The Lovely Linda

Written by Paul McCartney

Album This song officially appears on the McCartney LP.
Timeline This song has been officially released in 1970
Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1969 (Paul McCartney was 27 years old)

Master release


Related sessions

This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions


"McCartney" home recordings

Late December 1969 to Jan 03, 1970




Some other songs dedicated to Linda


Maybe I'm Amazed

Officially appears on McCartney


My Love

Officially appears on Red Rose Speedway

Related interviews


"McCartney" press release Q&A

Apr 09, 1970 • From Apple Records


Paul McCartney On His Not-So-Silly Love Songs

Mar 16, 2001 • From Billboard

Related articles


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Song facts

The Lovely Linda” is the opening track of Paul McCartney’s debut solo album, “McCartney“, released in April 1970. From Wikipedia:

Paul McCartney wrote “The Lovely Linda” in Scotland during 1969, when he and wife Linda Eastman were living at their farm, High Park, in Campbeltown. The song is dedicated to McCartney’s first wife and was a reply-of-sorts to Beatles bandmate John Lennon’s public declarations of love for his wife, Yoko Ono. “The Lovely Linda” was released as the opening track on McCartney’s eponymous debut solo album, and was the first song taped for the album. McCartney recorded the composition shortly before Christmas in December 1969, in order to test his then-new 4-track recorder, which he had installed in his home studio in London. At 42 seconds, it is the shortest song in McCartney’s catalogue. […]

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

The full song was never released. As McCartney explained in 2001:

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, 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 in the “Wingspan” documentary, 2001

Did you feel scared when “McCartney” was released, since that was your debut and the first song was pegged at you?

Linda McCartney: No. I didn’t take it as seriously as I probably should have. I think it was good copy at the lime to slag everything. Everybody was getting slugged, the Beatles were getting slagget. I personally didn’t realize you had to explain yourself a lot once you get in the public eye. I just carried on with my normal life, like I had in New York, and I just got all this slagging. It never really brought me down much, though.

Linda McCartney – From Paul McCartney in His Own Words, by Paul Gambaccini

The Lovely Linda” was reworked as a classical piece in 1999, and released on “Working Classical“.

In 2001, Paul McCartney improvised a version of “The Lovely Linda” on acoustic guitar which appeared on a radio show to promote the “Wingspan” compilation and on the Wingspan TV special.


From the press release of “McCartney”, April 1970

On a side note: When The Beatles filmed “Magical Mystery Tour” in September 1967, John Lennon, assisted by George Harrison, directed a sequence at the hotel where Happy Nat the Rubber Man (played by Nat Jackley) chased bikini-clad women around the swimming pool. This sequence didn’t make it into the final film, except for a two-second appearance of a girl in a bikini, nicknamed “The Lovely Linda“.

The Beatles later decided to scrap John’s entire poolside footage which finished on a cutting room floor in Soho rather than on the world’s TV screens. Only one of the bikini girls, one we had nicknamed The Lovely Linda, survived the editor’s scissors to make a blink-and-you-miss-her split-second appearance elsewhere in the finished product waving from a tower window.

Tony Barrow – From “The Making of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour” by Tony Barrow, 1999
From the “Magical Mystery Tour” TV Special

Last updated on April 25, 2023

Lyrics

La, la, la, la, la the lovely Linda,
with the lovely flowers in her hair.

La, la, la, la, la the lovely Linda,
with the lovely flowers in her hair.

Variations


A Stereo version • From "McCartney"


A1993 1993 remaster • From "McCartney (1993)"

A2001 2001 remaster • From "Wingspan Hits And History"

A2011 2011 remaster • From "McCartney - Archive Collection"

A2020 2020 half-speed mastering • From "McCartney (50th Anniversary)"

B Classical version • From "Working Classical"

L1 Live version • "Wingspan: Memorial Day Weekend Special" • May 25, 2001

Officially appears on


McCartney

LP • Released in 1970

0:46 • Studio versionA • Stereo

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


McCartney (by DCC Compact Classics)

CD • Released in 1992

0:46 • Studio versionA1992 • Stereo • 1992 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Steve Hoffman :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


McCartney (1993)

Official album • Released in 1993

0:46 • Studio versionA1993 • Stereo • 1993 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Peter Mew :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


Working Classical

Official album • Released in 1999

0:55 • Classical versionB

Paul McCartney :
Executive producer
Eddie Klein :
Recording engineer
Keith Smith :
Recording engineer
Steve Rooke :
Mastering
Krista Bennion Feeney :
First violin
Anca Nicolau :
Second violin
Joanna Hood :
Viola
Myron Lutzke :
Cello
Performed by :
Loma Mar Quartet
John Fraser :
Producer
Roberto Pansera :
Arranger
Arne Akselberg :
Balance engineer
Paul Baily :
Editor
Caroline Haigh :
Editor

Session Recording:
February 21-25th, 1999
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


Wingspan Hits And History (US version)

Official album • Released in 2001

0:46 • Studio versionA2001 • 2001 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Geoff Emerick :
Remastering
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Peter Mew :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


Wingspan Hits And History (Japanese version)

Official album • Released in 2001

0:46 • Studio versionA2001 • 2001 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Geoff Emerick :
Remastering
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Peter Mew :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


Wingspan Hits And History

Official album • Released in 2001

0:46 • Studio versionA2001 • 2001 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Geoff Emerick :
Remastering
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Peter Mew :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


McCartney - Archive Collection

Official album • Released in 2011

0:46 • Studio versionA2011 • Stereo • 2011 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Guy Massey :
Remastering
Steve Rooke :
Remastering
Simon Gibson :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


McCartney (Limited Red LP)

LP • Released in 2017

0:46 • Studio versionA2011 • Stereo • 2011 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Guy Massey :
Remastering
Steve Rooke :
Remastering
Simon Gibson :
Remastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


McCartney (50th Anniversary)

Official album • Released in 2020

0:46 • Studio versionA2020 • 2020 half-speed mastering

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer
Miles Showell :
Mastering

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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


Where Footprints Never Go - Unofficial Rarities - Ultimate Archive Collection

Unofficial album • Released in 2016

0:35 • LiveL1 • From "Wingspan Memorial Day Special" radio show

Concert From "Wingspan: Memorial Day Weekend Special" in , USA on May 25, 2001


MoMac's Hidden Tracks Vol.25

Unofficial album • Released in 2004

0:34 • LiveL1 • From "Wingspan Memorial Day Special" radio show

Concert From "Wingspan: Memorial Day Weekend Special" in , USA on May 25, 2001


Together On Stage: "Adopt-A-Minefield"

Unofficial live • Released in 2001

0:55 • LiveL1 • From "Wingspan Memorial Day Special" radio show

Concert From "Wingspan: Memorial Day Weekend Special" in , USA on May 25, 2001


McCartney - Ultimate Archive Collection

Unofficial album • Released in 2015

0:46 • Studio versionA2011

Paul McCartney :
Acoustic guitar, Bass, Percussion, Producer, Recording engineer, Vocals
Phil McDonald :
Mixing engineer

Session Recorded:
Late December 1969
Studio :
At home, Cavendish Avenue, London

Session Mixing:
Feb 21, 1970
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

Live performances

“The Lovely Linda” has been played in 1 concerts.

Latest concerts where The Lovely Linda has been played


Wingspan: Memorial Day Weekend Special

May 25, 2001 • USA • Radio show

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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