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Released in 1988

Crackin' Up

Written by Ellas McDaniel

Last updated on September 4, 2016


Album This song officially appears on the CHOBA B CCCP Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1988

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

From Wikipedia:

[“Crackin’ Up” is the opening song of “Go Bo Diddley“], the second album by rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley, released in July 1959. The album was Bo’s first studio album and his first LP for Checker Records. The album was ranked #214 on The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. […]

Paul McCartney recorded “Crackin’ Up” in 1987 for inclusion on his Choba B CCCP album; from the liner notes:

Named after its Mississippi-born creator – singer/guitarist Bo Diddley – the ‘Diddley Beat’ is the most unique of all rock’s many blues-based rhythms. A highly distorted hard-edge mix of heavily amplified guitar and pounding jungle drums, the rhythm is said to have derived from both the trademarks’ knock and the barbershop term “shave and a haircut – six bits!”

Not only were Elvis’ early stage antics copied from Bo Diddley’s Apollo Theatre appearances but, together with Chuck Berry, it was Bo Diddley who defined the sound of such Swingin’ Sixties British Beat Groups as The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds and Mick Green’s band The Pirates.

In the hands of McCartney and his musicians, this obscure B-side is transformed from underground status to a major league performance.

A soundcheck version of “Crackin’ Up” recording in 1990 was released on Tripping The Live Fantastic live album.


Lyrics

You're always hollerin' ‘bout where I've been

You're always screamin' ‘bout the money I spend

You're buggin' me

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up.


I do your laundry and your cooking too

But what more woman can a man like me do

You're buggin' me

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up


You're always hollerin' ‘bout where I've been

You're always screamin' ‘bout the money I spend

You're buggin' me

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up


I spoil you, woman, a long time ago

I used to cook you meals and bring them to your door

I'm all fed up

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up

You're buggin' me

Yeah yeah he's crackin' up

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Crackin' Up

Videos

Live performances

Crackin' Up” has been played in 12 soundchecks.


Going further

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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Paul McCartney writing

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