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Two Essential Paul McCartney Solo Albums Being Reissued This Week In 2CD, 2LP, & Deluxe Formats

Posted by Billyjam, June 12, 2011 01:30pm | Post a Comment

Good news for Paul McCartney and Beatles fans. This week will see the reissue of two must-have solo albums by Sir Paul; 1970's McCartney (his first post Beatles solo release) and 1980's McCartney II (his first solo album following the final Wings release).

Similarly to the recent re-issue of Wings' 1973 tour de force Band On The Run, these two new remastered reissues, available from Amoeba on Tuesday June 14th, are being re-released in a variety of formats (2CD, 2LP, & Deluxe) with lots of great bonus material. Paul himself personally supervised these two reissues for which the remastering was done at Abbey Road with same team responsible for recently working on the complete Beatles' back catalog.

While these two McCartney albums were originally released a full decade apart they actually have a lot in common since each were solo releases coming on the heels of a break from bands: McCartney came right after the Beatles breakup while McCartney II came a year of the final album by Wings; 1979's Back to the Egg.- and a year before they officially dissolved. Essentially then, these 1970 and 1980 solo McCartney albums bookend his work with Wings. Furthermore each were largely experimental spontaneous, freeform recordings (with the obvious exceptions of such songs as the infectious pop of "Coming Up" and the soulful, timeless "Maybe I'm Amazed" - Paul's moving love letter to Linda), and each were recorded in a home studio with Paul playing much of the instrumentation himself and clearly just doing exactly what he felt like doing without the constrictions of working within a band structure. For example on McCartney II he fully explored the use of electronics and experimental sounds, incorporating lots of synthesizers which he was very attracted to at the time.

Paul McCartney to Wed Nancy Shevell

Posted by Amoebite, May 6, 2011 10:45am | Post a Comment

Beloved Amoeba pal Paul McCartney is set to wed again -- this time to his girlfriend of 4 years, Nancy Shevell. This will be McCartney's third marriage. The couple has been dating since 2007. Congrats!

mccartney shevell

Record Store Day Was "Totally Awesome, Insane, and Busy": RSD 2011 Report Pt III

Posted by Billyjam, April 16, 2011 08:08pm | Post a Comment

Amoeba Hollywood shoppers wisely filled in their RSD 2011 menus while still in line today

Wow! What a Record Store Day 2011 at Amoeba Music! And there's still a couple of hours left. "Today has been a total and complete success. Totally awesome and insane and busy. I haven't seen anything like this before in the nine years I've worked here. It certainly seems like the biggest Record Store Day we've had, Xmas-style busy all day," said Rachael from the Hollywood Amoeba at 6:30pm this evening, when things had slowed down a bit but by no means come to a close for RSD 2011.

The same was also true for both the Berkeley and San Francisco Amoebas, where people in line earlier today included such folks as the guys from SAVE KUSF and musician Jeff Glave, who was interviewed by Audra (see video below).

At each store Amoeba shoppers lined up outside from hours before opening this morning, jockeying a spot in line to cop some of the approximately 300 exclusive and rare RSD 2011 releases. What set this year's RSD apart from previous years was not just the volume of releases but the musical diversity that appealed to a broad cross-section of Amoeba customers.

Since it was launched just three short years ago, Record Store Day (RSD) has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of both record stores and record labels participating. Beginning in 2008 the first RSD tallied 300 independent record stores across the US, including all three Amoeba Musics, among its retail participants. Back then the number of exclusive RSD 2008 releases amounted to a total of ten special edition records being released. Fast forward to this year and the number of special RSD 2011 releases was approximately 300 with approximately 1500 record stores participating -- and no longer confined to the US. There are now RSD-rocking stores in 20 countries overseas, too, in Europe, Japan, and Australia. In each of those countries today, as well as here at the three Amoeba stores, it was the special RSD 2011 releases that seemed to be the main attraction for attendees.

Creator Chris Brown Talks About the Origins of Record Store Day & Picks His Favorite RSD Releases: RSD 2011 Report Pt. II

Posted by Billyjam, April 16, 2011 04:55pm | Post a Comment

the line outside Amoeba Berkeley today before the Telegrpah Ave store opened for RSD 2011

From the size of the crowds swarming each Amoeba Music store today you would think that Record Store Day had been

LA hip-hop artist Evidence @ Amoeba Hollywood hamming it up today for Record Store Day - one of the many attractions to the Hollywood Amoeba for RSD 2011

around forever, but the reality is that this time four years ago there was no such thing. It wasn't until 3 years ago, on the designated third Saturday in April, that the very first Record Store Day (RSD 2008) took place, with 300 independent record stores taking part in the new music day holiday. Having since snowballed to five times that size, with RSD 2011's boasting 1500 stores participating worldwide, that seems like a comparatively humble beginning for RSD.

Even more impressive is the corresponding increase in numbers of the exclusive RSD releases. This year there are over 300 RSD releases. For RSD 2008 there were less than a dozen. So how did Record Store Day grow so rapidly and how did it even come about in the first place? To find out, I tracked down the man responsible for the creation of Record Store Day in the first place: Chris Brown from Bull Moose in Portland, Maine.

Bull Moose, which began about around the same time as Amoeba Music, started out as a humble retail record store in Brunswick, Maine. In the two decades since it has expanded into ten stores and grown to become the largest retailer of new and pre-owned music, movies and video games in Maine and Seacoast New Hampshire. Two of their stores include impressive book sections.

Read John Lennon's Angry Letter to the McCartneys Circa 1971

Posted by Miss Ess, April 15, 2011 11:43am | Post a Comment

John Lennon wrote this blistering letter to the McCartneys in 1971, when tensions over The Beatles' breakup were still running very high. The letter goes up for auction soon, and thus it has hit the web and our eyes 40 years or so after it was written. The relationship between the two most famous songwriters ever is still fascinating, even after all this time...

john lennon letter

It's a little hard on the eyes; for the full transcript, head here.

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