This album was recorded during the following studio sessions:
Oct 05, 1971
Recording & mixing "Dear Friend"
Oct 16, 1971
Written by Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman / McCartney
5:59 • Studio version • E • Stereo • Orchestra Up
Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vibraphone (?), Vocals Denny Seiwell : Drums, Trumpet (?) Richard Hewson : Orchestration Tony Clark : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Alan Parsons : Mixing engineer assistant Chris Blair : Recording engineer assistant Unknown musician(s) : Four cellos, Four flutes, Harp, Oboe, Tenor saxophone, Two french horns, Two trombones
Session Recording: Jul 24, 1971 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Mixing: Oct 05, 1971 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Orchestra overdubs: Oct 16, 1971 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Mixing: Oct 16, 1971 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • From the books "Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs" • Buy Volume 1 (1970-1989) and Volume 2 (1990-2012) on Amazon
From paulmccartney.com, December 24, 2018:
When MPL began the research for Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway, they had a good idea of what they would find in the audio archives. But, you can never be quite sure. The paperwork for the release was in good order, but often the more you look, the more gems you’re able to find. So, to make sure no stone went unturned, Paul’s audio team spent weeks listening to several days’ worth of material. Eventually this was whittled down to Paul’s preferences and what made sense for the story being told.
And sometimes you just end up having too many songs! So, as a thank you from us to you, we are happy to offer fans free downloads of two of those songs that did not make the final tracklisting…
‘Dear Friend [Orchestra Up]’
When Paul instructed arranger Richard Hewson about how to score the touching ‘Dear Friend’ – a note to former songwriting partner, John Lennon – he suggested it should sound, “as if there was an orchestra just over the hill. It wasn’t in your face. And when you’re at the top of the hill, there it is, full blown”. As often happens with a song, a number of mixes of ‘Dear Friend’ were done, to get the tone just right and, in this case, one of those mixes featured the orchestra playing a more prominent role.
For the release of Wild Life, it was decided to go with a version where the orchestra is a little more subtle, and today we’re happy to let you hear how it could have sounded. […]
‘Hands Of Love [Take 2]’:
One of the – many! – highlights of Red Rose Speedway is the 11-minute medley that closes the release. Paul has mentioned previously how he enjoys writing medleys as it’s a challenge to make them fit together (it’s not always easy to go from one key to another, a certain amount of musical gymnastics are involved!). But even though a medley may be comprised of a number of songs, it doesn’t mean they’re recorded in one go. Often they’re pieced together after the recording. It’s a fascinating and chin-stroking process. The version of ‘Hands Of Love’ used in the medley of Red Rose Speedway was cut from the original tape and mixed with the other tracks to make the medley. However, we found the original tape had alternate takes, and this was our favourite.
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