Album This song officially appears on the Tug Of War Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 1982
Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1981, when Paul McCartney was 39 years old)
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
Recording and mixing "Be What You See"
Dec 29, 1981
March 2-30, 2015
Tug Of War - Paul McCartney talks to Andy Mackay
Aug 01, 1982 • From Club Sandwich
“Be What You See” is a 34 seconds-long song from 1982 album “Tug Of War“, serving as a link between “Get It” and “Dress Me As A Robber“. As explained by Paul :
The idea originally was that I wanted a few moments on the album where, like on a Pink Floyd album, you’ll get a sound developing into another sound, and I like that kind of thing, like where a radio play atmosphere develops. Carl (Perkins) and I had a joke at the end of ‘Get It’ and he started laughing. It was a nice way to end the track. It was genuine laughing but I wanted the laughing to go on into something more mystical. So I got on a vocoder, which Herbie Hancock, the musician, uses, where you play the actual notes with your mouth. And I got into this and it developed like the way you hear on the album, mixed into the next track. It’s difficult because if you start a short track and it starts to sound good, how do you finish it? It’s only a link you’re making, but you’ve got to get out. You can’t stay there forever, because it was only meant to be a link. We kept it like that with the laughing.
Paul McCartney, from Badman, Keith. The Beatles: The Dream Is Over – Off The Record 2 (p. 303).
The one you wanted to be
Is now the one you see
The one you wanted to be
Is now the one you see
Official album • Released in 1982
0:34 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Guitar, Vocals, Vocoder George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
Session Recording and mixing: Dec 29, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Official album • Released in 1993
0:34 • Studio version • A1993 • 1993 remaster
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Guitar, Vocals, Vocoder George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
Session Recording and mixing: Dec 29, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Tug Of War - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2015
0:34 • Studio version • B • 2015 remix
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Guitar, Remixing, Vocals, Vocoder George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Recording engineer assistant Alex Wharton : Mastering Steve Orchard : Remixing
Session Recording: Dec 29, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Mixing: March 2-30, 2015 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Tug Of War - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2015
Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Guitar, Vocals, Vocoder George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
Session Recording and mixing: Dec 29, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Tug Of War - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
0:33 • Studio version • A • Link
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Guitar, Vocals, Vocoder George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
Session Recording and mixing: Dec 29, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Tug Of War - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
0:34 • Studio version • B • 2015 remix
Paul McCartney : Arrangement, Guitar, Remixing, Vocals, Vocoder George Martin : Arrangement, Producer Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Jon Jacobs : Recording engineer assistant Alex Wharton : Mastering Steve Orchard : Remixing
Session Recording: Dec 29, 1981 • Studio AIR Studios, London, UK
Session Mixing: March 2-30, 2015 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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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