Paul McCartney has dipped into his archives to bring back One Hand Clapping, an album he recorded in 1974 but never officially released. The album did find its way into the hands of bootleggers over the years.
In the summer of 1974, while his album Band on the Run was dominating the charts, McCartney and Wings entered London's iconic Abbey Road Studios. Their goal was to film a video documentary and possibly record a live studio album. Over four days, they filmed and recorded, but the project was eventually abandoned. Despite this, some of the material from these sessions has been released by McCartney over time.
Now, One Hand Clapping is set to see the light of day on June 14th. The album features the audio recorded for the film, several additional songs recorded off-camera, and the original artwork designed for the project. The collection also includes a TV sales brochure for the unreleased film at the time.
The album opens with an instrumental jam that would become the One Hand Clapping theme song. It features live-in-studio renditions of McCartney's hits such as “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” “Jet,” “My Love,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “Junior’s Farm” and “Maybe I’m Amazed.” It also includes covers of The Beatles’ classics like “Let It Be,” “The Long and Winding Road” and “Lady Madonna,” and the song “Go Now,” which was sung by Wings guitarist Denny Laine during his time with The Moody Blues.
One Hand Clapping will be released in multiple formats, including an online exclusive two-LP plus seven-inch package. There's also a vinyl single of previously unreleased solo performances recorded on the final day of the sessions in the backyard of Abbey Road studios. These include the unreleased track “Blackpool,” "Country Dreamer," The Beatles’ "Blackbird,” Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock,” and Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” and “I’m Gonna Love You Too.”
[Source: Classic Hits Today]