Paul McCartney - Tour Rehearsal, The Barn, Sussex, Britain, 4-1989

I have many more Paul McCartney stray tracks albums to post. But my next album from him is a detour. It's an album of tour rehearsals from April 1989, in preparation for his big world tour later that year.

This is an worthy listen for two reasons, in my opinion. First off, even though all the songs are unreleased, they all come from McCartney's 1995 "Oobu Joobu" radio show. As such, the sound quality is outstanding, just as good as professional studio recordings.

The second reason needs more explanation. I'm not a big fan of live recordings from McCartney concert tours. That's because he almost always plays the expected Beatles and solo hits, and does them in the expected crowd-pleasing manner that closely matches the hit versions. I'm sure it's a lot of fun to witness in person, but it's not so great to listen to at home.

By contrast, McCartney has more of a loose, letting-it-all-hang-out approach during these rehearsals. In some cases, he's actually shouting out the chord changes for the other band members as he goes, so you know it's loose! He plays some off the wall choices that he would never do in a huge concert arena, such as "Three Cool Cats," a Coasters song the Beatles recorded but didn't release back in 1962. (And that version was sung by George Harrison.) Even when he plays the hits, he often does them in playful or mocking versions.

The rehearsal songs make up 49 minutes of music. At the end, I've added two songs from a very different source, as kind of quasi bonus tracks. They were recorded a year earlier than the rehearsals, and they're live versions. What makes them interesting in my book is that they're songs he's only played rarely. "Listen to What the Man Said" was played once in 1987, then this performance in 1988. Then it wasn't until 2012 when he began to play the song somewhat more often. "Once Upon a Long Ago" was only played twice, period, in 1987 and again here.

By the way, in reviewing this album in order to post it, I realized I had a song on it that didn't really belong, a cover of "Hit the Road Jack" from a 1990 soundcheck. So I've added that to the relevant stray tracks collection. Here's the link if you want to get the updated version:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2019/11/paul-mccartney-flying-to-my-home.html

01. It's Now or Never (Paul McCartney)
02. Got to Get You into My Life (Paul McCartney)
03. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Paul McCartney)
04. Get Back (Paul McCartney)
05. Coming Up (Paul McCartney)
06. The Fool on the Hill (Paul McCartney)
07. How Many People (Paul McCartney)
08. We Got Married (Paul McCartney)
09. This One [Mock Version] (Paul McCartney)
10. Put It There [Mock Version] (Paul McCartney)
11. Three Cool Cats (Paul McCartney)
12. Hey Jude (Paul McCartney)
13. Tutti Frutti (Paul McCartney)
14. Yellow Submarine (Paul McCartney)
15. Put It There - Hello, Goodbye (Paul McCartney)
16. Ain't That a Shame (Paul McCartney)
17. Back in the U.S.S.R. (Paul McCartney)
18. Blackbird (Paul McCartney)
19. Once Upon a Long Ago (Paul McCartney)
20. Listen to What the Man Said (Paul McCartney)

https://www75.zippyshare.com/v/kItqWH2x/file.html

The cover art photo of McCartney hanging from a pole may seem totally unrelated at first glance. But it turns out this was taken in July 1989, just outside the barn where these rehearsals took place, during a break from some additional rehearsal sessions.