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'With A Little Luck': "We recorded London Town in the Caribbean, in the Virgin Islands. There was a little vogue going around - people still do it, they go to Montserrat and places like that, which is nice work if you can get it. Some people called Record Plant in LA got some equipment and put it on a boat in the Virgin Islands, so we recorded that whole album on a boat. The only strange thing about it is we never put 'Mull Of Kintyre' on it. It's like never releasing 'Yesterday': I've done some funny things like that."
'Goodnight Tonight': "That was all based round some rhythm. I do like dance records: when you listen to records, you're often down a club and want to dance with someone - I like dancin', actually!"
'Coming Up': "We did a tour of Britain and the last night was in Glasgow - good place to have your last night - and I've always got on great with Glasgow. I don't know if it's because I'm from Liverpool, but I've never had trouble. On that tour we did this one new number, which was 'Coming Up'. There was this one boy who came down to the front and while we were doing this number - it turned out to be the version which was number one in America: the live version, recorded in Glasgow - this kid was bopping away. Just seeing him go, I thought 'That's gotta mean something' and I got one of those feelings that this was going to be a hit."
'Ebony And Ivory': "I wanted a black feller and me as the white feller - I thought that was the way it ought to be done: it seemed obvious. I thought if I could have anyone it would be Stevie Wonder, so I got a demo to him and said 'I'd love you to be the other singer on it' and Stevie sent a message back saying sure, he liked it and he might do it. So I said, we're going to Montserrat and it'd be great if we could team up there.
"We got to Montserrat and my manager came in a bit pasty-faced and said 'I don't think Stevie's coming'. Luckily he was still on the phone, so I leapt to the phone: 'Stevie, you've gotta come down!' 'Well, I've got some stuff up here to do' (this elusive album he was always doing). But he's a lovely guy, so I said 'Come on, you've gotta come down. You haven't had a holiday and it's fantastic here: swimming, clear skies - it's gorgeous.' So he came and we made the track and that was great."
'Pipes of Peace': 'George Melly wrote to me and said, 'There's this children's organization and they want a peaceful song for children, a hopeful song for the future. Would you be interested in doing it?' So I set about trying to do it - then it became a song for me. If you can do an anti-war song that doesn't feel too cloying, then it's really good if you're an anti-war person, as I am. You feel you've done something worthwhile."
'No More Lonely Nights': "That was difficult, because the film had to have a song from it. When you've got a project, it's nice to have a hit: it makes the show look good. I knew it was a little bit essential, 'cause it was coming out before the film too, so if that hadn't been a hit...Actually, it wouldn't have made much difference! [Laughs.] The song was a hit and the film was a flop! I liked that song."
'We All Stand Together': "We were just doing this little cartoony thing, this little pilot - I'm really trying to make the big feature - just to see if we can make Rupert work. I'll just do a little song and get George Martin along: 'Here you are, George. I've done this one, it's not much.' George takes it away, does a monster arrangement on it all, we go and do it and it's like the hit of the year for us. And then you start to look at it and you say, 'Oh yeah, I see. It's quite attractive, that one.' It's funny, sometimes those ones you throw away can be the biggest."
'Once Upon A Long Ago': 'I've done some recording with Phil Ramone recently and this was something that came out of those sessions that we liked. The sentiment is 'times remembered': once upon a long ago...things were so much simpler then...It's got some nice bits in it, I think it's quite a haunting thing. I feel quite good about it.
"So, all the best to you - and yours."
WELL, IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY...
6th January:
Magical Mystery Tour LP hits number one in US.
8th March:
Cilia Black releases Paul's 'Step Inside Love', the theme to her TV series. Paul Jones releases the Bee Gees song 'And The Sun Will Shine' with Paul McC. on drums and Jeff Beck on guitar: strangely, it doesn't chart.
9th March:
Sgt. Pepper wins four Grammys: best album, best contemporary album, best album cover, best engineered recording.
18th March:
'Lady Madonna'/'The Inner Light' released. The A-side's rhythm seems odd at first and the song's simple opening leads into some brilliant band singing and a tight sax solo (by Ronnie Scott of jazz club fame), but after a few plays the public rightly concludes that it all gels perfectly, sending it to number one.
15th May:
John and Paul hold New York press conference to launch Apple.
17th May:
McGough and McGear album released, co-produced by Paul and featuring his brother Mike with Jimi Hendrix and other stars.
AND TEN YEARS AGO...
20th March:
'With A Little Luck' out in US, where it reaches number one. (Released in Britain three days later.)
31st March:
London Town released. Most of it was recorded in the Virgin Islands the year before.
16th June:
'I've Had Enough' released.
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