2023

What happened for Paul in 2023

In 2023, two Wings albums, “Red Rose Speedway” and “Band On The Run,” celebrated their 50th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, a limited half-speed mastered vinyl of “Red Rose Speedway” was released in April. This special release followed the pattern set by “McCartney,” “RAM,” and “Wild Life,” which were similarly reissued on their 50th anniversaries.

In June, Paul McCartney delighted fans with the publication of his book titled “1964: Eyes of the Storm,” which showcases Paul’s personal photographs captured between late 1963 and early 1964, documenting the onset of Beatlemania in the UK and the band’s inaugural visit to the USA. To complement the book’s release, a compelling photo exhibition opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

During the promotional campaign for “1964: Eyes of the Storm“, Paul engaged in an interview with BBC Radio 4 on June 13, 2023. Among the topics discussed was the progression of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In a thrilling revelation, McCartney announced that a new Beatles song would be released before the year’s end, utilizing this very technology to denoise John Lennon’s vocals.

“Now And Then” was a piano/vocal demo recorded by John in 1979, considered as a potential third reunion single for the Beatles’ 1995 autobiographical documentary project “The Beatles Anthology.“ Using the demixing technology used by director Peter Jackson for his 2021 documentary “The Beatles: Get Back“, the team was able to extract John’s voice from the original demo. With new overdubs by Paul and Ringo, and guitar tracks by George Harrison from the abandoned 1995 sessions, the track was finally released in November 2023, along with a reissue of the 50-year-old Red and Blue albums. These compilation albums were augmented with additional tracks, and all tracks were remixed using the same demixing technology as “Now And Then“.

Between August and October, several songs featuring contributions by Paul McCartney were released. In August, Dolly Parton released her rendition of “Let It Be,” with Paul and Ringo Starr contributions. In September, a song by Jimmy Buffett, who was a close friend of Paul, was released after his death, featuring Paul on bass. In October, Ringo Starr launched a new EP that included a song written by Paul, and where he played various instruments. Lastly, The Rolling Stones released their new album, “Hackney Diamonds“, in October, which featured a song where Paul played bass.

From October to December, Paul brought his “Got Back” tour to Australia, Mexico and Brazil.

In December, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, it was announced that a re-release of the “Band On The Run” album would be available in various formats in February 2024. The reissue included a half-speed mastered LP and a double LP featuring rough mixes of all the tracks. Unfortunately, during the same week, it was announced that Denny Laine, who joined Wings in 1971 and collaborated with Paul until the “Tug Of War / Pipes Of Peace” sessions in 1981, had passed away at the age of 79.

Last updated on December 8, 2023