I suspect that the majority of people who have followed music down the years don’t realise how much Paul McCartney did outside of The Beatles during the 1960’s. Not only was he writing and recording with the band, he was also producing material for other artists (mostly with John Lennon) or learning about the recording studio. Writing music for other bands started as early as 1963 and he was the first Beatle to release music under his own name with the soundtrack to the film, ‘The Family Way’.
What this compilation looks at though is McCartney as a session player during his time in The Beatles, be it providing instrumentation or more unusual as a backing musician which included giggling and potentially eating vegetables. Some of these turn out to be accidents as well. The track ‘Mr Tickle’ was meant to be spoken word but McCartney was practising on a piano in another studio that bleed into the recording. The producer was not be able to delete the piano without erasing the vocal. However, it seemed to work and so it was kept in. He also showed that he was a pretty good drummer. Just listen to ‘’My Dark Hour’ by the Steve Miller Band.
As with anything like this, it is possible that McCartney did not play what has been listed here, and there may well be other songs that he did contribute to that have been missed. This does not include songs that McCartney acted as producer without contributing to the backing tracks. I have also not included any of the songs recorded with Tony Sheridan as these were comprehensively compiled back in 2004 on a Deluxe Edition of ‘The Beatles’ First!’.
This compilation also just covers his work in the 1960s. It would be interesting to see if he continued his session playing into the 1970s and beyond.
Disc 1
- I’m In Love – Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas (Backing Vocals)
- I Knew Right Away – Alma Cogan (Tambourine)
- It’s For You – Cilla Black (Piano)
- From A Window – Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas (Backing Vocals)
- You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – The Silkie (Electric Guitar)
- Got To Get You Back In My Life – Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers (Piano)
- From Head To Toe – The Escorts (Tambourine)
- Woman (Original Version – Acetate) – Peter & Gordon (Drums)
- Mellow Yellow (Single Mix) – Donovan (Clap & Giggle)
- Step Inside Love (Demo) – Cilla Black (Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar)
- We Love You (Single Mix) – The Rolling Stones (Backing Vocals)
- Vegetables – The Beach Boys (Raw Vegetables)
- And The Sun Will Shine – Paul Jones (Drums)
- Sour Milk Sea (Mono Single Mix) – Jackie Lomax (Bass)
- Mr Tickle – McGough & McGear (Piano)
- The Dog Presides – Paul Jones (Drums)
- Those Were The Days – Mary Hopkin (Acoustic Guitar)
Disc 2
- So Much – McGough & McGear (Harmony Vocals)
- Carolina On My Mind – James Taylor (Bass)
- Lord Of The Reedy River – Mary Hopkin (Acoustic Guitar)
- Come & Get It – Badfinger (Tambourine)
- Sparrow – Mary Hopkin (Maracas)
- My Dark Hour – The Steve Miller Band (Backing Vocals, Bass, Drums, Guitar)
- Happiness Runs (Pebble & The Man) – Mary Hopkin (Bass)
- Charity Bubbles – The Scaffold (Guitar)
- Thumbin’ A Rice – Jackie Lomax (Drums)
- Voyage Of The Moon – Mary Hopkin (Bass)
- Rosetta – The Fourmost (Piano)
- Rock Of All Ages – Badfinger (Piano)
- Lontano Dagli Occhi – Mary Hopkin (Bass, Piano)
- Goose – The Scaffold (Guitar)
- Goodbye – Mary Hopkin (Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Ukelele)
The cover is an undated picture of McCartney in the studio which I do hope corresponds to the time frame of this compilation.