UK Release date : Monday, March 29, 1982
By Paul McCartney • 7" Single • Part of the collection “Paul McCartney • Singles”
Last updated on April 12, 2020
Session March - April 1982 • "The Girl Is Mine" session
Single Mar 29, 1982 • "Ebony And Ivory / Rainclouds" by Paul McCartney released in the UK
Single Mar 29, 1982 • "Ebony And Ivory / Rainclouds" by Paul McCartney released in the US
This album was recorded during the following studio sessions:
Written by Paul McCartney
3:43 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Synthesizers, Vocals, Vocoder Stevie Wonder : Backing vocals, Drums, Electric piano, Percussion, Synthesizers, Vocals George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer Mike Stavrou : Assistant recording engineer
Session Recording: Feb 28, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, Montserrat
Session Overdubs: Mar 30, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Overdubs: October 1981 • Studio Strawberry Studios South, Dorkins, Surrey
Session Mixing: Jan 19, 1982 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Written by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine
3:12 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass drum, Spanish guitar, Vocals Linda Eastman / McCartney : Backing vocals Denny Laine : Backing vocals Eric Stewart : Backing vocals George Martin : Producer Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Mixing assistant engineer, Recording assistant engineer Paddy Moloney : Uilleann pipes
Session Recording: December 8th-9th, 1980 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Overdubs: March 1981 - March 1982 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Mixing: March 1981 - March 1982 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • From the books "Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs" • Buy Volume 1 (1970-1989) and Volume 2 (1990-2012) on Amazon
From Wikipedia:
“Ebony and Ivory” spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was the fourth-biggest hit of 1982. For McCartney, the song’s run atop the chart was the longest of any of his post-Beatles works, and second longest career-wise (behind “Hey Jude” with The Beatles); for Wonder, it was his longest-running chart-topper. It marked the first time that any single released by any member of the Beatles hit the Billboard R&B chart. It was McCartney’s record 28th song to hit number one on the Billboard 100.
In 2008, the song was ranked at #59 on Billboard’s Greatest Songs of all time. In 2013, it was ranked #69 on the Billboard list of the Hot 100 songs of all-time.
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