December 23, 1969 - March 1970 • Songs recorded during this session appear on McCartney
Recording studio: Paul McCartney's home, 7 Cavendish Avenue, St John’s Wood • London • UK
Single Dec 19, 1969 • "The Beatles Seventh Christmas Record" by The Beatles released in the UK
Session Dec 21, 1969 • Mixing the "Get Back" album (4th compilation)
Session December 23-30, 1969 • "McCartney" home recordings
Session December 23, 1969 - March 1970 • Recording "McCartney"
Article Dec 25, 1969 • "Get Back" promo clip broadcast in color in the UK
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "McCartney" LP
I loved making music and I found that I didn’t want to stop… I found that I was enjoying working alone as much as I had enjoyed the early days of The Beatles.
Paul McCartney – From “And in the End: The Last Days of the Beatles” by Ken McNab, 2019
In October 1969, shortly after John Lennon informed the other Beatles of his decision to leave the band, Paul McCartney and his wife Linda retreated from London to their farm in Campbeltown, Scotland, seeking isolation with their daughters, Heather and newborn Mary. It was a period of deep depression for Paul.
The family returned to London on November 17. Soon after, Paul began upgrading his home studio at 7 Cavendish Avenue, following advice from EMI Studios engineer Eddie Klein. EMI lent him a Studer J37 4-track tape recorder but did not provide a mixing console. This may have been by design, as it forced Paul to plug microphones and instruments directly into the machine, encouraging a lo-fi, experimental approach.
In December, Paul and his family left for a holiday in Antigua. One of the photographs taken by Linda during the trip would later be used as the cover of the “McCartney” album.
Back in London in late December, Paul began recording new material using the Studer. Although he wasn’t consciously setting out to make a solo album at first, he became increasingly immersed in the process. The sessions were kept private, with only a few people aware of his work — among them Beatles assistant Mal Evans.
The songs recorded for “McCartney” were a mix of leftover material from the Beatles era — such as “Teddy Boy,” “Junk,” and “Hot As Sun” — and new compositions either recently written in Scotland — like “The Lovely Linda” and “That Would Be Something” — or made on the spot.
Unlike the meticulously documented sessions at EMI Studios, where every take was logged in detail, the informal, home-recorded nature of “McCartney“ means that no comprehensive records were kept. As a result, it is unknown how many takes Paul recorded for each song. His typical approach involved laying down a basic track on one of the four available tracks of the Studer J37 tape recorder, then building the arrangement by overdubbing additional parts onto the remaining tracks.
The first song recorded was “The Lovely Linda,” a short tune he had written in Campbeltown. Initially intended as a simple test of his new recording equipment, he laid down a 45-second version of the song. Despite its modest purpose — and the audible sound of a door squeaking as Linda entered the room, followed by Paul’s laughter — the recording was included as the opening track on “McCartney“.
When the Studer 4 track was installed at home, this was the first song I recorded, to test the machine. On the first track was vocal and guitar, second – another acoustic guitar – then overdubbed hand slaps on a book, and finally bass. Written in Scotland, the song is a trailer to the full song which will be recorded in the future.
Paul McCartney – About “The Lovely Linda” – From the press release of “McCartney”, April 1970
That was when Linda and I first got together. The record is me playing around the house. You hear her walking through the living room doorway out to the garden, and the door squeaks at the end of the tape. That’s one of the songs from my personal experience, with “the flowers in her hair.” She often used to wear flowers in her hair, so it’s a direct diary. I was always going to finish it, and I had another bit that went into a Spanish song, almost mariachi, but it just appeared as a fragment and was quite nice for that reason. It opened the “McCartney” album, so it’s evocative of it now.
Paul McCartney – About “The Lovely Linda” – Interview with Billboard, 2001
In the opening track, The Lovely Linda, you can hear the door squeak as Linda came in while I was recording. It was a good take, so we left it in.
Paul McCartney – About “The Lovely Linda” – From the “Wingspan – An Intimate Portrait” documentary, 2001
The second song recorded, “That Would Be Something“, had also been written in Scotland. Paul performed acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, tom-tom, and cymbal — and provided vocal percussion to emulate a drum rhythm.
This song was written in Scotland in 1969 and recorded at home in London – mixed later at EMI (No. 2). I only had one mike, as the mixer and VU meters hadn’t arrived (still haven’t).
Paul McCartney – About “That Would Be Something” – From the press release of “McCartney”, April 1970
The third track recorded during those sessions was an improvisation. Paul declared “Rock ‘n’ Roll Springtime” which was its original title. It was later renamed into “Momma” and joined with another track named “Miss America.”
On January 3, 1970, Paul took a break for the latest Beatles sessions.
On February 12, 1970, Paul McCartney took his Studer tapes to Morgan Studios, in the northwest of London, in order to copy all the four-track recordings onto eight-track tape, to allow for further overdubbing.
On February 22, 1970, he moved to the more familiar Abbey Road Studios, to complete the recording and mixing of the new album.
When you were working on “McCartney” in London, was it strange not being able to bounce ideas off the others?
Yeah, it was. Because right up until that point I’d been working with John, the best collaborator in the world. Suddenly that was taken away. It was very difficult. But I thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to worry about it. I’m going to sling some ideas down, have a little go on the drums.’ I had my own stuff at the house for my own fun, I wasn’t going into the studio with The Beatles. I wasn’t sweating it. Then suddenly, it became something. “OK, this is an album.”
Paul McCartney, in UNCUT interview, January 2021
I was feeling quite comfortable, the more I went on like this. I could actually do something again.
Paul McCartney – From interview with RollingStone, 1970
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "When the Studer 4-track was installed at home, this was the first song I recorded, to test the machine. On the first track was vocal and guitar, second - another acoustic guitar - then overdubbed hand slaps on a book, and finally bass. Written in Scotland, the song is a trailer to the full song which will be recorded in the future." Track-by-track commentary by Paul McCartney, 1970
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "This song was written in Scotland in 1969 and recorded at home in London - mixed later at EMI (No. 2). I only had one mike, as the mixer and VU meters hadn’t arrived (still haven’t). "
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "Recorded at home. Made up as I went along - acoustic guitar first, then drums (maybe drums were first). Anyway - electric guitar and bass were added and the track is all instrumental. Mixed at EMI. This one and ‘Momma Miss America’ were ad-libbed, with more concern for testing the machine than anything else."
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "An instrumental recorded completely at home. Made up as I went along – first a sequence of chords, then a melody on top. Piano, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar. Originally it was two pieces but they ran into each other by accident and became one."
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "Originally written in India, at Maharishi's camp, and completed bit by bit in London. Recorded vocal, two acoustic guitars, and bass at home, and later added to (bass drum, snare with brushes, and small xylophone and harmony) at Morgan. "
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "The first three tracks were recorded at home as an instrument that might someday become a song. This, like 'Man We Was Lonely', was given lyrics one day after lunch, just before we left for Morgan Studios, where it was finished that afternoon. "
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • "Another song started in India and completed in Scotland and London, gradually. This one was recorded for Get Back film but later not used. Rerecorded partly at home…(guitar, voices and bass)…and finished at Morgan. Linda and I sing the backing harmonies on the chorus and occasional oos."
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney - Archive Collection
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • In the liner notes of McCartney - Archive Collection, it is indicated this track was recorded at "Rude Studio (unknown date)", which is inaccurate, as Rude Studio (Paul's recording studio in Scotland) didn't exist early 1970. We assume it was recorded at his London home.
AlbumOfficially released on McCartney - Archive Collection
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • Rumored unreleased and unsurfaced instrumental
Unreleased track
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • Rumored unreleased and unsurfaced instrumental
Unreleased track
Written by Paul McCartney
Recording • Rumored unreleased and unsurfaced instrumental
Unreleased track
Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium
Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium is the ultimate look at the careers of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr beyond the Beatles. Every aspect of their professional careers as solo artists is explored, from recording sessions, record releases and tours, to television, film and music videos, including everything in between. From their early film soundtrack work to the officially released retrospectives, all solo efforts by the four men are exhaustively examined.
As the paperback version is out of print, you can buy a PDF version on the authors' website
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Ben Smeenk • Mar 31, 2020 • 5 years ago
The recording date for Singalong Junk is given as at home (december 1969). In the list of songs recorded at home (december 1969) this song is not mentioned. At least I cannot see it there.
