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Released in 1970

Momma Miss America

Written by Paul McCartney • Instrumental

Last updated on March 31, 2022

Album This song officially appears on the McCartney LP.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1970

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1969, when Paul McCartney was 27 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Other instrumental songs on "McCartney"

Related interviews

“Momma Miss America” – intially titled “Rock ‘n’ Roll Springtime” – is an instrumental track from Paul McCartney’s debut solo album, “McCartney“, released in April 1970.

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.

Paul McCartney, from the press release of “McCartney”, April 1970

Putting [the “McCartney” album] together was probably the most fun [of my solo albums]. It was so intimate, it was just me, and, listening to it now, I think that I did stuff that I wouldn’t normally have done. Some of the instrumentals I like a lot. They may not mean much – ‘Momma Miss America’ doesn’t really add up to much – but I like them.

Paul McCartney – From interview in Club Sandwich, Winter 1994

For me now, it’s great memories of a happy period: getting with Linda, earliest days. She helped me, because I’d have a guitar and amp in the house and she’d say, ‘I never knew you played guitar!’ Yeah, I’d play a few blues licks, you know? I’d say I did this and that, did the “Taxman” solos… She was very encouraging, and that led me to ‘Momma Miss America’, ‘Kreen-Akrore’, which were right off the wall. Then a few more normal things crept in, and it became an album.

Paul McCartney – From “Conversations with McCartney” by Paul du Noyer

From PopMatters, 2010:

“Momma Miss America” is another instrumental track on the McCartney album, as the only voice heard is that of an engineer announcing that this is take one of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Springtime”. That title was soon changed, as what was to become two separate songs “ran into each other by accident and became one”. Made up as McCartney went along, it was recorded entirely at his London home.

McCartney’s only recent involvement with the song is its inclusion on The McCartney Years box DVD set. (It is used as background music on Disc 2’s “Chronology” menu.)

“Momma Miss America“, along with “Singalong Junk“, was included on the soundtrack of the 1996 movie, “Jerry Maguire“, featuring Tom Cruise.

From the press release of “McCartney”, April 1970

Variations

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

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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