Liverpool Sound Collage

Hide track details

Track list

Disc 1

About

I compiled sounds and made the basic collage … I asked Cian Ciarán of Super Furry Animals to mix something from it, which he kindly did, and my mate Youth used his talents to add a final touch

Paul McCartney – From paulmccartney.com

From Wikipedia:

Liverpool Sound Collage is an ambient electronic album by Paul McCartney, which is also credited to the Beatles, Super Furry Animals and Youth. McCartney had previously released two projects with Youth under the moniker the Fireman. Because McCartney was so heavily involved in its creation, in addition to his production credit, Liverpool Sound Collage, which was released in 2000, is generally considered a part of his main discography and is filed under his name.

Asked by artist Peter Blake to create something musical and with a Liverpool spirit to it, in order to complement his concurrent artwork exhibition, McCartney ended up harking all the way back to session chatter by the Beatles (hence their “involvement”) and using snippets of his 1991 classical piece Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio. He also can be heard walking the streets and asking various pedestrians to give their impressions of Liverpool and the Beatles.

Liverpool Sound Collage was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

It’s a new little piece of The Beatles. It’s an outbreak from my normal stuff. It’s a little side dish that is not to be confused with my other work.

Paul McCartney

It’s really weird. I think Cian [the band’s resident mixer] was fucked off his head and he saw Paul McCartney at an awards ceremony and they talked about mixing, so Cian gave him his phone number and Paul McCartney phoned up the following week. And then the following week to that a pile of tapes arrived at our office from the Apple Corporation. All dusty boxes with a heavy letter from the Apple Corp. saying “these tapes contain previously unreleased Beatles material and should not be played anywhere but our broadcast area…”

Gruff Rhys, from The Super Furry Animals

From Tom Brennan’s Important Beatles News, September 22, 2000:

It is not a traditional music album, rather it is a variety of voices and sounds from Liverpool, including the River Mersey, shoppers on the street, a fish and chips vendor, snippets of McCartney’s “Liverpool Oratorio” and most interesting of all, clips of the Beatles joking and talking during sessions at Abbey Road Studios, taken from 1963-1968, with the majority of sound bites being taken from the vocal overdub session for the Rubber Soul track, “Think For Yourself” or from The Beatles Anthology videos. It’s very much in the style of “Revolution 9” from The Beatles’ White Album.

Here is a track listing and some of the clips used that were taken from Beatles sessions (none of the backwards clips were checked yet):

1. Plastic Beetle [Paul McCartney, The Beatles] (8:22)
0:39-0:41) John Lennon: “”cause it’s our song any road, innit?” [preceded take 1 of I Call Your Name, March 1, 1964 (previously unavailable)]
0:46-0:47) Paul McCartney: “must be alright.” [I’ll Be Back, take 13 (Anthology video)]
3:33-3:36) George Harrison: “chinga chinga ching, boom boom boom [Think For Yourself]
3:38-3:39) Ringo Starr: “a lovely time” [Goodnight, guitar version from Anthology video]
5:04-5:16) Beatles session outtakes [1967?]
6:00-6:04) George Harrison: “It’s okay. We know. I think we know.” and John Lennon: “This might be it. We’ll just go…” [Think For Yourself]
6:04-6:10) George Harrison: “chinga chinga ching, boom boom boom. The bit that John finally got just after that. [Think For Yourself]
6:08-6:13) Paul McCartney and John Lennon [This Boy session, October 1963, used in Beatles Anthology]
6:15-6:17) John: “George’s tune, though.” [Think For Yourself]
6:17) Paul McCartney: “Who-sus” [Think For Yourself]
6:18-6:55) John, Paul and George joking, John & Paul imitating a preacher [Think For Yourself]
including loops of John singing [Mr. Moonlight, August 1964]
and saying: “you make a bit of wind on it.” [I’ll Be Back, take 15 (Anthology video)] and “you’re gonna keep that one, then?” [Think For Yourself]
6:55-6:57) John Lennon: “Okay, Paul, you ready, boy, this is it.”
6:57-6:59) John Lennon: “Alright, cut this tomfoolery out!”
6:59-7:00) Paul McCartney: “Okay.” [Your Mother Should Know, from Anthology 2 CD]
7:00-7:02) Ringo Starr: “had a lovely time” [Goodnight, guitar version from Anthology video]
7:02-7:06) unknown and George Harrison laughing [Think For Yourself]

2. Peter Blake 2000 [Super Furry Animals, The Beatles] (16:54)
5:43-5:53) George Harrison: “It’s okay. We know. I think we know. We just go chinga chinga ching. Boom boom boom. The bit that John finally got just after that. And we’ll do both of the do what you want to do.” [Think For Yourself]
5:53-6:48) George Harrison: speed varied loop with distortion of “Do what you want to do.” [“Think For Yourself]
9:24-9:26) sample from ending of “Magical Mystery Tour” [behind Paul singing “Free Now”]
10:09-10:13) sample from ending of “Magical Mystery Tour” [behind Paul singing “Free Now”]
11:30-12:46) samples of George Harrison scat singing, including “chinga chinga ching. Boom boom boom.” [Think For Yourself and unknown]
13:01-13:26) sample from Beatles session outtakes [Sgt. Pepper sessions?]

3. Real Gone Dub Made in the Manifest in the Vortex of the Eternal Now [Youth, The Beatles] (16:36)1:35-2:04) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” Ringo: “Mal, will you come down and fix the seat.” George: “The bit that John finally got.” John: “Oh, well I can get back of it.” [Think For Yourself]
2:43-2:45) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” [Think For Yourself]
7:37-8:07) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” Ringo: “Mal, will you come down and fix the seat.” George: “The bit that John finally got.” John: “Oh, well I can get back of it.” Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” Ringo: “Mal, will you come down and fix the seat.” George: “The bit that John finally got.” John: “Oh, well I can get back of it.” [Think For Yourself]
8:47-8:49) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” [Think For Yourself]
14:34-14:37) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” [Think For Yourself]

4. Made Up [Paul McCartney, The Beatles] (12:57)
Paul interviews people on the street in Liverpool and sings Maggie Mae [1999]
6:12-6:25) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” Ringo: “Mal, will you come down and fix the seat?” George: “The bit that John finally got.” John: “Oh, well I can get back of it.” [Think For Yourself]
9:47-9:58) Paul: “Hang on. John’s just broken a string.” Ringo: “Mal, will you come down and fix the seat?” George: “The bit that John finally got.” John: “Oh, well I can get back of it.” [Think For Yourself]

5. Free Now [Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Super Furry Animals] (3:32)
0:02-0:07) George Harrison: “The bit that John finally got just after that. And we’ll do both of the do what you want to do.” [Think For Yourself]
0:07-0:15) George Harrison: speed varied loop with distortion of “Do what you want to do.” [“Think For Yourself]
1:08-1:10) sample from ending of “Magical Mystery Tour” [behind Paul singing “Free Now”]
1:29-1:33) sample from ending of “Magical Mystery Tour” [behind Paul singing “Free Now”]

Last updated on August 2, 2023