Kisses on the bottom - Ultimate Archive Collection

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Track list

Disc 1

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Disc 2

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About

From the liner notes:

“We’re here tonight.. and that’s enough..” I never quite understood what Paul meant by that line – did he mean like it’s enough to get the party started, or did he mean enough’s enough? Knowing Paul’s penchant for nonsense, it probable means nothing! But what’s definitely something is the next installment of the Ultimate Archive Collection! Going 180 degrees from last week’s Fireman releases, this time around it’s Paul’s version of a “standards” album – 2012’s delightful Kisses On The Bottom. There’s already been a confusing number of releases surrounding this album. I’ve tried to make sense of it all and include the most complete versions of everything. First up is the album proper, which includes the two bonus tracks that were issued on the CD when purchased at Target. The Live At Capitol Studios concert is included as well. Again, there were a few slightly different versions of this released. The main different ones were the live download (as included as the Complete Kisses download) and the Live Kisses DVD. For the download, the concert is pretty much presented as it happened with a few notable exceptions. The DVD was chopped up (typical for Paul), but it had a few important bits on it that made it useful. First is the false starts to My Very Good Friend The Milkman, which were omitted from the live download. These have been reinstated to the concert. However, as it appears on the DVD, there is a line of dialogue from Paul that actually hails from later in the show. This becomes evident when one listens to the live download and hears the line (regarding how Paul had been whistling fine all week leading up to the concert) in its actual location later in the show. So for this new version, all the dialogue (and whistling) have been restored to their original locations. Another issue with the DVD is that for many songs, there were occasional punched-in vocals which cropped up here and there. This became apparent to me when I was comparing the live download to the DVD by playing them both at the same time. Every so often there would be a “double-tracked” effect where the punched-in part would reveal itself. The songs affected by this are Home, My Valentine, My Very Good Friend The Milkman, Get Yourself Another Fool and My One And Only Love. For My Valentine, the guitar solo was punched in as well as some vocals, so as I had just enough space to include it as a bonus, I opted to put it on here!

To round out the set, I’ve included several choice bonus cuts, including a few TV appearances, some Various Artists album appearances, the (I Want To) Come Home single, some remixes, along with the video + edit versions of My Valentine. All in all, a rather solid collection. For those who don’t like this side of Paul, you need not download this one. I personally find this album to be very enjoyable and extremely interesting. Paul surrounded himself with what has got to be the finest group of musicians he has ever performed with, and obviously had a lot of fun in the proceedings.

As always, great care was taken towards the packaging. The first disc has the standard LP art For the second disc, I had a little fun. Yes, I do realize that Paul was no longer on Capitol by the time this album was released. However, he DID record this at the Capitol Recording Studio and did a lot of older standards (that appeared on 78s), so it made great sense to use the Capitol 78 label for this set!

As for the future, we’re getting closer and closer to the next break, but keep watching this space as there may be even MORE to come in the near future… Till then, I hope you guys all enjoy this one and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

NOTES:

In 2010 Paul decided that he wanted to record an album with songs that were popular when his parents were young: the Twenties and Thirties. He contacted producer Tommy LiPuma, who in March of that year, came over to his house to speak about the project and discuss some songs. The first recordings happened in April 2011, in the Capitol Studios in Hollywood, where Frank Sinatra recorded. LiPuma wrote the arrangements and contacted the A-class jazz musicians, like Diana Krall. Of the nine songs recorded there was a new song written by Paul: ‘Only Our Hearts’, while another was a remake of “Baby’s Request” from Back to the Egg.

Then, in May more songs were recorded in the Avatar Studios in New York City. Again Paul added one newly written song: ‘My Valentine’. In October, orchestrations were added by the London Symphony Orchestra, in the Abbey Road Studios and finally mixing happened in Paul’s studio in Sussex.

CD 1

1-14 – Kisses on the Bottom, released on February 6, 2012 in the UK and a day later in the US.

15-16 – extra tracks on Kisses on the Bottom – Deluxe Edition, released on the same dates as the ‘normal album’.

17 – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – recorded in the Avatar Studios and released on December 1, 2012 on the Various Artists cd Holidays Rule. AND on a limited red or green vinyl 7” single, b/w ‘Wonderful Christmastime’.

18 – (I Want To) Come Home – recorded in June and July 6, 2009, at Hog Hill Studio, with engineer Geoff Emerick and composer Dario Marianelli, for the movie Everybody’s Fine, and in February 2010 as a iTunes single. Oscar nominated.

19 – The Very Thought of You – recorded in May 2006, in Abbey Road Studios, as a duet with Tony Bennett. Released on Bennett’s album Duets: An American Classic, on September 26, 2006.

20 – My Valentine – the original arrangement by Johnny Mandel – released on Kisses on the Bottom – Complete Kisses, available via iTunes on November 26, 2012.

21 – Wonderful Christmastime – new recorded version by the a cappella group from Bloomington, Indiana, Straight No Chaser and a little help from Paul McCartney. Released on October 29, 2013 on the star-studded EP from Straight No Chaser, Under The Influence: Holiday Edition.

22 – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – see 17, but with extra strings. Only released on Kisses on the Bottom – Complete Kisses, available via iTunes on November 26, 2012.

23 – My Valentine – promo edit, released on January 9, 2012

CD 2

1-13 – On February 9, 2012, Paul played 13 songs from the album live in the Capitol Studios. Four of those (1, 2, 7 and 8 ) were available as Live from Capitol Studios. This bonus album could only be download from McCartney’s website via a code as a bonus by the purchase of the album on iTunes. Later, nine songs were released on March 6, 2012, again exclusively via iTunes as: iTunes Live from Capitol Studios (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12). Finally all 13 songs were released on Kisses on the Bottom – Complete Kisses on November 26, 2012.

14 – Scrambled Eggs – On December 9, 2010, Paul was a guest on Live on Jimmy Fallon. Together they performed the ‘original version’ of Yesterday: ‘Scrambled Eggs’. This was released on June 12, 2012 on Fallon’s cd Blow Your Pants Off. The new lyrics are by Gerard Bradford and Mike DiCenzo.

15 – Here Today – on the same show, Paul also played this song.

16-18 – On December 15, 2012, Paul performed three songs on Saturday Night Live: ‘My Valentine’, the somewhat heavier ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ and the festive ‘Wonderful Christmastime’.

19- 20 – My Valentine – two more versions of the song, both with an alternate guitar solo by Eric Clapton. The first is an outtake from the sessions, the second the live version from the Capitol Tower.

Last updated on November 1, 2020