- Album This song officially appears on the London Town Official album.
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
May 1 to May 31, 1977
October 25 to December 1, 1977
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The book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present", published in 2021, covers Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, the Beatles, Wings, and solo careers, by pairing the lyrics of 154 of his songs with first-person commentaries of the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.
"Cafe On The Left Bank" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
Café on the left bank, ordinary wine
Touching all the girls with your eyes
Tiny crowd of Frenchmen round a TV shop
Watching Charles de Gaulle make a speech
Dancing after midnight, sprawling to the car
Continental breakfast in the bar
English-speaking people drinking German beer
Talking far too loud for their ears
Café on the left bank, ordinary wine
Touching all the girls with your eyes
Dancing after midnight, crawling to the car
Cocktail waitress waiting in the bar
English-speaking people drinking German beer
Talking way too loud for their ears
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1978
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Percussion (?), Producer, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Keyboards, Percussion (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Percussion (?)
- Jimmy McCulloch :
- Electric guitar, Percussion (?)
- Geoff Emerick :
- Recording engineer
- Joe English :
- Drums, Percussion (?)
- Mark Vigars :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Henderson :
- Assistant engineer
- Steve Churchyard :
- Assistant engineer
- Session Recording:
- May 02, 1977
- Studio :
- Record Plant Mobile Studio, Fair Carol Yacht, US Virgin Islands
- Session Overdubs:
- November 1977
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Official album • Released in 1993
3:27 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Percussion (?), Producer, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Keyboards, Percussion (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Percussion (?)
- Jimmy McCulloch :
- Electric guitar, Percussion (?)
- Geoff Emerick :
- Recording engineer
- Joe English :
- Drums, Percussion (?)
- Mark Vigars :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Henderson :
- Assistant engineer
- Steve Churchyard :
- Assistant engineer
- Session Recording:
- May 02, 1977
- Studio :
- Record Plant Mobile Studio, Fair Carol Yacht, US Virgin Islands
- Session Overdubs:
- November 1977
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Bootlegs
Unofficial album • Released in 1999
3:33 • Rough mix • From Stereo 1978 Test Pressing Acetate - With Rough Different Mix
Live performances
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
Going further
Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989
With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.
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