Paul Is Live

Paul Is Live
Live album by Paul McCartney
Released 8 November 1993 (UK)
16 November 1993 (US)
Recorded 22 March–15 June 1993
Genre Rock
Length 72:55
Label Parlophone
Producer Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney chronology
Off the Ground
(1993)		 Paul Is Live
(1993)		 Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest
(1993)
Paul Is Live – The New World Tour
Video by Paul McCartney
Released 1994
Recorded 1993
Genre Rock music
Length 85 min.
Label MPL
Rounder Home Video
Director Aubrey Powell
Producer Steven J. Swartz
Paul McCartney chronology
Get Back
(1991)		 Paul Is Live – The New World Tour
(1993)		 Live at the Cavern Club
(1999)

Paul Is Live is a live album by Paul McCartney, released in 1993 during his New World Tour in support of the album Off the Ground. The album cover is based on that of Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road and contains multiple references to the "Paul is dead" conspiracy theory.

Title and cover

The album's title is a response to the "Paul is dead" rumours after the 1969 release of the Beatles' last studio album, Abbey Road, and the cover of Paul Is Live is a digitally altered version of the 1969 album's sleeve. Intentional differences between the two covers are:[1][2]

The dog appearing on the cover is Arrow, one of the offspring of Martha, the sheepdog that was the inspiration for the title of the song "Martha My Dear". The cover photo is from the Abbey Road cover photoshoot by photographer Iain Macmillan. There are differences between this and the photograph used for the Abbey Road cover; most notably, the taxi present in the Abbey Road cover photograph does not feature here. The retouching was done by CGI artist Erwin Keustermans, who erased the Beatles and put in McCartney and the dog, taken from 35 mm pictures by Linda McCartney.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
Entertainment Weekly (album)B+[5]
Entertainment Weekly (video)B[6]
The Essential Rock Discography4/10[7]
MusicHound[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]

Excerpted from his shows in Australia, as well as from various cities in the United States, Paul Is Live followed the 1989–90 Paul McCartney World Tour/Tripping the Live Fantastic extravaganza by only three years, confounding critics and fans as to its appearance, and some its necessity (although the only song it has in common with Tripping The Live Fantastic is "Live And Let Die"). As a result, Paul Is Live became McCartney's lowest-selling live set of his career, peaking at number 34 in the UK and a lowly number 78 in the US.

A concert film subtitled The New World Tour was subsequently released on VHS, and later on DVD. It was directed by Aubrey Powell. The video release includes the controversial pre-concert film, which features vintage footage of the Beatles, solo-era live footage of "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Bluebird" from the Rockshow film, then switches tone by including graphic animal test footage (all of which is underscored by "Live And Let Die" and "Helter Skelter"), and, finally, warmup footage of the band. The program starts with the warm-up footage, and is played in full at the conclusion of the concert. The packaging included a disclaimer warning regarding the graphic nature of the animal footage.

Afterwards, McCartney took a sizeable break from his solo career to begin the enormous Beatles Anthology project in early 1994 with George Harrison, Ringo Starr and George Martin. This took up much of his time for the next two years, before Flaming Pie in 1997.

Track listing

All songs composed by Paul McCartney, except where noted

Album
  1. "Drive My Car" (John Lennon, McCartney) – 2:34
  2. "Let Me Roll It" (McCartney, Linda McCartney) – 4:10
  3. "Looking for Changes" – 2:43
  4. "Peace in the Neighbourhood" – 4:50
  5. "All My Loving" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:16
  6. "Robbie's Bit (Thanks Chet)" (Robbie McIntosh) – 2:00
  7. "Good Rockin' Tonight" (Roy Brown) – 2:48
  8. "We Can Work It Out" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:42
  9. "Hope of Deliverance" – 3:29
  10. "Michelle" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:56
  11. "Biker Like an Icon" – 3:40
  12. "Here, There and Everywhere" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:29
  13. "My Love" (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 4:06
  14. "Magical Mystery Tour" (Lennon–McCartney) – 3:15
  15. "C'Mon People" – 5:38
  16. "Lady Madonna" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:33
  17. "Paperback Writer" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:39
  18. "Penny Lane" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:58
  19. "Live and Let Die" (P. McCartney, L. McCartney) – 3:51
  20. "Kansas City" (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Richard Penniman) – 3:54
  21. "Welcome to Soundcheck" – 0:41
  22. "Hotel in Benidorm" – 2:00
  23. "I Wanna Be Your Man" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:36
  24. "A Fine Day" – 6:18
Video release
  1. "Drive My Car" (Lennon–McCartney)
  2. "Let Me Roll It" (P. McCartney, L. McCartney)
  3. "Looking for Changes"
  4. "Peace in the Neighbourhood"
  5. "All My Loving" (Lennon–McCartney)
  6. "Good Rocking Tonight" (Brown)
  7. "We Can Work It Out" (Lennon–McCartney)
  8. "Hope of Deliverance"
  9. "Michelle" (Lennon–McCartney)
  10. "Biker Like an Icon"
  11. "Here, There and Everywhere" (Lennon–McCartney)
  12. "Magical Mystery Tour" (Lennon–McCartney)
  13. "C'Mon People"
  14. "Lady Madonna" (Lennon–McCartney)
  15. "Paperback Writer" (Lennon–McCartney)
  16. "Penny Lane" (Lennon–McCartney)
  17. "Live and Let Die" (P. McCartney, L. McCartney)
  18. "Kansas City" (Leiber, Stoller, Penniman)
  19. "Let It Be" (Lennon–McCartney)
  20. "Yesterday" (Lennon–McCartney)
  21. "Hey Jude" (Lennon–McCartney)

Band line-up

Charts

Peak positions

Album release
Chart Position
Austrian Albums Chart[10] 38
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[11] 60
German Media Control Albums Chart[12] 44
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart [13] 16
Spanish Albums Chart[14] 13
Swedish Albums Chart [15] 23
UK Albums Chart [16] 34
US Billboard 200 [17] 78

Certifications

Album release
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[18] Gold 50,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Video release
Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[19] Gold 50,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Is Dead – Conspiracy Theories – TIME". time.com. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Beatles CD's – Paul Is Live withdrawn issue". rarebeatles.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Paul Is Live at AllMusic
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th edn). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 1257. ISBN 0-19-531373-9.
  5. ↑ Sinclair, Tom (19 November 1993). "Music Review: Paul McCartney: Paul Is Live". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Givens, Ron (8 April 1994). "Video Review: Paul McCartney: Paul is Live: In Concert on the New World Tour". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  7. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Essential Rock Discography. Edinburgh, UK: Canongate. p. 696. ISBN 978-184195-827-9.
  8. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 730. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  9. ↑ "Paul McCartney: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Paul McCartney – Paul Is Live – austriancharts.at". Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  11. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Paul McCartney – Paul Is Live". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Album Search: Paul McCartney – Paul Is Live" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "ポール・マッカートニーポール・イズ・ライブ～ニュー・ワールド・ツアー・ライブ！！／ポール・マッカートニー-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック" [Highest position and charting weeks of Paul Is Live by Paul McCartney] (in Japanese). oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  14. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Paul McCartney – Paul Is Live". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  16. ↑ "Paul McCartney > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Allmusic – Paul Is Live > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  18. ↑ "Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1991–1995". Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano. ISBN 8480486392.
  19. ↑ "American video certifications – Paul McCartney – Paul Is Live". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Video Longform, then click SEARCH
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