The Piano Tape

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Disc 1

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About

From bootlegzone:

The “famous” piano tape ! Hum.

First of all, be warned that the quality here is terrible. They told you it was recorded on a portable tape recorder and you have the proof as soon as you put the CD in the tray. The tape was not remastered. Maybe it was declicked or else but the sound output is terribly high (too much trebles). Put your basses to the max. Do you remember the Beatles’ “Garage Tapes” ? Yes ? Then you can understand what the quality of “The Piano Tape” is like: only slightly better.

Most of the time, Paul is singing/shouting the songs and having fun with the lyrics, produce strange noises (belches, farts etc) and sometimes plays piano correctly.

The first two tracks are a test to see what you can bear. If you succeed in listening “Million Miles” and “Mull Of Kintyre” then you’re ready for the rest. The test is very difficult to pass because “Million Miles” is a gospel song with almost only one line of lyrics (shouted enthusiastically by Paul) while “Mull Of Kintyre” is played on the same tempo than the previous song and is hummed on most parts.

“I’ll Give You A Ring” is a fine song available in much better quality on “All The Rest” for example. “You Know It’s True” is a decent rock’n’roll but you’ll forget it quickly to listen to your collection of Jerry Lee Lewis.
“Women Kind”, “Getting Closer” and “In My Dreams” are a pain to listen to.
“Rockestra Theme” is surprisingly quite enjoyable: no vocals (this probably saves it) and Paul plays piano correctly for a change.
“Letting Go” is much better in his original version because here Paul is unable to play it correctly on piano and does not even remember the lyrics. Too bad for such a good song.
“Call Me Back Again” is terrible to listen to due to the sound quality.
On “Lunch Box/Odd Sox”, Paul surprisingly remembers almost every part of the song. Rather interesting to listen to this piano-only arrangement.
“Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People” is relatively well played.
“You Gave Me The Answer” is one of my favourite songs from “Venus And Mars” and despite the terrible sound quality, it is clear that Paul loves this song too.
“Waiting For The Sun To Shine” is a nice song that would deserve more elaborated lyrics.
“She Got It Good” can stay in the thrash for me. However, “Blackpool” is a promising song.
“Sunshine In Your Hair” is the jazzy kind of song you could have before WW2. Not bad but Paul is testing his vocals capabilities on it and it’s hardly bearable.
“Girlfriend” has some interesting parts but at this stage, I would not release it on a regular album if I were Paul.
“I Lost My Little Girl” (Paul’s very first song) is interesting because it can be compared to the other versions of this song (Paul’s MTV Unplugged, soundchecks and some other live performances as well as John’s Get Back Session). However, the end of the song is too long and Paul gets bored.
“Upon A Hill” sounds much like an improvisation and is too basic to be enjoyable.
“Sea” comes from “Rupert The Bear”. It’s not my favourite “Rupert” song but it’s a classic theme from this animated film. The version here is probably the worst I’ve heard.
“Love Is Your Road…” is hardly bearable. Just any lyrics on any music (an improvisation ?) . Very poor. The same applies to “Sweet Little Bird”.
“Partners In Crime” is rather fun. The song is very basic and the lyrics are mostly adlibbed.
“Suicide” is an excellent song. The version here is quite enjoyable. Maybe the best song on the CD.
“Doctor Pepper” is only a short excerpt (3 seconds). What can we do with that ?

Maybe the “Piano Tape” can be compared to what Paul was playing early in the morning (err… around 10:00 AM) during the “Get Back Sessions” while waiting the other Beatles to arrive. Paul plays everything comes in his mind and is having fun. “The Piano Tape” deserves a remasterization to lower the sound output and improve piano vs voice output. Until this is done, it only deserves one star. If the sound quality had been better I would have given it a 3 star.

François Vander Linden

Last updated on April 11, 2020