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Tug Of War Demos

By Paul McCartneyUnofficial album

Last updated on January 21, 2011

Track list

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Disc 1

  1. Ballroom Dancing

    Written by Paul McCartney

    2:00 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  2. Take It Away

    Written by Paul McCartney

    5:25 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  3. Keep Under Cover

    Written by Paul McCartney

    3:39 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  4. Average Person

    Written by Paul McCartney

    3:57 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  5. Dress Me Up As A Robber #1

    Written by Paul McCartney

    1:09 • Alternate takeD1

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  6. Dress Me Up As A Robber #2

    Written by Paul McCartney

    1:53 • Alternate takeD2

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  7. Dress Me Up As A Robber #3

    Written by Paul McCartney

    0:36 • Alternate takeD3

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  8. The Pound Is Sinking

    Written by Paul McCartney

    2:30 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  9. Sweetest Little Show In Town

    Written by Paul McCartney

    2:57 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  10. Ebony And Ivory

    Written by Paul McCartney

    1:44 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  11. Hear Me Lover

    Written by Paul McCartney

    2:14 • DemoA

    Session Recording & mixing: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  12. Wanderlust

    Written by Paul McCartney

    1:43 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  13. Stop You Don't Know Where She Came From

    Written by Paul McCartney

    1:40 • DemoA

    Paul McCartney : Mixing engineer, ProducerPerformed by : Paul McCartney

    Session Recording & mixing: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  14. The Unbelievable Experience

    Written by Paul McCartney

    1:46 • DemoA

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  15. We All Stand Together

    Written by Paul McCartney

    3:56 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  16. Boil Crisis

    Written by Paul McCartney

    4:02 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  17. Give Us A Chord Roy

    Written by Paul McCartney

    3:57 • DemoA

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  18. Seems Like Old Times

    Written by Paul McCartney

    4:07 • Alternate take

    Session Recording: August 1980 • Studio Rude Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland

  19. Ballroom Dancing

    Written by Paul McCartney

    4:14 • Alternate take


From liner notes:

Now that he had helped Ringo attempt to resuscitate his recording career, it was time for Paul to figure out the next move of his own. With the (apparent) help of Denny Laine on some songs, he laid down several demos for a projected new LP project that would reunite him with George Martin. An August 1980 compilation of demos was prepared for George consisting of old and new material for consideration for the upcoming LP project.

The running order of the tape was as follow:

  • Seems Like Old Times
  • Ballroom Dancing
  • Take It Away
  • Turkey And Peacock (perhaps an early version of Peacocks)
  • It’s As Simple As That (Tremolo Cello)
  • Robber Riff
  • We All Stand Together
  • Stiff Tracks (most likely Boil Crisis and Give Us A Chord Roy which were much like the tunes being released by Stiff Records at the time)
  • Keep Under Cover
  • Average Person
  • The Unbelievable Experience
  • Stop, You Don’t Know Where She Came From
  • Wanderlust
  • Ebony And Ivory

While some of the songs (Ballroom Dancing, Take It Away) were particularly strong, some of the tunes Paul submitted (The Unbelievable Experience, Boil Crisis) were bad enough to force George to tell Paul to scrap them and write more; this he did. In 1995, excerpts of several tracks were aired on various episodes of Oobu Joobu, and although they were in superb quality, all of the airings were incomplete.

Paul McCartney writing

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