Tug of War (Paul McCartney album)

Tug of War
Studio album by Paul McCartney
Released	26 April 1982
Recorded	October 1980 – December 1981
Genre	Rock
Length	41:10
Label	Parlophone, Columbia
Producer	George Martin
Paul McCartney chronology
McCartney II (1980) Tug of War (1982) Pipes of Peace (1983)
Singles from Tug of War
"Ebony and Ivory" Released: 29 March 1982 "Take It Away" Released: 21 June 1982 "Tug of War" Released: 6 September 1982

Tug of War is the third solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released in April 1982. It was McCartney's first album released after the dissolution of Wings in April 1981. The album was produced by former Beatles producer George Martin and was a number #1 in numerous countries.

Recording

Following the release of the solo album McCartney II, Wings regrouped in July and October 1980 to rehearse several songs which later appeared on Tug of War and Pipes of Peace. Feeling the need for direction, McCartney called upon his old producer, George Martin, to begin recording a song written for the animated Rupert Bear character (to which McCartney owned the rights), entitled "We All Stand Together", among others. The productive sessions continued until 9 December, the morning McCartney woke up to discover his old songwriting partner and fellow ex-Beatle, John Lennon, had been shot and killed the night before in New York City. Abandoning that day's session part-way through (where he and Denny Laine were recording future B-Side "Rainclouds"), both Martin and McCartney felt it was best to leave the project for the time being and start anew once they were ready.

In February 1981, two months after Lennon's death, Paul McCartney resumed his sessions, recording that month with Stevie Wonder, Stanley Clarke, Carl Perkins and Ringo Starr and laying down several songs in the process. The recordings were held at AIR Studios in Montserrat, in the Caribbean and lasted from 3 February to 2 March, ending with Ebony and Ivory and What's That You're Doing, two songs featuring Stevie Wonder.^[1] 10cc guitarist Eric Stewart also became a frequent collaborator of McCartney's during this era. Further sessions that summer were also undertaken at George Martin's AIR studios at Oxford Street, London – with the producer manning the controls and giving McCartney's music the benefit of 1980s technology. The sessions were so productive that several of its tracks would be held over for the next album, Pipes of Peace, which followed in 1983. The rest of 1981 would be spent in a quiet fashion, with McCartney and Martin touching up the album and perfecting it.

Release, critical reception and aftermath

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	B+[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
The Great Rock Discography	5/10[5]
Pitchfork Media	6.7/10[6]
PopMatters	[7]
Q	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Uncut	9/10[11]

In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, music critic Stephen Holden hailed Tug of War as "the masterpiece everyone has always known Paul McCartney could make", and particularly admired its vivid music and consistent songwriting.^[9] Robert Palmer was less enthusiastic in his review for The New York Times and found the album "exquisitely crafted though lyrically flawed", as he thought McCartney's lyrics were often "cliched or mawkish", but that the album "at its best, is as finely crafted as his work with the Beatles".^[12]

In March 1982, McCartney's duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory", was released to considerable commercial success, reaching number one in many countries. Tug of War followed in April, and similarly became a worldwide number one. The follow-up single, "Take It Away", reached the top ten in the United States. The album went on to sell several million copies and did much to restore McCartney's critical reputation after what was viewed as a lean period for him. Tug of War was nominated for the "Album of the Year" Grammy in 1983.

The album was issued in the US on compact disc on 29 February 1984.^[13] In 1993, Tug of War was remastered and re-issued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series. There were no bonus tracks: "Rainclouds" and "I'll Give You a Ring", B-sides of "Ebony and Ivory" and "Take It Away", respectively, were omitted. In 2007, Tug of War was remastered and re-released on the iTunes Store adding a solo version of "Ebony and Ivory".

Another reissue was released on 2 October 2015, as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. This edition included a remixed version of the album, along with the original mix, and a series of videos.

Track listing

All songs were written by Paul McCartney, except "What's That You're Doing?" co-written by Stevie Wonder

Side one

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?" (Duet with Stevie Wonder) – 6:19
5. "Here Today" – 2:27

Side two

6. "Ballroom Dancing" – 4:07
7. "The Pound Is Sinking" – 2:54
8. "Wanderlust" – 3:49
9. "Get It" (Duet with Carl Perkins) – 2:29
10. "Be What You See (Link)" – 0:34
11. "Dress Me Up as a Robber" – 2:41
12. "Ebony and Ivory" (Duet with Stevie Wonder) – 3:46

iTunes bonus track

13. "Ebony and Ivory" (Solo version) – 3:46

2015 remaster

In 2015 the album was re-issued by Hear Music/Concord Music Group as part of the six set of releases, alongside Pipes Of Peace, in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection. It was released in multiple formats:^[14]

• Standard Edition 2-CD; remixed version of the original 12-track album on the first disc, plus 11 bonus tracks on a second disc.
• Deluxe Edition 3CD/1DVD Box Set + 112 page essay book and 64 page scrapbook;
• Super Deluxe CD/DVD 3CD/1DVD Box Set + 112 page essay book and 64 page scrapbook + limited edition acrylic slipcase
• Remastered vinyl The albums will also be available on special gatefold vinyl editions (vinyl editions include a download card).

Digital Standard: Standard Res - without Ebooklet Standard Res – with Ebooklet Mastered for iTunes – without Ebooklet Hi-Res - 24-bit/96kHz – with Ebooklet

Deluxe: Standard Res (with or without Ebooklet) Mastered for iTunes (with Ebooklet) Hi-Res - 24-bit/96kHz (with Ebooklet)

Disc 1 – remixed album

Remixed version of the original 12-track album.

Disc 2 – original album (deluxe edition only)

The original 12-track album.

Bonus Audio (disc 2 for standard version, disc 3 for deluxe edition)

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
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) – 3:50
10. "Rainclouds" (Co-written by Denny Laine) – 3:13
11. "I'll Give You a Ring" – 3:09

Additional download tracks available via paulmccartney.com^[15]

1. "Take It Away" (single edit) - 4:05

Disc 4 – DVD

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 (new 18 minute documentary using previously unreleased archive footage)

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizers, drums, bass, vocoder, percussions
• Denny Laine – guitar, guitar synthesizer, bass on "Wanderlust"
• Eric Stewart – guitar, background vocals
• Campbell Maloney – military snares on "Tug of War"
• Ringo Starr – drums on "Take It Away"
• Steve Gadd – drums
• George Martin – electric piano
• Adrian Brett – pan pipes
• Andy Mackay – lyricon
• Adrian Sheppard – drums
• Dave Mattacks – drums
• Carl Perkins – vocals, guitar on "Get It"
• Stevie Wonder – synthesizer, electric piano, drums, vocals
• Jack Brymer – clarinet
• Keith Harvey – cello
• Ian Jewel – viola
• Bernard Partridge – violin
• Jack Rothstein – violin
• Linda McCartney – background vocals
• Stanley Clarke – bass

Accolades

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1983	Tug of War	Album of the Year[16]	Nominated
	"Ebony and Ivory" (Duet with Stevie Wonder)	Song of the Year[16]	Nominated
		Record of the Year[16]	Nominated
		Best Pop Vocal Performance – Duo or Group[16]	Nominated
	"What's That You're Doing?" (Duet with Stevie Wonder)	Best R&B Vocal Performance – Duo or Group[16]	Nominated

American Music Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1983	Paul McCartney (performer)	Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist[17]	Nominated
	"Ebony and Ivory" (Duet with Stevie Wonder)	Favorite Pop/Rock Single[17]	Nominated

Brit Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
1983 [18]	Paul McCartney (performer)	Best British Male Artist	Won
		Sony Trophy for Technical Excellence	Won
	George Martin (producer)	Best British Producer	Nominated

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)[19]	Gold	289,800[20]
Japan (Oricon Charts)		237,000^[C][21][22]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23]	Gold	50,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[24]	Gold	100,000
United States (RIAA)[25]	Platinum	1,000,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1982) Position Australian Kent Music Report[26] 2 Austrian Albums Chart[27] 2 Belgium Albums Chart[28] 3 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[29] 1 Dutch Mega Albums Chart[30] 1 French SNEP Albums Chart[31] 2 Italian Albums Chart[32] 1 Israeli Albums Chart[33] 2 Japanese Oricon Weekly LP Chart ^[B][34][35] 1 New Zealand Albums Chart[36] 4 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[37] 1 Spanish Albums Chart[38] 2 Swedish Albums Chart[39] 1 UK Albums Chart[40] 1 US Billboard 200 ^[A][41] 1 West German Media Control Albums Chart[42] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1982) Position Australian Albums Chart[26] 7 Austrian Albums Chart[43] 7 Canadian Albums Chart[44] 14 French Albums Chart[45] 12 Italian Albums Chart[32] 13 Japanese Oricon Chart[22] 37 UK Albums Chart[46] 16 US Billboard Pop Albums[47] 28

Notes

• A^ In the United States, Tug of War also entered the R&B chart, peaking at No. 11 there.^[41]
• B^ Until January 1987, Japanese albums chart had been separated into LP, CD, and cassette charts. Tug of War also entered the cassette chart, peaking at No. 12 and entering top 100 for 19 weeks.
• C^ Combined sales of LP, CD, and audio cassette.

External links

• JPGR's Beatles site: Paul McCartney's Tug of War

References

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2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Tug of War (Paul McCartney album) at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
3. Christgau, Robert (1 June 1982). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved 17 March 2013.
4. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th edn). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 1257. ISBN 0-19-531373-9.
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6. Hart, Ron (6 October 2015). "Paul McCartney: Tug of War / Pipes of Peace". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
7. Strowe, Jeff (2 October 2015). "Paul McCartney: Tug of War / Pipes of Peace". PopMatters. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
8. Nicol, Jimmy (October 1993). "Re-releases: Paul McCartney The Paul McCartney Collection". Q. p. 119.
9. Holden, Stephen (27 May 1982). "Music Reviews : Tug of War by Paul McCartney". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 August 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2008
10. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 526. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
11. "Paul McCartney Tug of War". Uncut. November 2015. p. 93.
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