Tug of War (album)
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| Tug of War | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Paul McCartney | ||||||||||
| Released | 26 April 1982 | |||||||||
| Recorded | February–March 1981, third quarter 1981, early 1982 | |||||||||
| Genre | Soft rock, Pop | |||||||||
| Length | 41:10 | |||||||||
| Label | Parlophone/EMI (UK) Columbia Records (US) Capitol Records (US 1987-) |
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| Producer | George Martin | |||||||||
| Professional reviews | ||||||||||
| Paul McCartney chronology | ||||||||||
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Tug of War is an album by Paul McCartney, released in 1982. It is the follow-up to the 1980 album McCartney II and his first official solo album after the dissolution of Wings, who were disbanded by McCartney in April 1981. The recording sessions for the album reunited McCartney with producer George Martin. Tug of War was also McCartney's first album after the murder of John Lennon.
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[edit] Recording history
Following McCartney II's release, Wings regrouped in October 1980 to begin what would be their final recording sessions, whereby several songs later to appear on Tug of War and Pipes of Peace were rehearsed and recorded. 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 (of 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. Ex-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.
[edit] Reception
In March 1982, McCartney's duet with Stevie Wonder, "Ebony and Ivory", was released to broad acclaim. It reached #1 in many countries and did much to restore McCartney's critical reputation after what was viewed as a lean period for him. Consequently, when Tug of War appeared in April, it was an instantaneous worldwide #1, selling several million copies and was received strongly by the public, even being nominated for the "Album of the Year" Grammy in 1983. Follow-up single "Take It Away" was a US Top 10 entry as well.
[edit] Aftermath
As 1982 progressed, and with McCartney now having recovered from Lennon's death, the now forty-year-old ex-Beatle would spend the rest of the year completing the projected follow-up to Tug of War, as well as writing and developing a film project which would begin filming that November.
In 1993, Tug of War was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series—surprisingly without any bonus tracks, although "Rainclouds" and "I'll Give You a Ring" had been issued as B-Sides from "Ebony and Ivory" and "Take It Away", respectively. The transfer of the McCartney catalogue from Columbia back to Capitol in the mid '80s in the States was for album masters only.
In 2007, Tug of War was remastered and re-released on the iTunes Store adding a solo version of "Ebony and Ivory".
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Paul McCartney, except where noted.
- "Tug of War" – 4:22
- "Take It Away" – 4:14
- Features Ringo Starr on drums and George Martin on piano
- "Somebody Who Cares" – 3:19
- "What's That You're Doing?" (McCartney, Stevie Wonder) – 6:19
- A duet with the song's co-writer, Stevie Wonder
- "Here Today" – 2:27
- McCartney's tribute to John Lennon
- "Ballroom Dancing" – 4:07
- "The Pound Is Sinking" – 2:54
- "Wanderlust" – 3:49
- "Get It" – 2:29
- A duet with 1950's rock and roll legend Carl Perkins
- "Be What You See (Link)" – 0:34
- "Dress Me Up as a Robber" – 2:41
- "Ebony and Ivory" – 3:46
- A duet with Stevie Wonder
- iTunes bonus track 2007
- "Ebony and Ivory" – 3:46
- Solo version
[edit] Chart positions and certifications
| Year | Country | Chart | Position | Weeks | Cetification (if any) | Sales/shipments |
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| 1982 | Norway | VG-lista | 1 (x8)[1] | 25 | ||
| Sweden | 1 (x4) | 10 [1] | ||||
| United States | The Billboard Pop Albums | 1 (x3) | 29 | Platinum[2] | 1,000,000+ | |
| The Billboard Black Albums | 11 | |||||
| United Kingdom | UK Albums Chart (top 100) | 1 (x2) | 27[3] | Gold[4] | 100,000+ | |
| Japan | Oricon Weekly LP Albums Chart (top 100) | 1 | 18[5] | 237,000+[6] | ||
| Oricon Weekly CT Albums Chart (top 100) | 12 | 19[5] | ||||
| Austria | Austria Top 40 | 2 | 24 [1] | |||
| Australia | Kent Music Report | 2 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "norwegiancharts.com Paul McCartney - Tug of War". VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+McCartney&titel=Tug+Of+War&cat=a. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
- ^ "RIAA — Gold & Platinum — Searchable Database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=Tug%20of%20War&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
- ^ "Paul McCartney UK Album Chart listings". UK Albums Chart. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_paul_albumchartaction_uk.htm/. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "The BPI Platinum Awards Content - McCARTNEY PAUL - TUG OF WAR". http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=24098. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ a b "Paul McCartney Japanese Album Chart listings". Original Confidence. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_paul_albumchartaction_japan.htm/. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Yamachan Land (Japanese Chart Archives) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). Original Confidence. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
| Preceded by Asia by Asia |
Billboard 200 number-one album May 29 – June 18, 1982 |
Succeeded by Mirage by Fleetwood Mac |
| Preceded by Barry Live in Britain by Barry Manilow |
UK Albums Chart number-one album May 8, 1982 – May 21, 1982 |
Succeeded by Complete Madness by Madness |
| Preceded by Ebba Grön by Ebba Grön[1] |
Swedish Albums Chart number-one album May 18, 1982 – June 29, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Still Life" (American Concert 1981) by The Rolling Stones[2] |
| Preceded by Kansuigyo by Miyuki Nakajima |
Japanese Oricon LP Albums Chart number-one album May 24, 1982 |
Succeeded by Pineapple by Seiko Matsuda |
| Preceded by The Concert in Central Park by Simon and Garfunkel[3] |
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart number-one album (8 weeks) |
Succeeded by Avalon by Roxy Music[4] |
