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Released in 1997

Beautiful Night

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on August 2, 2023

Album This song officially appears on the Flaming Pie Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1997

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1986, when Paul McCartney was 44 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interviews

“Beautiful Night” is a song written by Paul McCartney and released on McCartney’s 1997 album “Flaming Pie“. It features Ringo Starr on drums, and George Martin added orchestration to it. From the album liner notes:

Working on the Anthology prompted Paul to suggest that he and ringo renew a collaboration not experienced for ten years. “Beautiful Night” was a decade old itself, and a recording made in New York had been on the shelf, unused, since 1986. With Paul at the piano and Ringo on drums (playing, incidentally, a replica arrangement of his own kit, which Paul had bought and modeled on Ringo’s set up after the “Real Love” session) the song came together comfortably. Wanting to play some guitar on the end, Paul also introduced a new element to his composition, the uptempo finale. Finally, the recording was enhanced by an orchestral arrangement scored by George Martin and overdubbed at Abbey Road on St. Valentine’s Day 1997.

I unearthed this old song for when Ringo was coming, changed a few lyrics and it was really like the old days, I realized that we hadn’t done this for so long, but it was very comfortable. And it was still there.

Paul McCartney, from the “Flaming Pie” liner notes
Paul McCartney, in Club Sandwich n°82, Summer 1997:

I wrote ‘Beautiful Night’ quite a few years ago, and I’ve always liked it, and people who heard an early recording that I made in New York, with some of Billy Joel’s players, have said that they liked it too. But I always felt that we hadn’t quite “pulled it off’ – you know? We had a good evening and a great time but I just didn’t feel that it was the one. Also, I was still changing a few lyrics. So I did it with Ringo instead – I’ve been saying to him for years that we should do some more work together. He’s great. 

I sat at the piano and Ringo sat at the drums. It was so comfortable and lovely to work with him again. Jeff Lynne and I produced. Ringo was very happy with it and we tagged on the fast bit at the end, which wasn’t on the original recording. 

Ringo came here, to the studio, to do ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’, and brought his kit with him. It sounds great when it’s recorded, the snare, the bass. He then left his kit here, in storage, so I phoned up and ordered exactly the same pieces, and set up my new kit in exactly the same way. In fact, Ringo used my model of his kit for ‘Beautiful Night’.

Mark Lewisohn, in Club Sandwich n°82, Summer 1997:

[…] With Paul at the piano and Ringo on drums, the song came together comfortably. Wanting to play some guitar on the end, Paul introduced a new element to his composition, the uptempo finale, and the microphone caught some characteristic ad-libbing by Ringo and Paul as they prepared to leave the studio. The recording then remained the same for nine months before Paul decided to have it enhanced by an orchestral arrangement, scored by George Martin and recorded in Studio One at Abbey Road on 14 February 1997.

At the end of “Beautiful Night“, we can hear Ringo Starr making fun.

l think everyone who makes a record has that option, to leave the daft stuff on at the end. You nearly always fade it out but at the end of ‘Beautiful Night’, it had been such a good take that Ringo started having fun, acting like he was a doorman, throwing people out. I love that so much. lt’s very Beatley. lt’s a very Beatley idea to do that, because we did a bit of that in the group…. Beautiful Night actually sounds a bit Beatley too… ln fact, I swear that at the end of Beautiful Night, you can almost hear a sort of very John Lennony voice in there. Listen to it. Check it out.

Paul McCartney, from The Beatles Monthly Book N°261, January 1998

Ringo Starr, in Club Sandwich N°83, Autumn 1997:

Tell me how you came to work with Paul again, this time round.

He had this song he wanted me to play on. And that’s what happened – I went down to his studio and we played on the track. What’s it called?

‘Beautiful Night’!

Yeah, I’m sorry! He invited me to play on ‘Beautiful Night’ and I said “Sure”. I think it’s a beautiful track. […]

You are also singing on ‘Beautiful Night’.

I’m singing on the return at the end, yeah. He said, “You can sing this” and I said “Okay, thanks. What notes are they?” and sang them. When we go and do his song he’s in charge. I mean, I can give him everything I’ve got, but he’s written the song and he has a programme for it. If I do something that changes it and he likes it, then we’ll do that. But he is Mr McCartney when we do his song. And I’m Mr Ringo when we do mine. We’re just musician buddies. […]

Ringo Starr, in Club Sandwich N°83, Autumn 1997

“Beautiful Night” was released as the third and final single from “Flaming Pie”, and peaked at number 25 in the UK Singles Chart.

A promotional video directed by Julien Temple was shot in late October 1997, and premiered during the first airing of The Oprah Winfrey Show. The video had to be re-edited as a brief glimpse of a woman skinnydipping caused a minor controversy. Also appearing in the video were Ringo Starr, Linda McCartney (her final appearance in a music video) and the band Spud (although they are shown performing with McCartney, they did not contribute to the recording of the track).

“Beautiful Night” was remastered in 2016 for inclusion on the “Pure McCartney” compilation, and then in 2020 for the “Flaming Pie Archive Collection“, both times by engineer Alex Wharton. As explained on the Steve Hoffman forum:

It’s interesting that for both ‘Pure McCartney’ in 2016 and the new 2020 remaster the polarity is different. Which means something went wrong in the final mastering stage of the original 1997 issue. Because ‘Pure McCartney’ worked from a compressed and limited 1997 master, and this 2020 remaster from a tape without that compression and limiting.

by forum resident “mindgames”

Lyrics

Someone's gone out fishing

Someone's high and dry

Someone's on a mission, to the lonely Lorelei

Some folks got a vision of a castle in the sky

And I'm left stranded, wondering why

You and me together

Nothing feels so good

Even if I get a medal from my local neighbourhood

I won't need a castle, they've got castles in Versailles

And I'm still stranded, wondering why

Make it a beautiful night for me

It's a beautiful night for love

A wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold

Make it a beautiful night for me

It's a beautiful night for love

A wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold

Some boat's on the ocean

We're here in this room

Seems to me the perfect way to spend an afternoon

We can look for castles, pretty castles in the sky

No more wondering, wondering why

Things can go wrong, things can go right

Things can go bump in the dead of the night

So let me be there, let me be there

Let me be there with you in the dead of the night

Make it a beautiful night for me

It's a beautiful night for love

A wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold

Make it a beautiful night for me

Such a beautiful night for love

Such a wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold

Yeah, it's a beautiful night

Yeah, it's a beautiful night

Yeah, beautiful night, beautiful night

It's such a beautiful night, beautiful night.

Variations

  • A Album version
  • A1 It is a rough mix which features the backing prior to the orchestral overdubs
  • A2016 2016 remaster
  • B 1986 original version
  • B1 1986 original version (full length)
  • C 1995 demo
  • D Run Through
  • E From "Flaming Pie" EPK #2

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Beautiful Night”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Beautiful Night”

Related film

Videos

Album Flaming Pie (2020 LP)

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Beautiful Night (2020)

Album Beautiful Night (2020)

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Beautiful Night (2020)

Live performances

“Beautiful Night” has been played in 1 concerts.

Latest concerts where “Beautiful Night” has been played

Paul McCartney writing

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