Hot Hitz Kold Kutz - Ultimate Archive Collection

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Track list

Disc 1

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Disc 2

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About

From peerke, forum resident who added those notes to this release:

On Monday 26, 1976, the 9 year old contract from The Beatles with the record company EMI finally expired. The ex-members of the band were now free to sign with other companys. John was happy to have no longer any obligations and decided to stay without a contract. George and Ringo went with their way and so Paul was the only one to stay with EMI/Capitol. He renewed his contract for another three years.

Capitol had already released a Lennon compilation, Shaved Fish, in October 1975. From Ringo was Blast From Your Past Starr released a month later. Without involvement from George, The Best of George Harrison was thrown on the market in October 1976. The compiler didn’t think Harrison’s solo material was strong enough, so one side of the album was filled with a selection of the artist’s Beatles-era songs.

With the end of the three year period in sight, Paul decided to stay worldwide with EMI, but to leave Capitol, for a six-year stay with Columbia for the US and Canada.

As one last album was due before January 1979, Paul presented the record company a double album to satisfy the Christmas market. He envisaged the album in two parts: Hot Hitz, a compilation of his hits (since the split of The Beatles) and a second disc with leftovers from the same period, 1971 to 1978, called Kold Kutz.

The album of outtakes, as presented by Paul to EMI/Capitol in October 1978.

1. Mama’s Little Girl
2. I Would Only Smile
3. Tragedy
4. Night Out
5. Oriental Nightfish
6. Lunch Box/Odd Sox
7. My Carnival
8. Send Me The Heart
9. Hey Diddle
10. Wide Prairie
11. Tomorrow (Instrumental)
12. Proud Mum (Instrumental)
13. Proud Mum (Reprise) (Instrumental)
14. Same Time Next Year
15. Did We Meet Somewhere Before?

However, the board wasn’t convinced: ‘Why would you put cold cuts on a hot hits compilation?’

So, despite the fact that Paul McCartney had amassed enough hits by then to fill a double album of hits, it was decided that a only the Hot Hitz part would be released as a single album. After a lot of brainstorming, someone came with the title Wings Greatest. Wildly inaccurate as two of the songs weren’t by Wings, while the US number 1 hit ‘Listen to What the Man Said’ wasn’t included.

Following the Back To The Egg session, Paul returned to the project, now known simply as Cold Cuts. In order to make a more commercial offering, Linda and Denny vocal spotlights were set aside, as were the instrumentals. Instead, some recent songs were added: ‘Waterspout’, ‘Robber’s Ball’ and ‘Cage’. Some overdubs were added between October 1980 and January 1981, during what proved to be the last Wings sessions.

In Autumn 1986, Cold Cuts was once again taken off the shelf. ‘Carnival’ which was by now released, was dropped and substituted by ‘Blue Sway’. Richard Niles was asked for advice. “He had heard my work on Grace Jones’ Slave To The Rhythm and wanted someone who, like George Martin, was an arranger-producer. He asked me to go through 14 tracks and add or replace whatever was necessary to complete them for release. One of these tracks was “Blue Sway” to which I added a large string section and the wonderful Dick Morrissey wailing away on tenor sax.”

In late 1987, additional production work was undertaken at Air Studios in London, by Paul, co-producer Chris Thomas and engineer Bill Price.

But Paul’s new manager, Richard Odgen, felt that a new compilation would be a better idea at this point of McCartney’s career. Thus, All The Best was released in November 1987 and the idea for the compilation of outtakes was finally abandoned, when some tracks of Cold Cuts were released as bonus tracks on singles from Flowers In The Dirt.