not released in the end. In February 1981 Steve Holley and Laurence Juber left the wings; only Denny Laine worked on the now new Paul McCartney album until March 1981. In March / April 1981, the collaboration with Denny Laine was also ended. McCartney's decision at the time not to give any more concerts with the Wings led to Denny Laine leaving the Wings and to the official dissolution of the group on April 27, 1981.

In October McCartney had worked with George Martin at AIR Studios in London on the single We All Stand Together for the short animation film Rupert and the Frog Song ; the single was only released in November 1984. Martin eventually became the producer of the planned new McCartney album, which both recorded from early December 1980 at Martin's AIR Studios in London. It was his first collaboration with Martin since the successful James Bond single Live and Let Die from 1973. When John Lennon was shot in front of his apartment in early December 1980, McCartney broke off work on the album and withdrew from the public back. In December 1980 the following songs were partially recorded: Ode to a Koala Bear , Rainclouds , Ballroom Dancing , Tug of War and Take It Away .

From February to March 1981 Paul McCartney stayed on the island of Montserrat , where he continued to work with George Martin on Tug of War . In February, at Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat, McCartney met numerous well-known musicians, such as Ringo Starr , Carl Perkins and Stevie Wonder , who can be heard as (guest) musicians or duet partners on Tug of War . During this time the following songs were recorded: Ebony and Ivory , What's that You're Doing , Dress Me up as a Robber , Average Person , The Pound Is Sinking , Somebody Who Cares , Hey Hey , Get It and My Old Friend .

From March 11, 1981 Paul McCartney worked again in the AIR Studios in London, where further songs ( Sweetest Little Show , Wanderlust , Keep Under Cover and No Values ) were recorded. During this time, Eric Stewart, a member of 10cc , replaced Denny Laine as the musical partner of Paul McCartney, who he stayed until the album Press to Play , which was released in September 1986.

George Harrison probably recorded the song All Those Years Ago , originally intended for Ringo Starr, in his home studio FPSHOT (Friars Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames) in March 1981 as a tribute to John Lennon . Harrison changed the lyrics for this and invited Paul and Linda McCartney as well as Denny Laine to contribute the backing vocals. Since Ringo Starr already played drums in the original recordings in November 1980, all three living Beatles were involved in a new song for the first time. It was also planned that George Harrison would play guitar for the song Wanderlust , George Martin and Geoff Emerick , also present, should take over the production work. Due to time constraints, however, the recording was no longer made.

In March / April 1982 Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson recorded the duet The Girl Is Mine at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles . It was produced by Quincy Jones . It was released as a single in October 1982 and on Jackson's album Thriller . Another collaboration followed between Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, who sporadically worked on the songs Say Say Say and The Man over the next two years .

Other songs from the Tug of War recording session were: Rainclouds (B-side of the single Ebony and Ivory ), I'll Give You a Ring (B-side of the single Take It Away ), My Old Friend (another collaboration between Carl Perkins and Paul McCartney, which was only released in October 1995 on the Carl Perkins album Go Cat Go! ). The recorded songs Say Say Say , The Man , Average Person , Sweetest Little Show , Keep Under Cover and Hey Hey were used for the next album Pipes of Peace . Ode to a Koala Bear became the B-side of Say Say Say .

Further recordings, the mixing and the completion of the album dragged on until spring 1982.

As a pre-coupling of Tug of War , the single Ebony and Ivory , a duet by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, was released on March 29, 1982, which reached number 1 in the charts in Germany, Great Britain and the USA. Tug of War was finally released on April 26, 1982. In 1983 the album was nominated for a Grammy in the Album of the Year category and received other Grammy nominations for the singles Ebony and Ivory and What's That You're Doing?

Tug of War is Paul McCartney's first album to be digitally mixed and released on CD. The CD was not released until mid-1983 in Japan and in February 1984 in the USA.

Tug of War became the seventh number one album for Paul McCartney in the US, the fifth in the UK and the first number one album in Germany.

Cover design

The cover features a photo of Paul McCartney taken by Linda McCartney . The cover and album design was done by Hipgnosis and Sinc.

Track list

page 1

1. Tug of War - 4:22
2. Take It Away - 4:14
3. Somebody Who Cares - 3:19
4. What's That You're Doing? - 6:19
5. Here Today - 2:27

Page 2

1. Ballroom Dancing - 4:07
2. The Pound Is Sinking - 2:54
3. Wanderlust - 3:49
4. Get It - 2:29
5. Be What You See (Link) - 0:34
6. Dress Me Up as a Robber - 2:41
7. Ebony and Ivory - 3:46

Information on individual songs

• Paul McCartney wrote all of the songs on the album except What's That You're Doing? , which was made in collaboration with Stevie Wonder, both of whom also sing the song. Another duet with Stevie Wonder was Ebony and Ivory .
• McCartney sang the duet Get It with Carl Perkins ; Perkins also provided the guitar accompaniment for the song.
• On Take it Away , Ringo Starr plays drums on a Paul McCartney record for the first time since 1970.
• Here Today is a tribute to John Lennon and a music video was made of the song.
• Ballroom Dancing was originally supposed to be the third single from the album before the record company decided on Tug of War .
• Denny Laine contributed musically to the songs Tug of War , Somebody Who Cares , Ballroom Dancing , Wanderlust and Dress Me up as a Robber .

Re-releases

• On February 5, 1985 (USA: February 1984) the album was first released on CD without bonus tracks. The CD is accompanied by a twelve-page booklet with illustrations containing the lyrics.
• In April 1993 the CD was released in a version remastered by Peter Mew without bonus tracks. The CD comes with a twelve-page illustrated booklet containing information on the album and the lyrics to the song.
• In May 2007 the album was released in download format. In iTunes bonus track was Ebony and Ivory (Solo Version) added.
• In October 2015. Tug of War , remastered for the second time in March 2015 Steve Orchard and Paul McCartney in the Hog Hill Mill Studios remixed in Sussex, from the music label Hear Music / Concord Music Group as part of The Paul McCartney Archive Collection released . The remastering was done by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios . The CD album has a cardboard cover that can be opened and which is accompanied by an 18-page illustrated booklet containing information about the album and the lyrics to the song. The design comes from the company YES. It appeared in the following formats:

• Standard Edition
  Two CDs: The original 12-track album with a bonus CD containing the following songs, some of which have not been released before:

1. Stop, You Don't Know Where She Came From [Demo] - 1:44
2. Wanderlust [demo] - 1:46
3. Ballroom Dancing [Demo] - 2:04
4. Take It Away [demo] - 5:37
5. The Pound Is Sinking [Demo] - 2:35
6. Something That Didn't Happen [Demo] - 2:17 am
7. Ebony and Ivory [Demo] - 1:46
8. Dress Me Up As a Robber / Robber Riff [Demo] - 3:42
9. Ebony and Ivory [Solo Version] (B-side) - 3:50
10. Rainclouds (B-side) - 3:13
11. I'll Give You a Ring (B-Side) - 3:09

• Deluxe Edition
  The original 12-track album with the bonus CD mentioned above, additionally with another CD containing the original mix of Tug of War , a DVD and a 112-page bound book as well as a 64-page book Images and notes, the output also contains a code to download the album with the bonus tracks. The DVD has the following content:

1. Tug of War (Music Video) (Version 1)
2. Tug of War (Music Video) (Version 2)
3. Take It Away (music video)
4. Ebony and Ivory (Music Video)
5. Fly TIA - Behind The Scenes on Take It Away (18 minute documentary)

• Super Deluxe Edition
  The entire contents of the Deluxe Edition in an acrylic slipcase.
• The album was also released as a vinyl version as a double LP (newly remastered) including the eleven bonus tracks; the LP also contains a code to download the album with the bonus tracks.
• Take it Away (Single Edit) is available as a free download from Paul McCartney's official homepage.

• On November 17, 2017, the vinyl album was released by Capitol Records , pressed on 180 grams of blue vinyl.

Single releases

Ebony and Ivory

On March 29, 1982, the single Ebony and Ivory / Rainclouds was released and became the eighth number one hit for Paul McCartney in the US and the second number one hit in the UK and Germany.

The 12 ″ -maxisingle contains the following songs: Ebony and Ivory / Ebony and Ivory (Solo Version) / Rainclouds . Rainclouds was created during the tug-of-war recording sessions. Ebony and Ivory (Solo Version) was sung by Paul McCartney alone.

The promotional 7 ″ vinyl single in the USA contains the stereo version of the A side on both sides.

Take it away

The second single Take It Away / I'll Give You a Ring took place on June 21, 1982.

The 12 ″ -maxi single contains the following songs: Take It Away / I'll Give You a Ring / Dress Me Up as a Robber . The A-side was shortened at the beginning and at the end of the song. I'll Give You a Ring is also from the Tug of War recording sessions.

The promotional 7 ″ vinyl single in the USA contains the stereo version of the A side on both sides.

Tug of War

On September 13, 1982, the third single Tug of War / Get It was released . The A-side was shortened at the beginning and the end of the song, the B-side at the end.

The promotional 7 ″ vinyl single in the USA contains the stereo version of the A side on both sides.

The Girl Is Mine

On October 29, 1982 (USA: October 25, 1982) the single The Girl Is Mine (Michael Jackson / Paul McCartney) / Can't Get Outta the Rain (Michael Jackson) was released. In addition, a 7 ″ picture disc single was released in the UK. A single-sided recordable 7 "vinyl single was also released in the USA.

In Germany a 12 ″ -Maxi single was released, but it does not contain an extended version or a different mix of the songs.

The promotional 7 ″ vinyl single in the USA contains the stereo version of the A side on both sides.

Further promotion singles

In Canada , the promotional 12 ″ vinyl maxi single A Sample from “Tug of War” with the songs Ebony and Ivory / Ballroom Dancing / The Pound Is Sinking was released on white vinyl.

The promotional single Wanderlust / Wanderlust was produced in Argentina in 1984 , it contains the tug-of-war version, but promoted the film Broad Street , which, like the soundtrack album Give My Regards to Broad Street ' , contains the new recording of the song Wanderlust .

Music videos

Music videos were shot for the single A-sides as well as the McCartney solo version of Ebony and Ivory . No music video was made for the duet The Girl Is Mine .

Chart placements

year	album	Chart placements					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1982	Tug of War	1	2	-	1	1	The album also reached number 1 in the Dutch, Swedish and Norwegian charts and number 4 in the New Zealand charts.
2015	Tug of War (re-release)	-	-	-	47	-
year	Single release	Chart placements					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1982	Ebony and Ivory Tug of War	1	3	2	1	1	Duet with Stevie Wonder. The title also reached number 3 in the Dutch charts, number 2 in the Belgian (Flemish), Swedish and New Zealand charts and number 1 in Norway.
1982	Take It Away Tug of War	46	-	-	15th	10	The title also reached number 43 in the Dutch charts, number 28 in the Belgian charts (Flemish), number 7 in the Norwegian charts and number 30 in the New Zealand charts.
1982	Tug of War Tug of War	-	-	-	53	53
1982	The Girl Is Mine Separate single	53	-	-	8th	2	The song is included on the Michael Jackson album Thriller .

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
France (SNEP)	gold	100,000
Spain (Promusicae)	gold	50,000
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	100,000
All in all	3 × gold 1 × platinum	1,250,000

criticism

For Rolling Stone , the album was “the masterpiece that everyone thought Paul McCartney could do”. It has a variety of styles and a quality of songs that only Band on the Run can match of McCartney's previous solo albums . allmusic called the album an attempt by McCartney to squeeze everything he can onto a record, so Tug of War contains majestic ballads, folk guitar sounds, but also a rockabilly number and "of course many great melodies". Tug of War brought McCartney back to "the heights of his creative power" that he had during the Beatles' time, so other critics. Critics also highlighted the song Here Today , which Paul McCartney dedicated to John Lennon , who was murdered in December 1980 . The Rolling Stone called the song an obituary ("eulogy") for John Lennon.

literature

• Chip Madinger and Mark Easter: Eight Arms to Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 (pp. 258-268).

Web links

• More information about the album
• More information about the 2015 re-release
• Official Homepage: Tug of War
• Recorded by Paul McCartney in 1980
• Recordings by Paul McCartney from 1981
• Paul McCartney singles from 1980 to 2007

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul McCartney 1980. Quoted from Paul McCartney's solo album: Aus für die Wings? . In: Rocky. The Freizeit-Magazin , May 31, 1980.
2. ↑ See Tug of War on beatlesbible.com
3. ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 109.
4. ↑ Wings dissolved . In: Pop Rocky , June 12, 10, 1981.
5. ↑ See Tug of War on paulmccartney.com
6. ↑ 7 "-Single Ebony and Ivory
7. ↑ 12 "-Single Ebony and Ivory
8. ↑ Promotion 7 "-Single Ebony and Ivory
9. ↑ 7 ″ single Take It Away
10. ↑ 12 ″ single Take It Away
11. ↑ Promotion 7 ″ single Take It Away
12. ↑ 7 "-Single Tug of War
13. ↑ Promotion 7 ″ single Tug of War
14. ↑ 7 "-Single The Girl Is Mine
15. ↑ Promotion 7 ″ single The Girl Is Mine
16. ↑ A Sample from "Tug of War"
17. ^ Argentine promotional single : Wanderlust
18. ↑ Chart sources: hitparade.ch , allmusic.com
19. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
20. ↑ Chart sources: allmusic.com
21. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
22. ↑ See hitparade.ch
23. ^ "Only Band on the Run comes close to touching Tug of War in the richness of its style and the consistency of its songs." Cf. Stephen Holden: Paul McCartney. Tug of War . In: Rolling Stone , May 27, 1982 ( online ).
24. ↑ "[...] attempt to summarize everything he can do on one record. There's majestic balladry, folky guitars […] a rockabilly duet with Carl Perkins […] and, of course, lots of great tunes ”. Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Review: Tug of War . allmusic.com.
25. ↑ Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney. The biography . Hannibal, Höfen 2010, p. 347.
26. ↑ Stephen Holden: Paul McCartney. Tug of War . In: Rolling Stone , May 27, 1982 ( online ).